NYMT / BYMT 2025

[doesanybodyhaveamap]

Starting off a new thread for 2025 now that both organisations have opened applications for next season!

DC has had the best day and has come away smiling. Many of the older students were really kind and very welcoming and encouraging. It definitely isn't the case that NYMT only cast people they've cast before. My DC was cast in a great role and had never auditioned before. If they are right for the show/ role then they have the same chance of success as anyone else. Good luck for tomorrow's auditionees. Whatever the outcome I'm sure they will have a brilliant day. My niece is in for Tuck so I'll be munching yet more biscuits.....

I have to admit it was quite intimidating waiting for my DC’s session to start with a large group of NYMT kids congregating and catching up who clearly all knew each other and had done this for a few years - and I’m an adult, lol.

That being said my DC absolutely LOVED their session for New Musicals, loving the creative process and the incredible sound of talented singers singing in harmony. Even said that they think they preferred their casting session for the New Musicals due to the creativity instead of a ‘straight audition’. And has no expectations now, just that they had a fabulous 2 days with input from talented Directors and people.

I do have a question though - are tall kids ever cast as my 12yo was towering over pretty much all the teenagers and has lost out a lot in previous auditions due to looking too mature/ tall?

DD made friends with a group of young teens who had all been in into the woods together last year and they all had the same recalls together today. How kind is that though, for them to take a complete newbie under their wing rather than be cliquey? Just had a long chat with her on the way home and she just keeps saying how nice and kind and welcoming everyone was and how cool the other kids were. She said it’s unusual to find somewhere with such a high standard which is also so wholesome and friendly. To the point where she’s changed her mind and no matter what she gets offered she’d rather do anything with NYMT than BYMT this year (she didn’t find it quite so friendly at the audition unfortunately, just her personal experience).

Aww I just wish they had enough spaces for all those amazing kids to get into a show. They all deserve it.

Funnily enough I heard some older kids saying this when I was waiting to pick up DD. But- let’s be honest, if they’ve worked with them before and they KNOW they are amazing and would be perfect for a role… that’s absolutely fine and natural to pick them again. I don't have a problem with that 🤷🏼‍♀️ maybe next/one year that will be our kids 😀

Even if you don’t get cast one year, often they remember you.

my son didn’t get in as a musician the first year. But the following year they needed someone with his specific skill set, remembered him & contacted us.

Well that would defy the ageing process! If they mainly cast people they already knew, how would they still fill the shows as people aged out of the eligible age range? There are of course some young people who are phenomenally talented and seem to have a role several years in succession. It's because they're amazingly talented, not because they've done it before, and also probably because they do it once and love it so much they want another season, but they still have to earn their place in a show the same way everybody else does. At the same time there are new and brilliant young people emerging from auditions and slotting right in - at both ends of the age range and in the middle. And there are kids who have had good roles in previous years not getting cast in shows in subsequent years. NYMT creatives try to find the very best fit for the roles they have available from the people they see before them at recall - whether they've done it 6 years running or never before. In any case, if it's a creative's first year doing a show with NYMT then they may not even know who has done it before.

Height is mercifully not an issue. I mean obviously if your DC is 6 foot they can't convincingly play a 9 year old, but that would just mean they would be considered for a role where the character could be 6 foot. It's refreshingly NOT like the professional shows where kids have to be microscopic to get cast. In fact, there was a production of Billy the Kid several years ago where the young man playing the romantic lead opposite a 21 year old girl looked and sounded every bit her match, but was actually a giant Year 9!! He was fabulous... and obviously beat off all the competition from older boys to win the role.

I can understand it must have felt a bit intimidating with groups of kids hugging each other (no doubt with much shrieking, they are MT kids after all) but you have to bear in mind they may not have seen each other in several months, or those shared memories are very special. People always say NYMT is a like a family - and it is, as NYMT kids look out for each other in the industry - but it's absolutely not a cliquey one or a closed shop. People who do shows for the first time often comment on how quickly they are welcomed and feel part of things.

Yes, in answer to the tall people! My DS was 6’2” when he did his first show and is now a couple of inches taller. We went to watch Our House last year as he had friends in it, and we got chatting to the costume lady. When we said his name she remembered him straightaway because of the size of his feet 😂

I think you've hit the nail on the head there. The standard is really high but for some reason that eludes me the atmosphere is always wholesome and welcoming. My DS first went when he was 11 years and 2 weeks old. He knew absolutely nobody before going there, and yet he had the MOST amazing time and was thoroughly well cared for and included by the pastoral team but also all the older kids. We remember the kindness they showed to this day, and make a point of going to see them when they are in shows (and from that particular cast, there are alumni in Les Mis, Mary Poppins, Phantom, a play at the National, Mincemeat and more).

I probably should clarify that my 12yo is a girl, a tall one at that! But good to hear that generally height isn’t an issue. And what engagement we have had with NYMT so far is fantastic - children, parents and then the NYMT staff too (not to mention this thread!). Whatever will be will be but we have already talked about auditioning again next year as it’s be such a positive experience thus far.

@Biscuitsneeded I hadn't, thank you! Although in the meantime she's heard she has a place in NYWO which she's keen to take up. I guess it reduces her availability. 🤷‍♂️ It'll be a busy summer!

Congratulations to her! If she wants to do NYWO and would also like and can afford to do NYMT, I'd suggest she send an email to enquiries@ just explaining her new availability. If they are keen to have her they might be able to juggle things so she can do a show that works with her dates.

Wow! What an amazing bunch of people we met today at Fame callbacks this afternoon. Creatives and parents - all smiles and welcomes (My DS is new to NYMT) Plus - at the end of the audition, his audition peers, (as they passed each other) offering supportive and kind, encouraging comments to 🤗each other. My son has been in performing arts and dance for sometime, but we’ve never felt such an overwhelming warm and friendly bunch. FAB-U-LOUS! Thanks for making my sons experience such a positive one.

@theoliveswan I think that was with my DS and another lovely girl who were both in into the woods last year. I am so pleased to hear that your DD was made to feel welcome. In our experience they are all such a friendly, supportive bunch of young people.
My DS loved today and it was fab for him to catch up with old friends but he loved meeting some new faces as well.
The recall is a fabulous experience all by itself!
Good luck to everyone auditioning tomorrow 🍀.

Oh I think how lovely everyone is adds to how much they all want to be part of it. My ds has really met such amazing friends through NYMT. He ended up taking a younger boy who’d forgotten his lunch out to get food on Sunday. They really do encourage an atmosphere where older kids help the younger ones. Stress from now till results!

@Kittykat57 oh amazing! I did wonder if any of their mums would be on here. They were all really lovely and welcoming to her and she just thought everyone was so talented and cool.
You’re so right, the auditions and recalls are a brilliant experience on their own and that makes it worth doing no matter what the outcome is afterwards.

No, quite the opposite is our experience. There were ridiculously talented people in my kid's first show who didn't get a show the next year - or even a recall!

While I think there is always an advantage in knowing what a person can do if you've worked with them before, the opposite is also true if they (or their parents 😂) have been a pain too!

Do I think there's the occasional favourite? Yep. I could name you half a dozen. But do I think they only cast people they know? No. In the years we've been involved I recognise maybe a couple in the cast each year. I truly think if you're talented, they will see it. It's a matter of whether you fit the shows they are trying to cast...

I genuinely think the kids at NYMT are a wonderful bunch. My kid found their real self there that first year and that gang are friends they will never forget. When they see them at callbacks (met a couple on Sunday in breaks) they adore them all over again.
But that said, they seem to love welcoming new friends too! I think 4 or 5 of them were in a workshop second year together - and i watched them welcome new people and find out about each other. Even when I took a photo of the friends reunited, they also took one with the new people they had just met.

As someone else said, they found BYMT auditions very different to this. Just their experience, and I'm sure they might have found a production very welcoming. But it clashed with NYMT and that came first now. I am not surprised BYMT have realised they are missing out by offering weeks later and have pulled it forward...

Re: profit - no, not the way I see it, I'm with Biscuits. The 4 days of recalls rather than 2 will have cost a bomb! And actually they always used to offer a course if you didn't get in before, it's just they used to be open (non audition) courses. NYMT is not for profit. I just think they're trying to give more opportunities - which is something BYMT perhaps does better, as they have more shows. They are also therefore giving the oportunity for more new british writers to have their work workshopped. And then they can choose the right one to make in to a show, rather than only having the one they chose to workshop... We will see what happens, and all opinions are definitely welcome 😊

Well done everyone. Finally my DD callback day. I’m a bag of nerves. What is parking like around there on a weekday?

No idea re parking as we luckily had Sunday which was free parking pretty much everywhere! Good luck to your dd!

Good luck to your DD @HanD31

final day today Yay ❤️
the pastoral and creatives must be withered 🫣

Wishing you all the best today! We found a little parking area following the P sign on the Bath Road as you pass ArtsEd on the right. It takes you down a residential road on the right. It’s about a 6 mins walk. (Just down Welstead Road). It cost £15 for the afternoon.

Break a leg to your DD!

Yes I found it there. Pretty secluded 😮thank you. She found a college friend recalled for a different show. Now the wait. How lovely is Chiswick!

Isn’t it! We had a lovely stroll about and visited a couple of coffee shops (lots of charity shops too!) . Glad you found the parking. Wishing your DC the very best!