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NEWS
Eight Steps to a Solid Audition for an MFA Program
By Dennis Baker, "Backstage East Magazine" and "Backstage West
Magazine"
From researching schools
and preparing monologues to filling out applications and making travel
arrangements, getting accepted into a graduate school's MFA program can
be complicated. But all that research and paperwork can pay off: Actors
who apply to graduate school have decided to postpone an immediate
career to pursue training that will, hopefully, expand them as artists
and make them more-versatile actors.
I auditioned for grad
schools for three years after my undergraduate studies, and each year I
learned more about the process. But to gain even more insight, I
interviewed three actors: Frances Uku, a recent graduate of the American
Repertory Theatre's Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard
University; Ted Stephens III, a second-year student in the MFA acting
program at the University of Florida; and Carmen Gill, who graduated
from the University of California, San Diego's MFA acting program last
year.
1. Research Schools
I thought I knew every MFA program in the country. But then I
discovered the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt
University — only I was too late to audition. As the list that
accompanies this article attests, there are over 100 MFA acting programs
in the United States, and their websites are the place to start in
finding the one that's right for you. If one of them is nearby and looks
interesting, go see a show or ask if you can sit in on a class. American
Theatre magazine is another good source of information.
2. Select Your
Monologues
Most schools want to see one contemporary and one Shakespeare. While
many will allow a classical piece by someone other than the Bard,
Shakespeare is recommended, as most schools produce at least one of his
plays every year and want to see if you can handle the language.
Stephens, however, disagrees; he performed a piece by Molière: "I
figured most people would be doing Shakespeare, so I wanted to show that
I could still handle the verse and scansion in a style other than the
Bard." All three actors highly recommend that you have a third monologue
prepared — some had seven or eight — in case the auditor wants to see
something else. But mostly, auditors want to see a monologue that
lets them know who you are as a person — in addition to displaying
depth, variety, and acting chops. "One showed my naïveté and lust for
experience, another strength and anger," says Gill. "The last was a
comic piece that showed the way I specifically was funny."
Rarely performed
monologues are often recommended, though a familiar one is fine as long
as you can do it better than anyone else. The actors all mention that
their undergraduate program or a scene study class gave them the
opportunity to read newer plays and find a less-familiar piece that was
right for them. The overdone works found in monologue books are
generally to be avoided, unless it's as a third or fourth backup. Uku,
however, praised Alternative Shakespeare Auditions for Women by
Simon Dunmore (there's also one for men), and according to Gill, "The
piece I chose from [a monologue book] was hilarious and I felt happy
performing it, which showed. No one I performed it for had heard the
monologue before and didn't seem to care it was from an acclaimed play."
Of course, always read the entire play before performing a monologue, so
you can understand its context and make better choices.
3. Find a Coach
An experienced hand to guide you is vital in preparing your
monologues. Some actors choose teachers they've studied with or older
actors with whom they've worked, while others prefer an experienced
director. If you're coming straight from an undergraduate program, your
current acting teachers may be your best resource. If you've been out of
school for a while, finding a coach can be more challenging, though
there are some who specialize in preparing actors for grad school
auditions. Uku worked with New York's Charles Tuthill, who teaches a
class called "Auditioning for Graduate School." I chose director Andrew
Traister because he had worked at some of the schools I was interested
in attending. Having sat through many auditions, he was able to suggest
monologues that weren't overdone and that would show off my personality,
and under his guidance I had a confidence that my earlier auditions
lacked.
Treat your audition as a
performance; give it the same time you would if you were rehearsing a
show. Make an appointment to meet with your coach about three months
before your first audition, and discuss the monologues you might want to
do and ask for alternatives. Take your time exploring which pieces you
most connect with, then work with your coach to fine-tune them into a
performance. When it comes to length, shorter is almost always better. A
total of three minutes for your two monologues is fairly standard,
though many recruiters claim they know within the first three lines
whether they're interested in you.
4. Figure Out How to
Pay for It
And not just for the school itself, where the annual tuition can top
$25,000, but for all the application and audition fees, which can really
add up. In my third year of auditioning, I applied to 23 schools — each
with its own fees — and attended the University/Resident Theatre
Association auditions (see below), entailing travel expenses plus hotel
and food costs in Chicago. If you're currently enrolled in an
undergraduate program, your college may offer scholarships to help
students applying to grad schools. Also, talk to fellow students; if
you're all auditioning in the same place, you could travel together and
share a hotel room. If your undergraduate theatre department doesn't
organize a group trip to U/RTA, start one yourself; the department may
assist once it sees how many students are interested. Draft a budget and
figure out how to get the most out of your auditioning money. Uku, for
example, was living in New York and chose to audition at schools she
could reach by public transportation.
5. Schedule Your
Auditions
There are two ways to be seen: You can sign up for group auditions
through U/RTA, or you can set up a private audition.
Applications for U/RTA
auditions are usually due in November of the year prior to the
auditions, which are held annually in New York, Chicago, and San
Francisco. Candidates auditioning in New York and Chicago are screened
by a panel of teachers and members of the professional theatre
community, and those deemed eligible move on to the final auditions,
where they're seen by the colleges. (There's no screening audition in
San Francisco.) Interviews and callbacks with individual schools follow
the final auditions. Those who don't make the final auditions can attend
a later open call, though there's no guarantee the schools you're
interested in will be there. See U/RTA's website, www.urta.com, for
further details and a list of schools attending.
The advantage of
auditioning at U/RTA is that you'll be seen by a large number of schools
in one trip, minimizing your expenses (more schools audition in New York
and Chicago than in San Francisco). The downside is that with so many
people auditioning at once, you don't get to choose a school as much as
the school chooses you. When I auditioned for the University of
California at Irvine, the head of the acting department said the program
sees over 1,000 people a year and selects only eight. If you're choosy
about which school you attend, U/RTA may not be right for you.
If you're staying in a
hotel while auditioning at U/RTA, "I would really recommend having a
laptop or computer at your disposal," says Stephens, "so that if you do
get some [interviews], you can take a few minutes to learn about each
school before your callback." Individual interviews take place in
the evening after your morning callback, leaving you the afternoon to
research the schools that expressed interest in you. You'll likely be
asked why you want to attend the program, and research could give you an
answer that will make you stand out.
For the schools at the top
of your list, you should schedule a private audition. Don't leave your
chance of being seen in the hands of a screening panel. Many top schools
require private auditions, as they don't attend U/RTA, while others
schedule a round of private auditions at the same time and place as U/RTA.
(Also note that some schools audition only every three years.) In my
second year at U/RTA, I didn't get passed on to the final auditions, and
though I attended the open call and interviewed with some schools, I
didn't feel good about my prospects. The next year, I knew I needed to
be seen by as many schools as possible, so in addition to auditioning at
U/RTA, I found out which schools were holding private auditions there
and scheduled slots with them in order to maximize my face time.
After the callback, it's
time to follow up, which could include visiting the campus. Gill found
that talking to current students was her best resource: "It's hard to
get a sense of what you actually are doing each day in graduate school
from the course listings. I was able to ask them what their day-to-day
life was like at school, what the vibe of the program was as a whole,
and if they were happy with their choice. They were all surprisingly
honest about their school's pros and cons. I never felt like people were
trying to sell me on their school."
6. Keep Studying
If you're not accepted on your first try, keep studying. I spent the
two years after my undergraduate program studying voice and the Meisner
technique, and in my third year of auditioning, many schools were
impressed that I was still taking classes even though I wasn't in a
formal program. Schools like to see students who are committed to their
craft and who won't quit under the rigors of grad school training. Some
of them — such as American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco — offer
summer programs with the same instructors who teach in the MFA program.
It's a good way for them to get to know you better, it gives you a taste
of the grad school experience, and it could help you stand out when
auditioning for the school in the future.
7. Get Some Experience
Schools also appreciate professional experience. "While I was
getting my [undergraduate] degree in theatre," says Stephens, "I
continued to act, both academically and professionally with some of the
regional theatres around the Quad City area, and also dabbled in
producing, stage management, theatre marketing, and even sound-designed
a show. I really treasure the four years or so that I wasn't a full-time
student, because it allowed me to gain some real-world experience,
travel around the world...all things that I use every day as an actor in
graduate school and professionally now. I really believe that the time
off allowed me to gain a worldly perspective. In that time off, I gained
a better understanding of myself so that I could in turn share that
strong sense of self in my acting."
Uku agrees: "I took two
12-week advanced scene-study classes back to back at HB Studio in New
York City, one strictly Shakespeare-based and the other using
contemporary plays, both taught by Austin Pendleton. I had never taken
an acting class before Austin, so I found both classes useful in
introducing me to contemporary American and British writing, as well as
to the vocabulary of acting and the theatre."
8. Be Yourself
Most important when auditioning for graduate school is to be
yourself. "I think the key with these auditions is being comfortable in
your own skin," Uku says. "I thought I was unworthy because I was new to
acting, hadn't studied acting as an undergraduate, grew up abroad,
looked like an ingénue but had the aura of a leading lady. It's funny
how it's exactly because of those things that I'm now one of those rare
people who lives off acting income alone." Says Stephens, "The most
important part about auditioning is not who you know, what show you've
been in, or what reviews you've gotten, but rather that you are
yourself. That you're a person interested in not only furthering your
own abilities but also sharing the arts with others. People that are
[themselves] are always the most interesting and honest, and the most
fascinating on stage."
Dennis Baker received
his B.A. in communications/theatre at Azusa Pacific University and is
currently in his first year of graduate school at Rutgers University.
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