college audition prep Archives - Dramatics Magazine Online

College Audition Tips for ITF

Jose Triana — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:15:27 +0000

Dreaming of continuing your theatre education in college? With so many schools and programs to learn about, and the need for countless auditions, it can be challenging to know where to start. Luckily, you can get all the info you need plus opportunities to audition for many of these programs at the International Thespian Festival (ITF).

The ITF college audition program is designed to connect rising seniors with more than 50 colleges and universities. But before you head to Indiana University this summer, here’s what you’ll need to participate and some advice from the university professionals you’ll be meeting.

What You’ll Need to Participate

To participate in the college audition process, you must meet a few criteria, including:

You’re an inducted Thespian graduating in 2025.
Your troupe director, teacher, or parent/guardian has registered you for ITF and selected the college audition add-on.
You’re preparing to submit your audition materials by the May 15, 2024 deadline. Note: you’ll receive a separate email after registering with the link to a secure platform to submit your materials.

When submitting your audition materials, you’ll have the chance to choose your preferred category, including performance, technical theatre, or theatre education – be sure to visit our site for more details on the specifics you’ll need to submit based on your selected category.

Your College Audition Materials

There aren’t many opportunities to get in front of so many colleges at once, so making the most of it starts with preparation. Regardless of the category you’re applying for, you’ll need to submit materials ahead of time. These materials are available to all participating colleges for review and are often the criteria used to schedule their callbacks.

Depending on the category you’re applying for, you’ll need to submit:

Performance Auditions – An audition video with two monologues for students pursuing acting, or a monologue and song for students pursuing musical theatre, a current headshot, and resume. (Performance Audition Tips)
Technical Auditions – Three samples of work, an audition video of you speaking about your work, a current headshot, and resume. (Technical Audition Tips)
Theatre Education Auditions – A current headshot and resume, written responses, and either a performance or technical audition tape based on your strongest skills. (Theatre Education Audition Tips)

7 College Audition Tips from the Pros

Paul Steger, Dean of the Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts at Webster University, and Sharla Cowden, Department Chair at University of Evansville, have been attending ITF and college auditions for over 50 years combined.

In that time, they’ve seen the evolution of the audition process and shared seven tips to help seniors make the most of their experience.

1. Ask for Help

Your audition tape is often your best opportunity to make a first impression, so make sure it’s a good one. While you may be tempted to do things on your own (and you totally can), don’t hesitate to ask for help.

“Encouraging students to ask for help from their high school teacher, counselor, or upper classmen could be really helpful,” says Cowden. Asking someone to operate the camera also “[gives] them someone else in the room to play to.”

Whether they’re checking the framing, spotting distractions in the background, checking audio to make sure you sound your best, or “watching it with them afterwards and redoing it (if needed),” another set of eyes is never a bad thing. Using them as an off-screen scene partner can help inform acting choices and line deliveries, even though the other person should remain unseen and unheard.

2. Be Authentic

The materials you choose for your college audition are always going to be important, but so is your delivery. While you may be tempted to be as elaborate or animated as possible, Steger says authenticity is more important.

“[We] don’t have to see extreme characterizations in your body, speech, dialects, or any of those things. Just be as natural and close to you in real life as you can imagine,” says Steger. “You don’t have to costume it up or use props or anything like that. If you want to sit in a chair, go for it.”

And the same goes for Cowden. “I always encourage the kids to start with a piece that is the most like themselves,” she says. “We’re looking for honest and truthful work, so let me see a little bit of who you are through each character.”

3. Understand Your Material

Showing your range is important, and it’s why most Thespians opt for performing contrasting content like comedy and drama. However, having a deeper understanding of your material can make a bigger impression on colleges. One strategy Steger suggests is choosing a monologue from a play script rather than a monologue book.

The folks watching your auditions likely have read and have a deep understanding of the material you’ll perform – and you want to show you do too. Often, that contextual knowledge can shine through in a performance and allows for less time spent establishing the character’s dynamics and conflicts, instead showcasing the material and performance skills.

4. Be Coachable

Once schools have reviewed your material, they may want to meet you in person. This can happen either at their booth in the exhibit hall or in dedicated callback rooms, with many participating schools bringing multiple staff members. For example, the Webster University team often includes design tech or stage management faculty, design students, and additional senior staff.

Why? To get an opportunity to work with students in their discipline.

“We want to give everybody we think has a talent and that might fit with the program an opportunity to explore it,” says Steger. “It might be to give a direction, like upgrading what their relationship is with the person they’re singing to or doing the monologue with, or we might give a vocal adjustment,” he says. “I always say, just come prepared with the monologues you did as polished as possible… that would be a place where we would start the conversation.”

For Steger and many colleges at ITF, this is also a chance to see how you work with others and your coachability.

5. Remember to Schedule Time for Callbacks

Participating colleges have limited timeslots to meet with students. And if everyone is aiming for the same spot, you may not have an opportunity to visit the schools you’re most interested in.

“Workshops are an important part of [ITF], but you also need time to really do your callbacks,” Cowden says. “All our students have to audition and interview, and this is a place where they can do both.”

Colleges will contact you directly if they want to schedule a callback, so be sure the email you use is one you have access to and check often. And if there’s a school at the top of your list and you get a callback, don’t wait to schedule your meeting. It may be tougher to find a convenient timeslot towards the end of the week.

6. Have an Idea of Your Interests

While you don’t have to be settled on your degree (i.e. BA vs BFA) or where you’re planning on going, having some expectations or goals for your education can help. For example, knowing how many shows you’d hope the program does each season or what your responsibilities behind the scenes might be can help narrow your choices for schools you want additional information from.

“Do the research to see all the different programs, because there’s usually general information about what kind of plays we’re doing or have done in the past, plus all the audition requirements, degrees that are offered, the faculty, and kinds of classes you might take,” says Steger.

He also suggests thinking about your college experience. Whether that means schools with huge sports programs and stadiums or smaller private campuses where there may be 5,000 students total, knowing what you want out of your time at a school is equally as important as what the school is looking for in you.

“It’s [has to be] the right fit for the student and the right fit for the program,” he says. “That’s the difference between looking at the auditions versus doing a callback; who’s going to show up for four years beside their talent.”

7. Open Your Mindset

Finally, relax and have fun. Like most things in your theatre career, college auditions will be a learning experience. While it can be intimidating to perform in front of new people or interview with schools you’d love to attend, it’s important to remember the schools are just as excited to meet you too.

“They want you to be great and I think a lot of kids forget that when they walk in a room. They want you to solve the problem for them and they’re rooting for you, so take away the judgment part,” says Cowden. “I always tell kids, don’t close doors. Enough people are going to close doors on you. Use ITF to walk through doors that are opening to you.”

Explore Your Theatre Future

There’s plenty to do at ITF, but if continuing your theatre career into college is on the list, applying for college auditions can be an amazing opportunity. Not only is it an opportunity to get in front of wonderful theatre programs from around the country, but it’s also a chance to explore what the next four years can potentially look like.

But before you arrive in Indiana this summer, be sure to get your application completed, remember the materials you need to submit, and focus on our helpful tips to make the most of your experience.

The post College Audition Tips for ITF appeared first on Dramatics Magazine Online.

Your College Auditions Checklist

Laura Enstall — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 18:26:02 +0000

We all know that college auditions, and preparing for them, require rigorous work ahead of time. These tips are like a college auditions checklist. Planning and preparation are keys to your success.

One way to streamline your college auditions process is to attend events that let you audition with multiple schools at once, like the International Thespian Festival. There are also other unified audition options if you plan far enough ahead.

Planning and preparation are keys to your college auditions success. Do not wait until the last minute and expect to shine. (Photo credit: Bich Tran, pexels)

Do Your Part

Doing your part means preparing thoroughly for your auditions and then giving your all at the auditions. College auditions require focused planning and preparation. It is risky to choose a monologue two days before an audition, scramble to memorize it, and then try to learn a new cut of a song you found online! Remember that you are up against the best of the best at college auditions so honor yourself, your talent, the auditors, and show up prepared.

Being totally prepared means you know the entire song, not just the 60-to-90-second cut of the song. Prepared means you have read the entire play. I cannot emphasize this enough! You need to know the entire story, and not just the isolated scene, if you are asked about the character or your objective.

Doing your part means you arrive with back-up materials. A complete audition book will have your songs in it that you are singing (the cuts clearly marked). It should also have additional songs that are performance ready. You do not want to be asked to sing another song and be unprepared! The same is true for monologues. Have another monologue prepared that is performance ready as well.

Check the audition requirements for each school before you go to the audition. If it is in person, what are you required to bring or submit prior to auditioning? Many schools will require proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test before entering campus.

I strongly suggest you create a spreadsheet with all your auditions and what each requires. This will lower your stress level to be able to access vital information in one place without having to go to multiple websites. (Here are some video tips from Laura, too, about where you can audition!)

Take Care of Yourself Physically

Self-care is an ongoing process. Taking care of your physical and mental well-being is a marathon, not a sprint and it is so important!

Try to regularly eat foods that sustain and fuel your body. For example, try to avoid a lot of fried foods. Pay attention to how your body reacts to certain foods. If milk or dairy clogs your voice, avoid it before an audition.

Drink water! Not just before an audition, always. Get in the habit of carrying around a water bottle and filling it up throughout the day. This will keep your body and your voice hydrated. If you get bored with plain water, add lemon or lime juice.

Listen to your body. Learn to recognize when you are starting to feel run-down and then rest. Make smart choices. If you have an audition, do not stay out late the night before with your friends singing showtunes at the top of your lungs. I also recommend investing in a personal steamer to keep your voice hydrated. This product is just one option.

Take Care of Yourself Mentally

Be sure to give your brain some breaks. I know how hard it is to disconnect from your devices (!) but unplug for an evening. Read a book or do a puzzle. Choose an activity without a screen. If an entire evening off is not possible, take short breaks. Stretch your body, play with your dog, take a walk outside for 5, 10, or 15 minutes. These “state changes” will refresh your mind and give you more physical energy.

I highly recommend a dance party with your favorite songs when you need a mental break. If you feel yourself struggling or stressed, reach out to a friend, teacher, parent, or guardian. You are not alone; so please do not feel you have to go through auditions alone.

To reduce mental stress, do not over commit yourself during college audition season. Set firm and healthy boundaries around your time and what matters most. I see the ill effects of not doing this with my students every year. College prep can feel like a part-time job on top of schoolwork, doing shows at school, and potentially other activities and lessons. Sometimes doing it all is not an option. Prioritize your schoolwork and your college auditions.

Keep Up the Good Work

A display of talent at auditions is important, and so are consistent good grades and training. Keeping up your grades all four years of high school will help you in the college auditions process. Do not think that you can slide your senior year, and that colleges won’t notice! As important as college auditions are, schoolwork should come first.

Keep up your training with your voice lessons and dance classes. If you are not currently taking voice lessons or dance classes and you want to study Musical Theatre in college, I highly recommend finding a voice teacher (or choir teacher) to help you prepare for your auditions. This expert input will help make preparing your music much easier and more effective.

Break a leg with your college auditions. Start early, fully prepare, and let your best self shine at auditions!

Laura Enstall, owner and founder of Audition Well, is an audition coach and regular contributor to Dramatics.org. She helps students conquer audition fears, stand out in the audition room, and find the theatre program that’s a perfect fit. Follow Audition Well on Instagram for audition tips @auditionwell.

The post Your College Auditions Checklist appeared first on Dramatics Magazine Online.