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Theater Audition

Applicants to the New World School of the Arts BFA Acting or Musical Theatre programs have two options to follow.

Before continuing below, all NWSA applicants must apply directly to NWSA by completing the free New World School of the Arts Online Application. Priority application/audition deadline is March 8, 2025.

Submit complete application packet here.

Option 1 – Preferred

Prescreen Video Auditions

Applicants to the BFA Acting or Musical Theatre programs submit prescreen materials through Acceptd. Selected students will be invited to participate in a callback in-person audition.

New World School of the Arts Theater Division participates in the Musical Theater Common Prescreen (MTCP).

For the 2024-2025 Audition Cycle, MTCP has resource of helpful tips. We strongly encourage that you take advantage of these resources which have been thoughtfully and intentionally crafted by the expertise of multiple programs nationwide to support the excellence of the audition and for your benefit. View the MTCP Resources Page.

Off-Campus Live Prescreen Audition Events and Dates

  • Florida Theatre Conference (Winter Haven, FL), November 7-9, 2024
  • Florida State Thespian Festival (Tampa, FL), March 19-23, 2025

On-Campus In-Person Callback Audition Dates

  • Saturday, February 1, 2025
  • Saturday, March 8, 2025
  • Saturday, April 12, 2025
Submit Prescreen Materials via Acceptd

Prescreen/In-person Audition Requirements

The song and monologue audition requirements below apply to both prescreen video submissions and in-person callbacks. You may choose to present the same material for both prescreens and callbacks, or present new material that fulfills the requirements.

General Information and Tips

  • Each piece should be filmed/uploaded as a separate piece of media. No continuous videos.
  • Students are encouraged to use standard technology/recording devices available to them (i.e. smartphones, tablets, etc.)
  • Solid-colored walls are ideal, but any background that does not steal the focus from your performance is desired.
  • Take care that your space allows for adequate lighting. Having a lamp or window directly behind you will cast a shadow over your face. Keep the lighting source behind your recording device or to the side of you so that your face is lit.
  • When using pre-recorded music, place the music source (the speaker) closer to you than it is to the device on which you are recording. By having the accompaniment near you, your voice and music will reach the microphone on your device in a more balanced manner.
  • Before filming, do a trial run to test both your audio & visual presentation. Watch your video back to ensure everything looks AND sounds okay.
  • Ensure the camera portion of your device is at eye level (see example). You can use a tripod built for a smartphone or tablet. If you do not have a tripod, consider using a stack of books on a desk or box. Filming in “landscape” (horizontally) is recommended.

Prescreen Introduction "SLATE" Video

  • Record one introduction "slate" video stating your name. If you would like to include your pronouns, state them as well. Please speak loudly (project your voice) and clearly (articulate) directly at the camera.
    • This is an opportunity for the auditors to get a sense of your personality and to learn the pronunciation of your name.
  • There is no need to slate your individual performance videos & pieces. Instead, clearly label each video with your name and the title of the piece you are performing (see more details below).

Labeling Guidelines for All Videos

Label each video file with the piece you are performing, the show or playwright, and your first & last name.

  • Title of Song – Musical/Show – Your First & Last Name
  • Title of Play – Playwright – Your First & Last Name
Examples:
  • Slate – James Smith
  • Your Daddy’s Son – Ragtime – Minnie Mouse
  • Much Ado About Nothing – William Shakespeare – Luke Skywalker

Time Guidelines for All Performance Videos

All song, monologue, dance, ballet, and wild card videos are recommended to be between 60-90 seconds each.

Framing for Slates, Songs, and Monologues

  • Camera framing is simply the placement and position of the actor in the shot. We recommend a waist up frame so we can see your face and hear you clearly.

Framing for Dance and Ballet

We recommend a setup that allows us to see the top of your head to the floor. This allows us to see how you inhabit space.

Framing for Dance and Ballet Tip:

If it is helpful for you to see yourself, place a full-length mirror behind the filming device and remember that the camera is your audience.

Song Requirements

  • One musical theater song from any time period.
  • One song of your choice from any time period and in any style that best suits you (musical theater, pop, hip-hop, folk, rock, rap, soul, country, punk, etc.). This song should contrast the style of the first selection.

Song Tips:

  • Some examples of contrasting songs are fast tempo vs slow tempo, sustained melodic singing vs speech-like singing, dramatic vs comedic, belt vs head/falsetto mix.
  • Many accompaniment tracks are available on YouTube and other websites. If you do not have a way to work with a live accompanist or don’t have access to a recorded track of your music, consider using an app that will play the piano part for you. Harmony Helper is one such app that allows you to take photos of your sheet music, upload them to the app and then generate a piano track that you can use.

Monologue Requirements

  • One contemporary monologue (typically written after 1950) from a published (or written by a professional writer) play. A professional writer is someone whose plays have been produced, but may not have been professionally published.

AND

  • One classical monologue (typically written before 1950). Classical monologues should have heightened language. Heightened language may include works by Shakespeare, Molière, Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Middleton, Thomas Kyd, Aristophanes, August Wilson, Tony Kushner, Suzan-Lori Parks, Mike Bartlett, George the Poet, Andrea Gibson, or contemporary adaptations of classical plays that still utilize heightened language.

Monologue Tips:

  • It is recommended to choose monologues that are age-appropriate (generally within 5-10 years of your actual age) and that feel authentic to your culture, background, and lived experience.
  • Active monologues are often better for auditions; an active monologue takes place in real time and focuses on what you want and puts you in direct communication with an imaginary scene partner. This is often more successful in an audition situation than pieces that are a story or remembrance. Additionally, it can be helpful to avoid monologues that rely on extreme emotions as it can be hard to believably justify those responses in a short piece.

Dance Requirements

  • Show us your best version of dancing or moving. Please include at least one turn, one jump and one kick (or other suitable rotation, elevation, and extension that works for your body).

Dance Tips:

  • Make sure you can execute all the choreography well. It is to your advantage to choose steps and movement that highlight your strengths instead of your weaknesses.
  • You may use recent videos of you from a show or concert, but it must just be you in the frame.
  • Dance sample should be in whatever dance discipline you feel most confident. This may include, but is not limited to jazz, ballet, tap, modern, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary, or dance styles beyond American and Euro-western styles.
  • Dance media can be “self-choreographed”, but it must be a solo video of you. This can include a show, competition, or other performance so long as you are clearly featured on your own.
  • Please use steps, movement, and physical vocabulary that you are familiar with and can execute well. Fully move your body to the best of your ability.
  • To assist applicants with the dance prescreen, several institutions provided the following resource videos for applicants who do not have access to a choreographed combo for the prescreen process. You may submit this choreography (or a combination of it) to any of the schools you are applying to that ask for a dance prescreen. This list will be updated as more institutions share resources, so be sure to check back.
    • Abilene Christian University Dance Combo Resource
    • Emerson College Dance Combo Resource
    • Nazareth University Dance Combo Resource
    • Texas State University Dance Combo Resource

Optional Ballet Requirements

  • Ballet optional. Please include a brief series of plié, tendu, and grande battement, a pirouette en déhors (to both sides), and one or more grand jeté across the floor.

Optional Wild Card Video

Think about the wild card section as an opportunity to show your personality or share something about you. This media can be ANYTHING you want - a special skill, an interesting story about yourself, a passion speech, an instrument you play, etc. “What do you want us to know about you?” Below is a list of ideas that have been successful in the past:

  • Singing a pop song
  • Singing or playing an original composition/song/poem or choreographed dance.
  • Performing your own Saturday Night Live-styled skit where you create a comedic character
  • Sharing a hobby or activity that means something to you
  • Performing in a language other than English in which you are fluent
  • Playing an instrument
  • Making a “how-to” video on something you are good at, baking, calligraphy, gymnastics.
  • If you are a dancer and want to show us a different style you excel in: Tap, Hip Hop, Lyrical, Ballet, etc.

Option 2

Alternative Method

Student transfer applicants from MDC, other transfer students and those with other special circumstances should contact the NWSA Theater division office for direct guidance and the option of directly submitting a video audition or participating in a live audition with permission of the dean. The song and monologue audition requirements listed above will still apply to both video submissions and in-person auditions. For further information contact Alan Patrick Kenny: akenny@mdc.edu 305-237-3458.

Transcripts

During the NWSA application process, official transcripts are not required. We highly recommend that you have your unofficial transcript available in case the division needs to provide class recommendations for your first semester.

Upon final acceptance to New World School of the Arts*, final and official transcripts for each school that you attended must be mailed to:

Miami Dade College
Attention: Transcript Processing Services
11011 S.W. 104th Street, Room R301
Miami, FL 33176

*Transfer students who are advised by NWSA to apply directly to University of Florida
must send their final and official transcripts to:

The UF Office of Admissions
P.O. Box 114000
Gainesville, FL 32611-4000