As a private acting coach, I have been thinking very hard about the things that set the best college Drama/Musical Theatre applicants apart from the masses of applicants.
What do the most gifted and promising private coaching students do in the preparation process that increases their chances of success? What qualities do you need to snag that coveted brass ring?
1: Be talented. Plain and simple, you need talent. Talent is a cluster of innate abilities combined with sustained, passionate, committed, hard work.
2: Get an expert coach. Find a coach with great teaching and professional credentials who cares about you, speaks to you, and challenges you to do your best in a safe creative environment. Make sure your coach is willing and able to be supportive to your parents as well. This process is arguably harder for your parents/caregivers as it is for you! Contact me ASAP to join my studio! My schedule is filling up! contact@lisbethbartlett.com 6464187867
3: Work, work, work. Commit to passionate, meticulous, sustained, spirited EFFORT, both during coaching sessions and at home between coaching. Commit to biweekly coaching throughout junior year; weekly coaching from the August before senior year through the end of the audition season in February.
4: Use great material. Collaborate with your acting coach to find unique dramatic and comedic material, both contemporary and classical, that is NOT overused, that speaks deeply to you, taps the deepest parts of your innermost self, and allows you to transcend the sense of judgment you might feel in the audition room. Instead, finding the perfect material will allow you to take enthusiastic ownership of your auditions as joy-filled performances to share your work, not as painful trials by fire.
5: Be flexible. The ability to be flexible, spontaneous and responsive to any direction you are given by your auditors at auditions. It is always a positive sign to be directed at an audition. It is a wonderful opportunity to engage with great teachers and learn something new about your piece or your self as an actor. You may be asked to improvise, change your objectives, and do any number of physical, emotional, and vocal exercises. Relish these opportunities!
6: Be resilient. The ability to rebound from the inevitable nos that are a part of this process. No callback, No to your prescreens, No as a final admission decision. Nos are a fact of life in the theater. Most professional actors go on dozens auditions to secure just one job. All it takes is one right yes to be on your way. Sometimes, the college audition process is not fair. There may be nos at programs that should have accepted you. Life is not always fair. Stay the course and let go.
7: Go to plays, readings, and workshops. Go to as many summer and weekend audition workshops as you can fit into your schedules. Ask for financial aid if money is an issue. You need to see as much theater as you can during the process and continuously read and explore great plays.
8: Be kind and courteous. Treat your fellow auditioners with courtesy and generosity. The auditors are watching for toxic, unpleasant, inconsiderate behavior. Avoid the fellow applicants who seek to sabotage you and other auditioners during the audition process. Treat your auditors with courtesy, generosity and humility. Cultivate kindness. Give your best and thank them for their time and consideration. This makes a huge difference. The best programs are not just looking for the best performers; they are also looking for the best people… those great performers who are grounded, caring, stable, cooperative and balanced.
9: Get your priorities straight. You need to find a way to make coaching and preparation the most important extracurricular activity during fall and winter of senior year. If you are in shows at school, you must stress to your directors/teachers that weekly audition prep coaching must be your top priority. They need to be flexible with your schedule. You need to be proactive and firm about what you can and cannot do.
10. Have the courage of your convictions. Cultivate a sense of faith, hope, and certainty about your future. You are on your own path regardless of which programs you are accepted at and choose to attend.
11. Be healthy. Cultivate a healthy life. Exercise. Eat healthy. Stay fit. Get enough sleep. You will look your best when you feel your best. For the most part, postpone the senior year partying until after your auditions are over. Find kickass, simple, colorful, flattering clothes you feel great in to wear to your auditions.
SPEAKING OF BRASS RINGS, this season, my students won acceptances at some of the very best Drama, Musical Theatre, BA, BFA, Conservatory programs in the world. In quasi-alphabetical order, they include: Baldwin Wallace, Boston Conservatory, Boston University, Carnegie Mellon, Desales University, EAST15 Conservatory at University of Sussex, Emerson, Fordham, Marymount Manhattan, Monclair, Muhlenberg College, NYU Tisch, North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSOA), Northwestern, Pace, Rose Bruford Conservatory UK, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) UK, LAMDA UK, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD), Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS), Rider University, Rowan University, Syracuse University, Stanford University, Temple University, Texas State Musical Theater, USC, University of Miami, University of the Arts, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, Fordham, Wagner, and many others. Their work received tremendous praise, often right in the audition room, which is so rare (even a few immediate offers of acceptance right then and there!) and certainly in these fabulous admissions results.
I have worked with students in Europe and around the world as well as across the USA: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Washington D.C., Tennessee, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Utah, Colorado, Vermont, Missouri, and many others. SKYPE coaching works just as well as coaching in person… please read testimonials from my SKYPE students and their parents!
