This year, Conservatory audition weekends featured the first round of Music Theater auditions, a program not only notable for its debut but for its incredible starting size, both in terms of faculty increase and the robust applicant pool. In addition to incoming first-years and transfer students, several current Oberlin students have auditioned in the past few weeks. Conservatory second-year Ashlyn Tsui, College first-year Kendal Walls, and College second-year Jacob Fife all shared their audition experiences with the Review. Walls also auditioned for 29 other Musical Theater BFA programs this year.
These interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
Would you walk me through the audition process?
AT: It was actually really confusing. As someone already in the Conservatory, the process for reauditioning was very difficult because everything was still new. The rules were being made.
Day of, it was really rough, because I was sick. I woke up pretty early — for me that’s around 9. I went to the practice rooms to see if I could belt because usually when I’m sick I can hide it better with more legit soprano-y songs. I printed all my music, made the cuts, and then I went.
KW: My audition was at 2:40 p.m., but they also had the dance masterclass at 12:30. So I checked in and went to the dance. It was called a masterclass, but it was more like a dance call. They definitely wrote things about us. They taught us a short snippet of a dance from Rock of Ages. Then I got ready for my vocal audition. Twenty minutes before, they took me downstairs to warmup. They put me in a warm-up room with other people, so I took the hallway space. I think a few people didn’t show up at the correct time, so they were going to make me go earlier than I was supposed to, and I was like, “Please don’t do that.” So the order was wacky, but I went in and sang, and then we chit-chatted for a second.
JF: I focused a lot on the dance aspect of the audition, which all occurred online. As current students we didn’t have to have our pre-screenings evaluated in order to enter the next round of auditions. Rather, they simply wanted the screenings from us before February since their audition process only included an in-person singing audition. The screening materials that you submitted would be reviewed for dancing and acting. Other than the song selections being of contrasting styles, it was very open-ended. They emphasized that they wanted to see what you think you shine in the most. That left prospective students to their own creativity, whether they wanted to choreograph their own thing or take a video off the internet, which is what I did.
How did this process differ from when you auditioned as an incoming first year?
AT: When I auditioned here, I sent in my pre-screens — three classical pieces: German, French, and Italian — and then when I moved on to the next round, I didn’t come in person because I’m from California, so I just sent in the same videos. I didn’t want to redo videos, and I surprisingly got in.
How did it compare to other BFA auditions you did?
KW: Obviously for this one we didn’t do a monologue, and with three songs, you don’t really know exactly what you’re singing. It also was definitely a lot more rushed than I’ve seen other auditions go. I’ve had auditions where they block out 20–30 minutes for one person and they sit and interview you for 20 minutes.
I would only truly consider transferring for a very small list of schools. I’m definitely worried because I would like to not have to consider other options, but if I don’t get in here, I might have to.
How do you feel the auditions were run?
AT: I heard a lot of contradictory information, but it was mainly hearsay. I would hear people in the College say, “We had a portal and we had to submit pre-screens by Feb. 1.” I didn’t know you had to have your resume, so when I walked in, someone asked me, “Do you have a physical copy of your resume?” and I said no, because no one told me that I needed one. I even checked everything that morning.
Even they didn’t really know the process of transferring someone over who’s already been here for two years. They said, “Oh, we’ll have to ask Conservatory Admissions and get back to you.” But that sounds like a good sign to me.
They said I might have to lose a year, and I don’t know because vocal performance aligns very similarly, but if I did get accepted and they make me do another year, I’ll have to really think about it.
KW: There was a lack of general information that I received and especially as a current student, I felt the incoming freshman class received a lot more clear information than we did. It went from “We don’t have to submit any pre-screen” to “We do have to submit it, but it doesn’t count as an actual prescreen,” and then the deadline for that kept changing, so that was confusing.
JF: I thought it was run very efficiently. Going into the audition, the person who had just come out was like “That was so simple. I didn’t slate. I just sang my songs and that’s it.” Very efficient, a little nerve-wracking in the sense that you don’t know exactly what you’re singing. From what I heard, everyone sang the song that they did not submit in their screening.
If you were to get into the musical theater program, do you have any aspirations or hopes for what you’d get out of it?
AT: After being a classical voice major for two years, I just miss different styles of singing. Classical is great, but I miss the diversity of genres and the dancing within musical theater. So to do all three things that I really love in one major would be really great. I love that even though it’s a Music Theater major, they still teach aural skills and music theory, which is something that I really wanted to learn going into music because a lot of musical theater programs don’t do that.
KW: I love musical theater. I’ve been doing it for quite a while. It’s where I spend all my free time, and that’s what I’d like to do as a career. I’m hoping, crossing my fingers, but I also know the chances.
JF: I wanted to audition mainly because musical theater has been a big part of my life. I was very timid in high school about auditioning for BFA programs that were strictly focused on studying either theater acting or musical theater, and I thought that since Oberlin had such a functional dual-degree program, that if I got in by some miracle, this would be a good way to incorporate both a college degree, which makes me feel secure in life, while pursuing theater, which is the thing I really love.
