Apply
Apply to Emerson College using the Common Application or the Emerson Application. Select BFA Musical Theatre as your major.
Once your application to Emerson College has been received, the Office of Undergraduate Admission will email you an Emerson Admission ID Number. Although transcripts and recommendations are a required part of the application due at the application deadline, they are not a requirement for receiving an Emerson Admission ID Number.
Your Emerson Admission ID Number will arrive in an email with the subject line "Thank you for applying to Emerson College!" along with your Username and PIN for the Emerson Application Portal. You may need to scroll down in the email to retrieve your Emerson Admission ID Number.
As soon as you have your Emerson Admission ID Number, you are ready to begin your Artistic Application on Acceptd.
Prescreen
Submit an Artistic Application
- Submit an Artistic Application to BFA Musical Theatre on Acceptd by completing the form and uploading the following:
- Resume & Headshot: a 1-page theatrical resume and headshot/selfie.
- Musical Theater Common Prescreen (MTCP): 2 songs (Option A), 1 monologue (Option A), and 1 dance video (No Additional Ballet or Wild Card). The MTCP Requirements are explained below and on the MTCP website along with tips and resources.
- Pay the non-refundable Artistic Application fee of $27
Prescreen Decisions
You will be notified of the results of your prescreen via Acceptd message within two weeks of submission. If you do not receive notification within two weeks, please email us at pa_artisticreview [at] emerson.edu.
If you are not invited to audition for Musical Theatre, you may be invited to audition for BFA Theatre & Performance. If that happens, and you wish to proceed with applying, make sure that you follow the instructions for changing the major on your Emerson College application to BFA Theatre & Performance or BFA Theatre Education & Performance and then follow the instructions for applying to that major on Acceptd; you will not need to pay another Artistic Application fee or submit another prescreen.
Musical Theater Common Prescreen Requirements & Guidelines
Overall
Each piece should be filmed/uploaded as a separate piece of media. No continuous videos. Students are encouraged to use standard technology/recording devices that are available to them (i.e. smartphones, tablets, etc).
Introduction ("Slate")
There should not be a separate introduction or “slate” video. Instead, “slates” are to appear at the beginning of each piece and included as part of the time allotment. (Read through the resources page for examples of each of the three slates described below).
- The proper slate for a song is to share your name, the song title, and show in which it appears.
- The proper slate for a monologue is to share your name, the title of the play, and the playwright.
- The proper slate for a piece of dance is to share your name, the title of the song you are dancing to, and the name of the choreographer. If the piece is “self-choreographed” you should share your own name as choreographer.
Songs
Students should prepare 2 contrasting pieces:
- Style: one song should be a ballad (where the piece has longer, sustained vocal lines) and one song should be an uptempo (where the vocal line moves at a conversational pace) so as to contrast style.
- Length: Each song file should be 60-90 seconds (This time limit includes the slate at the beginning of the piece and is strictly adhered to; please do not upload media files longer than 90 seconds).
- Accompaniment: Students must sing to musical accompaniment, which could include live or pre-recorded accompaniment. No “a cappella” singing (meaning singing without music).
Emerson College requires MTCP Option A:
- One song should be written before 1970. This song can be either the “uptempo” or the “ballad” (student’s choice).
- One song should be written after 1970 and contrast the style of the first.
- One of the two songs (student’s choice) should be filmed in a full frame shot to see your full range of expression, and the other one in a close-up shot (top of the head to the chest should be visible in the frame).
Monologues
- Monologues must be from a published play.
- Monologues cannot be from musicals.
- Each monologue file should be 60-90 seconds (this time limit includes the slate at the beginning of the piece and is strictly adhered to; please do not upload media files longer than 90 seconds).
Emerson College requires MTCP Option A:
- 1 contemporary monologue (typically written after 1950), 60-90 seconds in length
- The contemporary monologue should be filmed in a “close-up” shot which means the top of the head to the chest should be visible in the frame.
Dance
- Framing: All dance media should be filmed in a “full frame” shot taking care to keep the student’s entire person in the frame at all times. (This time limit includes the slate at the beginning of the piece and is strictly adhered to; please do not upload media files longer than 60 seconds)
- Style: Regardless of which style of dance you execute, the choreography and the movement should be connected to the music where the applicant is dancing with a sense of purpose.
- All choreography must be performed to music; please no “a cappella” dance media.
Emerson College only requires/accepts one Dance Option (below), not the Ballet Option or Wild Card submission
- 30-60 seconds of dance in whatever dance discipline you feel most confident. This may include, but is not limited to jazz, ballet, tap, modern, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary, or dance styles beyond American and Euro-western styles.
- Please do not submit “barre work”. Instead, check to see if the auditioning program offers the optional “Ballet Submission” which is listed below.
- Please use steps, movement, and physical vocabulary that you are familiar with and can execute well. To the best of your ability, move your body fully. Please include at least one turn, one jump and one kick (or other suitable rotation, elevation, and extension that works for your body).
- Dance media can be “self-choreographed”, but it must be a solo video of you. This can include a show, competition, or other performance so long as you are clearly featured on your own.
Audition
Applicants who successfully prescreen are required to schedule themselves into an acting/voice/music audition. Your audition time-frame and modality/location will vary based on your scheduling selections within Acceptd.
- Monologue: Please prepare two 1 to 3 minute contrasting monologues which may include the monologues from your prescreen. Your monologues should be from two contemporary plays (1950 to present), one of which must be comedic.
- Voice: Please prepare two roughly 1-minute vocal selections which may include the songs from your prescreen. They should both be from published musicals, one pre-1970, the second post-1970. You are required to sing with accompaniment. We will provide live accompaniment for in-person auditions at all locations. For virtual auditions, if live accompaniment is unavailable to you, and we understand that might be difficult, services like iTunes and sites like YouTube offer inexpensive or free instrumental versions of most songs. You may be asked to complete a brief musicianship component to evaluate your ability to read music and sight sing a simple melodic line.
- Music: You will be asked to complete a brief musicianship component designed to evaluate your ability to match pitch, remember a short musical phrase, and sight-sing a simple melodic line.
- Dance: We use your dance prescreen submission as our only required dance call. There will not be a dance call at your audition.
The Audition Day
For this admission cycle we will be offering three different types of auditions:
- In-person in Boston auditions scheduled in a three-hour block which includes an information session/Q & A with Performing Arts Faculty & Staff and a flexible “volunteering’ system to determine the audition order.
- In-person auditions outside of Boston that begin with a brief information session/Q & A with Performing Arts Faculty before individually scheduled audition time slots.
- Virtual auditions conducted through Acceptd’s AuditionRoom platform which begin with a brief information session/Q & A with Performing Arts Faculty and Staff before individually scheduled audition time slots.
Please be advised that not all audition types are available during every part of the admission cycle.
While these three types of auditions offer different timings, the modality and location of the audition that you schedule for yourself will have no bearing whatsoever on your admission decision.
You can read more about BFA Musical Theatre here.
