freshman auditions?

Broadwayactress · 07-08-2008, 07:47 PM

Hello,
I am hoping to get into the theatre program but coming in as a freshman I have no idea what i have to prepare. Are there certain requirements, such as song choices?... etc. If I could get some feedback that would be great!

JeffB · 07-09-2008, 01:15 AM

At Fullerton, there are no freshmen auditions. You come in with everyone else and take the same classes as everyone else, then in your sophomore year you go through a series of juries throughout the year and by the end of your sophomore year, they've picked the BFA class to. You can still continue to get your BA in General Theater if you don't make it into the BFA.

best of luck

Prof. Himmelheber · 07-09-2008, 11:45 AM

Jeff is absolutely right. If the university accepts you, and you write "Theatre" as your major of choice, then you're in. No separate application to the Theatre Dept. nor audition is required.

Let me know if you'd like more information - I can email you a letter explaining the whole process of "juries" (program audition) and "placement auditions" (for advancement into a higher level of coursework).

eve

JeffB · 07-09-2008, 11:36 PM

they're having placement auditions this year?

Prof. Himmelheber · 07-10-2008, 11:47 AM

Musical Theatre I (236A and B) both have placement auditions. 236A will happen at the second class meeting. We have two sections that can accommodate 24 students, and about 32 people are interested in each section. That means that if ALL the students are qualified (at an advanced level, ready to begin the Mus. Th. BFA track), then we COULD open a third section. My experience has been that about 2/3 of the students are deficient in voice training, and so the need for another section has never been an issue.

Freshmen did their "Acting II (240A) placement auditions" in May.

If not accepted into 236A, you can still jury - you'll just be advised to use the year to work on the deficiency (we have had students that took the opportunity, and who made the program after diligently applying themselves to "catch up"). Remember, you don't need 236A and B to jury...

We're trying to call the BFA entrance auditions the "jury," and the individual class-related placement auditions as "placement auditions" to avoid confusion.

eve

JeffB · 07-11-2008, 10:54 PM

oh, when you said placement auditions, i thought you meant for incoming freshmen for their fall classes. We all called the placement auditions "evaluations", so that's where I got confused.

Prof. Himmelheber · 07-13-2008, 03:19 PM

Ah-HAH! Therein lies the confusion in terminology we are trying to codify:

Placement audition = audition to advance to the next class level (in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Acting, Musical Theatre...I think that's all of them). Most of these placement auditions take place at the end of a semester (dance and acting, and MT 236A) and some at the beginning of the semester (another dance set for incoming students, and most notably into the Musical Theatre 236A course (over 60 students and only 48 positions in the two sections combined).

Juries = the big audition at the end of the sophomore level/prerquisite coursework, all with the correct grades (B- minimum for all performance courses). This is when the BFA junior classes for the following fall are determined.

Thank you for helping out on these posts, Jeff. It's great to have the student input.

eve