Applications for the 2013-2014 school year for the Class of 2017 will be available online as of September 1, and are due no later than December 1, 2012.

The online application form can be found at ccm.uc.edu/admissions.html.

We will also audition on the road as part of the Unified Tour in New York and Chicago.

AUDITION DATES

Jan. 12, 2013
Cincinnati

Jan. 26, 2013
Cincinnati

Feb. 16, 2013
Cincinnati 

Feb. 2-3, 2013
New York

Feb. 4-5, 2013
Chicago

A life of an actor in the performing arts is both exciting and difficult. Including stage, television, film, voice-over, print and commercial work, a well-trained actor has a vast array of career and performance opportunities from which to choose.

CCM's Department of Drama encourages proficiency through a variety of approaches, most notably through the belief in rigorous, diversified training. There is no magic formula to success as an actor, but a solid technique grounded in thorough training in Acting, Voice, and Movement will help an actor be prepared for roles from Shakespeare to Ibsen, Moliere to Mamet, television to film, voice-over to commercial shoot.

Our professional training program for actors is designed to prepare students for a life as an actor. We believe that there is not just one way, one ‘method’ for actors to learn. Within a carefully developed sequence, each acting teacher in the program offers his or her techniques, tools, exercises, aesthetic and philosophy based on the work of such notable masters as Sanford Meisner, Michael Chekhov, Eric Morris, Anne Bogart, Tadashi Suzuki and others. We want our graduates to be unique individuals who know how to develop well-crafted roles confidently and creatively, who have a strong command of their bodies, voices and minds, and who are not afraid to take artistic risks while staying true to the traits that make each a unique performer.

The audition for admission to the program in drama consists of two acted monologues. We want to get to know who you are through your work. The purpose of the audition is to see who you are and how you perform. It is an opportunity for us to see your personality, strengths, and traits that make you a unique person. Your introduction, your interest level as you answer and ask questions, the selection of monologues, everything you do at the audition helps us to evaluate you for admission. We like interesting and interested people.

General Advice

We want the audition process to be one in which we can see you do your best work, so we can evaluate your potential success in terms of what we feel the school has to offer you specifically. A great deal of our evaluation concerns who you are. Therefore, be proud of who you are, share with us honestly, and work hard on your preparation. Training with CCM Drama is exciting and we are looking forward to having you be a part of our program.

Scholarship Information

There are two ways to receive scholarship aid to study in CCM Drama at the University of Cincinnati. The first is through an academic scholarship called the Cincinnatus Scholarship. For details, please visit the following page to learn more about this generous academic scholarship for students. www.financialaid.uc.edu/cincinnatus.html

Every applicant is also automatically considered for our second type of scholarship, the CCM Talent Scholarship, which is awarded based on the audition and interview. No further applications or actions by applicants are required, other than applying and auditioning, to be considered for our modest talent scholarships.

Richard E. Hess

A.B., Dolly, Ralph and Julia Cohen Chair in Drama
hessre@uc.edu

Applications for the Class of 2017 (studies beginning in 2013-14) are due by December 1, 2012. The online application form can be found at ccm.uc.edu/admissions.html

The Audition

In Cincinnati, the first portion of the audition consists of a group warm-up. (There are no group warm-ups at the regional audition sites.) The purpose of this is two-fold. The first goal is to loosen you up mentally, physically, and vocally. One of the current drama students will lead the audition group through a series of exercises for 20-30 minutes. The second goal of the warm-up is to help you relax and breathe. Tension is one of the biggest enemies of a good audition. There is no preparation necessary for this part of the audition. The warm-up is not overly rigorous; no special clothes are needed.

The performance of two contrasting monologues is the centerpiece of the audition. It is also the portion over which you have the most control. Auditionees have a total of five minutes to present both pieces. We require two contrasting pieces: the first should be a classical piece, which for the purposes of this audition we will define as anything from roughly 1910 backwards. The second piece should be contemporary, that is, anything from 1910 to the present. Be brave and bold in your choices, and look hard for pieces that speak to you strongly, to which you deeply connect, which you just love working on and can’t wait to perform. Do not present a monologue by a character that you have played in a high school or community production. We love fresh pieces that you choose for yourself. In fact, during the interview later, we often ask you why you chose your pieces. Also, be sure the pieces chosen show characters in contrasting situations and emotions. (one comic, one serious) By selecting monologues that are similar you are missing the opportunity to show us the range of your abilities.

After you perform your two well-rehearsed monologues, we may ask you to do the piece again with an ‘adjustment.’ An ‘adjustment’ is merely a new direction, a different outlook, a different set of circumstances given to you by one of the faculty members to apply to your monologue as you present it again. This does not mean that you performed incorrectly the first time. To the contrary, it means that we were excited by your work and are eager to try working the piece again in a new way. We then get a chance to see how well you take direction, how open you are to new ideas, how much you are willing to play. Often an ‘adjustment’ leads to a new discovery in your performance, and sometimes it doesn’t. If one of the panel members asks you to try your monologue again in a new way, don’t be surprised. The results may excite both you and us.

The last portion of the audition may include a very short informal mini-interview. We are very interested in our auditionees, and usually we just want to know a little more about your background, your high school drama experience, your ideas about CCM, and your needs and desires for college training. We are interested in getting to know you as a person, however briefly, so that we can make our choices based on the whole you.

Audition Preparation (adapted from Handbook for Actors and Coaches by Robert E. Leonard)

• PLEASE seek roles in your own maturity and emotional range and from material with which you are familiar and feel comfortable. Never attempt an audition monologue without reading the entire play and understanding your character in the context of the play. Avoid material specifically written for monologue books. We need to see you tackle a piece from a full-length play with a fully developed character. Teen monologue books, with pieces like ‘Angry Punk on the Subway’ will not show you at your best. Good writing will always serve your purposes better than mediocre or poor writing. Your audition material represents 90% of your time on stage, so select the strongest horse to ride.
• PLEASE look for selections with contrasting characters, moods, intentions, rhythms, emotional levels, and content.
• PLEASE choose pieces that will maximize your strongest assets and minimize your weaknesses. Actors who take risks are very appealing to us, but gear your risk taking to interpretation rather than casting. Above all, do what you do best.
• PLEASE try to avoid climactic material which requires great depth or intensity of emotion. There is simply not enough time to achieve these emotional peaks effectively and honestly. On the other hand, avoid dull and passive pieces which dwell on character or plot exposition. Your character should be actively involved in overcoming obstacles in order to fulfill an immediate objective or intention.
• PLEASE work hard on memorizing the pieces well, and know what the monologue means, what all the words mean, and how to pronounce those words.
• PLEASE feel free to use the whole room during the audition. We will provide a chair for you to use.
  
• PLEASE have fun.

*Please, no monologues from the following:

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• The Boys Next Door
• The Line That Picked Up 1,000 Babes and How It Can Work For You
• The Vagina Monologues
• The Woolgatherer
• Getting Out
• ‘night Mother
• Macbeth
• The Star Spangled Girl
• Boys’ Life
• The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
• Wit
• Laughing Wild
• the 'Queen Mab' speech from Romeo and Juliet
• any monologue about auditioning or eating disorders

CCM DRAMA . . .

IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES