Books and other resources for MT students

<p>Emily thank you!</p>

<p>Just saw in an email that there’s a new 2014 Edition of Mary Anna Dennard’s book ā€œI Got In.ā€ – updated with info about prescreens, new programs, etc. Just FYI :)</p>

<p>Stagelighter.com is a newish video coaching service. Prices are very reasonable and you can get feedback from very well known MT college professors as well as professionals in the field.</p>

<p>Wish I could remember the name of the book but it was written by an accompanist about auditions for theater productions. Very appropriate for college auditions as well! Always be nice to the accompanist! If I can dig out the book I will post the title.</p>

<p>@MT17WSU - I believe the book that you refer to is: The Enraged Accompanist’s Guide to the Perfect Audition by Andrew Gerle.</p>

Reading through this thread with great interest - will be ordering some of the books recommended here. If you don’t go with a professional coach, how do you go about finding songs/monologues for the audition? How/where can you get the sheet music and the digital accompaniment for the songs? What tools do you use to make the ā€œcutsā€ needed for the audition?

Terrific new post regarding choices for auditions songs and monologues on VoiceTeacher’s college audition blog - auditioningforcollege dot com/2015/06/08/advice-from-musical-theatre-faculty/

I think someone may have mentioned this before but Walmart.com actually has a pretty good selection of sheet music (some vocal books and even individual songs and other books about acting and auditioning and things), and they have a great selection of plays. I’ve made a goal to read a play just about every week because I’m mostly familiar with musicals. Another thing I’ve been doing is searching Amazon (they have some nicely priced vocal books, cast albums, and plays), and used book stores (both online and some local ones). I’ve found this to be a great way to build up my collection. Most plays at used book stores are around $4.

Mary Anna Dennard has a new book out for young teens – i.e., 8th-9th-10th graders – called ā€œBefore I Got In.ā€ I am recommending it to all the parents I know whose kids are just starting on this path. Good sections on ā€œwhat I wish I’d knownā€ and theatre camps. I can’t post a direct link here, but you can find it on Amazon, with lots of reviews to read.

Admit One: Ten Steps to Choosing your Acting or Musical Theatre College Program-this saved my life. The last half of the book has a set of surveys answered by all kinds of colleges(from the top tier, to those just getting started)

Also Jonathan Floms books are pretty great! He’s the MT head at Shenandoah and his books are not only about the audition process but really about being able to market yourself and your ā€œtypeā€

Just noticed on Mary Anna Dennard’s College Audition Coach website (I’m not posting the link – you can find it via google) that she’s offering a new a la carte service to provide just monologue suggestions if that’s all you need.

I would honestly suggest a strong college audition vocal coach as your priority. You need to find someone who knows audition repertoire and vocal technique and expression with acting a song. A good college audition vocal coach builds you a book that maximizes your talent, opportunities, and balances your monologues and dance ability. Because if your songs aren’t right, you usually don’t get a real shot at showing them anything else.