2010 Irene Ryan Scholarship Auditions

In the Preliminary Round, each nominee presents one scene/duet with a partner, no longer than three minutes. The Preliminary Roud is held on Tuesday and Wednesday (your scheduled day/time will be posted at the festival check-in table - no special requests please). On the morning of your scheduled preliminary, there is an orientation session at 8:00 am at which we will explain to all nominees and partners who will present that day how things will work (timing, response sessions aftward, etc.). The rounds/responses start at 9am - one round each hour except for lunch hour (when we're "dark"). Your coaches/friends may observe your round if they arrive early enough to secure seating (starting at approx. 10 minutes before each hour), but they must stay in the room for the entire round. A respondent will meet with you in the hour immediately following your round, to give you feedback and suggestions (in anticipation that you may be progressed on to the semifinal round).

On Wednesday evening, at all performance venues, the 32 semifinalists will be announced. This list will also be posted around the festival registration area.

In the Semifinal Round, each nominee will present their Preliminary Round scene/duet plus another scene duet with the same partner, the total time (including transitions) not to exceed 5 minutes. there will be (up to ) 32 semifinalists. The Semifinal Round is held Friday morning. Again, the orientation is at 8am, and the round starts at 9am - we go through half of the semifinalist, then have an intermission, then the remaining half of semifinalists present. There is a response session immediately afterward (approximately 12:30pm) - each respondent is assigned four of the semiinalist (so each semifinalist gets about15 minutes of respose time). If you are involved with an invited production that performs that day, you will be scheduled to go first (to ensure you make it to the theatre for your curtain).

Friday, by 6pm, the 16 finalists will be announced and posted. Each is assigned a rehearsal time on Saturday in the theater (between 8am and 3pm). Finalists' coaches may attend this rehearsal, but friends/observers are not permitted. The rehearsals will be scheduled in the order of appearance, unless a nominee is involved with a Saturday production and must be therefore accommodated.

In the Final Round, each nominee will present their Semifinal Round scenes (with the same partner) plus a monologue/solo song, the total time (including transitions) not to exceed 6 minutes. The Final Round is held on Saturday evening, the culminating event of the festival - there is no other event scheduled opposite this. The (up to) 16 finalists have an orientation at 6pm, and will perform beginning (approximately) 7pm, with an intermission half way through. Afterward, a response session will take place (with our celebrity guests responding to the work).

Immediately after this, the festival awards ceremony will occur in the same theater (probably around 10:30)...this is where all festival awards (national finalist) are announced, including the two Ryan national finalists and the alternate (in case a finalist can't make it to national festival for any reason). If advanced to national festival, your registration, transportation, lodging, and a per diem allowance are provided for each national festival participant and for each partner. At the national festival, you will have a maximum of six minutes in the national Evening of Scenes to present the same audition package that you presented at the regional festival.

At the regional festival, there is no set order in which nominees must perform their pieces. For example, if advanced to the semifinal round, the "new" scene/duet may be performed either before or after the "old" scene/duet; and likewise for the final round - the nominee decides the order of the material.

Each of the rounds (preliminary, semi and final) is open to festival-registrant observers and coaches. I encourage you to observe as many rounds as possible (when not performiing or getting your response) so that you can see what others are choosing as material (a great resouce for list-makers), how they are approaching the material, what and who is being selected to continue on to subsequent levels, etc.

For additional information on the Irene Ryan Scholarship Audition contact:
Susan K. Berkompas
KCACTF Irene Ryan Coordinator, Region VIII
SBerkompas@vanguard.edu

Examples of Material used by Past Irene Ryan Nominees

FAQ

Can I change the gender of the role in my scene from what the playwright intended?

Most of the rights holding companies have explicit rules in their licensing of "no gender changes" and so you would be in violation of the blanket agreement if you knowinlgy mad a change...it would chang the playwright's intent.

Where do I find information about scheduling of this event at festival? How will I know when I'm schedule to audition? Is there a suggestd time for nominees to arrive the day of their audition?

You will know when your round is scheduled shortly before festival. We'll post on the festival website as soon as it looks like it is set. Students are scheduled in the order of which the forms are received. When scheduling we have to also consider festival conflicts, spacing out shared partners, and not assigning yoiu to room when one of your faculty is responding.

It is suggested that you arrive Monday night, checkpin at festival registration (get your badge, program, etc.), see when your Ryan is scheduled (either Tuesday or Wednesday), and then retire for a good night's sleep. If you go on Tuesday morning, yoiur call is 8am for an orientation, then then we go right into the 9am round (there is a round each hour).

If you delay arriving until Tuesday, you would need to arrive on campus before 8am to ensure that if you are scheduled on that day you don't miss the 8am orientation (that's when we tell you exactly how the event will work and answer yoiur last-minute questions).

If I'm singing will there be an accompanist?

We provide only the piano and boom box, not the accompanist or tape operator. Staffing the over 12 hours each day that the rounds require, as well as making sure they are qualified accompanists is cost prohibitive. Also, as it is a timed event with potential disqualification for exceeding the limit, and music can be played variably, too much is at stake if the accompanist has not rehearsed in advance with the students. And students are not expected to start over a this event; the clock keeps running.

Students who use recoreded accompaniment can either choose to use a friend to operate the deck (this won't count as their partner unless the operator acts or interacts with them), or else they or their partner can do this (within the setup or transition preceding the song).

Similarly, if using an accompanist, they won't count as the partner until they act or interact with the actor(s).

I alway suggest that if using the boom box, the operator test the cueing and volume when setting up, before the introduction begins.

Where do I find information about the national guidlines for the Irene Ryan Scholarship Auditions?

You go to the national website at www.kcactf.org.