UK Student auditioning for U.S Musical Theatre Schools....

[Jwaa]

Posted: 2/24/06 at 6:52pm

Hello!

I am a UK student in my first year of college, at the end of 2006 i will have to audition for vocational schools...im not sure if you call them the same over there, but its the final 3 year course of eductaion before being left professionally trained.

I have been giving it great thought, and thought about following my dreams and aspiration and i have begun to realise that my dreams to not lie within the U.K's musical theatre scene.

Over here at the moment the only shows supported are the big commercial shows that people who visit the theatre about twice a year are eager to see, the audience mainly consists of people who want to see a pleasent 1 dimensional show,

...whereas over there you have great support of workshopped new shows, and smaller intimate productions of contemporary shows. I am an avid fan of these such productions, I love the idea of being known only by people who know what they are talking about.
I want to be involved in productions such as these in teh future, i and this is something i dont belive i could achieve training in the U.K.

This is my reason for wanting to be a performer in America...

do you think my choice is wise? Are there great difficulties with being a foreign student auditioning in a U.S School?

Does anyone know how i should go about applying over there from over here??

All and any feedback would be very appreciated, thank you for reading,

Josh

x

[Sporti2005]

Posted: 2/24/06 at 7:04pm

josh --

one problem you might encounter is that a lot of schools don't give financial aid to international students. i don't know about your family's financial situation at all -- but college here is a whole lot more expensive than college over in europe.

a lot of schools have online applications, so you can check out the schools you're interested in and apply online. that would save a lot of time in terms of how long it would take for a paper app to get from the UK to the states.

in terms of actually GETTING IN to a US school -- you might have a bit of an advantage. schools here are always trying to fill out quotas so they can say they have a certain percentage of international students. that might make it a tiny bit easier for you to get in, but the musical theatre market here is still pretty tough competition.

we don't call them vocational schools -- you would either go to a college that had a Musical Theatre program or you would attend a conservatory. the difference would be that at a conservatory, you're focusing strictly on your craft. there is little (if any) involvement in the liberal arts (academics). that said, if you're going to a conservatory that you would graduate with a BFA degree from, you would HAVE to take liberal arts classes. at a college/university that offers Musical Theatre, you would take more academic classes than at a conservatory. neither is BETTER than the other -- it's really based on personal preference.

good luck!
maggie