Interview: The College Audition Is Providing Young Artists with an Easier Path to College

We sat down with Tim Evanicki to talk about The College Audition!

By: Apr. 26, 2022
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Interview: The College Audition Is Providing Young Artists with an Easier Path to College

The College Audition provides coaching services and training for future college auditions. Through classes, workshops, and coaching both online and in-person; The College Audition continues to strive to make the college audition process seamless for both students and parents.

We sat down with Tim Evanicki to discuss all the options The College Audition provides to its students and parents.


Tim, can you tell us a bit about your background?

My path, like so many others in the performing arts industry, is a bit of a crazy one. I went to The Juilliard School for Vocal Performance. After several years of performing, producing theatre, and running a voice studio in Central Florida focused on musical theatre training with a strong classical foundation, I realized that I was preparing more and more students for their auditions to musical theatre programs, and that was what I truly became passionate about.

So can you tell me about The College Audition and how it all got started? What is the overall goal?

The College Audition started in 2017. As I mentioned above, I went to Juilliard, arguably the most notable performing arts school in the world. The thing is, I never should have. I accepted the offer from the biggest-named school, and not the school that was the best fit for me. That is why it has become my passion to help theatre and musical theatre students find programs that will serve them the best. It's not about the name. It's about finding a program that will challenge a student in every area that they want to be challenged.

I truly believe that the main reason several people (parents) believe that going into a theatre or musical theatre program in college is risky, is because we are pre-determining the finish line by asking kids what their career is going to be at 17 years old. To that, I ask parents if they are doing exactly what they expected to be doing when they were 17. It's certainly not the case for me. When I was in my last year of high school, my career path didn't even exist, so how was I supposed to prepare for it? I approach the college selection process with this mantra: "Don't focus on the finish line." If we set the finish line before they've entered school as "I'm going to be on Broadway," then YES, most kids will not achieve that. But if we search for programs that will challenge the student in every area where they want to be challenged, both within and outside the world of performing arts, then college will be the place where they figure out their path, and ultimately their career. That's what college is all about!

It's just as much about learning about who you are, and what you want to be, as it is about becoming a better singer/dancer/actor. Do you like to be challenged academically as well as artistically? Great! We're not going to be looking at standalone conservatory programs for you, we're going to be looking at programs within a larger university that require more core curriculum classes. Do you have another passion outside of musical theatre? Let's look at programs where you can minor or possibly double-major in something. Why close doors when you're 17? Find a school and a program where you can do it all. And remember, while you're in your four years of college, the finish line will move --probably several times -- and that's ok. As long as you trust your gut and your passions, you're going to land on your feet.

What is the difference between Coaching and The Conservatory?

While our coaching packages offer year-round personalized support for you through every step of the process, our Conservatory, the crown jewel of our workshop series, is designed to give students - and parents - the opportunity to work with and learn directly from the decision-makers at the top musical theatre programs in the country, all in one place. This year, the Conservatory is July 10-18 at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, FL. We will have faculty joining us from Baldwin Wallace, Carnegie Mellon, Elon, Ithaca, Point Park, Rider, Roosevelt, Syracuse, University of Arizona, and the University of Michigan.

Attending students are broken up into workshop groups of ten, so they will never be in a workshop with more than about ten people. Each workshop group will have a three-hour master class with each of the faculty, plus a master class with me, our accompanists on audition prep, and a celebrity master class with Christy Altomare. In the faculty workshops, students will have the opportunity to do their songs, monologues, or take dance classes in a small group setting. In the evenings we do fun stuff including a Piano Bar night, Cabaret Night, and a Drag Queen Karaoke night where students will get to perform for each other.

We will also be taking the students off-site one night for dinner at Disney! At the end of the week, we invite several additional schools to join us for mock auditions. Students will perform the material they've worked on that week in several audition rooms for the additional schools, and for the faculty they've worked with all week. Each student will receive a feedback form that points out their areas of improvement. It basically says "between now and when you actually audition for us, this is where we need to see you work." Some of the schools, especially the visiting schools, will also use the mock auditions to hand out prescreen passes. The feedback forms are really the biggest payoff because I see my students keep those forms in their binders, and review them months later just before they walk into the audition room.

One of the things that make our workshop unique is that there is an entire parent component available. The parents that attend will also have a lineup of workshops with each school, plus additional seminars like our "Financial Aid Bootcamp," and our Parents Roundtable where they can meet and ask candid questions with our parent alums. I'd say about 50% of our students end up traveling with a parent. If a parent is not joining, the student will be placed with a roommate and assigned an RA that will be responsible for them for the week. These RA's are hand-selected by me and are comprised of our former students currently in college. My coordinator Emma and I oversee all the RA's as well, so we make sure that everyone is safe and accounted for at all times. On the last night, we have a big closing night party at Universal Studios, and we invite back all of our Conservatory alums so students will get to hang out and meet with students who are currently attending their dream schools! Most parents and students say that the Conservatory was a life-changing experience for them, and they leave the week with a completely different outlook on the college audition process.

Interview: The College Audition Is Providing Young Artists with an Easier Path to College

So you have a podcast, what made you want to start that podcast? Also, who are you trying to reach with your podcast?

In March of 2021, I was just coming out of major surgery and an esophageal cancer diagnosis. Being stuck in bed for months was getting to be too much for me, so we started The College Audition Podcast as a project for me to get up and get back to work! A fun behind-the-scenes tidbit, I actually recorded the first couple of episodes from bed! Since then, that little project has grown to over 50 episodes with about 3000 downloads per month in just over a year.

In each episode, I sit down with the chair of a department - either musical theatre or acting - and I ask them all the typical questions students and parents are looking for answers to while doing their college research. The fact of the matter is, that there is a lot of misinformation out there about a lot of these programs. I wanted to create this podcast as a free resource for parents and students to use to get the correct information, direct from the horse's mouth, so to speak. To kick off the second year of the podcast, we have recently recorded a new podcast jingle and we have started a podcast advertising program. We have some really great episodes coming up too! You can find our podcast on our website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast content.

I noticed you have a book released, can you tell me more about that?

Publishing my book "The College Audition: A Guide for High School Students Preparing for a Degree in Theatre," was the thing that took my local coaching business to a national level back in 2018. Admittedly the book has become a little outdated since all of the changes in the audition process since COVID, so there is a new version of the book slated to be released this year! You'll be able to find the new book on Amazon and in the big chain bookstores by the end of the year!

Any upcoming news or events?

Of course, applications are still open for our College Audition Conservatory this summer, and a little birdie told me that we are extending the application deadline through May 15! We have also been working hard on our new app, The Spotlight App, which is currently in beta testing with our students and will be launching soon, along with some incredible company-wide rebranding and a new interactive website that will be released during our Conservatory this year. It's an exciting time for us!

Is there anything specific you would like our readers to know?

For those parents who are skeptical about the need for a college audition coach because maybe you have voice teachers and acting teachers and dance teachers already, I ask you to consider this: If you were trying to increase your kid's chances of being academically accepted into a prestigious university you wouldn't probably think twice about getting them an SAT or ACT coach. I've got news for you. Acceptance rates at the top musical theatre schools in the country are less than 1%. The acceptance rate at Harvard University is about 5%.

One other great thing about our program is that we are a big family, all rooting for each other. It's a real cohort model where we all go through this together, and the students and parents are in your corner the whole time. This family can be felt starting at Conservatory, where lifelong friends are made. You'll meet parents and students that you will see over and over again through not only this process, but the next four years in college and beyond. I love to see kids flying across the country to support each other in shows or to surprise each other on their birthdays. I still get photos of moms meeting up and celebrating in cities all over the country that originally met each other 5 years ago through our program.

There are several new and exciting things that we are about to announce here at The College Audition over the next few months. The best way to keep up to date is to follow us on Instagram (@thecollegeaud), or on Facebook (thecollegeaud). You can also click here to join our mailing list. I pride myself on staying as accessible as possible to everyone, so anyone can reach out to my coordinator at emma@thecollegeaudition.com and set up a 30-minute consultation to learn more about our programming, or to ask specific questions related to your situation. I truly love what I do, and meeting new students and hearing their stories is what keeps me going, so I hope you'll reach out!



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