| theatermom,
Where did your D go to school? I thought I was the only musical theater-obsessed Quaker high school girl out there. I'm a Quaker myself so I know a lot of the schools out there in the PA area. It's true that while they may be open and caring and interested in diversity, the budget for theater is nada (at least at my school).
anyway,
Prarie Flower,
I just auditioned for Steinhardt Voice Performance major last Saturday. I expected cold, unfeeling judges that would rush me through my 15-minute slot but that was not the case at all. I got there about an hour ahead of time to sign in and warm up. The girl at the desk on the 7th floor of the education building was very friendly, and she gave me a sheet to fill out the names and composers of the songs I was singing, so I didn't even have to announce them when I got in there. Then I went up to the 9th floor and practiced in a small but resonant practice room--I was lucky enough to find one with a piano. I got a good 20 minutes in there, then went back down and waited for the girl before me to finish.
When I got in the room there were three men that asked me to go onto a small stage with a piano. One of the men took my music and played for me (he tended to speed up the accompaniment, but obviously he was very good). I sang my first song and at the end they asked me some questions about it and had me sing through the first phrase a few times under their direction--they even said nice things like "you know we're doing this because we think you're really talented". Then they let me choose the next song, but stopped me before the end so they could hear the beginning of my third song.
The one thing that tripped me up was that besides a line of super-easy sightreading, they had a music theory test. They asked me to play certain notes on the piano and identify intervals--not just "that's a third," but "that's a harmonic third." I choked on the interval test, so brush up on your music theory! They had me do my monologue last and didn't even look up during it so I guess acting isn't quite as important to them. But they were friendly and the atmosphere was very comfortable and supporting.
Hope this helps. Good luck!
~Dianne |