Greetings once again from the corner office. I apologize for my tarniness at returning to this topic. I’ll try not to wait so long between future posts.

I’d like to pick up where my last column left off.

This week’s question is: HOW DO I AUDITION?

Common forms that this question takes are as follows:

How do I prepare for an audition? What’s expected of me? Will it be scary? Will new people get a shot or do only the same old people get cast every time? Do I have to sing a song/ dance a dance/ memorize a scene?

First of all, everyone has jitters before an audition, from the seasoned actor to the first timer. The act of auditioning can be ten times more frightening than opening night jitters. In fact, the director is often equally nervous as well. (I know I am!) We’re worried to about finding the right people, enough people, or sometimes even any people.

It was once written that the worst way to cast a show is by audition, unfortunately, there is literally no other way to scope out the talent without simply calling and inviting the same old people every time to come and play each role and frankly that would be counter our mission as a community theatre TCTA does not and will not pre-cast it’s productions. In fact, we love new people and even single them out in the playbill to denote their debut. It’s kind of our way of congratulation new members of our family while openly declaring we are always welcoming new talent to our stage.

Now, since we produce sixteen productions annually, the audition process has become kind of methodical. It may vary from time to time depending upon the director, but the basic mechanics are usually the same. First of all, at least two week to sometimes a month before auditions, we make the scripts or librettos available for check out from our box office. Anyone can check out these scripts for a short period of time, and it’s free. We do require a refundable deposit, but other than that, it’s easy as can be to check out the script or music well before an audition.

Tip one; Read the script. (Or in the case of a musical, read the book!) That may sound obvious, but I’m routinely shocked by how many people audition for a show without ever reading what they are auditioning for. Case in point; I remember two different actors auditioning for Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? When I asked them what role they were most interested in, both women replied; “Virginia Woolf.” Of course, Virginia Woolf doesn’t appear in the play.

So read the script! Make sure it really does appeal to you and that it doesn’t contain something you might find objectionable. You’ll be spending six to eight weeks rehearsing the show and another month in performance, so you better like the show your in or it’s going to be a looooong process.

Tip two; Identify the character that interests you the most. There may be multiple choices, but you should be able to identify one or two that peeks your interest more than another. But when you choose that one or two roles you’d most like, ask yourself some tough questions. Ask yourself if the character is within your typical age range? Could I physically pull this off? And if it’s a musical, check out the music. Is it a character within your vocal range? If not, is it possible that the role could be transposed? Which leads to the third tip; Ask questions. Music Directors, Directors, and Choreographers love to answer question before an audition. Call the people in question and ask them anything you need before an audition. We love to hear from you and would much rather hel;p you up front before the audition. I once had a woman audition for an all male show, though I appreciated her courage, there simply was no way to change the sex of the characters. Had she asked ahead of time I would have gladly explained why and keep her from wasting her time. Finally, tip four is Prepare. Auditioning is scary enough without going in blind. If it’s a musical, learn a song or two from the score and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Drive your kids, neighbors, husbands, wives, brother and sisters crazy by sing the song repeatedly around the house! If it’s a play, read some scenes out loud. Force your loved ones to read the scenes with you. The more familiar you are with the text of the play the less nervous you’ll be!

Make choices with your characters, too. Decide how you want to play the character and what he/she is like. Don’t just read to us at auditions, perform. If you take the stage with confidence at the audition, we know you’ll do it as well opening night.

The next step is calling and making that audition appointment. For main-stage and studio productions TCTA reserves appointments in five to ten minute blocks. This minimizes the length of time you’ll be at the initial audition so it hopefully doesn’t eat up your whole afternoon. It also minimizes the number of people who will be sitting in the room during your audition. This is particularly helpful to people who have less experience in the process. It’s daunting enough to audition in the first place let alone being forced to do it in a room full of prospective onlookers, many of whom are after the same roles.

Academy productions tend to be “Open Auditions” which is sometimes referred to in an unflattering way as “Cattle Call” auditions. This means that all prospective auditioners arrive at the same time and leave at roughly the same time as well. This is done because kids tend to draw strength in numbers while adults tend to get more inhibited with a room full of people.

If you are called back for a main-stage or studio production, those call backs are also “Open Auditions”. Mainly because we need to hear scenes in groups and in the case of musicals, listen for that choral sound. For this reason, you should plan on a more lengthy stay than your initial audition will take. Clear your schedule for that call back audition.

And my final tip is Stay positive! If you are cast, we want to know that we are going to have fun working with you. Support your fellow actors, keep your patience and your cool. Think of it as a job interview and behave accordingly.

Well that’s a long enough post for now, but if you question didn’t get answered, please leave a comment and I’ll see if I can answer it next time.

Thanks again.

Shannon

This entry was posted on Monday, February 11th, 2008 at 10:40 pm and is filed under Artistic Directors Remarks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.