Greta Kunene (Musical Theater 2025) Visits Chicago for 2025 National Unified Auditions

February 6, 2025

Greta Kunene (Musical Theater 2025) in front of the Palmer House hotel, where the auditions were held.

Every February, inside the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago, the theater departments of several dozen colleges converge to hold the National Unified Auditions, a make-or-break, do-or-die audition week for anxious, hopeful theater kids. This year, Greta Kunene (Musical Theater 2025) was part of the action, travelling to Chicago for the experience. From February 3–6, 24 select university theater programs conducted simultaneous auditions and interviews for admission.

Greta prepared several monologues, songs, and dance numbers for the long, stressful days that they hope will pay off in admissions offers and scholarships.

Reflecting on the overall experience, Greta said, “Something that really surprised me was how laid back and nice most of the schools were when I went in to audition. Everyone was really understanding and patient. I was really nervous because I didn’t know what to expect but I’m really proud of myself for going and putting myself out there for so many schools. This experience has really impacted my future in giving me so much practice for auditioning and being able to talk to and expose myself to so many new people and programs.”

Tory Peterson, Theater Instructor, was pleased that Greta had such a successful trip. “She’s got a number of colleges pointing interest at her, so good on her!” One such school is Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA. Sheila Daniels, the Department Chair of the Theater program, was excited to learn that Greta is from Perpich. Several Perpich students in previous years have also auditioned with Sheila. “[She’s] always loved our kids auditioning and Greta said the same thing happened again this year. ‘Oh, you’re from Perpich! This is so great!’,” said Tory.