<p>This is a thread for parents and students alike to share information about things learned by the Class of 2013 as they finish unifieds and auditions, so they can pass ideas on to the Class of 2014 and beyond and maybe they will learn from the mistakes some of us parents made, and some of the kids made, as we all made this journey together. I’ll start the ball rolling, but I hope others pass on their advice and ideas as well.</p>
<li><p>Don’t schedule all your auditions in the same week or so if at all possible. What if the kid gets sick? Mono? A bad cough? Cold? My D got a bad throat issue. It just made her voice sexier, which is okay for an actor. But if she was in musical theater, she could have kissed it good bye. We heard about a poor guy in MT who was throwing up all night long, and then having to get up, dance, sing and do his monologues for MT. If you scatter your auditions throughout the season, it may cost more in travel, but you reduce the “all your eggs in one basket” problem.</p></li>
<li><p>Make sure you really know how long the audition will take, so ask the school. Juilliard is an all day endeavor. And don’t expect to travel on that day. We did, and it was hard, and this was without a callback. With a callback, it would have been impossible, especially with more auditions in another city the next day. NYU was apparently an all day endeavor and we didn’t know it. 9:00 a.m. may mean 12:00 p.m. in reality. So, if you are scheduling more than one audition a day, you’d better know what 9:00 a.m. really means.</p></li>
<li><p>Take a bunch of medications with you. Assume the worse. Take drugs to cover every possible thing that could happen. You don’t want to be in an unfamiliar city looking for cough medicine, or decongestant at 11:00 p.m.</p></li>
<li><p>Read the directions… We heard of kids who didn’t read the directions. Wrong type of monologue (not blank verse or verse). Wrong type of song (not from musical theatre). Wrong type of monologue (not Shakespeare.) Too long. (16 bars versus 32 bars; total of 5 minutes, no monologue over 2 minutes.) Read…</p></li>
<li><p>Get there early. People came late. The adjudicators acted like they didn’t care. Hmmm. Do we really know they didn’t? One mom told me the kid told her where to take her and when. Then the kid realized she was looking at yesterday’s audition. The mom drove like a bat out of hell and made it, but how lucky they were. </p></li>
<li><p>Don’t try to do multiple cities in one weekend if you can avoid it. We sat on the tarmac in S.D. and turned around and went back due to weather. Okay people. San Diego. Weather. These words don’t usually get said in the same sentence. But stuff happens when you travel. Minimize travel to multiple places in the same weekend if you can because stuff happens.</p></li>
<li><p>Schedule early. This means often doing applications early. But the only way to get the slot is to do the application in the case of some schools (like NCSA, for example.) </p></li>
<li><p>Bring extra headshots and resumes for walk ins. But remember, you have to do the applications when you get home.</p></li>
<li><p>Dress appropriately. I saw this young lady for the CMU MT auditions. When they were done with dance, everyone changed into beautiful dresses and pants outfits. She was there, in her dance clothes, for the remainder of the audition (singing and acting.) You have to believe this undermined her confidence. All the other other girls looked like they walked out of a vocal recital and she was there in leotards. She must have been self conscious.</p></li>
<li><p>Moms and Dad - stop bugging your children. Step back. Let them take control. Just be there to hand things to them as they asked and hold their stuff. My D is such a method actor. I leave her alone because I might disturb the process. Honestly, I don’t want to be anywhere near that place. So I take my book, and try to be as unobtrusive as a fly on the wall. </p></li>
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<p>These are the things that jump to mind. I’m sure others of you have more to add. Please do.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your post Chrissyblu. As a parent who expects to go through this next year, I really appreciate you taking the time to write down what you learned this year. It’s all very helpful. Thanks again!</p>
<p>Make sure you know something about each school, enough so you can ask some intelligent questions when they ask “Do you have any questions for us?” Know the material where your monologues and songs come from, in case they ask questions about that. And be prepared to talk about what you can bring to the school. Not only are they assessing your skills, but they are trying to get to know you as a person, in just a few minutes, to see if you are a good fit for THEIR program.</p>
<p>I agree with the last one! My mom went with me to auditions last year and she kept asking me, “Are you nervous?” --and let me tell you, that’s the most annoying question ever coming from a parent, for some reason. </p>
<p>This isn’t something that happened to me, but something that WOULD be useful. </p>
<p>11) Michael Shurtleff’s advice as to what to say when late for an audition. Even if it’s not true, apologize and lie and tell them you were “held up at another audition.” Not only is this great for the professional world, but ESPECIALLY Unifieds and college audition time when auditors know that many students have auditions on the same days and all at once. They understand. They’ve held up people before too. </p>
<p>And this is the best excuse also because they don’t want hear about your traffic story, or how you got lost, they don’t care and it’s a waste of their time…this is short and simple. And also, don’t mention anything at all about being late unless you’re SURE that they’ve noticed.</p>
<p>These are great suggestions! There was a similar “what I wish I knew” thread going last year (that was started in 2005!) - am going to bump it for you new auditionees.</p>
<p>12) Refresh your memory of any prominent monologues or scenes from plays on your resume. Two schools asked my dd to perform things on her resume. The first school she just froze and couldn’t remember anything. So she reread several of the scripts and thankfully had one ready the next time she was asked.</p>
<p>MamaBear, I have not heard of that happening before. Which schools ask for that? I just haven’t heard of someone being asked to perform monologues and scenes from plays on their resume. I have heard of being asked for additional monologues or songs but not ones off the resume.</p>
<p>Susan,
I just wanted to let you know that I’ve been trying to send you a private message and your mailbox is full. I just have a question I would like to ask you.
Thanks!</p>
<p>A friend of my D’s who is now at one of the top programs mentioned often on this forum (though he is there for acting and not MT) had the experience during auditions of being asked to perform a monologue from a play that was on his resume, and he completely froze, too. He had performed the play more than a year before the college audition, and openly admitted that he was having difficulty remembering the lines, and suggested something from another play on his resume. The auditors were fine with that and he got in. </p>
<p>I guess what I am trying to say is that the auditors are not there trying to trip you up: if they ask for something that was on your resume from a long time ago and you can’t remember, just say so and offer an alternative. (If, for instance, they want a monologue you performed in The Laramie Project and you can’t recall it, suggest that third or fourth monologue that you memorized from another contemporary play, just in case.)</p>
<p>Their goal is to hear something else and not to try to confuse you or to make you fail. They honestly and truly do want you to be good because it makes their job easier. I don’t think auditors can reasonably expect you to remember every line you had in every play you have ever been in.</p>
<p>Of course, you can also take MamaBear’s suggestion and refresh your memory in case this happens. That’s a smart move, too!</p>
<p>Tinamay, I prefer emails. My PM box fills up and it is just one more thing to check. I have three different emails and that’s enough to check each day. So, click on my name and email me that way.</p>
<p>Both Minnesota and CMU asked for something off the resume. At BU a boy came out and said he was asked to do something from a play on his resume.</p>
<p>I agree that they are just wanting to see more and your suggestion of offering up another (unrelated) monologue is a good one! The first time it happened my dd reacted defensively…she thought they were questioning the validity (truth) of her resume because it is extremely strong. I don’t believe that is the case…I think they were interested and wanted to get more of a feel for her. After we talked it over she “got it” and was much better prepared for all that followed.</p>
<p>At CMU, my D was asked for additional monologues as well but not off the resume. She did four monos. Did they just ask for more monologues and suggest she do some from material on her resume or did they only want from shows on her resume? Depending how far back a credit goes, it is easy to not remember the script. A student could say that they no longer have the material memorized but have additional monologues they can perform (it is good to have extra monologues at the ready). (my D did not apply to Minnesota or BU as she was a MT applicant and so perhaps asking for material off the resume may occur in an acting audition)</p>
<p>One thing Minnesota/Guthrie does is to ask each auditor to prepare a monologue from a character that the auditioner would love to play but would NEVER be cast as in real life. This is an opportunity for girls to play boys or men, to play across racial lines and so on. The idea is to (in the colloquial) go for it and be daring. My D found it to be one of her favorite auditions because that part was a lot of fun.</p>
<p>Rest, rest, and more rest. Try to stay close to the audition so your child can go back to the room. My d. had three auditions on one day. We thought she would be great in the afternoon one, but was instead exhausted. When she walked out of the audition room she looked like she was ready for bed right there. That night she went to bed at 6:00 p.m. and I woke her at 7:00 a.m. the next morning. I guess some can do many auditions at unifieds, but 5 for my d. was alot. She felt like she always needed to be on and “friendly” even in the hotel halls. Best of luck to next years audition class.</p>
<p>My D was asked to do 5 monologues for each auditor at CMU (even though they asked for 2) AND sing 32 bars even though she was not musical theatre so she technically did not have to prepare any. So you have to prepare for more. My D said she needed to prepare for Juilliard, and if she did that, she was prepare for everything. That ended up being correct.</p>
<p>At Minnesota this year, the auditors selected a role from my D’s resume and asked her to do a monologue. Luckily, she had been clued into this possibility by a friend of a friend who had auditioned last year so she was prepared. Unfortunately it was a tough role that was not one of her favorites or showed her at her best . . . but that may be why they chose it.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Prepare several songs and monologues well in advance, months ahead of auditions. Then there is no stress involved. </p></li>
<li><p>Pick stuff that is not overdone. There is soooo much good material out there, why do you have to do the same stuff everyone else does. Especially for a singer, if you have two songs (typical), have one of them be an oldie. It subtly suggests you are more serious and knowledgeable than the folks that only do the latest contemporary stuff. if you prepare far enough in advance, you have plenty of time to find good songs and monologues that fit this profile.</p></li>
<li><p>Remember that the adjudicators want you to do well. Relax. The best possible outcome for schools is that there is an excess of awesome talent to pick from.</p></li>
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<p>As the dad of one who was a late bloomer to the whole thing (i.e. abundance of talent but almost no stage experience), we did not have a big portfolio of audition material to use. Like, none. The whole process hit us like a ton of bricks about November of this year. I’m sure there are many others in this boat, some of which had successful audition outcomes (like my D) and some not so much.</p>
<p>This may sound super simple, but hydrate! My son is the one who brought this up. He was sure to have bottled water with him all the time.</p>
<p>Also, read over your application very carefully. In our instance, He filled out the paperwork in November, and the audition was in the middle of January. </p>
<p>I also can’t stress enough the importance of knowing the entire play and your character’s function within the context of the piece for the monologue(s) you choose. My son was given an adjustment for his Shakespeare piece, and when asked how that changed the performance, he had intimate knowledge of the character, and was able to give a fairly in depth answer.</p>
<p>It must have been a good move on his part, because he was accepted ;)</p>
<p>I just finished my auditions about a month ago, and my biggest piece of advice is to just be prepared and get things done EARLY! </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Start your applications early. By early, I mean late august/early september. If you are applying to numerous schools, I suggest finding a way to organize all of the information for each school. For example, I made a file folder for each school where I stored info like deadlines, requirements, and recommendation forms before I gave them to my teachers. I found this to be crucial, especially since I applied to 11 schools. Staying organized is key!</p></li>
<li><p>Get your material ASAP. The more time you have to get comfortable with it, the better. Perform it for everyone you possibly can and get their feedback. The more you perform it, the more routine it will fee and the more relaxed you will be when you get to the auditions!</p></li>
<li><p>Pay attention to the school’s audition requirements. If it says a minute or less for a monologue, make sure you monologue is no more than a minute! I know a few schools are known to pull out stop watches and time the monologues/songs. I encountered this at two of my auditions, and I was so happy that I payed attention.</p></li>
<li><p>I recommend doing at least one audition around november/december in preparation for the crazy slew of auditions you will probably encounter in January and February. And who knows… you may get an early acceptance which will take some pressure off of the rest of your auditions!</p></li>
<li><p>Relax and have fun. For those just starting the process, I know that sounds impossible. However, really try your best to enjoy the ride. Each audition is a chance to do what you love. Yes, the auditions are important, but don’t put too much pressure on yourself. If you relax and have fun, your personality will show through to the auditors and that will help you stand out ! </p></li>
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<p>Hopefully you will find out (like I did) that college auditions are actually REALLY fun! I never thought I’d say it, but I actually miss having an audition every weekend! Enjoy them for all they are!</p>