Performing Arts 2025

[doesanybodyhaveamap]

Starting a thread re: performing arts applicants for 2025. If one already exists, happy to be redirected!!

Anyone pressed 'send' on their applications yet? Curious as to timelines for initial responses and to submit self tapes....

Buckling in for a long and nervous journey!

They are both excellent. Are you based in Scotland or the UK?

In Ireland! :)

Both are very good schools but GSA is probably the one with the most prestige.

Either would do perfectly well - as getting home is not going to be that different from either place and wanting to focus on Scottish local theaters (Glasgow Citizens etc) is not a priority, which it might have been if you'd been Scottish.

It is impossible to fully plan a career trajectory obviously, but it's never too early to think through longer-term options and what might work for the next 5 yrs. And if theatre is a priority or TV etc.

I do too!

My DD actually kept a spreadsheet of shows and where actors had trained, well before she had finished 6th form! 😂

@Paddlinglikehell that's very impressive!! And also very forward thinking, love it! Where is your DD off to?

Hi

My DD is at GSA, so can only speak for there, she has done Foundation in MT and about to start BA over on the acting side.

It is a fantastic college, part of the University, which has great facilities. I’m not sure how RCS is set up, but I felt that the campus was a really safe environment, everything on site, lots of social events, their own bar, supermarket etc.

I also liked that the students in halls are from other faculties, veterinary, engineering, sciences etc.

They guarantee halls on campus the first year, various types are available, but what DD loved was the dance classes in the evening at GSA, which are open to everyone, but a really reduced cost for students and the sports clubs.

Guildford is a small town within the commuter belt, London train well under an hour, trains back late, so going to the theatre is possible.

Your DD is obviously talented to get a place at both, I do however think GSA for acting, may carry more kudos within the industry.

If she truly has no preference then I’d also say GSA, based on industry reputation and proximity to London. But RCS is also really great and if she’d had a leaning towards that then I’d say go with your heart and where you feel the best fit!

Crazy wasn’t it - she is very focused 🙄

She’s just finishing a Foundation MT at GSA - it came 2nd to Arts Ed on her sheet (but it was biased to MT productions).

She’s now decided to go down the acting route for BA, which was always her strength and after weeks of indecision between there and Rose B, is staying at GSA.

My DS is on the Acting degree at GSA, just coming to the end of second year. He has really enjoyed the course so far, and rates his tutors highly. Several of them have moved to GSA from places like Central, the Globe etc. There are 31 in his year but most classes are taught in groups of no more than 15 or 16, and there is a LOT of contact time. Visiting tutors and directors have been great. And it's 30 mins on a fast train to London, which is good for seeing plays when budgets permit. It's also, obviously, much closer than Scotland when it comes to possibly inviting London agents to final year productions, which is worth considering! The time between getting offered a place and starting to think about securing an agent seems to whiz by. Traditionally I suspect even DS would have considered GSA Acting a little less prestigious than some London schools (as GSA's top notch reputation was mainly for its Musical Theatre degree) but he feels that is now changing in a very positive way.
All that said, RCS has an excellent reputation and no doubt the course there is great too. Maybe have a look at grad showreels, at how many of last year's grads have secured representation etc. It's a very difficult world to break into, whichever school you train at, but maybe looking into this will tip the balance in favour of one school. Ultimately, as long as you have good training (which I think would be the case with either school), it's down to the student to put the work in, not just turn up to class but really get to know the industry, seize all opportunities, read plays, talk to actors and directors etc. In short, I honestly think it's how you train rather than where you train that will end up determining whether or not a student succeeds in an acting career.

My DD has just turned down a fully funded offer from Laine 😩 ( and non scholarship offers from several others) in favour of Bird because she just fell in love with the friendly vibe and the campus feel.
I was really concerned about cohort size but someone told me, possibly on here, that in the world of PA they have to learn to shine in massive groups of auditionees, so what better way to learn that skill than during their training, and that was really useful for me to reframe that ‘negative’ regarding her choosing Bird.
It would no doubt be lovely being top of the class in a cohort of 30, but what happens when you’re suddenly in a room of 200 people auditioning for one role?!
Admittedly, I think she will have to be more self-motivated to achieve the same level of training that she might have got at Laine and MV, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing either, plus she is SO excited for Bird that it’s contagious, and think having a feeling that strong about a place must mean something. 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Paddlinglikehellthanks for the info about GSA. Seems they more of a typical Uni experience compared to other places?

If I can also chip in - in some ways yes, in that they can live in halls, share with students of other subjects, have typical university term dates, the fees are the same as any other degree and they can benefit from student Union, bar and other facilities. But their way of life is very different from other Surrey Uni students. They have to be in class at 8.30am most days and they have classes pretty much all day. They also tend to see themselves as GSA students rather than Surrey students. DS' social life revolves exclusively around GSA (all courses) and he houseshares with other acting students. I think that's pretty typical. I think they feel that Muggle students wouldn't really 'get' them!

Yes it has the advantages of a Uni campus, but it is totally separate in other ways. Separate buildings, student events, their own student council etc.

DD only mixes with other uni students not at GSA when in her halls and as part of the sports team she is in.

Thanks @Paddlinglikehell and @Biscuitsneeded. Sounds like just the place for my DD. Any audition tips for MT? She will start her BA applications in Sept 25.

I think the general.advice for MT would be that it's very, very competitive. Thousands apply for just 22 places and they turn away phenomenal young people every year. So the advice would be not to be dispirited if you don't get in, because it doesn't mean you aren't talented - just that they only have a very few places to offer and want a diverse range of people. I will ask my DS if the MT students would have any more specific advice than that! I recognise your username from the NYMT chat - I would suggest your DD chat to the older cast members during the summer residential to find out what they think about different schools and what kind of person gets in where!

Thanks @Biscuitsneeded. I will tell her

One last thing. My DS' perception is that GSA MT is all about the singing. Not that you won't get excellent training in dance and acting, but you have to wow them at audition with your singing - for girls especially.

Thanks @Biscuitsneededthat’s DD’s strength IMO. However she does feel she needs more dance training as she needs to work on her technique and I feel acting develops over time with experience.

Biscuits is right in that the students have to be extremely talented to gain a place on MT at GSA, with so few places and hundreds of applicants, they can pick the best.

For example from the MT Foundation this year, only two students got places. DD applied two years in a row and was offered Foundation the second time, which I believe was due to the fact she was a little more mature. Her dance was probably weakest, but presentation or ‘face’ as she calls it, along with confidence is everything.

My DD got other BA offers but turned them down as GSA was the dream. She did however find their weekend pre audition course really helpful and the pianist there actually suggested she change her song, which she did and then started to get recalls for other places. She also did a week at Arts Ed Summer school that helped her work on monologues, it may be worth thinking about these type of things, just for the experience of performing in front of others.

DD is now going down the acting route despite an offer from Mountview and I think it’s because it’s not only her strength and she loves it and wanted more during the course, but she’s realised how insanely triple threat a lot of these young people are and she knows she would always be trying to keep up! She also loves GSA.

Good luck to your daughter and you, it’s not for the faint hearted! 😂

Thanks @Paddlinglikehell. I looked at the pre audition course and the summer courses at various and unfortunately the dates don’t work for us. Thanks for the tips though. We are an academic family and if you had told me I would be supporting my DD to go down this route a few years ago I would have laughed! She was singing before she could talk and I feel I need to support her down this path to see how far she could get (and I can hear her dancing now when she is supposed to be studying for an AS tomorrow 🙈)

I think it's just the way these young people are. I was delighted when DS started performing, as I love theatre and I thought it was a great, wholesome.hobby to have that would give him friends out of school and a purpose that would keep him out of teenage trouble. I never expected him to want to make it his career either! But when I see how hard he works at it, in a way that he never did with schoolwork, I have to accept he is lucky to have found his passion. He might never work professionally as an actor, but I believe they learn so much from the training. And there are many ways to work in the industry beyond treading the boards. They'll probably never be rich, but they will give it everything and make some wonderful friends along the way.

Yes the giant elephant was there and they had to use the Moulin Rouge lighting.
The agent shake down is still ongoing for some people and Conti still have another agents day to go - that will be number 4 where agents come in and those without agents perform for them.

To get into any of the top schools GSA, Urdang, Bird, Arts Ed, Mountview, Conti and Trinity they have to be insanely talented. When you go to final year shows you really see this as the schools need to showcase the ensemble as well as the leads so dance routines are far beyond things you will see in the West End.
DD is already teaching as from day 1 of training she was taught how to give feedback. Performing is her first love and I really hopes she gets a good shot at that, but she is a great teacher and also gets a buzz out of passing on her skills.

I get you! 😂, her Dad’s an accountant and is totally out his comfort zone!

However, as Biscuits said, the work ethic is strong in these young people and they may never be on the West End, but there are lots of other jobs. Last summer DD got a job in entertainments at a holiday resort, they’ve asked her back this summer to a different site and I believe that drive will always be there, along with many transferable skills.

Thankfully we didn’t have the stress of A Levels, as she went to a performing arts 6th form, so did BTech L3, sitting in an exam room staying focused would be so hard!