Resources for Students and Alumni
Purpose
- To provide you, the student, an opportunity to become familiar with auditioning/interviewing procedure.
- To gain confidence in the audition/interview process.
- To develop and hone your auditioning/interviewing skills.
- To provide the faculty an opportunity to observe and aid your growth and development as artists in your field.
All Theatre majors/minors/core concentrators are required to participate in Mocks. Those who do not may be denied consideration for awards, scholarships, and/or other honors and opportunities.
Mock Auditions
Requirements for Freshmen
- Resume
- 1 monologue
- 1 song if you have had, or are in, Musical Theatre Workshop
Requirements for Sophomores
- Resume
- 2 contrasting monologues
- 1 song if you have had, or are in, Musical Theatre Workshop
Requirements for Juniors
- Resume
- 1 classical monologue
- 1 modern monologue
- 1 song
Requirements for Seniors
- Resume
- 1 classical monologue
- 1 contrasting modern monologue
- 1 song
Time: Please limit your presentation to a maximum of 4 minutes total for monologues and 32 bars of a song.
Procedure
- Introduce yourself and the pieces.
- Perform the pieces.
- Say "thank you" when finished.
- Remain in place to receive feedback from the auditors.
Tips
- Choose selections you believe you can successfully perform, including roles in which you could be cast, in a professional setting (e.g.., appropriate age range).
- Avoid selections you have already performed in production.
- Monologues and songs featuring characters pursuing actions, rather than telling stories, are usually stronger.
- Do not require the auditors to "participate" as an audience might via eye contact or any kind of response during the performance part of the audition.
Suggested sources for more information:
- Backstage
- Bay Area Educational Theater Company
- How_To_Audition.com
Mock Directing/Design Interview
Positions Available
- Director
- Designer (Scenic, Lighting, Costumes, Makeup, Sound)
Requirements
- Resume
- Portfolio (examples of previous work)
- Concept & Production ideas for Spring 2019: The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde. Students can access a script here.
(Directors and designers should include examples of research, such as a morgue of images or collection of sounds/music. Designers should include appropriate examples: scenic designers should have a model and/or rendering, costume designer should have sketches, renderings, and fabric swatches; lighting designers should have a plot; makeup designers should have renderings/sketches, sound designers should have audio samples.)
Procedure
- Introduce yourself.
- Discuss your analysis of the play (themes, messages, ideas, conflict, main action, style, world of the play). Designers should focus on their particular areas in greater depth and know practical requirements and consider aesthetic qualities of expression (e.g., costume and makeup designers should carefully analyze characters, scenic and lighting designers should carefully analyze visual requirements, sound designers should know required effects).
- Describe your concept (central metaphor, style, and, if applicable, change of period) and justify it based on your analysis. Directors should discuss possible audience interpretations.
- Describe how the production or the particular design element will reflect your conceptual ideas. Be sure to use the appropriate vocabulary (e.g., costume designers discuss silhouette, color, texture, etc.; scenic designers discuss line, mass, composition, color, etc.; lighting designers discuss direction, intensity, color, emphasis, movement, etc.) and effective examples (e.g., costume/makeup sketches, a model, audio samples, fabric swatches, a morgue).
- Be prepared to answer questions about your knowledge of the play and justification for your ideas.
- Remain to receive feedback from the auditors.
Dress Requirements: Please remember that you are practicing applying for a job.
Seek faculty assistance and advice.
Internships/Jobs
101 Most Common Interview Questions with Pass or Fail Answers
Backstage - Job listings from the US and the world
Eugene O'Neill Theater Center - Internships and jobs at The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT
HigherEdJobs.com - "We created HigherEdJobs.com to revolutionize the way faculty and staff search and apply for positions in higher education." Founders' Vision for HigherEdJobs.com
New York Foundation for the Arts - Grants, online resources, professional development, jobs
Playbill - On-line casting and job listings
StrawHat Auditions - StrawHat is an organization that supports the careers of non-equity actors and technical artists looking to start and continue their professional careers in the theatre.
Graduate/Training Programs
Graduate Record Examination (GRE) - This is the test required for many graduate schools.
GradSchools.com - Theater Graduate Programs in the United States
Brown University - Department of Theatre, Speech and Dance (links to masters and doctoral programs)
Rhode Island College - Music, Theatre, and Dance Department
Organizations/Publications
Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE)
Backstage - Billed as "the complete online performing arts resource," Backstage offers theater updates, casting news, and columns on the dramatic arts.
The Drama Review (TDR) - The journal of performance studies online.
Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival (KC/ACTF) - KC/ACTF Region I
Mid America Theatre Conference (MATC)
New England Theatre Conference (NETC)
On the Boards - An online journal focusing on legitimate theater on Broadway, in the West End, and around the world.
Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC)
Stage Directions Magazine - This is a national magazine with features and information on regional, school, and community drama troupes.
Theatre Communications Group (TCG)- ArtSEARCH Login
United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT)
University/Resident Theatre Association (URTA)
Local Organizations, Publications, and Opportunities
Artists' Exchange - Art, theatre, and music in Cranston, RI
AS220 - Artist-run organization for visual and performing arts in Providence, RI
Colonial Theatre Shakespeare Festival - Located in Westerly, RI
Courthouse Center for the Arts - Located in West Kingston, RI
Firehouse Theatre - Located in Newport, RI
Gamm Theatre - Located in Pawtucket, RI
Goodspeed Opera House - Located in East Haddam, CT
Long Wharf Theatre - Located in New Haven, CT
Mixed Magic Theatre - Located in Pawtucket, RI
New England Entertainment Digest - Auditions
Newport Playhouse - Located in Newport, RI
Providence Performing Arts Center
Stage Source - The Greater Boston Theatre Alliance
Theatre By The Sea (Ocean State Theatre Company) - Located in Matunuck, RI
The Theatre Mirror - New England Theater Guide
Trinity Rep - Located in Providence, RI
Reference/Resources
A Guide to Theater Costumes and Historical Dresses - By Lulus
GRE Review Prep Courses Rankings - Rankings.com analyzed every GRE prep course offered nationwide, both online and in-person. They established and evaluated seven core factors, not only to determine which was the best, but to provide tools that let students create their own methodology/criteria to help evaluate and compare the researched data.
LIGHTS, COSTUMES, ACTION - A LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF THE THEATRE - By: Molly Schwichtenberg
Musicals 101 - The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre, TV and Film.
New York's Theatre History: Broadway - A concise history of Broadway and useful Broadway history links.
Octane Seating's Theater and Film Resources - Includes "Greek Mythology in Theater," "Theater Acting vs Film Acting," "A Glossary of Film," and much more interesting information about Shakespeare, playwrights, scripts, etc.
Project Gutenberg - eScripts and eBooks of public domain texts.
Seat Up: A Brief History of Theater
Theatre History - A concise history of theatre and useful links.