State Thespian Auditions?

mybroadwaybaby
Tue, 30 Jun 2015 23:39:59 +0000

Hi @BeccaW444 ! The high school that my daughter and son both attended (Webster MT '15 and USC Acting '19) hosts the Washington State Thespian Auditions in October and has for the last 8 or so years!

They are held on a Saturday, this year it is October 10th. Generally the details come out in later summer/early fall on the Washington State Thespian Website, and include an application and a small fee. I believe the application is now through ACCEPTD.

There are 20+ schools that come each year……they have varied over the years……but have included these, as listed by kksmom5 above:

AMDA (American Musical and Dramatic Academy) CAP21
Central Washington University
Cornish College of the Arts
New School For Drama, The
New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts
Northern Arizona University
Roosevelt University
Savannah College of Art and Design
Santa Fe University of Art and Design
Theatre of Arts, Hollywood
University of Arizona
University of the Arts
University of Evansville
University of Minnesota - The Guthrie BFA
University of Northern Colorado
University of Oklahoma – BOTH the musical theatre school and the school of Drama University of Washington (New Musical Theatre program)
Webster University
Western Washington University
Willamette University
USC

and others……

It is a very friendly setting!

This has been the basic information for the last few years, but do note that it could change at any time, so it is best to wait for the information from Thespians to come out for specific details:

Thespians provide the rubric for auditioning……usually something along the lines of 90 seconds to do 2 monologues, a song and a monologue, etc. Live accompaniment has even provided in the past.

Participants audition in a nice sized black box theatre in front of all of the school folks at the same time. After the auditions, “Call=backs” are posted. Those CB’s take the form of any one of these three options: An interview type meeting at a table in the Commons area, an interview in a private space at the school, or a legitimate call-back in a private room. All three can and do happen.

The event lasts most of the day on Saturday, as the callbacks are usually posted after lunch, with the meetings happening from 2-ish to wish. Parents can hang out in the very nice Commons area with their kids, and many do.

Insofar as on the spot acceptances go, they ABSOLUTELY happen every year. I know many students who have had the experience, including my own. So what does that mean? It usually means that the program is offering you a spot….but you still have to officially apply to the University/College/Etc………so, although acceptances to the program itself came in writing a couple of weeks later, the full university acceptance doesn’t come until you have completed applications in general.

Do all schools offer on-the-spot acceptances? Absolutely not…….many schools use these events as screenings……some use them as official pre-screens,Oklahoma’s MT program did. They offered invitations to the call back weekend from the Washington State Thespian Events. But you’d be surprised by some of the great schools that do accept on the spot.

Scholarship money? Yes! Many students have received acceptances and scholarship money based on the auditions at Washington State Thespians.

Does your school need to have a Thespian Troupe to attend? I don’t think so. I believe the fee is higher for non-Thespian members…….but i believe you can attend whether there is a troupe at your school. Again, this could change, but i believe has been the policy of late. Just a note, i believe you must be an inducted Thespian to attend the Nebraska Interntional Thespian Auditions, which just happened last week. They are quite a lot bigger, but the format is very similar, as are the results.

I am a big fan of International Thespians….so many things to offer, well beyond the college auditions.

hope that helps!