Program Entrance Requirements

The Acting & Directing option was created for students with an intense interest in acting and/or directing. The option was designed to help develop all aspects of the actor and the director as both an interpretive and creative artist. Students in the Acting & Directing option are expected to strive for excellence in all areas of the art and craft of acting through highly challenging coursework, performance-based projects, productions and special workshops with guest artists and instructors.

Requirements & Guidelines for Audition Submissions

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.

• The proper slate for a monologue is to share your name, the title of the play, and the playwright.  You may include the pronouns you use, if you wish.

MONOLOGUES

• Monologues must be from a published play, or from a non-published play by a professional playwright. (A playwright that has plays that have been produced and/or published.)

• No self-written monologues.

• 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).

• Please submit 2 contrasting monologues each 60-90 seconds in length (see below)

  • 1 Contemporary monologue (typically written after 1920)

    • Contemporary monologues should be filmed in a “close-up” shot which means the top of the head to the chest should be visible in the frame.

  • 1 Classical monologue(typically anything from antiquity through the 18th Century)

    • Playwrights may include Shakespeare, Molière, Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Middleton, Thomas Kyd, or contemporary adaptations/translations of classical plays by playwrights like Sophocles or Aristophanes, that still employ heightened language.

    • Classical monologues should be filmed in a long shot, which means the top of the head to about your knees.

    • Classical monologues must have heightened language

Optional Wild Card Video

You may submit a “Wild Card” third video for your audition.  Think about the wild card section as an opportunity to show your personality or share something about you. This media can be ANYTHING you want - a special skill, an interesting story about yourself, a passion speech, an instrument you play, etc. Below is a list of ideas that have been successful in the past:

• Playing an instrument
• Singing or playing an original composition/song/poem or choreographed dance.
• Performing some other skill you have like juggling or magic.
• The performance of a something you have written (A piece from a play, a comic sketch, etc).
• Performing in a language other than English in which you are fluent
• Sharing a hobby or activity that means something to you
• Making a “how-to” video on something you are good at, baking, calligraphy, gymnastics.
• Submissions should be no more than 90 seconds.
• Applicants do not need to slate in any wild card media.

Attend one of the two-hour live audition sessions. These sessions will include:

1. A meet and greet with several performance faculty.
2. A series of exercises focused on acting 
3. A series of exercises focused on voice and movement.
4. A Q&A time with faculty about the program.

Other Audition Requirements

Attend one of the two-hour live audition sessions. These sessions will include:

1. A meet and greet with several performance faculty.
2. A series of exercises focused on acting 
3. A series of exercises focused on voice and movement. 

A Q&A time with faculty about the program.

Audition Dates 

• 11/2/24, In-Person Auditions, 12pm-3pm
• 12/13/24, Virtual Auditions, 6:30-8pm
• 2/8/25, In-Person Auditions, 12pm-3pm
• 2/28/25, Virtual Auditions, 6:30-8pm

This year audition registrations will take place through the Acceptd Platform. 

UNH Theatre & Dance Acceptd Landing Page

If you have any issues within Acceptd, please visit the Help Desk. The Help Desk provides step-by-step articles and videos that will assist with any technical issues. If you require further assistance, you can also reach out to our Support Team here. 

The dance option offers a diverse program that is designed to give the dance teacher, choreographer, and/or performer the skills needed to embark on a successful career. Technique courses in ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, and the aerial arts are at the core of this program. Courses in history of dance, composition, choreography and dance pedagogy aid dancers in preparing for a variety of employment opportunities in the dance field. In addition, dancers are introduced to the technical aspects involved in staging a full-scale performance. Performance opportunities include yearly faculty-directed dance concerts and student-created dance showcases each semester. Dancers may focus on one or all dance forms. Students may choose to combine the Dance option with requirements of the UNH Department of Education, in conjunction with a fifth year Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) or Master of Education (M.Ed.) program. This path will prepare students for dance teaching certification or elementary school teaching certification with an undergraduate specialization in dance. They also have the option of pursuing dance education leading to K-12 dance teacher certification.

Entrance requirements

All prospective students wishing to pursue a B.A. in theatre with a Dance Option must audition for entrance into the program. This audition will apply to all new students, external transfers, internal transfers and current theatre and dance students who wish to change to the Dance Option program. There are two Dance Option auditions scheduled. The in person dance audition will consist of a day on campus participating in regularly scheduled dance classes and interview with the faculty. To schedule audition please submit the video and request by filling out the registration form below. 

Auditions for incoming freshmen and transfer students will follow these guidelines:

Submit a single recorded video with the following:

• Jazz and or Tap: 12 bars or 6 counts of 8 in a stylized genre of your choice (jazz, contemporary, or tap).
• Ballet: Ballet Combinations: Adagio, Pirouettes, and Petite Allegro (Pointe combination optional).
• Short clip of solo or group performance if you have one.

Audition dates

• You will be contacted to schedule an audition once you've completed your application.

This year audition registrations will take place through the Acceptd Platform. 

UNH Theatre & Dance Acceptd Landing Page

If you have any issues within Acceptd, please visit the Help Desk. The Help Desk provides step-by-step articles and videos that will assist with any technical issues. If you require further assistance, you can also reach out to our Support Team here. 

The Design & Theatre Technology option prepares students for both practical and aesthetic work in the theater through classwork, production assignments, and everyday problem-solving. Utilizing transferable skills not only in the theatre but in the applied arts and beyond, UNH graduates hold careers across the nation as scenic, costume, and lighting designers, production managers, technical directors, stage managers, property masters, scenic artists, theatre technicians, and more.

Entrance requirements

All prospective students wishing to pursue the Design & Theatre Technology option are encouraged to interview before entrance into the option. Students who are interested in applying for UNDERGRADUATE FELLOWSHIP IN THE ARTS are required to submit a portfolio and schedule an interview. This interview process will apply to all new students, external transfers, and internal transfers. Any alternative interview arrangement will be the exception and must first be approved by the department chairperson.

Interview dates

Design & Theatre Technology Option suggested interviews are by appointment only. Please visit the our registration on the Acceptd website. 

UNH Theatre & Dance Acceptd Landing Page

If you have any issues within Acceptd, please visit the Help Desk. The Help Desk provides step-by-step articles and videos that will assist with any technical issues. If you require further assistance, you can also reach out to our Support Team here.

The Musical Theatre option is designed to cultivate and nurture the creative artistry of those highly motivated and disciplined students who seek to develop their combined talents as actors, singers, and dancers. Students in the Musical Theatre option will thrive in this intense and dynamic training program of demanding coursework, performance-based projects, faculty and student directed productions, and special workshops with guest artists and instructors. Students are expected to fully integrate their rigorous training as actors who sing and dance with the outstanding liberal arts education they will receive at UNH to become well-rounded and marketable musical theatre artists.  

Entrance requirements

The UNH Theatre & Dance Department participates in the Musical Theatre Prescreen 

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”)

• Record one introduction "slate" video stating your name. If you would like to include your pronouns, state them as well. Please speak loudly (project your voice) and clearly (articulate) directly to the camera.
  • This is an opportunity for the auditors to get a sense of your personality and to learn the pronunciation of your name.
• There is no need to slate your individual performance videos & pieces. Instead, clearly label each video with your name and the title of the piece you are performing (see more details below).

Labeling Guidelines for All Videos

Label each video file with the piece you are performing, the show or playwright, and your first & last name.

• Title of Song – Musical/Show – Your First & Last Name
• Title of Play – Playwright – Your First & Last Name

Examples:

• Slate – James Smith
• Your Daddy’s Son – Ragtime – Minnie Mouse
• Much Ado About Nothing – William Shakespeare – Luke Skywalker

Songs

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE USES OPTION A FROM THE MUSICAL THEATRE COMMON PRESCREEN

 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 theater, pop, hip-hop, folk, rock, rap, soul, country, punk, etc.). This song should contrast the style of the first selection.

Students should prepare two contrasting songs. 

• Style: one song should be a ballad (where the piece has longer, sustained vocal lines) and one song should be an up-tempo (where the vocal line moves at a conversational pace) to contrast style.
• Length: Each song file should be 60-90 seconds
• Accompaniment: Students must sing to musical accompaniment, which could include live or pre-recorded accompaniment. No “a cappella” singing (meaning singing without music).
• One song should be written before 1970. This song can be either the “up-tempo” or the “ballad” (student’s choice).
• One song should be written after 1970 and contrast the style of the first.

MONOLOGUES

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE USES OPTION B FROM THE MT COMMON PRESCREEN MONOLOGUE GUIDELINES FOR THIS AUDITION.

Option B

• One contemporary monologue (typically written after 1950) 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.

AND

• One classical monologue (typically written before 1950) from a published play or written by a professional writer. Classical monologues should have heightened language. Heightened language may include works by Shakespeare, Molière, Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Middleton, Thomas Kyd, Aristophanes, August Wilson, Tony Kushner, Suzan-Lori Parks, Mike Bartlett, George the Poet, Andrea Gibson, or contemporary adaptations of classical plays that still utilize heightened language.

DANCE

the university of new hampshire uses OPTION B FROM THE DANCE GUIDELINES FOR THE MUSICAL THEATRE COMMON PRESCREEN AUDITION.

Option B

• Show us your best version of dancing or moving. 30-60 seconds.

DANCE AUDITION 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 is 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.
• All dance media should be filmed in a "full body" shot taking care to keep the student's entire body in the frame at all times.

• Regardless of which style of dance you execute, the choreography and the movement should be story-driven and connected to the music where the applicant is dancing with a sense of purpose.

• HELPFUL HINT: Applicants are encouraged to keep a full-length mirror behind the filming device so as to see themselves as they execute choreography.

• Please do not submit “barre work”. Instead, check to see if the auditioning program offers the optional “Ballet Submission” which is listed below.

BALLET OPTION (optional)

• Ballet is not required, but we welcome ballet videos of either choreography, barre work or videos of ballet performance.

WILD CARD (Optional)

• Submissions should be no more than 60 seconds.
• This media can be ANYTHING you want: a special skill, an interesting story about yourself, a passion speech, an instrument that you play, etc. “What do you want us to know about you?” and “What makes you unique?”.

Below is a list of ideas from other wild card videos.

• Singing a pop song
• Singing or playing an original composition/song/poem or choreographed dance.
• Performing your own Saturday Night Live-styled skit where you create a comedic character
• Sharing a hobby or activity that means something to you
• Performing in a language other than English in which you are fluent
• Playing an instrument
• Making a “how-to” video on something you are good at, baking, calligraphy, gymnastics.
• If you are a dancer and want to show us a different style you excel in: Tap, Hip Hop, Lyrical, Ballet, etc.

ADDITIONAL AUDITION REQUIREMENTS.

The Prescreen is the FIRST step in our audition process. The second step is to attend one of our “audition days”, either in-person or virtually.

Attend one of the live audition sessions. These sessions will include:

1. A meet and greet with several performance faculty.
2. A series of exercises focused on acting, musical theatre, dance and/or voice (depending on if you attend the live or virtual events).
3. A Q&A time with faculty about the program.

Audition Dates 

• 11/2/24, In-Person Auditions, 11am-2pm
• 12/13/24, Virtual Auditions, 6:30-8pm
• 2/8/25, In-Person Auditions, 11am-2pm
• 2/28/25, Virtual Auditions, 6:30-8pm

This year audition registrations will take place through the Acceptd Platform. 

UNH Theatre & Dance Acceptd Landing Page

If you have any issues within Acceptd, please visit the Help Desk. The Help Desk provides step-by-step articles and videos that will assist with any technical issues. If you require further assistance, you can also reach out to our Support Team here. 

For candidates who want to teach drama courses and/or direct high school productions, the Secondary Theatre Education option offers practical and theoretical training for teachers. Through laboratory work, students obtain hands-on theatre teaching experience, so that by the time they reach their graduate school internship, they have spent significant hours in the classroom working with children. Students are provided with extensive training and practical teaching experience specifically geared towards the goal of being a theatre teacher. Students will be expected to fully integrate education and theatre coursework so that they leave UNH prepared for the rigorous task of teaching at the secondary level.

Entrance requirements

All prospective students wishing to pursue the Theatre Education options, which include both youth drama and secondary theatre education, are strongly encouraged to interview before entrance into the option. This interview process will apply to all new students, external transfers and internal transfers. Any alternative interview arrangement will be the exception and must first be approved by the department chairperson.

No material is required for the interview; however, applicants who have supporting materials connected with working with youth are encouraged to bring them to the interview. Such materials could include a list of teaching experience or teaching resume, sample lesson plans or other supplemental teaching materials.

Interview dates

Unless you are applying for a scholarship, registration through Acceptd is optional.  Interviews are still suggested and can be scheduled through raina.ames@unh.edu.

Acceptd Platform registrations for scholarships. 

UNH Theatre & Dance Acceptd Landing Page

If you have any issues within Acceptd, please visit the Help Desk. The Help Desk provides step-by-step articles and videos that will assist with any technical issues. If you require further assistance, you can also reach out to our Support Team here. 

The Youth Drama option is for those students who wish to use the dramatic arts as a teaching tool, either in the elementary classroom or as a teaching artist. Our comprehensive curriculum is specifically designed to train teachers. Through laboratory work, students obtain hands-on teaching experience, so that by the time they reach their graduate school internship, they have spent significant hours in the classroom working with children. Students will be expected to fully integrate education and theatre coursework so that they leave UNH with sound theoretical training in addition to practical instruction on how to use drama to enhance learning outcomes, address classroom discipline issues, and, of course, bring the arts to life in the classroom.

Entrance requirements

All prospective students wishing to pursue the Theatre Education options, which include both youth drama and secondary theatre education, are strongly encouraged to interview before entrance into the option. This interview process will apply to all new students, external transfers and internal transfers. Any alternative interview arrangement will be the exception and must first be approved by the department chairperson.

No material is required for the interview; however, applicants who have supporting materials connected with working with youth are encouraged to bring them to the interview. Such materials could include a list of teaching experience or teaching resume, sample lesson plans or other supplemental teaching materials.

Interview dates

Unless you are applying for a scholarship, registration through Acceptd is optional.  Interviews are still suggested and can be scheduled through raina.ames@unh.edu.

Acceptd Platform registrations for scholarships.

UNH Theatre & Dance Acceptd Landing Page

If you have any issues within Acceptd, please visit the Help Desk. The Help Desk provides step-by-step articles and videos that will assist with any technical issues. If you require further assistance, you can also reach out to our Support Team here.

The Comprehensive Theatre major is for students who are interested in acting or dancing but don't want to miss out on more technical courses, or for those who want to hone their presentation and communication skills before heading off to graduate school. The Comprehensive Theatre major prepares students with excellent skills for a variety of career opportunities.

Entrance requirements

Students wishing to pursue a B.A. in theatre as a Comprehensive Theatre major are strongly encouraged to have a meeting and interview with a member of the department faculty. We will interview all new students, external transfers and internal transfers. Comprehensive Theatre majors are allowed to declare a theatre major upon acceptance to the university, but must complete their interview before the start of classes. Interviewing during one of the scheduled audition/interview dates is recommended. If this is not possible, interview sessions are also scheduled during the first-year/transfer student orientation period two days prior to the start of the fall semester.

Interview dates

No interview required for Comprehensive Theatre