My wife and I feel pretty good about the whole audition process, but we signed on with a national coaching service to help with details we couldn’t cover ourselves or with our local teachers. For example, our daughter’s voice teacher doesn’t have a lot of experience with pre-1960s shows, and many schools require such a cut as part of their audition. So the coaching service is providing suggestions. There’s a ton of other details they will help with: headshot recommendations, essay content and polish, schools we may not have considered, etc.
We also are looking forward the the service’s direct, on-site support during Unifieds. That whole week in Chicago looks like a major stress-fest, so having the voice of experience there will hopefully help keep our tempers (relatively) even and our daughter’s energy focused on auditions and not the minutia of logistics and administration.
I’m bummed about the cost involved, but I look at the coaching as an investment to help give our daughter the best chance we can provide. Once she’s off to college, her future is largely out of our hands. This is our “last chance” (common phrase during senior year) to provide this kind of support.