<p>Meg,
You are asking good questions. A lot of these things have been discussed in depth here in the past. One good thing to do is to go through threads on the MT Forum (you can search by topic). For instance, there is a long thread about songs and monologues. There is a thread about overdone songs. Then, also read through all the threads on the NYU/Tisch forum and you will find out SO much!</p>
<p>I know back when my daughter auditioned, I wrote about the audition process at the schools and I know I wrote about her audition process at Tisch (she auditioned winter 2005, RD). </p>
<p>But to answer about choosing monologues…Let me begin by saying that prior to the application year, my daughter had never taken any drama/acting classes or lessons (our school or community doesn’t have these) but she was in some acting class at her summer theater camp in another state. That was it. She didn’t already have any monologues. She did not do an extensive search like many do (I’ll admit this!). She got an acting coach from Sept. through Jan. of that year for weekly sessions to work on the monologues. We got some books but also this acting coach/teacher (who is on the faculty in NYC at Circle in the Square Theater School) gave her some monologue/play suggestions and lent them to her…just a few. She picked from those, plus she picked one of her monologues from a play she had scene that summer twice. She had four total monologues. I think it is good to read monologue books (that come from actual plays) and see if any are appealing and then get the whole play for the ones that you connect with. Also, there are monologue resources online. It is helpful to work with either an acting coach, drama teacher or director who can double check if your monologues are well suited to you (or even suggest some) and also help you as you work on your interpretation. </p>
<p>My daughter tends to find her own song material. She is well versed on the MT repertoire out there and is always listening to and finding music and I suggest you do that and not just rely on suggestions from a voice teacher (but those are good too) My personal opinion is that I"m Not Afraid of Anything" is getting overdone and also JRB songs can be hard for an accompanist (this song may not be that hard though). Doing NATS would be great for you to do and see how you fare. Those types of things are good to get some idea of your competitiveness. And prepping for it and auditioning is good practice (we don’t have NATS here but I know kids who have done well with it in other states). </p>
<p>You misunderstood about my D’s height and casting. Definitely people her size get cast in shows! She just knows she isn’t the chorus girl type that way. And there are plenty of girls shorter than her who do real well (but also are not in chorus). For example, the friend I mentioned who graduated CAP21, played a lead in the Spelling Bee Tour and she is just 4’11" and will be in ensemble in Godspell on Bdway (but that is not like a chorus girl part that I was talking about). </p>
<p>So, she is not afraid of getting cast due to height but simply she knows her “type”. Sometimes that height can come in handy. She played the lead in the Tisch Mainstage musical this past season and was lucky as the role was a character who was 12 and so this was a good fit. Just know your type.</p>
<p>RossJi who posts here, has a daughter who is a rising senior in CAP21 and she is a very talented soprano singer and she is 4’10"!</p>
<p>Tonight, my daughter performed with Celia Keenan-Bolger and met her. She played Olive in Spelling Bee on Bdway and Eponine in the Les Mis revival. She is pretty short too. So is Kerry Butler (Xanadu, Little Shop, Bat Boy, Hairspray). And of course Kristin Chenowith. Go for it!</p>