Young actors learn the foundational skills needed to pursue careers on stage, screen, and television.
Over the span of two years, Residential High School actors test their growing craft in a series of ever-increasing challenges including scene presentations, rehearsal projects, cabarets, dance demonstrations, and main stage productions. The focus is on developing sound values and techniques that form the entire student—voice, physical instrument, intellect, creative spirit—as well as the basis of a life-long pursuit of excellence.
Led by professional artists and performers, the Drama program is built on a conservatory model and provides training in the following areas:
Acting | Dance | Movement | Performance | Shakespeare | Singing | Speech |Stage Combat | Theatre History | Voice
Seniors participate in the Unified Theatre Auditions in New York and Chicago, where they audition for the foremost colleges and conservatories in America.
Student Achievements
- 10 Drama students have been Theatre Finalists in the prestigious National YoungArts Competition, including a United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts Award Winner.
- 13 Drama students have been awarded scholarships to the famed Juilliard Drama Division.
- 9 Drama graduates have appeared on Broadway stages since 2010 and have received three Tony nominations, including one Tony Winner for Best Lead Actress in a Musical.
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3 Drama students have received the Carnegie Mellon Presidential Scholar's Award—the Theatre Division's highest honor—while 2 Drama students were awarded the Kenan scholarship (four-year full scholarship) to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts...in the same year.
When To Apply By Grade
Drama students apply for the Residential High School program in the 10th grade to attend in the 11th and 12th grades. Learn more about the application and audition process below.
Our alumni have landed lead or supporting roles in...
Application
First Application Deadline: $50 application fee automatically waived if application form is submitted by November 30, 2020
Final Application & Video Submission Deadline: January 6, 2021
- Components for Online Application Process
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Inquiry & Login Credentials
Application Form
Passport-Style ID Photo
Drama Experience
Essential Questions for All Monologues *see details below*
Headshot
Art Area Recommendation
Academic Recommendation
Official High School Transcript
Current Report Card
Current Attendance Record
Guidance/Registrar Form
Audition Video *see Audition tab*
- Essential Questions for All Monologues
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You will answer a list of questions for one of your monologues.
You may use the link below to access the questions and begin preparing your responses. You will submit your final responses as part of the online application process.
Audition
The Residential High School Drama Auditions will be held virtually this year.
Phase 1: Submit a 4-minute video recording of two contrasting monologues and one song (details below). This video must be submitted by January 6, 2021.
Phase 2: Selected applicants will be invited to this phase based on their application materials and video audition. During this 20 minute virtual audition, students will perform their monologues and song, will be interviewed by SCGSAH adjudicators, and a coaching session may take place. These will take place on various Saturdays during late January & early February.
- Two Contrasting Monologues
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Students will select and prepare two contrasting monologues (60 seconds each). This should be material you connect with personally and reflects your age, experience, and understanding.
The first monologue should be from a modern/contemporary playwright (from a play written after 1920).
There are two options for the second monologue. Students can either choose to perform a second, yet contrasting, monologue from a modern/contemporary playwright OR a Shakespeare monologue (prose or verse).
Check out the list of modern/contemporary plays (published after 1920) below. These plays contain one or more monologues suitable for audition purposes, though some may need to be cut together or edited somewhat. You may use the list as a guide, or choose material not on the list by written by established professional playwrights.
If you have difficulty finding material, note that the modern classics listed below with an * should be easy to find in many school and local libraries.
For Women
The Red Coat, John Patrick Shanley
A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry *
The Piano Lesson, August Wilson *
Jitney, August Wilson
Crimes of the Heart, Beth Henley
The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams *
I Oughta Be in Pictures, Neil Simon
Barefoot in the Park, Neil Simon
Collected Stories, Donald Marguiles
Sight Unseen, Donald Marguiles
A Young Lady of Property, Horton Foote
A View from the Bridge, Arthur Miller *
All My Sons, Arthur Miller *
Eleemosynary, Lee Blessing
Sally’s Gone, She Left Her Name, Russell Davis
You Can’t Take it With You, Kauffman and Hart *
Picnic, William Inge *
Inherit the Wind, Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin LeeFor Men
Biloxi Blues, Neil Simon
Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller *
A View from the Bridge, Arthur Miller *
The Crucible, Arthur Miller *
The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams *
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, William Inge *
Picnic, William Inge *
Bus Stop, William Inge *
The Piano Lesson, August Wilson *
Jitney, August Wilson
A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry *
In a Northern Landscape, Timothy Mason
Conversations with My Father, Herb Gardner
Sally’s Porch, Russell Davis
The Red Coat, John Patrick Shanley
Rabbit Hole, David Lindsay Abaire
Proof, David Auburn
Catfish Moon, Laddy Sartin
Master Harold…and the Boys, Athol Fugard - One Song
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Memorize a short selection from a song – preferably 16 bars. Be prepared to sing this selection without accompaniment.
- Audition Video & Submission Guidelines
- Callback Auditions
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A Residential High School Callback session for selected students may take place after the initial Virtual Auditions.