ssjjkk

It's not the school that Ready4March is talking about, but I have a friend who is a junior Acting major at Emerson and has not been cast in any "main" productions there. Nothing against the program, of course. But I think, in regards to this topic, that it is crucial to look at casting policies! And to figure out which approach you favor more.

OddDad

This may be a tad off topic, but the idea of an audition coach has come up on this thread. If there is a more appropriate thread for this question, please tell me. Is anyone familiar with an audition coach in Colorado, especially in the Denver area. Preferably this coach would be acting oriented and have skills in college selection and fit for my daughter. I realize this is a very narrowly worded request. I'm hoping to get lucky. By the way, I am in the process of doing my own research as well. Thanks!

thtre12

Ok, I haven't read all of these posts thoroughly, but a few things keep coming up that I can't agree with from our experience.

1) Acting coaches. We did not use one and would not go back a do it differently. Some schools even put it in print that they advise against this (CMU is one). I think it was Emmybet who said something to the effect of, Everything my daughter did made her what she is. Don't put your faith and money into an acting coach who may simply put their own print on your child. If your child knows they love acting, if they have had any school or outside class experience, if you can see that being able to act is what makes your child tick - don't mess with it. If they have a teacher they engage with well - ask them for some audition work time. If you can find an internship, do it. Get them out into the theatre world and get comfortable with theatre people. Don't work hard to impress. And read and see a lot of plays.

Bottom line, I know when my daughter walked into every audition that she was responsible for her material because she wanted to do it - not because I pushed her. I know that she was confidant because she had put herself in front of total strangers with the material and the audition was just like any other "stranger." She was totally relaxed. She could feel good about that even if they didn't accept her.

2) Unifieds. I strongly feel that that if you have a good chance at auditioning into any given program, you'll have a great chance if you audition on site - and the earlier the better. I posted this elsewhere, but the audition director at the school we audtioned EA at said, "We pretty much fill our theatre class with early applicants." If you get an early acceptance (as my D did) you have an ace in your pocket and you can shop around and be more relaxed. We did a few auditions in Chicago and it was a real lark - we enjoyed the scene and she was completely at ease. She already knew she was in and where she wanted to go. (And no, she was not accepted from these audtions even though she felt they went well and had a great rapport with the auditioners.)We did see some real stressed/uptight kids and parents. I know that not everyone can afford to travel for auditions. We rarely take vactions and drive when we do. We are not wealthy. But it is worth it if you can do it. Combine it with a tour. Ask questions. Meet students. If you can do it at your top choice, do it.

OddDad

thtre12: Thank you for your comments. In a general sense I agree with your statements about an acting coach. However, I distinguish between an acting coach and an individual who might provide a fairy limited amount of assistance with monologue choices and college selection. I'm not thinking in terms of dozens of acting classes. Given that our time and energy is very limited, some help with the audition process is necessary.

snapdragonfly

I agree with Odddad - we used MTCA and wow was that ever great to have some help with just finding and sifting through material - especially if you are not in a school with a strong drama teacher who is especially knowledgable about the process (ours was not) or has absolutely ZERO, I mean zero, MT knowledge (ours had none - no dance experience, couldn't read music, didn't know thing one about MT programs...I am still puzzled as to her credentials but oh well...) and you really don't have the resources. A good coach doesn't force material on a kid but helps them find something that fits which they love. :-) And it's just wonderful to have that support all along the way.

It takes resources to do this. Some people have enough resources they can do it fine without coaching...as for us it probably saved about five years off my life. lol.

In our situation, I would absolutely do that again. Not everyone needs coaching, but we did.

OnceActed

Our own experience with unifieds agrees with that of Thtre12. Our D auditioned at the Chicago unifieds without success. However, the story was very different for regional auditions. These were auditions held by individual schools, but at a distance from campus, and our D was accepted into 2 of the 4 BFA programs she auditioned for. Although as an individual experience this should be interpreted cautiously, it bears thinking about.

In any case parents should be aware that there is a third option beyond unified and on-campus auditions, and that is single-school regionals.

Colorado51

I would like to add to the conversation regarding acting coaches. We did hire an audition coach for our daughter which worked out quite well. Our coach was a young actress in Chicago who happened to be an old family friend, and we live in Colorado, so all coaching was done through Skype! I must say it was wonderful, so think outside the box on this. Distance is not necessarily a hindrance! Our daughter attends a large suburban high school with an excellent performing arts department, but we felt she would go into auditioning more confidently with some one on one coaching.

Here are the pluses that we saw to coaching:
1. Coach helped daughter in finding a wider and lesser known repertoire of monologues. Through questioning she was able to help daughter find monologues that were age appropriate from lesser known playwrights, that showed good contrast of emotions in a short monologue.
2. Coach (MFA Acting) really helped my daughter in thinking deeply about the character's motives in the monologue and play. (Much better than high school teachers had done.) This is most likely because it was one on one coaching, and from a highly trained actress!
3. Husband and I know nothing about acting skills, so it was great to get extra assurance regarding our daughter's skills before we spent thousands on traveling to auditions and campus visits thousands of miles away. We discovered that we were right about her talent, and we were not simply proud parents with blinders.
4. Coach helped raise our daughter's confidence level simply by being there for her. It was another set of eyes (trained eyes mind you) who gave our daughter positive feedback and constructive criticism that she REALLY listened intently to.
5. I believe there are many more small tweaks, hints things to think about, and more that she discussed with our daughter from the perspective of someone who is earning a living as an actress. We would never have been able to know these things as people not in the profession.
6. We found her eager to take our daughter in as her first student, and we didn't pay an arm and a leg.

Hope this helps with peoples' thinking on this subject!

TheatreMom1024

I agree with most of the information here (especially having some kind of coach that is familiar with the audition process and material needed), so I am only adding something new to the discussion. My best advice would be to start the applications early, preferably before senior year begins. My D had to write over 20 essays for 7 schools and their various scholarship applications, she was so stressed out trying to do all of this, keep up with her schoolwork, shows, etc. If she had done them before school started, it would have been much easier. The common app is usually available starting Aug 1st and most other schools have their apps up around the same time. You can also get a head start by looking at last year's applications because they don't change too much from year to year. If you can get some of the basic essays out of the way in early summer (ones like Why do you want to major in theatre? and Why this school?), there will be more time available to concentrate on perfecting the big essays for scholarships, as well as audition materials.

TheatreMom1024

edit: Also, most schools require both their applications and their scholarship applications to be done by November 1st, so it is a huge crunch time that 1st semester, especially if you need to take the SAT again.

snapdragonfly

So true. Then if you have a theater teacher who doesn't realize that the time for them to have their big huge role would have been their JUNIOR year, and they finally get cast in a nice big lead role their SENIOR year, it *really* wreaks havoc on the schedule trying to fit auditions in around rehearsals and the shows, so having already done those essays, while everyone says to do it and few actually do, would be a huge boon to those who did. Because you know you won't have the heart to make them turn down Tracy in Hairspray or whatever, especially if they've spent the last three years watching other kids get the roles (on account of that same teacher thinking it always had to be a senior...or whatever...rrrr)


My D did start on hers and get some done in the summer, which was better than none done at all, but though it is so hard to make yourself do those in the summer, boy is it ever worth it. Excellent suggestion. She was so exhausted by the time the whole thing was over...of course she got mono which didn't help - so I would add, to do whatever you think is necessary for your child to not get sick. For most people that means making sure to get a flu shot early and keeping up with somehow, enough rest whenever possible, and stock up on the Emergen-C and get a good humidifier for their bedroom, and so forth.

glassharmonica

I bought a travel humidifer for the hotel rooms during audition travel. It works with a regular water-bottle (and can be refilled with tap water.) It made a huge difference in comfort. I felt lucky my daughter did not get sick during those trips.

singer11

Our daughter did a walk-in at Unifieds for an acting program - the only straight acting program she auditioned for along with 15+ MT programs. She ended up with multiple offers and selected the walk-in Acting program and couldn't be happier!!! Don't close any doors!!

CCer2014

"^ And what makes me mad is that the boys have it so much easier. A boy at my daughter's school got into CMU. This is a kid who skips school, does drugs and smokes, and doesn't make good grades at all. I actually lost a little respect for CMU for admitting him! He doesn't get respect from the kids at school either but he's a boy and was cast in just about everything. The only consolation is that kids like this can't handle the hard work that goes into the craft!"

not saying that i'm like this boy you're describing however...but the characteristics you are using to describe the boy can't really define if the boy is talented or not. one of the best actors i know in one of the classes above me apparently was belligerent 90% of his freshman year, and a quarter of the times that I run into him I'm sure he's been drinking...but all the work as an actor that I see him do is solid and he's just been cast in show this summer at a very well known and respected theatre. It's clear he does a lot of work whenever it comes to acting and is prepared for projects that do matter. This can be said for many people in my program. Some of the most amazing people to watch aren't the ones who are necessarily the ones who are the most well behaved. I'll even admit. I skip half of my academic classes and even failed the two I was taking aside from my BFA core last semester...I'm currently unsure if I'll pass one of my academics this semester. This does not bleed into my acting work at all and often times it's because i'm consumed by everything I'm putting towards my BFA work. I killed myself in hs with all my AP and honors courses and now realize that I shouldn't be wasting my precious energy in areas that aren't peaking my interest now...especially in classes with students who are a hundred times less inspiring and less motivated to learn than my company. So if this boy doesn't give a darn about anything and isn't your picture of the student who "deserves" to get admitted to a "top" program so be it. No one knows how his audition went...it must have been amazing for him to even be considered let alone accepted. If you're convinced he's never deserved anything he's gotten, he had to have worked his butt off in that audition room. CMU is known for spending lots of time with students they're interested in and for throwing the strangest things at kids--my audition for that school the year I auditioned was really long I remember and it was one of the most exhausting and required so much energy to keep up with what the auditor was asking of me. The boy must have taken lots of risks in that room to get the acceptance. And that's the thing, sometimes the kids who are the heavy drinkers, smokers, etc...the "wilder" ones who don't care as much seem to have it easy. They don't have to work so hard to learn how to be risky in their acting because they're already so free in their own life.

There's a guy who guest teaches at my school. He's a graduate of Juilliard and I remember him telling us a story about the problems that the companies he knew experienced. The classes who were full of heavy drinkers or drug users had put themselves in the position to be very open and vulnerable...they would have an easy time having access to their emotions whenever they worked, but they faced huge monsters in their own life. His class, however, was full of people who behaved well and took care of themselves...they ate well and worked out and their bodies were in really great condition. Unlike the other classes, they held more tension that was buried deeper in them and made it harder for them to get access into their emotional well.

This is the case with most acting programs. There is a range in the types of students you meet in these places. Plenty of them will be the well mannered kids that you say deserve to be in these programs, but then the other half will probably be very similar to the boy you have described. The thing, I've noticed and learned, however...no matter what, EVERYONE who comes to these programs and stays is extremely dedicated to their craft...either from day 1 or they eventually learn how to implement discipline into their work. We all figure out that we love the work too much to not do our work and therefore jeopardize our own growth as actors.

NJTheatreMOM

CCer2014, thanks for the time you took to explain your perspective on this.

MomCares

>>> We were prepared to allow it, but I was concerned about not being able to have selections at the end. He got into his ED choice and as I think about it, he made the right decision and if left to me to lead him away from it, I would have made an incorrect decision. He may still have been accepted to the same school and had other choices but in the end it worked out for him to have it all done early. If ED is doable, I would really think about it for other students.


I would like to second all of the above! I was out of state dealing with a family emergency during the month our D made her final list last year, and to everyone's surprise her top choice was a school with binding ED. If I had been home I very likely would have tried to talk her into applying RD, but it is absolutely the best place she could have landed and I am SO glad we let her apply ED!! Her intuition was spot on, which is probably true for many actors.

I'd also add that at her school 40% of the class is filled ED, and they are a very talented bunch. They get TONS of audition practice once there, so don't assume that going through the entire college audition process increases anyone's talent level OR even assume that all of the most talented kids even show up to the BFA auditions. In short, my biggest lesson learned was to keep an open mind about programs that don't fit the cc BFA audition mode.