The College Theater Audition: What Every Applicant Should Know
As we all know, the college application process is a doozy no matter what schools/majors you’re considering. There are college visits to make, standardized tests to take, essays upon essays to write, and applications themselves to fill out and submit – all while balancing a full high school course load. It goes without saying that starting this process in your junior year is highly advisable, but that holds even more true if you’re applying to theater programs. The vast majority of the theater departments you’ll want to apply to will require you to not only audition in person with multiple monologues and/or songs, but they will also require you to audition via video before you are granted an in-person audition. This first step is called a “pre-screen,” and many of the preeminent theater programs require it of prospective students as a way to weed out those who the faculty do not feel are ready to compete in a talent pool of their peers. Prospective applicants must find out what specific pre-screen material is required for each school by visiting each school’s respective website. Then, after much preparation, they must perform this material on tape and submit the video to the school per the pre-screen instructions.