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Replies to: BFA Acting Class of 2024: Preparation, Prescreens, Auditions, Questions and Support
Danette Baker is the head of the Theater Performance program. She is a certified fight instructor. My DD really enjoyed her class. She also loved the dance classes. One was an MT character dance class and was mainly jazz and the other was a jazz and ballet class given by the head of the dance program. She had classes from all three of the departments - Dance, MT, and Performance. She liked all of the instructors and learned something in each class.
The MT BFA Requirements page lists on campus and Unified audition dates.
The Acting BFA Requirements page only lists 5 on campus audition dates (no unified dates listed).
My kid is starting to send in applications so we can schedule auditions without missing too much school. We haven't sent in any of prescreens yet, though we filmed most of them. Have any of your kids submitted prescreens? I saw the MT group started a thread about which prescreens they've submitted and passed. Could be helpful in terms of knowing how long the turnaround is?
I'd love to hear your experience so far filming pre-screens. How concerned are you all about the format of filming? Are your kids keeping their videos under the time limits? My kid's finding it tough to keep them under 60 seconds for the few schools who require that. Is it worth cutting down and re-filming to make sure it's under time, rather than slightly over? Are there any 2023 parents who have thoughts or experience with this? Also we saw somewhere to always film horizontally (using an iphone) and we filmed the full body monologues vertically. We're trying to figure out if we should re-shoot those. Seems picky, but it would be awful not to pass prescreen because of something like that.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
And if you haven't heard about the program, you should definitely check it out! It is a classical training program that is a collaboration between one of the top research universities in the country and one of the top regional theaters in the country. The caliber of training, the expertise of the faculty, and the connections that can be made in both university and theater settings are all incredible. Additionally, we spend the first semester of our third year studying at Shakespeare's Globe in London! Our program direction has recently changed, which is bringing us into an exciting period of growth! Our leadership on the University side is Aaron Todd Douglas, a Chicago-based director and director who has strong ties to the regional theater scene. On the Guthrie side is Maija Garcia, a New York-based choreographer and director who also serves as a member of the Tony Nominating Committee. With conservatory-style training and full liberal arts education, the program prides itself on its nurturing of the entire human -- not just one component of their lives. (Artist + Scholar = Actor)
If anyone has any further questions about the program, feel free to reach out!
@NYDreammom That sounds familiar- I have an insane spreadsheet. Thanks so much for checking in- I followed you all last year! Still benefitting from your experience.
@MommaCat Good for your daughter- sounds like she knows what she wants and that's got to make things easier. I actually feel grateful that my kid is so clear about this path- I really don't think it's common among 17 year olds!
@sagezinnia Those MT people could run a small country- they're super on top of things!
@GingerAndLemon Thanks so much for posting! We're looking at your program and my kid has a friend there from high school. I'm glad to hear all of those positive things about the program + that you're happy there!
We're starting to schedule some auditions. The kid needs to send the prescreens and finish the supplemental questions to submit applications. I appreciate the prescreen schools that let you submit monologues and find out about auditions before making you submit Common Apps (or at least don't require multiple essays!) So much work. I really admire these kids.
Welcome! And thank you for posting! My D filmed her prescreens according to the requirements for each college or university. None of them have been sent in yet but 2 are going out today.
Applications are almost complete and there are a few supplemental essays for my D to finish for prescreens. The essays have been the most time consuming for my D. We do have some audition dates confirmed and on the calendar. Some of those are early auditions (Oct., Nov. and Dec. dates). I'll post on them as we go along.
It's good to know that the MT group has a separate thread for prescreens. It will make it easier to follow the information they are posting.
@MommaCat
Welcome!! And I ditto TenaciousC. Your D knows what she wants. It is all about fit for each kid. And I just copied the thread title for this year from last year's thread. BA and BFA are all welcome. The more the merrier. Maybe next year the thread title will include BA. If I could edit the title for this year I would.
@sagezinnia
That was what I was thinking too. Everyone is busy with prescreens and college applications. And I hear you about taking breaks from time to time.
@GingerAndLemon
My D will definitely check out the program. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts because this will be very helpful to this class and future classes.
https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/2158199-pre-screen-results-list-for-class-of-2024-p1.html?new=1
Welcome! I followed the conversation last year. It was very helpful for preparing for this year. Hopefully, we can be just as helpful for future classes. Once prescreen results start coming in and auditions take place there will be more conversation here. And it is possible that the new CC format is part of the reason why the boards are so slow.
It was at Wichita State University. The students greeting her were friendly and the director of theater, Danette Baker, was the only person in the room with her when she auditioned. She performed her two monologues and then had an interview. She asked my D why she was auditioning for the school, what she liked about the program, and what her goals were.
Reading previous threads these questions will probably be asked at most interviews during the audition cycle. So know what it is that attracted you to that particular college or university and their theater program.