I arrived at RAM to join a group of about 15 auditionees for that day. We listened to a brief talk from the course leader about what the day would entail and were given a form to fill in and a list of answers to (pretty much) any potential questions we had.
After this, we took part in what was hilariously described as a "movement workshop" on the website- DO NOT BE TAKEN IN BY THIS GENTLE SOUNDING CLASS, IT'S A DANCE AUDITION WITH A FANCY NAME!!! *breathes* now that I've got that out, it's worth mentioning that it wasn't that awful a dance audition (I actually quite enjoyed it!) but it was quite technical in places. If you're a dancer already, great! If you're not, taking some dance classes to familiarise yourself with picking up a routine would certainly do you no harm with RAM. I'll write a separate post about dance auditions for non-dancers (from my extensive experience!) soon, so won't discuss too much more on this subject for now.
Next we had acting, which was pretty unremarkable. We each went and performed a modern monologue to the panel. They didn't give much away, but I felt mine had gone reasonably well. I always get more nervous about performing a monologue than singing and so was pleased that I had managed to perform mine with few noticeable hitches (I fluffed a line but covered it well, and you wouldn't know unless you knew the show...).
Then we had a lunch break of about 20 minutes before going to sing. RAM ask you to bring 3 songs along, but as far as I know they didn't ask anyone for more than 2. I sang 2 of my 3- incidentally not the 2 I was expecting, but I guess the occasional surprise is good for you! I felt one had gone okay and one sounded the best I had ever sung it, so it was a complete mixed bag. The room we sang in had seriously brilliant acoustics, I remember hearing myself sing and thinking "wow" and this sentiment was definitely echoed by the other auditionees.
Once the performing aspect was over, we each had individual interviews. This was something that I had been both dreading and looking forward to. On one hand, I know the rather forced interview setting doesn't show me in my best light, but at the same time I was excited to talk to the course leaders. At all the schools I have auditioned at so far (bar LAMDA), there is no interview at the preliminary audition stage and since I haven't been recalled yet (we live in hope still!!!) this cycle I hadn't actual had to endure an interview. The questions were pretty standard, nothing out of the ordinary; just a bit about myself and my experiences and my desire to do the course. I don't feel I came across brilliantly here so perhaps that's something to work on.
Overall I really enjoyed the experience of the audition day at RAM. They go out of their way to make you feel as comfortable as possible in what is obviously a tense situation and they did manage to put me (slightly) at ease. Unfortunately, a few days after my audition I was informed that my audition had been unsuccessful. I was gutted, as I really liked the Academy and could genuinely see myself there, but I'm going to use this experience to help me grow as a performer and strengthen myself. If I don't get into anywhere this cycle, I will definitely be applying next year so watch this space to see what happens!
Thank you to all of you reading this, I know I haven't been blogging particularly regularly but I want to get back into it- mostly not to let you all down! I try to write what I would like to read myself, so seeing that other people seem to enjoy the same thing is wonderful! To anyone in the same situation; keep your chin up and hold your head up high- we'll get there someday!
Yours faithfully,
the postgrad-app
Then we had a lunch break of about 20 minutes before going to sing. RAM ask you to bring 3 songs along, but as far as I know they didn't ask anyone for more than 2. I sang 2 of my 3- incidentally not the 2 I was expecting, but I guess the occasional surprise is good for you! I felt one had gone okay and one sounded the best I had ever sung it, so it was a complete mixed bag. The room we sang in had seriously brilliant acoustics, I remember hearing myself sing and thinking "wow" and this sentiment was definitely echoed by the other auditionees.
Once the performing aspect was over, we each had individual interviews. This was something that I had been both dreading and looking forward to. On one hand, I know the rather forced interview setting doesn't show me in my best light, but at the same time I was excited to talk to the course leaders. At all the schools I have auditioned at so far (bar LAMDA), there is no interview at the preliminary audition stage and since I haven't been recalled yet (we live in hope still!!!) this cycle I hadn't actual had to endure an interview. The questions were pretty standard, nothing out of the ordinary; just a bit about myself and my experiences and my desire to do the course. I don't feel I came across brilliantly here so perhaps that's something to work on.
Overall I really enjoyed the experience of the audition day at RAM. They go out of their way to make you feel as comfortable as possible in what is obviously a tense situation and they did manage to put me (slightly) at ease. Unfortunately, a few days after my audition I was informed that my audition had been unsuccessful. I was gutted, as I really liked the Academy and could genuinely see myself there, but I'm going to use this experience to help me grow as a performer and strengthen myself. If I don't get into anywhere this cycle, I will definitely be applying next year so watch this space to see what happens!
Thank you to all of you reading this, I know I haven't been blogging particularly regularly but I want to get back into it- mostly not to let you all down! I try to write what I would like to read myself, so seeing that other people seem to enjoy the same thing is wonderful! To anyone in the same situation; keep your chin up and hold your head up high- we'll get there someday!
Yours faithfully,
the postgrad-app
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