For those who are involved in the performing arts, the Juilliard School is the holy grail. Those bold enough to apply face almost unreal odds of gaining entry into the school, or even making it through just one round of the application process.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF R. DAVID ROBINSON Katharine Robinson (above), and during her role in “Guys and Dolls” (right) while at Metuchen High School. For Katharine Robinson, it was no different. Upon graduating from Metuchen High School in 2008, she applied to colleges and universities and was accepted to a few, but none of them seemed to suit Robinson’s insatiable desire to learn about the theatrical arts. So instead of just settling on any old school, she decided to take full-time classes at HB Studio, which, according to its website, “remains committed to providing working professionals a place to hone their craft, find community, and enjoy creative freedom.”
“HB Studio was great and it really gave me an opportunity to practice and get better at acting,” Robinson said. “It was really my parents’ suggestion, and I’m glad it worked out.”
After her time at HB, Robinson decided to take a shot at the dream of getting into Juilliard.
“I didn’t really think I’d get in, but I did my auditions, and out of about 150 people, I received a same-day callback, which only 13 of us received, and that was so exciting,” Robinson said.
During the latter part of the day is when Robinson did monologues and speech exercises and was able to show her stuff.
“That day it all just went by so fast, it’s like you really didn’t have time to think about all that was going on,” Robinson said. “I just went in there and went for it. Then they had interviews that took the group from 13 people to just eight.”
After making it to the final eight out of her group, the admissions committee went ahead with formal interviews.
“They asked me a lot of questions about my passions and a lot about the past year that I had just gone through at HB Studios. I’m sure they saw that as something that was a bit out of the ordinary,” Robinson said.
And yet again, she made it through another round of the process. Now, things got a bit more interesting, as Katharine was one of 40 applicants invited to a weekend at the school that involved workshops with the entire drama staff, who chose the final group.
She described it as a stressful weekend and wasn’t sure how she had fared when the final decision came down.
“I thought I could have done a bit better,” she said.
Two weeks later she got a call from Juilliard, but it wasn’t the call that she was waiting for.
“I was told that while I had done well throughout the process, I was placed on the wait list with six other people. I was disappointed, but still I got into another school, and so I decided I would go there,” Robinson said.
“There” was the University of Hartford, and the night before she was about to make the three-hour ride, the phone call came through.
“They told me that somebody else that was accepted would not be attending, and the spot was offered to me,” Robinson said. It was a dream come true for me, and I just burst into tears.
So while Robinson has had a whirlwind couple of months, reality has started to set in a bit for her and her parents: Juilliard costs approximately $43,000 per year.
And so on July 27, encouraged by friends and family, she will be hosting “A Gala Party & Performance to Benefit the Send Katharine to Juilliard Fund” at the Baruch Performing Arts Center in New York at 7 p.m., with an 8:30 p.m. show and auction following.
“This really is an old British tradition of a benefit performance to help fellow members of the theatrical community,” said her father, R. David Robinson. “We’re just trying to come up with creative solutions to the problem of Juilliard costing so much.”
Among the performers will be Bill McCarty, who has performed numerous times at the Comic Strip and on the Rosie O’Donnell Show and Late Night With Conan O’Brien, and David Brunetti, Daniel Marcus and Nicole Orth- Pallavicini, who have performed on Broadway in numerous plays.
Katharine will also perform a song during the event that she performed during her Juilliard audition.
“In the long run, I see myself doing Broadway,” Katharine said.
Admission to the event is $25 at the door (cash or check is preferred) and the location is 55 Lexington Ave. For further information or for anyone who wants to help out but cannot attend, contact R. David Robinson at Katharine-juilliard@ mindspring.com.