The dates below are for reference, to give a general idea of our usual schedule.
Updated dates for our 2024 recruitment cycle will be posted when available.
SCHEDULING
The Direct Audition application deadline is January 9th. If you will not be scheduling a direct audition, applications through video submissions will be accepted through February 4th.
Once we have received your completed online application, and your fee of $135 for U.S. Citizens and lawful U.S. Permanent Residents (and $155 for all other applicants), the Drama Office will contact you to confirm receipt of your application and set up a personal audition time.
Sometime after that audition, you will be notified if you have been invited to callbacks.
These callbacks will be held in Irvine on Saturday February 18th and Sunday February 19th, 2023. Should you be called back, and if you are seriously interested in attending the graduate acting program at UC Irvine, please hold these dates.
REQUIREMENTS
Remember that the combined total length of your two contrasting audition monologues should be no more than three minutes, and that one should be classical, preferably in verse.
If you wish to sing a short song (no more than 30 seconds in length), you must provide your own pre-recorded accompaniment.
It would be wise, both for live and prerecorded auditions, to invest time and care in production values such as lighting and audio, so we can see and hear you well.
LOCATIONS
Deadline: Applications for the program will be accepted through January 9th.
Auditions for the 2026 MFA Acting class will be held both live and through submissions of prerecorded video auditions. Each candidate should determine their comfort level and preferred audition method and choose one. We ask for two monologues.
Performers for live auditions can be masked or unmasked. All auditors will be masked.
This year's Direct Auditions will be held:
January 13th (Los Angeles/Irvine) - UC Irvine Campus
January 21st- New York, NY
January 28th- Chicago
Specific locations and times of auditions will be shared with you upon receipt of your application.
Approximately 25 actors will be invited to in-person callbacks at UC Irvine on the weekend of February 18 & 19th. (If you have submitted a video audition and cannot attend the in-person callbacks, this does not disqualify you from acceptance into the program.)
VIDEOS
If you choose not to audition live, you may submit a prerecorded video submission. Video submissions must be easily accessible online (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo, Google Docs, personal website, etc.). The content of the video audition should be exactly the same as for an audition in person; please do not submit unedited show tapes. Audition recordings or their links should be included in your materials when you submit a direct application and must be emailed to the Drama Department no later than February 4th.
URTAs
In addition to our private UCI auditions for direct applicant listed above, we will also be in virtual attendance at all of the regularly scheduled URTA auditions. At the URTA auditions, our acting representatives may invite candidates to apply directly to UCI at that time.
Direct applicants to UCI are not required to audition through URTA. Nor does participation in URTA make it possible for UCI to waive its application fee.