<p>I know everyone advises to not do theatre your senior year, but...well, it's just not going to happen! :) I'm already figuring on not doing any show during the February month...any other months I need to avoid?</p>
<p>You can do what ever you want, just don't over do it.</p>
<p>I did 4 shows.</p>
<p>I think this would be way to hard to answer in any sort of way that you are asking it. It would have to be very individualized based on your schedule and your auditions and what not. There is no blanket generality to be made, in my opinion.</p>
<p>I will just share what my kid did. She did NOT avoid shows in her college applicaton year at all. She had an extremely full schedule as she had all the other years. She happened to apply/audition for college in her junior year as she was graduating a year early. In the fall, she was in a drama at our local theater and that show was in late October. She immediately went into rehearsal for a musical cabaret that she had created and was directing and performing in right after the winter holiday break. As soon as that show ended, she went right into rehearsals for a lead role in the school musical which was to be performed in mid April. As well, she continued in all her dance classes, voice lessons, piano lessons, guitar lessons, jazz band, acting coaching lessons, entrances into things like NFAA, All State Choir, All State Scholarships for voice and jazz and those types of adjudications and many other events/concerts, etc. </p>
<p>She applied/auditioned at 8 BFA in MT programs, all ON CAMPUS, no Unifieds. She also visited three of these programs in early fall before auditions commenced. She did one audition in early Dec. and it was on the weekend and so did not interfere with the performance but was during a rehearsal period. She did the other seven auditions from Jan. through the first weekend in March and so this was during the rehearsal period for the school musical but her auditions were mostly on weekends and she had to miss very few rehearsals and made those conflicts known to the director prior to casting. Since the show was to go up in April, it wasn't like college auditions were close to hell week or anything. Was life hectic? Sure thing! But she'd not have had it any other way. She did all 8 applications with numerous essays (did not rely on Common App at all). </p>
<p>Each person needs to assess what they can handle. Obviously, if a show's PERFORMANCES are when college auditions are, plan accordingly or not do that show. But my kid's auditions were during rehearsal blocks of the year and were able to be worked out. I just could not see not doing theater that year as that is her life and part of her training. But others may find they need to cut back in some areas. Map out your shows and your college audition dates. It is like a puzzle. We also tried to pair some college auditions into one trip (ie., Syracuse and Ithaca on one weekend and PSU and CMU on one weekend). Unifieds also would help when planning a production schedule with less traveling involved. Also, I have observed some people doing more than 10 aduitions and so that means MORE to fit in. My kid had just 8. It was enough. </p>
<p>As it turned out for her, just one week following her 8th and final audition and while in rehearsals for that school musical, she was severely injured in a car accident and was out of ALL her remaining performances in musical theater and dance for the remainder of the year. It was most unfortunate. At least she got to be involved in some shows all fall and through the winter.</p>
<p>I have coached several kids through this process and I don't know of any who stopped performing their Senior year. High school theatre teachers should be used to their top kids leaving for auditions and since most of them are long weekends it shouldn't disrupt things too bad. I know where we live our Honor Choir students had to miss an important Choral competition, and even though they sign a contract that required them to participate the Choral director was understanding. Remember, it is a wonderful thing for a teacher when their students continue their passion in college and are accepted into a program. The only tough audition was Unifieds in Chicago which is during the week and takes several days away from school. Other than that almost all auditions can be done with only one day off of school.</p>
<p>As soozie says, it is a very individualistic determination. That's why it is so important to map out a timeline and tentative schedule of all college related stuff, school activities and extracurriculars before your senior year starts and to also select your audition dates as early as possible so that you have maximum flexibility and control over your schedule.</p>
<p>In my daughter's case, she did a musical in February (with rehearsals starting in December) and a musical in April (with rehearsals starting in January). She also continued with her voice and dance classes during her entire senior year as well as acing classes in the fall. Her auditions were 1 in November, 1 in December, 2 in January and 2 in February, all done on campus. It was the advanced planning and scheduling that made it possible without burn out. Also, as Pohsmom suggests, all of my daughter's auditions were on Fridays and Saturdays, minimizing school disruptions.</p>
<p>December and March maybe</p>
<p>Definitely January and February</p>
<p>freedom, many kids I know who auditioned for BFA programs (including my own kid) were in shows in Jan. and Feb. For one thing, they may have only been REHEARSING shows then (my kid had a show performance weekend in early Jan but then in Jan. and Feb was rehearsing another musical). It can be done because auditions may require missing just a few rehearsals. What dosen't work is if one's show weekends are also audition weekends and so a student could plan accordingly to work out their production schedule and then make audition appointments that mesh with it. And some show directors may allow a few misses (if not tech week) if told at the time the show was cast.</p>
<p>My D did a muscial w/ a regional theater in March- Unifieds were during rehearsals. She listed the dates of Unifieds as well as one on-campus visit on her conflicts and they were approved when she was offered the role. </p>
<p>She did not do the musical at her high school her senior year as she and all other seniors who had conflicts due to college auditons/visits/etc. were told by the director (1st year as head of theater dept.) that they could not miss any rehearsals due to college conflicts. As a result, the musical lacked most of the major talent at the school and was a huge disaster. Hopefully a lesson was learned!</p>
<p>My son also missed out on performing in one of his high schools major musicals for 2008. The theatre dept. made it very hard for him to decline, but I insisted because of the scheduling conflicts. The show took place in Feb. during the Unified auditions. The kids that did choose to participate in the show and Unifieds at the same time were very stressed. Add to that, the stress of auditioning, homework and late nights that are involved in these shows and you have some very overworked students.</p>
<p>It's hard to turn down performing because that is what MT kids thrive on but if you look at the big picture of college acceptances or one more performance for high school.... I would think priorities would be important to think about ahead of time. Also, how able you are to deal with the above mentioned stress. Some people thrive on it.</p>
<p>If you talk to your directors before auditions, possibly even before they select their shows and let them know they will be WAY more understanding than if you wait til you list conflicts at auditions or even after. In my high school almost every year we have a lead or two leaving in February to audition at Unifieds (two weeks before our musical open.) I've also been given the advice to continue to do shows to keep your mind off the auditions 24/7, it ill help you from freaking out. However, it's definately a personal thing of what you think your body can do. If your body can't stay healthy when you have a really busy scheduele then you should CONSIDER not doing a show during auditions. However if your body can't hold well under pressure and being busy perhaps it's something you need to work on before you attend a BFA program. These are just tid bits of advice I have been given for this upcoming year! Hope they help! Good luck with auditions!
-knarfy</p>
<p>Ninnynoodle, Kudos to you for your very mature question. </p>
<p>This really demonstrates your willingness to organize and pace yourself through this very challenging year ahead. </p>
<p>Anything you can do to manage your stress level, to keep in excellent vocal health and to create time to work on your audition pieces is going to pay off this year. Choose wisely for yourself. Don't overwhelm yourself with over- scheduling or compromise this important time in your life. </p>
<p>Listen to yourself rather than looking to see how other's will do it. As you are already asking yourself the questions, take yourself seriously about how much you personally can take on and succeed at. Make your decisions from the special ingredients that support your Best Self!</p>
<p>Best of luck this coming year!</p>
<p>Contrary to what "everyone says" - let me cast my vote for doing your school show in your senior year - I think that is what you are planning in any case. I think a good approach might be to narrow down the list of places you might want to audition, check out their range of audition dates (most schools have several audition dates) - and plan accordingly. You can do it all, especially since your are giving this thought early on. Break a Leg!</p>
<p>My D did absolutely nothing during senior year but keep up her grades, work with an audition coach, visit schools, and audition. THANK GOD the idiot drama teacher at school picked awful plays for that year, so it was no great loss! I can't imagine how much worse this past year would have been had we needed to factor in rehearsals and the usual added "drama."</p>
<p>I'm a just graduated senior and thought I'd chip in. I was involved in three shows at my HS this year - one in September/October, one in November/December, and one in February through May. We had another show that rehearsed and performed in January and February and I'm so glad that I was not a part of it - it was a great show and at the time I wished I had done it. However, a couple months later (and knowing the outcome of my audition season) I am SO glad I didn't. I was incredibly fortunate in that I was accepted to my "dream" school, and had I done the show and tried to juggle rehearsal, finals, and audition prep in January (I did all my auditions at the Chicago Unifieds) who knows if the outcome would have been the same. While I think it's important to continue involvement in theater (in and out of high school) during the senior year, I would really think long and hard before committing to a show that will rehearse/perform right before auditions. </p>
<p>On a somewhat related but important note, I would be sure to talk with any directors you'll be working with in March and April and be sure that they are aware that you may need to miss some rehearsal for college visits. For the last show of my high school season I had to miss 3 rehearsals to visit colleges and was trash-talked by the director (an especially difficult guy) because he didn't think I was committed enough. Even though he has students go through this every year, some people just don't get it about the college decision making process, so I'd be sure to let them know ahead of time.</p>
<p>One more thing for the OP - many of the earlier posters mention the audition process lasting for weeks/months and involving numerous campus visits (this seems to be somewhat of the norm on CC). I'm not trying to negate the value of auditioning on campus and this time last year I was worried that auditioning at Unifieds might make me seem less committed to the schools I was auditioning for. After doing all of my auditions at Unifieds this year, I cannot recommend it more. The faculty that is auditioning you (at least in my experience) is incredibly understanding and didn't appear to value me any less for doing a regional vs. on campus audition. What's more, it saves a TON of money and time (which you will likely find to be incredibly valuable during senior year). Another perk is that you get your auditions over with in one swoop - it was great to be able to just do them all and come home from Chicago and be done!</p>
<p>Best of luck in this process!</p>
<p>AmcF, I'm glad Unifieds worked for you. Had we put all our D's eggs in that one basket, they'd have been scrambled...my D was miserably sick for Unifieds and was soundly rejected by every school she saw there. By that point it was too late to reschedule auditions. Once she was healthy, she was accepted by her dream school (on-campus audition) and waitlisted at Michigan (regional audition). If she had been well for Unifieds, who knows how that would have turned out? But i am really glad we did not have to count on her being healthy that one weekend in February!</p>