Hi all! This is going to be a lot, but bear with me. I am planning my course of action for the summer, and am beginning to realize that it’s virtually impossible to do EVERYTHING in one summer!
I guess the big 3 things I’m weighing right now are:
A summer intensive, because I want that taste of what a college program is like. I feel like that’s a valuable experience and will show colleges I know what I’m getting myself into. I did a 4 week summer intensive last year with a local preprofessional company and it helped me tremendously! I now want to take that a step further and work with a university. I just got accepted into Wagner SMTI, but I’m also applying to AADA and Pace summer scholars. (all are 2 weeks long, so I wouldn’t be gone too long. Anyone have any opinions on these programs?)
-Dance classes. That’s definitely my weakest area and something I know I can improve on easily if I were to focus on it more, and I could really use any help I can get going into the audition process (hard dance calls… yikes!)
-Prep material… I plan on starting with a college audition coach this spring. (I’ve read a lot of good things about Mary Anna, has anyone used Tyce from SFNY? Just starting to look into my options with this). I would probably plan on checking in with them once a month ish, so they can help me pick good pieces for college auditions - then I can take them to my private teachers, work on them, then get more feedback from the coach, etc and end up with some solid rep pieces to use in auditions.
I am also planning on applying to do a workshop in my area that will produce and perform a new musical, so that will be a show to add to the resume.
My only concern with all this is that it won’t leave a lot of room to audition for summer shows. I have a bunch of smaller, supporting roles on my resume, and I think 3 lead roles… How imperative is it that I get more leads? I don’t want to turn them away by not having a ton of credits… I feel like I’m always hearing about people that have 5000 professional credits and it intimidates me a lot. I go to a public school with a lot of students where it is difficult to get roles until you are an upperclassmen, so I was sort of restricted for a while.
BUT, the summer programs I’ve been looking at would conflict with the show opportunities in my area that I’ve looked at - and trying to cram in a show might be too much. I still need to do college research and get ready to apply!
What I usually hear is that what happens in the audition room is going to matter the most, so I usually place training over all else but I’m curious to hear your opinions. Am I on the right track with my summer plans? Should I go for the summer program? Or should I hold out to be in a show?
SUPER appreciate all the input you guys! Glad to hear I’m mostly on the right track. Very helpful information.
Especially @EmsDad very interesting to see that being said directly from college reps. I have often heard that training is the most important, but it’s a comfort to see that confirmed! I have always wondered how much the resume gets considered. I’ve made a lot of progress in building my resume over the past year compared to before, but like I said before, it’s so easy to get intimidated by what you hear others have under their belt.
Remember that you have something very significant under your belt, too: YOU! And you’re the only one of you out there, so don’t waste time comparing yourself to anyone else – that way madness lies!
@mamtma VERY true - Comparing yourself to others can be very toxic and an unnecessary distraction! It’s definitely hard not to sometimes, but important to remember that it won’t help me at all.
@mtflmomof1 Wow, that’s awesome! Good for her. Glad to hear that it didn’t hold her back. I wish her luck with her college studies (:
I had no leads on my resume either! That’s partially a type thing (being Tracy Turnblad in a state too homogenous for Hairspray), and partially because I just didn’t make shows a priority. In fact, my last show was January of junior year and now I’m a second semester senior! I would have done more but instead I had a job and took dance classes and workshops and did a summer intensive and it was the right decision for me—plus, there aren’t a lot of opportunities in my area and I didn’t learn a ton from my high school shows. I honestly might do even fewer shows if I could redo high school. The most important thing is learning and I probably got something out of like half the shows on my resume. I would say definitely get coaching and do the 2 week summer intensive. I did a 7 week summer intensive that was not focused on college prep, and it completely ate my summer and made prescreens/material finding/early applications a serious time crunch. A coach definitely would have helped take some of the pressure off because I had no idea what I was doing!
And don’t listen to what you hear others say about their past HS/community/professional theater experience. It doesn’t mean anything in the audition room - and it may not even be true. “Good luck” happens when preparation meets opportunity. Be as prepared as you can be. My H is a musician and has repeatedly told our three Ss, “Amateurs practices it until they get it right. Professionals practices until they can’t get it wrong”. It took “natural consequences” for our Ss to get the truth in that. When choosing audition material, pick stuff that is “natural” for your voice range and your character “type”, then practice it until you KNOW you can nail it under ANY circumstances.
Training, training, training!! Get yourself ready for the audition. Anything you do now that will allow you to feel the best come the audition day. The biggest regret we see after the audition process has started is the lack of time they dedicated to the training, wishing they had made better choices between the shows and the training. Don’t see kids wishing they had forgone training for shows.
The other advantage to summer programs, many of them you have the opportunity to work with faculty and get a feel for what type of campus environment you are looking for (plus you get great training). My daughter attended numerous summer programs, and her experience there greatly influenced the schools she auditioned for.
@MTVT2015 Interesting! When I think about it, it’s true that I didn’t learn a ton from a lot of my earlier school experiences and probably could have focused more on other things. I sometimes wish I would have started taking dance last year instead of being in the chorus of our spring musical… Would have been a lot more productive… But oh well. I am glad I’ve decided to steer clear of the super long intensives - initially I had several on my list, but I realized it wouldn’t leave time for much else!
@mom4bwayboy This is true. We’ve all seen crappy community productions in our area I’m sure - having a stage credit doesn’t mean you were good in the role I suppose, when you really think about it.
“Amateurs practices it until they get it right. Professionals practices until they can’t get it wrong.” I LOVE that! I definitely want to make sure I have solid audition material going into next year. I think that’s super super important!
@NAtlantaStudio You make a good point… I don’t think I have ever heard someone say they regretted not trying to do more shows. I definitely am aiming to do whatever I can to feel confident going into auditions.
@mommabears26 This is definitely a huge part of the appeal for me! I think it would be a great experience. I guess the biggest thing is the money… For example, I just got accepted by Wagner’s summer program, but they want the entire tuition payed in full by this week (yikes) which would require me spending pretty much all the money my parents have set aside for me. (My sister used hers to pay for books and a new laptop, and some other things for her dorm when she went to college.) I hate to decline an opportunity, but I really feel uncomfortable spending all that money at the drop of a hat.
If I had more time, my parents could arrange to pay for half, or I could ask my grandma, etc but to just pull almost 4k out of thin air on short notice is sort of crazy! I was hoping to use part of that money to pay for my college audition coaching. Looks like I may be declining this offer and waiting to see if a less expensive option/one that’ll give me more time comes through…Sigh.
@GraceMarie88 - I totally understand about making choices when it comes to wisely spending money on training and opportunities. If the Wagner thing is something you REALLY want to do and would be a benefit to your goals, you might have a conversation with the administrators and see if setting up a payment plan is an option. We did this when S attended a ballet intensive - asked if we could do 4 equal payments, with total being paid off before the start of the intensive. They graciously agreed, even though this option was not “advertised”. The worst they can do is say, “no”. At the same time, ask yourself if there might also be another way to spend that money to get you ready for what you need to do for college. There are many paths to great training. Good luck.
I think the shows should be the absolute last priority on your list. I would rather see someone with a short performance resume who is incredible in the audition room than someone with two pages of productions but bombs the dance call and has a mediocre audition package. I think dance must be your number one priority if it is weak. I think a university connected summer program should be number two on your list, followed by coaching. I would say you are better off doing no productions and focusing 100% on researching schools, picking rep, coaching it, and solidifying your dance. Ideally, find some type of dance class or pilates/yoga you can be in everyday of the week (minus weekends).
@mom4bwayboy That’s a good point. I had some questions for the program director that I’m waiting to hear back on, but I think requesting a payment plan might be something I ask next. I suppose it can’t hurt to ask! But, if it’s a no go, it won’t be the end of the world. I can always go for trying to attend the same summer program I attended last year- an in state school’s MT director is affiliated with it this year. Would be much more inexpensive, and still could be a valuable experience if nothing else comes through.
@VoiceTeacher Thank you so much for your input! Definitely reaffirms a lot of what I am now leaning toward and puts things in perspective. I plan on hitting dance pretty hard for sure, since it is my weakest area, and am hoping to find a studio where I can be going to dance every day! I think that will help me tremendously. I really appreciate the advice!
@voiceteacher - Same advice we have been given for my daughter who is a junior. She misses being on stage, (and I miss seeing her there) but she has improved immensely over the last year with some excellent instruction and training…
