Courses & Admissions
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Interviews, auditions and folios
All of WAAPA’s courses require applicants to complete an interview and/or audition, or submit a folio of work, as part of the selection process. If an interview, audition or folio submission is required, it will be specified in the admission requirement information for the course.
If your application for admission meets the course admission requirements, we will contact you to arrange an interview/audition/folio submission. We will notify you of the outcome of your interview/audition/folio submission component in the selection process. For more specific information about interviews, auditions, folio submissions and processes, refer to reachyourpotential.com.au/interviews.
See below for answers to some commonly asked questions:
Do I have to come to Perth for WAAPA auditions?
No, you don’t. We hold auditions in most capital cities around Australia for the majority of our programs. Some Departments accept video/dvd auditions but we do prefer to meet applicants in person. More details for each programme are available on our website under the specific course headings.
When are WAAPA auditions?
Auditions happen at various times during the year according to the course. Dance auditions for full time courses are held around Australia in mid September. Acting & Music Theatre auditions in November. Music auditions are held in Perth early in December and some Jazz & Contemporary auditions may be held in other capital cities in November.
Do you run pre-audition courses?
Yes, we offer a range of workshops and short courses to assist applicants in preparing for their audition. These courses usually run in the second half of the year and information is available from the Explore Extension Courses link on the WAAPA website (link below). Of course we offer these programs as a service to those applicants who wish to use them. There is no obligation for applicants to attend and completion of these programs does not have a direct effect on your course application.
When will I hear about my audition?
We will contact you as soon as possible after you submit your application. If you pay by credit card you will know that we have seen it because we process the payment of all forms as soon as they are received. There is a very large influx of applications in late September so if you apply early in September or in August you will get your audition time quite quickly.
Will there be callback auditions and if I get a callback audition, when will I be told?
Acting & Music Theatre applicants who make it past the first round of auditions will be invited to attend a second audition (a callback). They will either be informed at the audition or may be contacted by telephone soon after the audition. Applicants to those courses who are not invited to a callback should assume they have not been successful though they will be notified formally in due course. Callbacks for Acting and Music Theatre in Melbourne and Sydney are held at the end of the week that WAAPA visits those cities. Final callbacks for Perth applicants for these two courses take place early in December.
Can I do a video audition for WAAPA?
The answer varies with each programme. We do prefer to meet you in person but we understand that this is not always possible and we want encourage as many applicants as possible. For the Acting, Dance, & Music Theatre programs we provide very detailed instructions on what to include in a DVD/Video audition and it is vital you follow these instructions. Selection panel members and successful applicants advise that great care should be taken to ensure the technical quality of the DVD/Video audition is of very high standard. The audition must be well lit, with high quality sound and made in a suitable room.
If the conditions described above are met, the Dance Department is confident that it will be able to assess your application and will make an offer based on the tape alone. The Music Theatre Department and Acting Department have a process where applicants are called back for second auditions and at this audition, applicants work in groups. It is most likely that upon viewing the recorded audition these Departments do not have a sufficient amount of material to make an offer of a place. They assess the recorded auditions and report to the applicant if the standard is comparable to other applicants who have made it to the second round and they will offer a place in the second round auditions which must be attended in person.
It is possible for Music applicants to audition by DVD/Video?
They must first send a recording (with vision) of the applicant playing three pieces of music in contrasting styles within the genre you wish to study in (i.e. classical, jazz, or contemporary music). This submission may be enough to make a final assessment or there may be a request to undergo a theory/ transcription test which can be invigilated by an examiner in your home city.
When will I hear if I have been successful?
WAAPA aims to give applicants the results of their interview/audition prior to Christmas each year. Often there is a delay due to the need for us to complete the nationwide audition tour and see every applicant prior to making a decision. In many cases you will hear from us well before Christmas. Dance applicants will probably hear from us in October. Arts Management applicants who are completing Year 12 will not hear from us until the university entrance exam results are published early in January.
Can I find out why my WAAPA application was unsuccessful?
WAAPA regrets that it is not able to give feedback regarding individual applicants due to the large number of applicants we see. For many of our courses this is a much greater number of applicants than there are places available so many high quality applicants are disappointed each year.
How much theory do I need for music courses?
There is a theory component to the auditions for music courses. The Jazz/Contemporary test contains melodic and rhythmic dictation, interval, chord recognition and chord progression recognition. The written component contains chord spelling, modes, transposition, keys, clefs, chord spelling, interval spelling and some general arranging questions. The Classical test contains aural dictations of gradually increasing difficulty. There is also a short essay (no preparation required).
How do I choose my songs for my WAAPA Music Theatre audition?
Unlike the process for picking monologues where you have to choose from the list provided, you can choose your own songs to perform. There are some requirements, however. You must chose songs from musicals and they must be of contrasting styles (i.e. tempo etc). One song must be from a musical written prior to 1960. If you do not intend to bring an accompanist then remember to bring the sheet music in the correct key taped up and ready to go. In recent years musicals have been created featuring songs written by popular recording artists (e.g. ABBA, Queen, Dusty Springfield). These songs are not suitable for the music theatre auditions.
Do I have to use WAAPA’s audition pieces for Acting and Music Theatre applications?
Yes, you must choose pieces from the list we publish on the website late in July (in fact pieces fro 2008 are already up on the website). Actors must choose one piece in verse (usually a Shakespearean piece though we do offer some Jacobean pieces as well) and one contemporary piece (i.e. not in verse) from that list. Music Theatre applicants can choose any one monologue (either in verse or contemporary) from the WAAPA list.
Applicants who are auditioning for both Acting and Music Theatre are welcome to use one of their Acting monologues for Music Theatre. They do not have to prepare a third piece.
When will the new monologues/projects be ready?
We endeavour to have them on the website ready to download sometime in July. We inform bookshops around Australia and the State Libraries to assist applicants looking for the plays the monologues are taken from.