<p>So I think we should start a new thread. And people can ask any questions, discuss auditions, etc. All in one place! So let’s start! Where are people auditioning? Are you finding monologues already?</p>
<p>I love it! The baton has passed! Good luck to you all!</p>
<p>I plan to start pestering my son about monologues as soon as he returns from his school service trip. He will have a chance to consult with some mentors at his summer theater program, and I will drag him to the Theater Bookshop in NYC in July. We have a family road-trip planned which will offer him some time to read over a few plays. He’s very familiar with Shakespeare, and will have a pretty easy time selecting monologues (he’s developed a number of them through the years), but will need to search for more modern material. He has been cast in character roles, which are not suitable for audition material (too old, or dialect-heavy). He wants an urban “campus,” preferably in NYC, Boston, or Chicago, but we are NJ residents, and so he’ll add Montclair State and Rutgers/Mason Gross. He will also probably apply to UArts in Philadelphia. Right now, Tisch is his reach (a very long reach); Emerson, Fordham-Lincoln Center, DePaul, and Mason Gross are possibly within reach; CCPA, U Arts, Pace, and Montclair State would seem fairly realistic; Columbia College Chicago will probably be his “safety.” Depending on how his grades and test scores trend in the fall, we might add an extra reach (e.g. BU) more audition-only schools (e.g. Cornish, Point Park, et al), and possibly give Juilliard a try. He auditions and interviews very well; boards are okay (1900+; 600-700 each); grades are inconsistent.</p>
<p>stagemum, we are in close to the same boat as you: rising senior with lots of good experience (a year with a professional Shakespeare company, which is likely to continue next year), and acceptance into the Tisch summer drama program for July, but lackluster grades. We will likely be focusing on schools in the northeast that emphasize auditions, which is a strong point for our child.</p>
<p>One quick piece of advice. Once you have even a tentative list, have a look at the schools’ requirements for monologues now. They vary and you should be aware of the types of monologues that will be necessary. Back when my D auditioned, very few, if any schools, would require, or want, a Shakespeare monologue. Some will ask for one classical and one contemporary, some will want one dramatic and one comedic with both from contemporary plays, etc. Those of you who are starting now in finding audition material are wise! It’s never too early to start, just as it’s never too early to start researching schools and I’m sure most of you are well on your way with that task.</p>
<p>Question time, I am an actress primarily interested in a film career. Now, I am well aware that theater is the basis of all acting, film or stage. Actually, my training currently is theater. I am curious about college though…do most of the student films by film majors cast roles from the school of theater students? Or do they have other film students in their films? I want to be sure that I am going to a school where I can get my acting training from theater and can fulfill my film dreams through student films. Is that the way it is at most schools? Or will I need to be a film major to get that “film experience”? I do not know if this makes any sense. I think I’m confusing myself… But if anyone has advice, it would be helpful. </p>
<p>Ps. I am looking at schools that have both film and theater majors. Also, schools with bfa in acting programs, which I feel are more acting in general centered, as opposed to film or stage.</p>
<p>lauren - I can tell you that at the University of Texas, the film students cast from the entire community. My D was in her first UT student film when she was 14. In that one, there were NO UT students at all in the cast - the actors were adults in their 30s and 40s and another middle schooler. The last one she did, there was 1 UT student in the cast and he was an RTF major. Again in that one there was another high schooler and an actor in his 40s or 50s. The UT film students have open calls and all kinds of people show up. Also, keep in mind that if you are going to school in a city where there is an active television and film community, you will have opportunities to be cast outside of the school environment as well. My D was cast in tv and independent and feature film movies here in Austin. So at least here you certainly don’t need to be a film major to get the film experience.</p>
<p>The schools my daughter applied to definitely had ample opportunity for theatre majors to act in film students projects. She just completed her sophomore year and has acted in about 6 films and one tv series (that I know of, there may be others). Two of the films were by graduate students and very worth putting on her reel.</p>
<p>Of course as austinmtmom said, if they’re looking for a 6 or 60 year old actor they are clearly going to go outside of the college student population! Actually when my daughter was beginning her career as a kid she did many NYU films, I forgot all about that!</p>
<p>Oh, and I wouldn’t make any generalization about BFA programs being “more acting in general centered, as opposed to film or stage.” No two programs whether BFA or BA are alike!</p>
<p>My daughter, henceforth to be known as D4 (which sounds like a vitamin) is our 4th kid to go to college. Each has chosen an entirely different discipline with entirely different application procedures, so it’s a learning process each time. At least, by now, we are good at adapting to new circumstances. </p>
<p>D4 is extremely self-directed. I don’t get involved with her artistic choices and decisions but I do facilitate by helping her with deadlines and other “administrative assistant” type chores. She posts occasionally on CC herself.</p>
<p>She is not worried about monologues-- when I questioned her recently she said she has about 8 monologues ready to go at any given time. She is lucky to have the capacity to memorize quickly. When she gets back from her summer program she will start to figure out which monologues to use for her auditions.</p>
<p>As for her background, she has done a lot of stage theater, some MT (but will not pursue MT-- does not have the right kind of voice), some film (including one role in a major picture that has funded her summer programs and coaching), and is an aerialist specializing in hoop. She has studied music most of her life (which I think is why she is good a memorizing), including classical string instruments, which she no longer studies, some voice, and currently guitar. She is a singer/songwriter and has a decent grasp of music theory. She is also a playwright. She has good grades (except for one unfortunate C in gym). Her ACT score is 29 (she had a severe migraine during the test) and she plans to retake in the fall. She has two private coaches: one is a young woman trained in Australia, a working actress with a strong Shakespeare background. The other is a top local coach with a broad theater background who was recommended to us by a CC member to whom I will be eternally grateful. This mentor is extremely generous, caring, and supportive, and I feel very lucky since I don’t know much about the theater world myself. The two coaches complement each other well. D4 also takes lessons at a local actors center and is a member of their quasi-professional teen theater company.</p>
<p>She plans to apply to BFA theater arts programs, some BA programs and a couple of LA schools with good theater programs. Her top choices at the moment are: Juilliard (she realizes it’s a reach; she attended one of their preview days last month and loved it), Fordham (particularly attractive for its playwriting minor); BU (visited it, loved it), Carnegie Mellon (is about to attend the summer program there). Also applying to Emerson (visited-- and I loved it more than she did), SUNY Purchase and a few others. Rutgers and Tisch she will probably apply to but has reservations about being pigeonholed early into a particular method. Maybe Marymount, since she does like NYC. UArts is local and she will certainly apply but is not crazy about staying in Philadelphia. Safety is Temple U-- a decent school that she should not have problems getting into. She could live with it. She will probably apply to at least one UK program and to several other auditioned BA schools. For LA schools we are thinking about Bard, Sarah Lawrence, and maybe Barnard.</p>
<p>This summer she is going to the Carnegie Mellon pre college program. She is also producing and directing her own Fringe Festival show, to to be held in mid-September. And she will be an actor/aerialist/co-producer in a second show that is being directed by her sister, to be held in early September. D4’s show (produced on a shoestring but funded by her movie $) is a learning experience: she had to secure a venue, work with the festival on several levels (I’m helping out with the graphic design), and is in the process of holding casting auditions. It is a small cast, and she will be doing the rehearsals, blocking, etc., when she returns from CM in August. </p>
<p>The Fringe experience has been valuable to her already because she has changed her potential major from a straight acting BFA to theater arts.</p>
<p>I know all this sounds very ambitious and hopeful. But one has to aim high to have a chance of hitting a high target. In my limited experience, low expectations can produce an immediate kind of satisfaction (I think D2 aimed too low when she did her applications, and has just transferred to a better program as a junior). But with a decent safety in place and a few as-yet-unselected less competitive auditioned BFAs, the hope is that she should have some choices come April/May.</p>
<p>Amtc, where is your daughter at school? Thanks guys for your help. I’ve been so stressed recently about all this I’ve become crazy with the cc posts. Wish I just knew everything! Hahaha. But thanks for putting up with my questions, I’m learning a lot.</p>
<p>Why am I not surprised I have ANOTHER question…has anyone heard of theater majors double majoring? I know that is hard with bfa programs because of the course load but I was contemplating theater/film double major or theater/screenwriting double major…is it possible?</p>
<p>Possible if the theater degree was a ba program, rather than a bfa. Sorry my post was incomplete.</p>