| Most highly respected undergraduate theater | | | | theater program. |
| programs such as NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, | | | | "Oh, you were wonderful as Polonius in Hamlet" |
| Juilliard and the University of Michigan School of Music, | | | | someone may tell a young man, so he uses a |
| whether based in a liberal arts program or a | | | | Polonius speech as his classical monologue despite the |
| conservatory, require applicants to perform an | | | | fact that it's entirely inappropriate for his age and |
| audition on top of all the other admission | | | | reveals very little about what he's like as a person. Or |
| requirements of the institution. This audition is very | | | | a young woman may fall in love with a speech in |
| often the determining factor in whether or not the | | | | which a character recalls an intensely emotional |
| applicant is admitted. | | | | incident from her past, and uses that as her |
| John D. is a very talented musical theater performer | | | | contemporary monologue despite her inability to |
| who is a senior at a small liberal arts college. I was | | | | manage the difficult emotional work. |
| befriended by his parents soon after I moved from | | | | Sometimes a young performer may have written |
| New York City to my current home. Having seen him | | | | material to which he or she feels a real connection, |
| perform the lead in a well-produced summer theater | | | | but these pieces are rarely, if ever, good enough to |
| production, I asked his parents if that college had | | | | use as an audition piece and are unlikely to showcase |
| been his first choice. "No", they admitted, he had | | | | the qualities that the theater program is looking for. |
| hoped to get into one of the better programs where | | | | One of the most common problems with student |
| he could have gotten the kind of training that would | | | | auditions, according to people I know well in academic |
| be more likely to enable him to develop to his full | | | | theater, is lack of adequate preparation. A student |
| potential, but "he was not ready for the auditions." | | | | may feel that it is enough to memorize a piece and |
| Although there are some minor differences between | | | | go over it a few times, but an audition that may |
| institutions, a non-singing actor is usually asked for | | | | serve to win admission to a desirable program |
| two contrasting, two-minute monologues, one | | | | requires careful choice of materials, hours of |
| classical and the other contemporary, from produced | | | | preparation and structured rehearsal. The trained eye |
| plays. Very often the classical piece is required to be | | | | of an experienced theater practitioner can bring out |
| Shakespearean; contemporary may mean either from | | | | the best in the auditionee, and ensure that the |
| any time in the twentieth century, or at some | | | | members of the program you are auditioning for see |
| institutions, from 1950 on. A singer is usually required, | | | | your real potential. |
| in addition to the two monologues, to prepare two | | | | With the increased competition for places in the |
| musical selections, usually one ballad and one up-tune. | | | | top-rated colleges many parents have invested in |
| These selections tend to be limited to 32 bars or less. | | | | courses and coaching to improve their student's |
| While some colleges hold regional auditions, and a few | | | | chances of being admitted. Many parents whose |
| allow the submission of videotapes, the great | | | | student is seeking to get into a competitive theater |
| majority require an audition at the institution. Any | | | | program, however, have left the preparation up to |
| audition is a stressful situation, but when your | | | | the student or used the assistance of an |
| admission to the college or conservatory of your | | | | overworked and possibly ill-prepared high school |
| choice may very well hang on how effectively you | | | | faculty member. Whether a family decides to go it |
| perform, the stress rises to a level that can easily | | | | alone or chooses to seek the help of a theater |
| overwhelm all but the best prepared students. John | | | | professional, they need to do thorough research and |
| and his parents are in a very common situation. | | | | invest time in careful and well thought out |
| There are many reasons why a talented high school | | | | preparation. |
| performer may "blow" his or her audition for a major | | | | |