NYMT

[aplo]

Hi, have just joined here so hope I am posting in the correct place. Just wondering if anyone here has a child auditioning for NYMT or similar groups this year.
My DD (age 11 ) is auditioning next sunday

You are in the right place ! You might want to spell out the acronyms though ( national youth musical theatre ?).

Welcome!

We do NYRO ( national youth recorder orchestra ) and county music at the moment.

thanks helenluvsrob, Yes I should have said National Youth Music Theatre. We are based in Ireland so things work a little differently here and we have National Youth Orchestra and Wind Ensemble but nothing for Recorder players. (and as a recorder player/teacher myself its a huge pity!)
DD also plays flute and piano but musical theatre, drama and dance are her huge passions.

I should have said though that it is NYMT UK she is auditioning for. we don't have a national group here

Yes, my DD (12) has an audition for this Sunday. She's very keen on that sort of thing, and already does a lot out of school. They're very vague on the website though as to exactly what the dates would be, so I'm hoping they don't clash with other holiday plans. Guess the odds of getting in probably aren't great though anyway - do you have any idea what proportion get in?

No idea how many audition - I guess we can see how many are there on sunday and multiply by the number of audition days. I saw their production of the Hired man two years ago and 13 two years before that and there were about 20/30 involved in each show including actor/ musicians and the band.

DD is very excited here, as much for the trip to London as the audition. I know from some others who have auditioned before that the audition process itself is a great experience so I just hope she finds it the same.

Turns out I've been getting a bit confused - it is Youth Music Theatre my DD is auditioning with on Sunday, but she's now got wind of NYMT and wants to give that one a try too, so I've signed her up for that too in a few weeks time. She has a teacher at school who's involved with the NYMT who's been encouraging some of them to apply. He says they audition thousands, recall hundreds and cast about 120 in total, so not great odds! But think like you say that the audition workshop sounds good fun and good experience in itself. Also good for DD to get a sense of whether she is good enough to be considering that sort of thing as a career (she'd like to).

Her teacher says they audition more people at the London auditions, and less at the regional ones if you're trying to work out the numbers.

thanks for that Bluelillies and best of luck to your DD on Sunday.
Nymt are auditioning in Northern Ireland tomorrow but that is further away for us and would take 5 times longer to get there than to London. It will be interesting to see what she makes of it. If she has any tips afterwards I'll let you know. She spent most of this evening deciding what to wear at the audition and how to do her hair - suggesting that she might be better singing through her song didn't go down to well so I know she is slightly nervous but won't admit it.

Bluelilies and aplo

How did your DC get on at their auditions?

DD enjoyed it and says she thinks it went well. It was a 3 hour workshop, kids aged about 11-18, mostly girls and about half of them had done YMT last year. They did a mix of improvisation and learning routines/scripts. They've been told they won't get told how they got on until early March though so she'll have a while to wait. She'll have the NYMT audition in the meantime.

Dd bounced out the door with a huge smile on her face after loving every minute. She wants to go back next year whatever the result is so that's good enough for me.
There was about 55/60 kids there in total from about 10-23 years. They divided them into three groups (10-14, 15-17, 18-23) and they were there from 11-5.30.
Dd's group did singing first, they all sang their prepared song and then were given some bit of direction to change something in it and sing a part of it again. Dd said they told them not to sing with an American accent and not to sing from Les Miserables (three out of 18 in dd's group sang on my own)
Then they moved onto dance where they learned a routine and then had to work in groups to create a moving machine with their bodies.
Lastly they had drama which seems to have been mostly improv in groups.
She felt everyone there involved really tried to make sure each person auditioning had fun and felt comfortable and she adored it all so I'm delighted she tried out.
Apparently we will hear in "a couple of days" if she got a recall or not.

Oh, that's not long to wait aplo - good luck to your DD. I guess they can be quicker than YMT as they do recalls, wherease YMT they have to wait until they've finished everywhere then do final decisions.

My DS went to the London audition-he really enjoyed it. He said the people were all lovely. It was his first time so I@m making sure he doesn't get his hopes up too high as I have been told that it is very hard to get into.

Good luck to both with the audition results

I'm happy to say my DS has had a recall

Have either of you heard back yet?

Well done to your DS! How exciting. Does he have long to wait before the recall, or do they wait til they've done all the first round first? DD hasn't had her initial one for NYMT yet, and was told she won't hear from YMT for several weeks.

Huge congratulations to your DS. Fantastic news. Can I ask did you hear via email? We have heard nothing at all here yet and neither have DD's friends.
My dd is now wondering if your DS was in her group! (Specifically if he sang a song about Neverland)
I'll email them in the morning if we don't hear this evening but am presuming she didn't make it through if we haven't heard yet.

Thanks Bluelilies and aplo not sure who is more excited-me or him

The recalls are in London on Sat 20th and Sun 21st Feb. NYMT said they would be in touch nearer the time with what they want him to prepare for it.
Yes, I heard via e mail. DS didn't sing Neverland-he sang a Joseph song. Fingers crossed you will hear good news soon.

Still nothing at all here - and two other friends of DD's haven't heard either. Can I ask what group your DS was in (A,B or C) on Sunday as Maybe they have only got onto older groups. Im not sure if I should email to ask them or not, they did say we would hear either way! I don't think we have ever refreshed email so much here. Dd just wants to know either way (as do I as we want to make holiday plans!)

Hi aplo I have no idea what group he was in sorry

He is going to rehearsals straight after school this evening (for something else he is involved in) so when I pick him up at 8.30pm I will update you then.

I really hope you hear today either way-it's so nerve wracking isn't it for us mums

In our experience all the emails go out on the same day so I would check your spam or email and check if you haven't heard. Dd's recall got lost one year.

Do you mind me asking cathyandclaire how your DD got on at the recall? Did she say it was a good experience? Did she end up in the play?

I emailed earlier today and just got a reply and they said they had sent the Belfast results out this morning and the London results will be sent late this afternoon. So at least the waiting game is over today one way or another.
NotEnoughTime - did your son do the earlier London audition on Jan 2nd or was he there last Sunday (17th?)
Bluelilles, we have just spotted that YMT are auditioning in Ireland in February so Dd is thinking she might try that if NYMT doesn't work out. Also tell your DD to sellotape her sheet music together for NyMT and not to put it in a folder as they said last Sunday that they much preferred that!

Thanks for the tip about the musix aplo! The YMT seem to put performances on in N Ireland, though I think the place the kids wherever they feel like. Well worth your DD having a go though, as from what I can gather they're possibly a little easier to get in to. Can I ask what your DD sang? Or what not to sing because 10 other people sang it? DD is still trying to decide...

DD sang ordinary fool from Bugsy malone, one other girl in her group sang it too but she didn't have piano music with her and sang aCapella.
Some of the other choices she was thinking about were Alone in the Universe from Seusicall or Disneyland from Smile, one person sang alone in the universe no one sang disneyland.
there were 4/5 sang on my own from les mis so def give that a miss. DD's friend sang different from Honk and was the only one with that too.

I teach singing and Musical theatre so if you want to tell me what your daughter has sang already - and what age she is, I can give a few suggestions!

Oh, that's a great song Ordinary Fool, I really like that one. On my Own was on her shortlist though, so best give that a miss! She was also thinking about something from Seusicall, though it wasn't Alone in the Universe, I forget which one it was. She's done quite a bit of musical theatre and knows Les Mis, West Side Story, Hairspray, Greece, Annie, Wicked, Seusicall the musical, Bugsy Mallone and various others. She's 12, but has quite a mature voice. Can hit the high notes, but wouldn't suit anything too little girly. Recommedations very welcome!

I'd stay clear of Les Mis and Wicked as they are almost overdone at auditions. Its possible or all for you or Notice me Horton from Seusical would all be good and perfect for a 12 year old. West side story requires an accent for the girl songs so I wouldn't do those.
If she has a strong voice I can hear the bells or good morning baltimore would be good too (both were sung last week).