Posts in Auditions
What They Really Want at an Audition

Most young actors, including myself when I was one, go into an audition intent upon showing them that they can play “that” character.  They meticulously familiarize themselves with the play and, if a musical, the score, and memorize the sides they’ll be reading which may have been sent only that morning.  Preparation is all.  How can you decide what to sing for your audition if you aren’t familiar with the musical style of the show you’re auditioning for?  Are you really going to sing a song from In the Heights if you’re auditioning for Carousel?  If you have no experience with or training in commedia dell’arte, then you’d best bone up on it before your audition for Servant of Two Masters.

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10 Audition Pet Peeves

Today I want to talk to you about auditions. Unfortunately, nothing is perfect. As much as we want to think that auditions are the beginning of something great… Well, that doesn’t mean that they don’t have their faults. Some of these are annoying things that happen because of the actors, and some of them are things the people casting you do.

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Why Can't the Audition Process Be More Transparent?

Tell me if this story sounds familiar: You leave an audition feeling like you absolutely crushed it. So much so it would be a complete shock if you weren't offered the role. Days go by and you hear nothing until the moment you're told the role was given to someone else.

Aside from being sad and angry, chances are you might be a bit confused. Why didn't you get the role? What did you do wrong? What could you have done better? 

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Don't "Gimmie Gimmie", But If You Do...

Indisputably, the most-heard song at auditions for about a decade and a half has been "Gimme Gimme", by Dick Scanlan and Jeanine Tesori from the Broadway hit, Thoroughly Modern Millie. There are reasons why it’s so popular. And there’s a ton of reasons why nobody – and I mean nobody – should be auditioning with this song. I’ll go into those in a moment. But, since nothing I say is going to stop the steady parade of role-seekers essaying this epic, I thought I’d talk about how it could be done better.

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Yes, It’s Okay to Have a Fall-Back Plan

Every day I think about making it in theatre, or voiceovers, or TV, or film. Something that will make me happy and pay the bills. Reaching that point for an actor can take years, decades even. But, you still have to make money somehow to live until you can reach the point where acting can make things work for you. 

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