Silly audition questions

[Katymac]

DD & I have some silly questions about auditions

1) some colleges announce their audition dates & some you fill in the form & presumably they send you a date?

2) if they send you a date & you can't do that date are they flexible or is that it?

3) does it matter what order you do the colleges in or when you audition? (DD has worked out some obscure strategy about doing colleges she 'doesn't really want to go' to as practise building up to the ones she wants in the middle and the ones she is ambivalent about at the end in case she is knackered by then)

4) do they all want different things? (can she just learn one song and trot it out or does it have to change & the same with the monologue)

5) can you tell we are stressing about this?

6) just generally......HELP????

Thanks

[Welsh Mum]

1. It is down to the college when your audition is.

2. If you have a legitimate reason you can change the date - but I would think you could only get away with this once. My DD had to do this once when she had a terrible tummy bug which hit on the day itself.

3. You cant really second guess or tell when your audition will be. Some colleges get back to you very quickly with a date that is very near. Others hang on to applications ages before giving you a date. Other get back with a date that is ages away. Usually the order of your auditions bear no relation to when your applications went in

4. Many colleges want diffeernt things. Some define a "modern" monologue after 1950, others say C20th . Some want 2 monologues. My DD had a near meltdown when she realised the night before her Mountview audition that her monologue was in fact from an American writer - but she was supposed to pick a British one As for songs you should have a variety in your folder, making sure you have contrasting ones and back up ones. It would be more common in a recall but you may be asked if you have anything else. You should be able to ALL of them well. All sheet music has to properly prepared. For MT the dance auditions can also vary.

5. Whatever gave me that idea???

[Jessnat22]

Not silly questions at all.

DS sent off all applications in mid December (8 in total). Don't underestimate how long filling in all those forms takes. Dates all came through quicker than expected - from end of January onwards. There were lots of clashes as dates all set by colleges. He did ask for quite a few of them to be moved, a) because of clashes and b) so that favourites weren't first. All colleges were very accommodating and it was very easy to rearrange but agree with Welsh Mum I wouldn't ask more than once.

Would definitely advise not to go for favourites first. The nerves were incredible and there is a lot to be said for getting used to the audition process and whole feel of the day. DS was lucky - audition one went well (as far as you can tell) which gave a huge boost in confidence for what was to come.

As a parent my advice is just to go with the flow ( ie learn when not to say anything!) - it's stressful, and very time consuming. They all deserve such a huge amount of credit for their dedication. Keeping up with school work (A levels) at same time not easy either.

My other advice - book your accommodation early - there were some great deals on travel lodges!!

[Katymac]

Thanks - I'm sure there will be more questions (& answers)

[Tess]

Definitely agree not silly questions, sensible ones!!
Some the dates are sent to you in a letter, others you book online like an event booking system then they give usually give a choice of a couple of dates. We actually changed one of DS's TWICE, once because he had an A level exam and again because he had a final recall for one of the earlier ones! They were all really accommodating and just sent him another date.

Agree with Welsh Mum that you can't guarantee the order that they come back in, it bears no resemblance to when you send them off!

Yes they all want different things - if its MT usually two contrasting songs, (but some have specifics like pre 1965 ballads etc), also 2 monologues. Some send you the ones they want but its usually at least one Shakespeare and one contemporary. We ended up with a big grid and worked out we could cover all the needs with four songs and three monologues!! Generally you have lots of back up ones prepared.

It is very stressful but go with the flow!
I ended up with a little audition bag of my own, snacks, books, magazines, iPod etc its a lot of hanging around but you see some good coffee shops!

[2dancersmum]

not silly at all. My advice is similar to Tess with the big grid. Either on the computer or on a big piece of paper write down the requirements of each college you are applying to so that you have all the requirements in one place. Do it in a sort of table so then you can see more easily when you could use one monologue or one song for more than one audition, if photos are needed (for dance and some MT courses) etc. DD needed photos for dance and not the same positions for each place so by grouping it we were able to get all the shots done in one go in the summer. It would have been very difficult and possibly impossible to have kept going back to her dance teacher for each application.
Dates wise we staggered sending in the applications - between October and February and more or less got them in the order we sent them. We too had to phone and ask for one to be changed as it clashed with a GCSE exam. Do make sure you contact her school at the start of the next academic year so that they know what your DD hopes to do for 6th form. Next year will be a stressful year for your DD with so much going on and you just need support her.

[Katymac]

I feel a spreadsheet coming on

Urdang has it's dates for next year up already <gulp>