BFA in Acting or Musical Theatre

Our BFA in Acting and BFA in Musical Theatre are specifically designed for artistic excellence. By focusing on honing your craft and cultivating your artistic voice in this world, our programs create theatre makers, not just theatre do-ers. We incorporate entrepreneurial education to help you function as your own creator in this ever-changing world of performance, and through integrated training in performance, voice and movement, you will have the ability to work in any performance medium - stage, film, performance art, physical theatre, dance and community arts.

 

BFA Auditions

If you are interested in auditioning for our BFA in Acting or BFA in Musical Theatre, please complete the audition pre-screen form when you apply. That should include a link (YouTube or Vimeo) to your pre-screen audition material. 

What to Prepare

• BFA in Acting

  • Required: Prepare two contrasting contemporary monologues. Each individual video should not exceed 120 seconds including introduction.
  • Optional: You may also submit an optional third classical monologue which should not exceed 120 seconds including introduction.
  • Optional: You may submit a 45-60 second musical theatre song.

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• BFA in Musical Theatre

OSU is a participating institution in the Musical Theatre Common Prescreen. A digital prescreen is required for admission into the BFA Musical Theatre. Please follow the link below for more information about prescreen requirements and helpful tips.

• • Prescreen Deadline: 2/15/2025
  • Application Deadline: 5/1/2025

Song Requirements: Either Option A or Option B

Option A

• One song written before 1970 (musical theater, Golden Age, pop, hip-hop, folk, rock, rap, soul, country, punk, etc).
• One song written after 1970 (musical theatre, pop, hip-hop, folk, rock, rap, soul, country, punk, etc). This song should contrast the style of the first selection.

Option B

• One musical theater song from any time period.
• One song of your choice from any time period and in any style that best suits you (musical theater, pop, hip-hop, folk, rock, rap, soul, country, punk, etc.).

Song Tips

• Some examples of contrasting songs are fast tempo vs slow tempo, sustained melodic singing vs speech-like singing, dramatic vs comedic, belt vs head/falsetto mix.
• Many accompaniment tracks are available on YouTube and other websites. If you do not have a way to work with a live accompanist or don't have access to a recorded track of your music, consider using an app that will play the piano part for you. Harmony Helper is one such app that allows you to take photos of your sheet music, upload them to the app and then generate a piano track that you can use.

Monologue Requirements: Option A

Option A

• One monologue from a published play or written by a professional writer.
• A professional writer is someone whose plays have been produced, but may not have been professionally published. 

Monologue Tips

• It is recommended to choose monologues that are age-appropriate (generally within 5-10 years of your actual age) and that feel authentic to your culture, background, and lived experience.
• Active monologues are often better for auditions; an active monologue takes place in real time and focuses on what you want and puts you in direct communication with an imaginary scene partner. This is often more successful in an audition situation than pieces that are a story or remembrance. Additionally, it can be helpful to avoid monologues that rely on extreme emotions as it can be hard to believably justify those responses in a short piece. 

Dance Requirement: Option A

• Show us your best version of dancing or moving. Please include at least one turn, one jump and one kick (or other suitable rotation, elevation, and extension that works for your body).

Dance Tips

• Make sure you can execute all the choreography well. It is to your advantage to choose steps and movement that highlight your strengths instead of your weaknesses.
• You may use recent videos of you from a show or concert, but it must just be you in the frame.
• Dance sample should be in whatever dance discipline you feel most confident. This may include, but it not limited to jazz, ballet, tap, modern, hip-hop, lyrical, contemporary, or dance styles beyond American and Euro-Western styles.
• 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.
• Please use steps, movement, and physical vocabulary that you are familiar with and can execute well. Fully move your body to the best of your ability.
• To assist applicants with the dance prescreen, several institutions provided the following resource videos for applicants who do not have access to a choreographed combo for the prescreen process. You may submit this choreography (or a combination of it) to any of the schools you are applying to that ask for a dance prescreen. This list will be updated as more institutions share resources, so be sure to check back.

• Ballet Submission: Optional Submission
• Wild Card Submission: Optional Submission

For Auditioners: check out MTCP Prescreen Requirements for time limits, camera setup, and more!