The Juilliard Audition Stories..- Page 2

[VivaBohemia]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 1:03pm

Speed, Im sending your post to a friend of mine auditioning for Julliard. I think it will settle her nerves ALOT :)

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 1:23pm

Thega, you're right. Of course talent is what matters. Very few individuals are naturally talented with no training, though. That's why people look for the best possible training. Although, the name of your college will not get you a job, the training you receive at any particular school is well-known to casting directors. Sure,there may be some actors who thrive at programs which are not considered the best. Those people will be successful regardless of where they go to school. Most people aren't like that, though, and feel that getting the best possible education and training is a good thing, regardless of where their career takes them. While prestige may not get you a job, it often gets you an 'in'. Trust me.

amneris, my comment wasn't to the entire board. It was to thega and to mr. tuttle, and was made tongue-in-cheek. No one said that someone at a particular school is better than anyone else. Sounds like you have an issue here that is coming out in the midst of what was a fairly rational discussion. While there's a certain degree of luck involved in auditions, to say that someone was just lucky who got into a particular school or into a particular role in a show, is just a little silly. While your story of your parents' experience with Juilliard (does anyone spell this correctly?!) is interesting, what it proves, other than those particular actors had a problem, I'm not sure. There are going to be people of every description at every college, not only in theatre programs either. Not everyone who is in college is smart, and not everyone who is in a drama program is a huge talent. The fact remains that Juilliard has an excellent reputation in the arts world, and anyone who denies that is deluding themselves. And I don't even know why I'm defending it here because I was never even interested in applying there. :)

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 2:10pm

For those who been through this process before...when do you find out when your auditon date is? My friend applied online...when should he find out by when he goes? thanks

[M J R]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 2:23pm

"A Julliard degree is worth about as much as the paper it's printed on"

"TheGaIsSilent" - you don't know what you're talking about.

Every major talent agency in New York City scouts the graduating class of every area (music,acting,dance) at Juilliard. They are the most sought after artists by agents and talent scouts.

TALENT is only one (sometimes small) factor in casting.

Updated On: 11/9/04 at 02:23 PM

[TheGaIsSilent]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 2:26pm

MJR,

Thanks for saying I have no idea what I'm talking about, though my BWW post name is not GaLinda.

I didn't say they weren't sought after, I'm just saying that being a Julliard graduate makes you no more talented then being a graduate of any other arts school in the country. Look at some of the top names in theatre today. Very few of them attended Julliard.

[M J R]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 2:27pm

I fixed the name - sorry. What you said was "A Julliard degree is worth about as much as the paper it's printed on". That couldn't be further from the truth.

[TheGaIsSilent]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 2:28pm

OK, we disagree then. No biggie.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 2:42pm

It does and it doesn't. In the end, it depends on the individual. As we all know, tenacity and drive can win out over talent any day. One of my teachers at NCSA was trained at Julliard--he was there the same time Kevin Kline, Christine Baranski and others were training--I asked him who were the two people everone at the school KNEW were going to make it because they were so damned brilliant. He quickly named two names that no one had ever heard of and shrugged "I have no idea what happened to them."

[Speed]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 2:52pm

"What's the matter, guys? Did Juilliard reject you? "


Does it matter either way? You don't get paid for going to Juilliard. You don't win a Tony for going to Juilliard. You don't get a Tony for going to Juilliard. Does it matter if Juilliard rejects you? What are they saying, really? That THEY are the ones who aren't good enough to train YOU.

For the record, I've never auditioned for Juilliard.
Updated On: 11/9/04 at 02:52 PM

[Speed]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 2:53pm

Viva- that's nice to hear. Thanks for telling me that. And good luck to your friend!!

[Speed]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 3:02pm

A Juilliard degree MIGHT get you in the door, but it won't get you the job. It simply won't.

Who cares if a talent agent is interested in you because you went to Juilliard? Having an agent is having an agent. There's a HUGE GAP between having an agent and having a career.

How you LOOK and your ability to deal with the demands of the ROLES AVAILABLE in the business are what are going to determine whether or not you work.

Hey hey, Erin... if very few individuals are naturally talented without training, then what is Juilliard's criteria for selecting actors for their program? Is their goal to pick people who aren't good and then make them good? Or is it their goal to find those "very few" who are natuarally talented without training so that, in effect, their program need not be very good to produce results?

And yo, school training really isn't all that. It's 2-4 years of your life. It's a chance for you to realize you're gay and get over it (okay, that's offensive to the straight people, my apologies), but the REAL training takes place in the 50 years of acting classes that you take AFTER college. And even those acting classes don't replace the training that REALLY matters.... being on stage in front of an AUDIENCE (the best, most honest teacher in the world.) An audience won't care if you went to Juilliard and they might even hold it against you if you're up onstage acting like they're supposed to like you because you aced an audition for a couple people at Lincoln Center when you were 17.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 3:17pm

For my freshman year in college, I decided to be brave and go out for Juilliard. I was one of a few high school seniors to get called back.

Tell him to be prepared to be there from early morning to late night in case he's called back. But don't get disappointed. They RARELY take high school seniors.

Maybe I'll see him there this year. I'm trying again.

[Jus B]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 4:21pm

My friend auditioned for theur theathre program and got in. I was very happy for her. She said the audition was just like any other one, except they asked her to sing something a cappela.
Come to think of it, I haven't talked to her since she got in... What do they do to them there!!!!!