Scholarships

The Alabama Conference of Theatre (ACT) will hold auditions VIRTUALLY with callbacks at the College Fair held at the Trumbauer High School Festival.  Five $1000 scholarships for Alabama students (either high school seniors or community college students) planning to enter a four-year Alabama college or university, majoring in Drama or Theatre, will be awarded. Three scholarships will be awarded in performance (acting/musical theatre) including the Patricia Putman Performing Scholarship in honor of the past executive director of ACT.  Two scholarships will be awarded to technical/design applicants including the new Mary Nell Sloan Endowed Technical Theatre scholarship, presented in memory of the late Mary Nell Sloan, an active participant in Trumbauer, by the Jordan Groben family. The awards are announced at the Trumbauer Awards Ceremony in December and distributed when the student registers with an accredited undergraduate college or university within Alabama with the intention of majoring in theatre.

Applications will be evaluated on artistic merit and quality of work.  Applicants must have a minimum GPA of 2.5, and a score of 19 and above on the ACT or 1000 and above on SAT test.

Application should include:

• Completed application form
• Headshot
• Theatre Resume
• Verified GPA and ACT/SAT score
• VIRTUAL audition (acting/musical theatre) or presentation (technical theatre)
• Audition fee ($10)

Please have all of these things collected and ready before you begin your application.  They will be uploaded as you complete and submit your application.  Remember that the deadline is Friday, November 8, 2024 at 5 p.m.

In addition to the ACT panel of judges who make the scholarship award selections, the college and university representatives will have access to your audition materials.  They will be able to review your material multiple times and share it with colleagues so put your best foot forward. They may call you back to visit their booth at the college fair to speak with you further about opportunities in their theatre programs, or reach out to you directly.

Acting/Musical Theatre: Your audition may not exceed 90 seconds. You should slate at the top of your audition.  This should include: your name; play and playwright of your monologue(s); and title of song and show/musical (if including a musical selection). Your slate of name and selection do not count in the time. You must include a monologue.

You may present:

• One monologue or
• Two contrasting monologues or
• One monologue and one musical selection.  The musical selection may be done with an accompaniment track (without vocals) or piano. We suggest a 16 –bar cut of a ballad or 32-bar cut of an up-tempo piece. No a cappella auditions are allowed.

TIP: We want to see the authentic you.  Preferable select works for an age-appropriate character that does notrequire a dialect.

Your audition should be recorded with good lighting (we suggest a ring light) and a non-distracting background.  We should see at least from your waist up.  The audition should be from one take and not edited as if you were performing it live.  A clip from a show that you have been in, performance reel, commercial clip, or professionally edited studio tape is not allowed.

Technical Theatre: Your audition/presentation should not exceed 5 minutes. You should present your portfolio.

Your portfolio should include 3-4 pictures of an original, self-made technical project. (Examples include: a costume, a set design model, a make-up design, a prop, videos or photos of lighting or sound projects, a stage manager’s prompt book.) Each shot should show another angle of your project covering the entire piece.

In your presentation, highlighting the images, you might:

Discuss how it was made, what materials were used, and the overall design process. How you categorize your project: costume, prop, set model/design, lighting, etc.

Explain the materials you used to create your project.

Explain the techniques you used to build each part of your project as well as the design concept.

*You may use your pieces submitted in Trumbauer Individual Technical Events.

Tip: We want to know what you are interested in as a theatermaker and an artist. Be sure to include work that shows us who you are and the kind of artwork and theater that excites you.

SUMMARY: Complete the form, upload your headshot (Lastname_Firstname.jpg or .png). upload theatre resume (upload a Lastname_Firstnam.doc(x) or .pdf), a video audition (Lastname_Firstnam.mov).  .avi or .mp4) or a link to audition on YouTube or google cloud, and follow the instructions at the end of the application. No refunds will be given.