ON CAMPUS THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS
Nerves help you make bold choices
If you’re planning to apply to a theatre or music theatre program, you’re likely already familiar with auditions – including the butterflies that accompany them. But nerves can be a good thing, assures the coordinator of Sheridan College’s renowned music theatre performance program.
“It’s natural to feel nervous. Nerves, in many respects, help you to make bold choices and that’s what I think makes a performer exciting,” says Marc Richard, also artistic director of Theatre Sheridan. “A little bit of nervous energy forces you to go in places you might not go otherwise and makes your performance exciting.”
Last year, Sheridan started a new application process that mirrors what’s happening in most theatre schools south of the border. The first stage involves the online submission of a portfolio that includes a headshot, resumé, artist statement, video of the applicant singing two songs and delivering a monologue and dance sequence.
“It’s quite comprehensive but we don’t want students to think they’ve got to get a professional to tape them. They can use their phone,” Richard says. “It’s mostly to avoid bringing people to Sheridan if it’s not necessary. People are coming from across the country and may not really have a chance of getting in and they’ve spent all that money.”
The school selects about 25% of applicants – that’s about 100 people – for an in-person callback. What advice does Richard offer those applicants? “The biggest thing, and I think this goes for all schools, is to make sure we see you as a human being. We really do evaluate this audition on potential,” he says.
“About 40% of it’s based on what someone has got right now in terms of skill and talent but what we’re looking for is potential. There may be students – depending on what school and what area of the country they’re coming from – that have had very little experience but have this passion for music theatre. We want to see they have a hunger for learning but also have a hunger for growing and are curious and resilient.”
Sheridan’s honours bachelor of music theatre performance is a four-year program designed to produce ‘triple threats’ who can act, sing and dance. While the vast majority most find representation by major agents and/or contractual employment, some grads use their performance skills to do other things – from becoming yoga instructors to working in social justice.
“Some go on to become lawyers because they’ve learned how to be articulate,” Richard says. “Because it’s a degree and there’s an academic side to it as well as a performance side, it opens up possibilities in terms of what the students go after. They’re constantly researching history or the human condition and I think that opens up their empathy and sense of wanting to change the world. That’s what’s exciting.”