Musical Theatre Educators Alliance And Acceptd Launch Criteria To Streamline College Audition Process

In response to the growing challenges faced by students and their families in navigating the complex prescreen requirements for college auditions, the Musical Theatre Educators Alliance (MTEA) and Acceptd are spearheading changes to the Musical Theater Common Prescreen for 2024-2025.

In a recent open letter addressed to musical theater programs, Kaitlin Hopkins highlighted the escalating stress experienced by applicants and their families during the prescreen process. Despite the adoption of the Musical Theater Common Prescreen criteria by numerous programs, unique school-specific requirements persist, exacerbating confusion and negatively impacting the mental well-being of students applying to multiple institutions.

In partnership with the Musical Theatre Educators' Alliance, Acceptd began the process of collecting feedback and updating the Musical Theater Common Prescreen criteria for 2024-2025. There were 3 distinct opportunities (1 in-person and 2 online) for musical theater programs from coast to coast and around the globe to collaborate on how to update the Musical Theater Common Prescreen criteria with the directive to ensure the process is more streamlined, accessible, and less stressful for students and their families. 50+ programs responded and their feedback was incorporated into the 2024-2025 Musical Theater Common Prescreen criteria. These include unified requirements and verbiage for slate, time limit, and framing requirements, as well as considering a deferred request for program-specific materials.

Jessica Humphrey stated "this initiative is not about compromising standards but finding innovative ways to enhance accessibility for aspiring artists. The initiative aligns with MTEA's commitment to the well-being of the next generation of artists while upholding excellence in musical theater education." The 2024-2025 criteria draws from the Paper Mill Playhouse's College Musical Theater Common Prescreen criteria led by Stephen Agosto in 2018 and collaborative efforts of institutions involved in those discussions.

Commitment from Musical Theater Programs Nationwide

In a show of solidarity, musical theater programs across the country are invited to commit to the criteria outlined on the Musical Theater Common Prescreen website for the 2024-2025 audition recruiting season. Programs can register their participation here. Any institution that requires a digital prescreening for applicants may participate in the Musical Theater Common Prescreen. This includes universities, colleges, conservatories (domestic and international), independent schools of theater and theater education programs. Participation is completely voluntary and institutions do not need to utilize an online media platform such as Acceptd or Slate to be part of this initiative.

Programs that commit to using the 2024-2025 Musical Theater Common Prescreen criteria are asked to do so without any alterations or amendments. This includes refraining from mandating students to learn specific dance combinations or imposing additional video requirements. Furthermore, participating schools will display the requirements prominently on their respective websites by around June 30, 2024. This proactive measure aims to aid students who utilize the summer for researching school requirements and completing prescreen videos. Participation in this collective commitment ensures a unified effort to streamline the prescreen process, providing clarity and consistency for applicants, and fostering a more accessible, manageable, and equitable system for aspiring students.

Musical Theatre Educators Alliance and Musical Theater Common Prescreen look forward to collaborative efforts in making a positive impact on the application experience for students and maintaining standards of excellence in musical theater programs.

About Musical Theatre Educators Alliance

Musical Theatre Educators Alliance is a global community of professional scholars and artists dedicated to collaboration, camaraderie, information sharing, and support for the strengthening and development of musical theatre educators.

About Acceptd

Acceptd is the premier application and audition management platform trusted by hundreds of arts organizations around the world for managing their auditions, applications, recruiting, adjudication, and more. Acceptd volunteers as the administrative body that maintains the Musical Theater Common Prescreen.

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