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Hi! My name is Madison Halla, I'm 22, a professional actor, and a Summa Cum Laude NYU Graduate from Steinhardt's Vocal Performance: Musical Theatre program. I love being able to help others through the college audition process by providing free videos covering many important topics!
Instagram: @madison_halla (reach out to me with any questions!)
For the singing and acting auditions do you usually use the scenes and songs you used for your pre-screening or do they give you a new song and scene to work on?
Schools will specify what they want from you and often it is the same material from your prescreen. It’s not common for them to give you material but can happen.
This sounds really similar to my high school audition (I'm about to start at an arts high school) which I find super comforting. It was a 5 hour audition with a similar process. It makes the process I'll be going through a few years from now seem more doable and less scary!
Great! I think that's a wonderful mindset to have! You've already done something similar and so you 100% can do it again! I would recommend writing down your experience and what you learned from it so you can look back at it in three years when you're auditioning for college programs :)
One thing I've been struggling with is figuring out what to label as a safety school vs. target school vs. reach. How low does an acceptance rate need to be to be considered a safety school? How high does it need to be to be a reach? I have zero concept of this edit: how early should i start working on audition prep? I'm about to start my freshman year of highschool rn and I'm currently researching college options.
This is SOO difficult to do. I feel like for musical theatre programs it's different and everything falls under two categories: safety and reach. I completely disregard the term "target school". Safety schools would be theatre programs where you don't have to audition/schools where your getting into the program is based on your academic and application to the school. The rest would be "reach schools" which sounds scary but you just have to realize that because you could get into a top 10 school and not get into one ranked much lower. So you almost have to change your mindset around it. As far as when to start preparing. I'd say there is such a thing as starting too early. It could be difficult to choose a song that you're still going to like in three years or one that will resonate with you or show off your voice in the same way it did when you first found it years before. So I'd recommend finding and working on songs you enjoy in general and maybe down the line you may revisit one of those for college auditions. Overall, always be practicing and taking dance classes and try to be in shows. But when you do officially start, I'd recommend beginning your college essays the summer before and finding material a little before that. Hopefully that helps!
I like this but also you also need a song that suits your range too, especially if its just for a music department or theater department, for example, I am a soprano so I cant choose something to slow, and you also have to make sure anything you choose is comfortable for you
But they both are musical theater based so they still had you do monologs, correct?, also, I will tell you yes you are so right about the timing of the audition,.. I have done show auditions and I’ll tell you, they absolutely suck and are too long…. I auditioned for my school musical last year in my community college (Suny Rockland) and it was the longest night ever!! 2) I auditioned for the music department in my school I’m in now (Im at Hunter which is close to NYU!!, and it was the quickest audition ever, they just had me sing one song ( I sang Far From the Home I love!!) I thought they would have had me sight sing but they didn’t surprisingly but I expected that so i practiced it a lot then told me to wait outside for a second,..(during that “second” I was PANICKIING about why they would say,..), then they called me back in and said i was approved!!!!! I also was a student there already since the beginning of the year but I just waited to do the audition for the higher track,. (So hunter has a 42 credit track and 25 credit so what I did was begin with the 25 credit track and then audition for the 42 credit track and private lessons when ai was already there,.. so since I was there anyway it was sooo convenient and literally didn’t have to travel or go out of my way for much,.. also I think since you were going for musical theater they probably had you do more because of that
Yes, I had to come prepared with a contemporary monolgue! It's so nice when they're quick and easy and yeah they had me do more since it was for musical theatre :)
hiiii not sure if you'll see this since this video is kinda old but i really want to go to nyu steinhardt but the average sat for nyu is 1470 and the highest i can get is like a 1400 so do you think i could still get in because its for musical theatre?
babe don't even worry! i def did not get a 1400 or above. the way the school chooses who to admit starts with your audition and from that the department gives you a score between 1-6. then the university looks at that number and your grades and essays and makes the final decision. so they will be going off of more than just your SAT score. it doesn't hurt to do well but it's not the be-all end-all! i feel like a strong essay can get you far! and feel free to reach out if you have any other questions!
hello! i'd recommend looking up "Mary Murder on the Orient Express Audition Monologues." a bunch of self tapes that people have done will come up :) here's two... best of luck!! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YxoGfKPDQmM.html&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dmonologues%2Bto%2Baudition%2Bfor%2Bmary%2Bin%2Bthe%2Borient%2Bexpress%26rlz%3D1C5CHFA_enUS909US910%26oq%3Dmonologues%2Bto%2B&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY&feature=emb_logo ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7eR9eRN1DqQ.html&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dmary%2Bin%2Bthe%2Borient%2Bexpress%2Baudition%2Bmonologues%26sca_esv%3D5f6a5c4feb524586%26sca_upv%3D1%26rlz%3D1C5CHFA_en&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY&feature=emb_logo
Did they strictly stick to the song length? I know that when I auditioned for AMDA they had a similar requirement, but when I showed up in Chicago they were letting everyone sing the whole song. Also, did any require an aria or an art song? BTW how many acceptances vs. auditions did you receive?
Hello :) I am a junior who wants to apply to NYU Tisch for Musical Theatre in 2025. For someone who has some but not a very vast exposure to dance, what would you recommend as a good starting point, and would ballet or jazz be a better option? Thanks so much!!
First of all…CONGRATULATIONS!! Have a wonderful time! Don’t be stressed about the sight singing!! Trust me!! It’s only a small part of the audition, it’s extremely quick and not that difficult. As I mentioned, for the sight singing you sing on a “doo” or “ooo” or something to that effect, not solfeige so I would recommend doing a few practice examples to feel more prepared! Here are some you could try! Best of luck!! www.doremistudios.com.au/beginner-sight-singing-exercises/
I’’ not sure what percentage of those auditioning get callback but it’s definitely not a bad sign! If they like you/want to see more they’ll call you back so it’s definitely a good sign!
I could have SWORN I replied to this comment and I’m not sure why it’s not showing up. I never wore any heavy makeup, only mascara and eyebrow gel. I would recommend at least a little to make your features pop because you never know how far away from the panel you’ll be. I’ve been very close to them before but I’ve also been on a large stage and in that case the makeup can help them to see your features better especially under harsh lighting. I would say overall it’s a personal matter and you should put on as much or as little as is needed to feel your best!
@@cm5061 I would agree that it's a little ore difficult for underdone songs, I would suggest asking a theatre teacher or someone who knows musical theatre songs.
Ok before I answer this question... I have to comment on the INSANE fact that the shirt I'm wearing today has skeletons dabbing on it and they look EXACTLY like your profile picture! wild Now to answer your question :) YESSS!!! In fact PLEASE DO! You will probably sing for many schools and if you can make it easier on yourself by all means do EXACTLY that! You will thank yourself profusely! Not to mention, schools will have absolutely no idea that you're singing the same song and I honestly don't think they would even mind! Just make sure that the songs you are reusing fit the requirements that the school is asking for. And remember to find pieces that reflect you as a person really well and that shows off your strengths as a performer. Let me know if you have any other questions! Three years later and I'm still kicking haha
The thing is, I always get so awkward while acting a song or monologue. I don’t know where to put my hand, how to do the postures. And also, I really hate to see the videos of myself acting a song, because my face expressions are just so ridiculous and the postures are really unnatural. How can I act a song naturally?
Hi! Your voice is so beautiful and I love your vlog! Just wondering why do you have to take Statics class as a musical theatre student? Is it required?
Hi! From what I understand, Steinhardt is more music focused and Tisch is more acting focused, but as far as dancing goes, would you say the dancing at both schools is equally emphasized & rigorous or does one school work on dancing more? I am definitely strongest as a dancer, then singer then actor, so I was hoping to get more information about that before auditioning :)
@@tauriaraynor3161 YOU WILL! Trust that you’re ready, that you have something special to share and that the people in the room are grateful to hear you sing!!
The Witch of the North is not named Glinda; in the 1902 stage musical, Baum named her 'Locasta' but this never appeared in any of his books, even when the Witch had a cameo in 'The Road to Oz' (successor series author Ruth Plumly Thompson gave her the awful name 'Tattypoo'). Glinda resides far to the south, "on the edge of the desert." Littlefield did not propose that the book was written as an allegory; he came up with this idea as a way to teach bored high school students about the politics of populism and bimetalism. If The Wizard of Oz was intended as metaphor, it was a failure as an allegory, since nobody, including the people who knew these issues better than anyone now alive, noticed it for over sixty years. So to continually use the words 'allegory' and 'represents' and 'metaphor' for these connections (which are in any case vague: is the TIn Woodman a metaphor for heartless industry, or the oppressed factory workers?) is a disservice, as it implies authorial intention, and creates a kind of urban folklore: "Everyone knows The Wizard of Oz is an allegory for populism…" is right up there with "We use only ten percent of our brains." If you want to teach, do not mislead while you are doing it! See Tolkien's distinction between 'allegory' and 'applicability', where one is in the 'purposed domination of the author' and the other 'resides in the freedom of the reader.'
Madison, I discovered your channel literally this morning and I'm already obssessed with it. Girl, you are a actual angel; thank you so much for putting out these tips, videos and links, they are SO helpful.❤
I’m going will be going into my senior year and I’m in the process of prepping for my prescreens and auditions. I’m really new to all of this because no one in my community has ever really done this before because I’m from a small town. My goal is to get a BFA in acting. Are unified auditions offered after passing the prescreen for each school?
Yes! When you pass the prescreen you select a day that you want to audition and some offer Unifides. Also please feel free to DM me on Instagram if you would like more help! (@madison_halla)
I don't remember off the top of my head but you are likely to have to pay the audition fee if a school has that. Other than that I don't remember a fee.
thank you so much! I've wanted to be an actor for such a long time and i recently auditoned after finally getting confidence to do so. it was my first audition and i got a callback!! however i think the thing that had me not get the part was the dance call because i messed up a lot lol- this video will help a lot <3
hi!! i'm a sophomore trying to prepare early for college... can you explain the sight singing portion of the audition a little more? i used to play piano for several years when i was in elementary school so i know basic music reading but is that not enough? what should i do to prepare ahead of time? also, what was the dance portion like at tisch? i've been dancing for many years but i really just don't know what to expect and how i should prepare. thank you!
Hello! For the sight singing portion we got an easy piece of music that we had never seen and had to sing it on a neutral syllable ‘doo’ or ‘ooh’ etc. It was very short and maybe had a major third as the highest jump but was mostly step-wise. You can practice by finding easy music and learning to sing it without needing a piano, I used to use Sight Reading Factory - though I don’t think it’s free. That portion was in the audition for the musical theatre program at NYU Steinhardt. I don’t know anything about the dance portion for NYU Tisch, sorry! But if you’re quick at picking up choreography you should be good - that was the issue most people ran into at college auditions. Best of luck with everything! Great of you to prepare so early!! And please lmk if you have any more questions!
