We are quickly ramping up into the thick of the college theater application and audition process so I want to share some thoughts with my students, prospective students and your parents about what is ahead.
The most apt comparison to the process is the Olympics. Nothing more. And certainly nothing less. Let me explain.
I am always glued to the television during the Olympics. While watching my favorite sport, Gymnastics, that what I do as an acting coach is, in essence, the same as what gymnastics coaches do to shepherd gifted gymnasts through the levels of competition towards the goal of winning an Olympic gold. While watching the various competitions, I noticed that Olympics gymnastics coaches functioned as trainers, teachers, cheerleaders, choreographers, stylists, morale boosters, and artistic directors, before during, and after all high-level competitions. Gifted gymnasts work with their coaches through months and years of preparation in training. They are coached in creating routines, picking music, perfecting each tiny element of those routines, and then coached right through their regional, state, and country competitions, through the Olympic trials and on to tackle their Olympic performances, performing, in the international spotlight, under tremendous emotional, psychological and physical stress. In London, accompanied 24/7 by their coaches, they competed for their Olympic dreams of medals; and the results of those competitions came down to literally seconds or minutes of performance in the arena, depending on the apparatus at hand. As well, though Olympic judging is supposed to score the competitors fairly and quasi-scientifically in terms of level of difficulty and actual performance of a host of different skills, it is, at best, highly subjective. I was especially fascinated by how the coaches and gymnasts handled the WAIT for the judge’s scores that determined whether or not they would medal in an event, waits that seemed like years though they were only minutes. Sound familiar? Well…
Welcome to the college theater admissions process.
My role as acting coach for gifted aspiring actors before, during, and after their actual auditions for wildly competitive pre-college, college, conservatory, graduate, and apprenticeship acting and musical theatre programs is, in essence, the same as on Olympics gymnastic coach. Students and parents would do well to conceive what they are tackling as the “Olympics of Admissions” and rely on me, their acting coach, as a kind of “Olympic shepherd” before, during and after the audition process.
Obviously, very few athletes win Olympic medals. It is also true that very few applicants gain admission to the top Theater programs in the USA; admissions rates are lower than many Ivy League universities. As we saw in London in gymnastics, the differences between medaling and not medaling can be tiny increments in scores/times… .001 points from judges that are, as I have pointed out, subjective in their likes and dislikes! Some gymnasts clutched during competition and/or lost confidence and focus during a particular move and fell; some gymnasts were unable to recover from their “mistakes,” instead, they spiraled into despair and clutched again and again. Other gymnasts were more resilient; even though they made “mistakes” in the competition, they were able to recover from these mistakes and go on, like the USA’s Gabby Douglas did, to win the All-Around Olympic gold Medal. Similarly, in the college theater admissions process, the admissions judges decisions to accept, deny or wait list a particular applicant is based on tiny increments of scoring as well as subjective notions of taste. In the audition rooms of various programs, actors, like Olympic gymnasts, are not consistently “perfect” but there are qualities that set the most successful applicants apart.
During the Olympics, I have listened with great interest to common themes mentioned by the most successful medal winning athletes and their coaches when they are interviewed after medaling in their events. They love what they do enough to sacrifice everything to be the best. They practice incessantly. They sacrifice a lot in their personal lives to commit themselves to international competition. They have unconditional family support, both personally and financially. They are competitive, meaning they are hungry to win, not just to get on the team. They never satisfied with just being good enough, only with being great and continuing to work at becoming greater. But also, and almost most importantly, in the act of competing, they celebrate their preparation, process, achievements and accomplishments. They are challenged by the act of competing on such a high level but they refuse to be intimidated; instead, they work to perform their events for themselves and for their audiences with joy. Of course, it must be said that certain gymnasts have more natural “talent” than others; they seem fashioned, genetically, from birth, to succeed where other athletes will fail. The same is true of actor-singers as well. But none of these artists can succeed, regardless of their natural skills, physical attributes and innate gifts, without consistent hard work, preparation, courage, passion and belief in themselves. As well, there is, yes, an element of chance involved. The Olympic medalists had a good day as performers, not a bad day. Just as athletes do, actors have good and bad days when they are auditioning. They get sick, have personal issues and all the rest. Some applicants are at the peak of their acting, dance and vocal achievements when they attend program auditions; others, though no fault of their own, are not. But by practicing incessantly and getting good coaching and support, it become more likely for both gymnasts and gifted actors to have consistent good performances. This is how to win at both the Olympics and at college auditions.
With expert coaching, combined with an impeccable work ethic and joyful attitude, you can trust that your “up” days will far outnumber your “down” days. Many of these super competitive theatre programs are already on your college lists and should be on your lists as you are all capable of being chosen. And if the past is any measure, and though I cannot promise all of you will get into any one particular college, or get your top choice, I trust that all of you will be chosen by a worthy college, a program that you will be thrilled with attending. There are many great colleges out there. There are the celebrity “name” colleges like NYU, Juilliard, Rutgers, Purchase, CMU, CCM and others, but there are also dozens of other great college theater programs that are just as good. You need to find the school that is right for you, not just the most prestigious school in the college rankings. Those rankings are misleading at best. But you must be prepared to commit yourselves, both students and parents, to what this grueling process demands.
In my experience, the students of mine that do the best in the college theater audition process are the most committed to keeping up with regular weekly coachings (or bi-weekly in a less frenetic weeks of the audition process) in the weeks/months both before and during the audition process. For MT applicants, weekly singing lessons and dance classes are a must throughout the fall and winter of senior year as well, both before and during the audition process. The students that fare best also put their college auditions first, ahead of school activities, dances, parties, and social/family events. And their families support them in making these sacrifices. They are able to balance out doing well at school and at home without shortchanging their audition prep. And they continue to coach during the audition process because each audition is another hurdle to be cleared, and issues come up based on each and every experience. Sometimes, programs have “callbacks” like at University of the Arts, Purchase and Penn State, among others, and even great performers will not always get callbacks so it is important to process those disappointments in session. Sometimes, judges put out the red carpet and treat actors kindly, but sometimes they treat them coldly and rudely; it important not to take this treatment, both positive or negative, as a sign of whether or not they will be admitted. There is one program that conducts their auditions with a kind of severity and coldness; another program, very close in distance to the other one, is very warm and cuddly and supportive. But at the end of the process, the first school admits many more of my students and the second school, a much smaller program, admits very few. both kinds of auditions can be aced. Sometimes, particularly generous judges will give wonderful feedback on auditions and work with actors like we do in coaching; this feedback can be incorporated into future auditions. Other judges can be cruel and dismissive of the work; although I abhor this negativity from judges, it does happen, and these negative experiences need to be worked though in session as well, so you can reclaim your confidence. The important thing is to keep up with the preparation and keep your pieces fresh and growing in order to be ready to start audition. And then keep yourself ready and growing as you navigate through the various auditions. And parents, caregivers and family members need to provide an unconditionally supportive environment to let their loved ones succeed and take care of themselves throughout the process.
Finally, though it may seem counterintuitive, I encourage my students and their families to try to relax into the work and the challenges ahead and trust yourselves, both students and parents. Trust the process, and try not to worry about the judgments of the admissions judges. Use me as a support whenever you need me. I encourage all my students to call me immediately after each and every audition to “debrief” them on the experience and provide support. Most students, like most human beings, will access their performances as less effective than they really are; I like to talk to students after auditions to urge them to take a more positive view about how they have done, because it is usually the truth. Human beings tend to be far more critical of their selves than they should be. In the rare situation of a particular audition being a terrible experience, I can help pick up the pieces and re-instill confidence.
Yes, I understand that coaching can be expensive and time consuming. Please remember, however, that I consider my job as a coach to make the coaching process I offer a bargain. By a bargain I mean that with my coaching guidance, each and every one of my students will win an Olympic “gold” medal of sorts, which means being accepted at a good program that is right for them and, based on family finances, be offered generous financial aid/scholarship awards. Thus far, I have a 100% success rate, which I am proud of, but that success rate includes the efforts and hard work of my students and their families. The very last thing I want to see happen is for parents and students to spend all that money on applications and travel and lodging to attend these auditions and not be adequately prepared. I have seen this happen a few times in the past, where students travel to an important audition not adequately prepared and the money they have spent has been wasted. As I a parent of a recent college grad, I know money is tight. I know the college theater audition process is wildly expensive but you can and will be successful.
Though the coaching and college audition process itself is expensive and daunting and time consuming, remember that my commitment to my students and to their families extend BEYOND the completion of the auditions. I do not consider my work to be done until each and every student/family has gotten admissions decisions, dealt with wait lists if applicable, chooses a program, and navigates the tricky financial aid process. My work is not done until you have committed yourself to a program, put down your deposit and started to pack. At this point in the process, I offer you all my time and advice and moral support gratis as a gift for trusting me to guide you through this daunting, life-changing journey. As well, I remain in touch with all of my past students and their families, and remain supportive of my students’ college careers and their start as professional actors. Many college coaching students return to work with me after college graduation.
I am proud to have current and past coaching students performing currently on and off Broadway, on television and in feature films. They have won the gold at the Olympics.
You can, too.
