Paper Mill Playhouse Sets College Discovery Seminars Fall Dates

To aid students and parents in college selection and admittance, Paper Mill Playhouse will offer its College Discovery Seminars on September 29 and October 1 at 6:30pm to 9pm and again on October 20 and 22, 2020 at 6:30pm to 9pm. Paper Mill's College Discovery Seminars are workshops in how to navigate the college application and audition process for applicants studying musical theater. The theater will offer the informational course online via Zoom on two separate sets of dates this fall. Registration information can be found here.

The seminars, led by Paper Mill's Senior Manager of Artistic Engagement, Stephen Agosto, are a two-part series intended to make applying and auditioning for Musical Theater programs easier and less stressful. The workshop discusses topics such as what to consider when looking for a school, audition expectations, prescreen requirements, the audition season timeline, finding money for school, and more.

In 2019, Paper Mill collaborated with online arts application and audition platform Acceptd to create the Musical Theater Common Prescreen (MTCP), an initiative which streamlined the audition process for students and revolutionized the application process nationally. Now in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, colleges and universities across the country are joining the Musical Theater Common Prescreen as they become more reliant on virtual alternatives to their traditional evaluation process.

Agosto, who headed the team that created the MTCP stated, "At Paper Mill we really are a neutral party in this process. But because of our relationships with these institutions, we have a large amount of knowledge from a unique perspective - knowledge we want to share with and pass on to as many students as possible. We see this as an investment in the progress of Musical Theater."

The Musical Theater Common Prescreen guidelines for colleges and universities interested in participating can be found here.

The Musical Theater Common Prescreen currently has 62 participating programs - a jump from last year's roster. New programs include Nazareth College, Siena Heights University, Slippery Rock University, The Hartt School, The University of Arizona, The University of New Hampshire, and Valdosta State University.