I think most of the places in NYC are walkable – might be a 5-10 minute walk if the audition site is somewhere other than the two Pearl buildings or Ripley-Grier. All three are within a block of each other, not even 10 minutes walking from room to room unless the elevators are extremely busy at one of them, including checking in at the security desk in the lobby of the building you’re entering which during peak times can take a few minutes. But transit between buildings shouldn’t be on your worry list. You won’t need to use cabs or the subway unless you’re going somewhere other than the two Pearl buildings or R-G.
@toystorymom - I would stay near Pearl and bring a lightweight rolly bag for hauling gear! We walk just about everywhere in NYC when we visit - we take subways and Uber only when there are long single-shot trips. Uber/taxis are generally much slower than the subway. Once you get used to the idea that walking + subway is your best bet and you equip yourself (comfy shoes, a warm jacket and a good bag) it really is easy to get around.
Subway in NY is definitely the most reliable as far as getting places on time, never know what NYC traffic can be like. walking is easy too but might create problems if you have a suitcase full of stuff like my D 
. Pearl and ripley are just a few short blocks from Penn station and you can get nearly everywhere from penn. I like the app city mapper as it can be used in NY,Chicago, Boston for all mass transit…hope that helps
Would love to hear about Tampa college consortium auditions this past weekend from anyone who attended. Was it well run? How were the auditions at each school? etc.
Can anyone speak firsthand about auditioning for Texas State, Indiana, and Texas Tech musical theater programs? We are at Texas State on January 25th; Chicago Unifieds the week of February 3rd; Indiana on February 9th; and Texas Tech on February 15.
D attended the Tampa College Consortium. She went by herself so I can only speak to what she said. It was very organized. She had 2 scheduled auditions and a group dance call on Saturday and did 3 walk ins on Sunday. The group dance call was nice. Only had to do it once with all the schools in attendance. Was told at walk ins that they noticed her at the dance call so that’s good.
Great overall experience and should provide some confidence / momentum heading into Unifieds.
Felt really good about 4 of the 5 auditions, especially after speaking with the faculty for a few minutes.
Thanks to all who provided NYC transportation advice–@Dance3Looks3, @CaMom13 & @NYYFanNowMTdad–all greatly appreciated! Not to keep on this topic too long, but was asking because we’ll be staying at a hotel near Unifieds/Pearl Studios but have to get to NYU on Fri. and then to Chelsea Studios on Sun. I’m seeing that Chelsea Studios is only about a 15 min walk, but NYU seemed more of a trek… Have been to NYC several times but have always walked/taken cabs, so we’re subway newbies!
Any school-specific audition feedback from Tampa weekend would be great to hear–especially about Rider. D auditioned on-campus in December for W. Connecticut State and Hartt, so can offer more info on those in a separate post.
D auditioned at W. Connecticut State and Hartt in December–both were on-campus, so I can’t speak to how either school would run things at Unifieds. It did look like many students did the same as we did and visited both CT schools the same weekend.
W. Conn. organized a very nice day–it was a great way to ease into D’s first live auditions. They started with informal tours of the facilities, followed by an info session for both parents & kids with a panel of faculty and current students. The dance call came next, divided into 2 groups. I overheard several people saying they thought the dance call was hard, but D said it was challenging but fun. D had a later audition time, so we took a break for lunch and returned a bit early so D could warm up–she particularly loved their great practice rooms and the opportunity to talk with current students while waiting to audition. As it turned out, there was a matinee performance in the theatre & families could get complimentary tickets, so I went to the show while D waited for her turn, as she had a long wait… For her audition, she said there was only the program director at the table and a faculty member from the earlier panel as accompanist. She did get to chat a bit at the end but wasn’t asked to do any additional material–she wondered if that was partly because she was toward the end of the audition day? All in all, it was a very warm, welcoming environment and D had a very positive feeling about the day.
Hartt was definitely more business-like, I’d say. There was an info session for parents, held during the dance call. The info session had a panel of faculty and current and former students. D felt the dance call was harder than at W. Conn., partly because it was in 2 parts–ballet, followed by a jazz combo–and she’s not really strong in ballet. Hartt had a couple of practice rooms available for warm-ups, but there were just a couple, and they weren’t very private. We had a long wait, again, for D’s audition slot, and spent most of that time sitting in a hallway with everyone else–will definitely have to bring more to read/do for Unifieds! She said she liked and felt good about the audition, but I don’t recall how many people she said were at the table–she did mention one woman particularly, who asked questions. She was told ahead that she might only have to perform 1 of her 2 songs, but was asked to do both. Again, overall a good day, but D felt there was less opportunity for informal interaction with current students, which she’d enjoyed the day before.
Hope that’s helpful! BAL to everyone in their upcoming auditions!
@toystorymom From Pearl to Chelsea is a 15 minute walk, 3/4 of a mile. Definitely walk it!
From Pearl to NYU you can either go to Penn Station and pick up the A or C or E subway to 4th Street and 6th Ave then walk east across Washington Square to Tisch on Broadway or (my preferred route) walk east from Pearl to 34th St and 6th Ave (Herald Square) and take the R or W subway to 8th street station which is only a couple of blocks from Tisch. It’s easier than it sounds. Just remember from Pearl to Tisch you’re going Downtown and from Tisch to Pearl you’re going Uptown! That’s one thing all the NY subways take for granted that you know already - uptown trains are generally on one platform and downtown on another.
Hi - happy to give a rundown of the IU audition. We were there in November. We got there early - about a half-hour before things were supposed to start. Richard Roland (head of department) went around to each kid and personally introduced himself and asked a little about each auditionee. It set such a lovely tone for the whole day.
Once everyone was checked in, the kids and their parents were ushered into their black box theatre and there was a Q&A with Mr. Roland and 10-12 current students. Then the auditionees were broken into two groups and went either to the dance call or an improv class with Mr. Roland. The parents stayed with the current students and they answered questions for an additional hour and then gave us a tour of their facilities.
Then there was a lunch break and they started the individual auditions. D did both her songs and monologue and then they asked for an additional song. We really loved IU.
Does anyone have feedback on Western Ct and Nazereth BFA programs (MT)? Not much on CC. D auditioned and got good feedback. DOn’t know anyhting about the schools other than what their websites say.
Safe to say that these lesser known, more regional schools provide similar quality training as their national peers? Is it just that they are smaller, recruit from a smaller , regional pool or are they smaller because they aren’t the real deal?
@rickle1 My daughter knows three girls who attend Nazareth for MT. All of them love the program and the school. They are able to perform as freshman .One of the girls chose Naz over more well known programs such as Elon and Emerson and is very happy with her choice. We know several students who attend for other majors and all are loving their experiences. BAL
Wanted to bump this thread to see if anyone had some information on Manhattan School of Music’s MT auditions?
Maybe you and your child’s thoughts, how the day goes, etc.
Thanks!
@billboy1 I have heard MSM’s audition is very warm and supportive but I don’t have first hand knowledge.
Does anyone have any intel on Emerson’s musical theatre audition?
On Campus?
@mamaboyz My son auditions next week at Unifieds but I will take any intel.
My only intel is an on campus audition last year so it’s probably not applicable to Unifieds. There was a short parent presentation after the kids were taken away to begin auditions which was sufficiently informative to give you a sense of the program. The dance call was standard. My recollection is that there was one vocal auditor and one monologue auditor and that it was the type of audition where they did not react. My overall impression was that it was efficient, professional and to the point.
Thanks @mindatwork !
I would be dressed in a way that I could make bold choices, but also remember that faculty is evaluating the student still as part of the audition process. Auditions begin at check-in, not at monologues. I would wear something that I could roll on the ground in if I wanted to, because (as faculty members of a BFA acting institution) we want to see how bold of choices you can make. If you’re wearing a suit or heels then you probably will be limited in your movement choices. Gone are the days of looking “professional” for auditions. I would recommend something sharp and but still age and lifestyle appropriate (they’re not business people, they’re kids). Jeans, leggings (not see-through), leather jackets–I’m cool with all of them. Not all faculty is the same, of course, but I would say that the majority of “higher ranked” programs think this way.
There will be a brief amount of time in which to change clothes, too, if necessary, but we do sometimes find ourselves going “What happened to that girl in the green shirt?” and then later realize the “cool girl in the green shirt” changed into a brown dress.