A coach was advising NOT to work on material one wants to use as part of college auditions during a summer program experience.
I’m inclined to trust the coach, but I also feel it runs counter to at least some of the advice received on these boards … namely, that a prospective MT major should take advantage of working on their material as part of a summer program experience (whether the program is school-specific or not, i.e., multiple programs represented).
I think the coach feels the program could say “no” to a piece the applicant was really inclined to do (because of the applicant’s connection to the piece, etc.) without the summer program giving much thought / feedback to the applicant as to why not do it.
Welcome advice / perspective on this conundrum.
My daughter chose her material and really polished it during a summer program and a college audition workshop and her pieces were extremely well-received during the program and during auditions. Working on them over the summer, getting feedback from the program helped her to really perfect her performance of them. Is the coach worried that the summer program will offer feedback contrary to the coach’s feedback? I would think that having another opinion would be a good thing, since the audition pieces will be performed in front of a wide variety of people.
In the summer program my son did (BW MTO) the head of MT and the head of acting picked out new material specifically for him and worked him on it during the week. He came out having coached pieces from top MT educators. I think it was extremely helpful for his audition season. That said…we didn’t use a coach.
@Twelfthman First - awesome name! 
One thing we have learned through this process (senior son here) - you are going to hear a lot of different opinions. Ultimately, you have to go with your gut and with what those closest to you recommend. Everyone has an opinion. So even if a summer intensive said “no”, don’t take it to be the end all be all. My son did work on one of his songs extensively at an intensive over the summer and performed it at the showcase at the end and it really helped him.
Some summer programs explicitly work on audition material with you so at least have ideas or options you want to use, but you could end up changing it. Also, you’re going to need about 4 songs, two contrasting contemporary, one classic MT (pre 65) and a pop song so pick one or two of those and bring them. The other issue is if you have a song or monologue you like and consider it unique, if the work is done in front of the group other kids will use it too, so there’s that.
D took an auditioning class the summer before her senior year at a LORT theatre near us. It was intended for adults auditioning professionally but since she had taken improv classes there, they asked her and the other HS junior if they were interested. She did not have a coach for auditions, but worked with creatives from two theatres in this class. They worked on a lot of monologues and had mock auditions almost every class in front of 20 professionals. It was a very good experience.
D attended a college audition camp this past summer. Full of master classes given by top MT programs. Did mock auditions for those schools with full critique which was great. showed her what she neede to work on and that included choosing different material. At first it was quite humbling but then gave her a lot of confidence. We chose to spend that $ (wasn’t cheap) on the camp in lieu of visiting schools until she’s accepted. She’s not overly concerned about location, size, typical fit stuff.
Well worth the money and trade off of school visits as she learned she belongs in the tent. Maybe not the classic Disney Princess character but she’s interesting and that was noted.
YES, I suggest definitely working on college audition pieces during the summer programs! Industry feedback (even if they don’t like the selections) is invaluable. That gives you a chance to choose new material if necessary. Also you’ll be shooting your pre-screens in August/September so the summer is when you polish them. I can’t think of a reason not to???