All the students at Moonifieds have had the benefit of coaching - help with their monologue and song selections, as well as their in room audition skills. I think this makes the competition stiffer there. At the larger Unified locations you get a much larger pool of applicants - some of whom are not so well prepared. And with the larger applicant pool comes a wider range of skill levels.
Just like what you see in sports, I believe that the level of talent and training tends to be generally higher among students with coaches because (a) they have been already been coached for many years in voice and acting, and hiring an audition coach is just another step in that process; and (b) their parents supported that training because the students have talent and experienced some success in theatre performance. This certainly does not hold true for every student who hires a coach, but from what I saw at Moonifieds and learned from chatting with other parents, most of the students had pretty extensive theatre backgrounds. You could certainly see the relatively high level of training in the dance call, at least the year my d went.
I definitely donât believe that it is a necessity to hire a coach nor do I believe that a majority of talented and well-trained kids hire coaches.
@EmsDad and anyone else, what about live vs digital prescreen. Is there a preference?
Can you participate in Moonifieds if you are not in Mary Annaâs crew ? We are with MTCA?
@laylamom I believe you need to purchase her video training set as a minimum to go to MoonifiedsâŠplus there is a fee to go.
Doesnât MTCA do a (or some) private auditions for their students as well? I thought I had read that in connection to BW - which does not attend unifieds, but does go to Moonifieds, and I thought something with MTCA too (there was a post here earlier about how Vicky Bussert had leave before things were finishedâŠ)
I think in terms of live vs video prescreens: there is a feeling among some people that judging students based on a film clip when they are auditioning for a program thatâs all about live performing - can seem a little odd. My son had similar results with both though, in terms of âpassingâ them: passed two of his live prescreens (Tex St and Penn St), did not pass two others (BW and Otterbein). And then passed two of his video prescreens (Syracuse and Michigan) and did not pass one other (Ithaca).
The one advantage of a video is that you can shoot it over and over until you get the results you want. The exhausted parent in me liked live prescreens - and all of my sonâs were at Moonifieds - because it was one less thing to do, complete, submit, etc.
One other comment about Moonifieds and early auditions that has been said other places: I do think my son was better prepared for the February auditions than he was at Moonifieds. And we thought he was pretty darn prepared in November at Moonifieds! But heâs just grown and developed more in the last two months than weâve expected. BUT, he had great results and some acceptances from Moonifieds - so it all worked out fine. Iâm just seeing a better, more confident auditioner now than I saw in November.
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BW had Dec. 10th in NYC reserved for MTCA students only
I agree with you @heliobike completely. My D had good results from Moonifieds, she was absolutely prepared â and everyone has to start somewhere but in hindsight she got more relaxed and comfortable with the process by February. I wish we had kept some Moonified schools for later in the season as she clearly had better results then.
mtmamma2020, I totally agree. We didnât do moonifieds, but my Sâs first 3 auditions were his roughest. He was given some amazing re-directs in those first three auditions though that really changed his approach for the better. For kids who are coached to an inch of their life or who are just naturally comfortable with the audition process, it probably doesnât matter much, but for kids going into this a bit blind, or a bit more nervous, it is definitely a good idea to save some top choices for later and use those early auditions as an expensive learning tool.
It sounds like you might think of Moonifieds (or the MTCA early audition for BW) as an excellent opportunity for a âwarmupâ before Unifieds?
As far as the preference for live vs digital prescreens, it seems split among those who are posting here in terms of results. I agree about introducing yourself in digital medium for a performing arts program. Seems like it would be really not helpful to evaluators. That is why I might tend to prefer the live prescreen option, where offered. Students also have the advantage of âprescreeningâ the college reps!
Prescreens vs live auditions. One Invaluable thing we did was applying to precollege programs that required prescreens. It really helped to know what was expected for the college prescreens. We did no live prescreens.
Learning to create prescreen type videos is a valuable skill for a performer, as video submissions become more and more common in the overall professional audition process. Looking through summer stock things with my D - a number of places have either a digital 1st submission (essentially a prescreen) or a digital callback to do specific things from a show.
When my D did her college prescreens, it took most of the day. She had to film some things when she was home over winter break- it took an hour. Progress 
I just want to clarify that I believe the MTCA date with BW is/was a Masterclass not an early audition. It was not all the auditors checking out the kids. I suppose a personal report could happen in those settings but I donât think MTCA holds any special early auditions (which is good because that wouldnât really be fair). There are programs like ArtsBridge (Summer) where the faculty is made up of of top tier school instructors. Itâs not an early audition but they do get real time working with those kids. This could help or hurt. I wouldnât do that program unless your kid is really readyâŠbut now I rambleâŠ
@layamom - posts #1102 and #1103 on the sharing venting thread (page 74) refer to the MTCA BW experience as an âauditionâ. I know nothing about it- my kid was not involved with MTCA. I believe it was @musicmama123 's kid who was auditioning - perhaps she can clarify.
I would not consider Moonifieds a âwarm upâ. There are a lot of final auditions that take place there. You definitely need to be prepared. It is a great way to possibly get an early acceptance or two. And to pass a prescreen or two. But if you are not sure you are 100% ready, you may want to not audition for your top schools there if you have time to do it later in the season.
There is no doubt, no matter where or when you start auditioning, you are stronger as you go along because you have the benefit of experience behind you. Both Moo and MTCA offer master classes and mock auditions to help prepare for your first auditions. Iâm sure other coaches and organizations do as well. If you can, I would find these opportunities and take advantage of them before your first auditions wherever and whenever you decide to start.
I will also caution though to not save your favorites for late in the game. I know by Ds last audition she was tired, a little burned out on the whole process, physically sick and just felt that the last audition was not on par with the ones in jan/feb. So just be aware you could suffer some audition fatigue at some point, particularly if you also have a busy schedule outside of auditions.
As far as live versus taped prescreens - I do think auditors are better able to gauge whether or not you are a fit for their program when they see you in person and can evaluate not only your skills but also your personality. There is a chance to ask questions of you, etc⊠This can work for or against you depending on how comfortable you with the in person audition. As someone else has pointed out, with video prescreens, you have the luxury of filming until you get the take you like so you know you are putting your best performance forward. So pros and cons to each. D had similar results with both so not sure it really matters much if you do i person or live.
@laylamom and @toowonderful . It looks like the MTCA was a real audition on the BW website. It is listed under Musical Theatre Auditions. I have copied and pasted here:
Saturday, December 10, 2016 Held in New York City
For MTCA students only.
Many will disagree with you about the audition being âunfairâ. Anyone who wishes may audition for BW, as well as any of the 20 Moonified schools.
Oh well, I guess I made a mistake and was confused. I have great respect for all the commenters here. Everyones journey is very compelling and Iâve learned a lot following. Love working with MTCA . They are amazing people. Very caring and extraordinary expertise. I think the whole college application process is somewhat out of control over all. These BFA hopefuls really have so much on their young shoulders but thats a different tangent. My D and I will be in the thick of it next year and I fear it more than a little. There was a master class with BW this year and a dance masterclass with (I think?) Rider. I assumed that was what was being referred to. Anyway, anything that makes this process more manageable and human for the kids is a good thing.
The MTCA BW thing is in fact an audition. I have several friends who attended and at least one was accepted.
In the end, everyone needs to be able to be pretty amazing in a live audition. The video prescreens only serve to spark interest in deciding who they invite to audition in person. Moonifieds was great for my S. I arranged for him to do 21 auditions. He was a little baffled as to why so many, but he learned what it felt like physically to get into that space in his body and mind, became comfortable slating and interviewing. He garnered some offers and campus callbacks. When we went to Unifieds, he was of course still feeling the edginess that hopefully you would feel for any audition, but it wasnât new. He maybe did 5 or 6 scheduled and maybe 4 more walkins, but while there was still excitement and some nerves for each audition, I had seen a boy grow into a man. He knew what his package was, he could talk to the auditors comfortably as people, he could express his interest in them, but he knew and more importantly could feel that they were there for the same reason, they wanted him to succeed, they are hoping our kids do great. After he would do his thing, he would ask if they would like to hear shakespeare or anything else that would help them to get to know him better, express his interest in the school. When he was comfortable , it invited many of them to talk to him as a person more and I think increased his chances. Each time he studied the school, I quizzed him, where it was, who key faculty were, their productions and resumes, recent school productions, stuff about the town. Remebering to get cards and or names, sending thank you notes when he got back to the room. It really helped him grow up. He has done some on campus call backs with one more week to go and then we wait like everyone. As we all know many schools dont offer until mid to latter March.