Ten Audition Tips - Tip #2

July 07, 2009 (edit: July 16, 2009) | andrew | 0 comments

Artistic Director Andrew Woolner writes about how to deal with probably the most stressful part of Theatre acting: the audition.

TIP #2 - GATHER INFO

This tip goes hand-in-hand with Tip #1 (READ THE PLAY), but I felt that reading the play was so important, it really needed to stand on its own.

Find out as much about the audition itself as possible. Some directors (and Theatre schools) like to audition people in large groups rather than one by one. (This is more normal for callbacks, but I've seen it happen.) Find out if you need a monologue at all (and even if they say you don't, prepare one-- it never hurts you to have one ready), and if you do, what kind and how many, and the suggested length. Find out if you will be asked to read from the play you're auditioning for (READ IT AGAIN JUST BEFORE THE AUDITION).

If there's any information available on the director's vision for the play, find it out.

Also, find out as much as you can about the director. For instance, anyone who does a little bit of poking around about me will discover that I prefer to watch classical (e.g. Shakespeare and earlier) monologues, regardless of what show I'm running auditions for. If you can come in to one of my auditions and nail a Shakespeare monologue, you have just earned a million or so bonus points. Some directors would hate this. Find out as much as you can about your potential director.

It's not that hard to do research these days. Google, Facebook, and the like are at your disposal. Find out everything you can about anyone you know who is on the audition panel or involved in the company. See if you have friends, a school, or a teacher in common. There's usually a point in the audition where you'll have a few moments of small talk with the panel. Drop names. Little names that have personal significance, if you can. Al Pacino may not impress me, but if you were taught by or worked with someone I know, I will be very interested. Or not. But take the risk. It shows that you're putting effort in.

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