Eligibility is limited to Juniors or Seniors who plan to enter college in the school year 26–27 or 27–28 to study theatre. Juniors are strongly encouraged to apply. As in the past, all Illinois college and university theatre departments have been invited to participate in this program, as well as other theatre departments from outside of Illinois. The goal is to give students an opportunity to audition/present for college representatives while refining and enriching their auditioning/presenting skills.

NOTE:  Presentations are open to any student wishing to pursue a career in technical theatre, theatrical design (costume, set, sound, lighting, etc.) directing, or stage management.

SPONSORS: Please consider carefully which students you register for the College Auditions. While it would be great to give EVERY student a chance to experience this process, spaces are limited and the time for our college representatives to see these talented students is at a premium. 

Please register ONLY those students seriously considering a career in the theatre. Students should register with their email, NOT the sponsor's email. Also, note that the College Reps strongly encourage juniors to audition, even though they are only in their first semester of this school year! The Illinois High School Theatre Festival reserves the right to limit the number of students a school may have based on the overall numbers and available time slots. 

How to register for college auditions:  Once the sponsor has completed the School Registration Process (submitted the online registration form, submitted full payment, submitted the Principal Acknowledgement Form, submit a medical/media release form for each sponsor and student, and submitted Excel List of Names), then ISU Conference Services will send the sponsor an email that contains the link to register for college auditions.  We will check all college audition submissions to the date a school is considered complete. 

DEADLINE:  The deadline for your students to submit the College Auditions Form is November 19, 2025.  The link to submit for an auditions is only provided to each primary sponsor once they have completed the school registration process.  They are also required to submit the Audition Resume Form and/or the Technical Resume Form by November 19, 2025.  Once we hit capacity for the slots, the links will close.  We will not accept any submissions after November 19, 2025.

In-Person Auditions / Technical Presentations will be held Friday, January 9, 2026. 
A Google Doc will be shared with students who are auditioning/presenting using their email on December 12, 2025 that will have their audition/presentation time. A warm-up session will take place on Friday, January 9, 2026 to help prepare student actors. To help make the process as user-friendly as possible, we will discuss audition/presentation information during this meeting.

STUDENT TIPS FOR COLLEGE AUDITIONS (PDF)

Note: All-State Company Members planning to audition/present must contact All-State Producer Producers at allstateproducers@ihstf.org for the College Audition Application information.

For more information about the College Auditions process, please visit the students' page.

View the Audition Schedule:  Will be posted by December 12, 2025.