Auditioning This is one of the most important parts of the whole deal-your audition. If you don't do well at the audition, you don't get the part. Now I'm not saying every time you don't get in the play you didn't do well at your audition, no I'm not saying that at all. You could do awesome at your audition but not make it because of your height, hair color, or various things. What I am saying is that if you trip and fall on your head, screech on the high note, or seriously injure one of the judges, it is very, very unlikely that you will get in. :) Although no one can make sure you do perfectly at your audition, and it is very unlikely you will be perfect, here are a few things that are sure to help. FOR MUSICALS: *Pick a good song to sing if you are trying out for a musical. If you are a soprano, don't pick a really low song. Pick a song that is right for your range. *My best friend once said when you try out, always belt out the song and be really loud. Now I partially agree with this, but I do beg to differ as well. Yes, be loud enough for the judges to hear you and understand what you are saying, but if the character you are trying out for is quiet and soft spoken, don't belt the whole song! Now, if you are trying out for a part like Annie, have fun with it and be LOUD!!! *Along with finding a song that suites you, try to find one that suites the character you are auditioning for. If you are trying out for the role of Oliver who has this nice, high, sweet, head voice and you belt a loud, low, spunky song, they probably won't consider you for Oliver. The audition is when you show off to the judges what you can do, and if they're looking for a loud, belty voice and you sing a quiet, soft song, they most likely won't consider you for the role. *My best friend also said don't stand straight and look the judges in the eye while you sing, and this I completely agree with. For one, if you stand straight and look the judges in the eye while you sing, it looks like you don't know what to do with yourself and it is very unprofessional. And secondly, when you look directly at the judges it can make them feel uncomfortable and uneasy. I'm sure you wouldn't want to write down what you thought about someone's performance if they were looking right at you! Pretend there is an audience behind the judges and look at that. And for heaven's sake, if you are singing a fast, upbeat song, move around! The key word to all of this is act. If you can't act, you won't get chosen. You could have the best voice in the world, but if you don't know how to act, don't count on them calling you up and begging you to be in the show. *Now I just told you to act when you sing, and you might be saying, "But I can't act to the song I'm singing!" Well, I have three words for you: Don't sing it! When deciding on a song, first find a song good for your vocal range, and then, before you sing it, read it like you would read a monolouge. If you can act to it while you are saying it, then you should have no problem acting it out when you sing it. *If there is a music break, or a place where it is just music and no singing in your song, don't just stand there! Do something, whether it is a dance or just some facial expressions. If you act out all of the song that has words and just stand there during the interlude, it's just telling the judges that you can only act when you are speaking, and then when someone else is taking their turn in the spotlight, you just lose character. Please, for your own sake, and the judges, do something! If you are having trouble deciding what to do, think about why your character is singing this song. Did they just win a million dollars? Then act like you are excited about what you have just won. And if the character is depressed because something terrible just happened, show that to the judges! And also if your character changes his point of view somewhere during a song, an interlude can be a good place to do just that. For example, in the song "Love" from Annie Warbucks, at the beginning of the song Annie is replaying in her mind what Ella has just told her. Then there is an interlude and she sings again, only now she understands what Ella meant. There should be a massive difference in your voice and actions in situations like this. *Remember, singing is just speaking to a tune (in a way) so don't let the fact that there is now music playing along with you ruin your wonderful acting abilities! Express yourself! *If you mess up while you are singing, don't make a big deal out of it, just keep on going as if it never happened. If you mess up in the middle of your song and say, "Oh, darn, I messed up! I wasn't supposed to go that high, I was totally flat. Can I start over?" all it's going to do is make the judges think that if they give you the part and you mess up while you are performing, you're going to make a big deal out of it. As far as the judges know, whatever you do in the audition, will happen on the stage. *When ever you go to an audition, never, ever, ever act nervous! Even if you are, when you let the judges see that you are nervous it makes them think that you are unsure of yourself. Have confidence, and at least act (there's that word again) like you are happy to be there. Make the judges think that you are thinking, "I can't wait for you to see me audition." Or, as my sister would put it, "You are giving the judges and idea of what the character should be like, and that idea is you." Now, does that make sense? *If you do just stand in one spot the whole time, for whatever reason you may, at least use correct posture! I was at an audition one time, and this girl got up in the middle of the room, put one hand on her hip, and stuck the opposite foot out. You have no idea how bad this looks! So there she stood the whole time, hip out, not smiling, and hand on her hip. Two reasons why you should not do this: one, it looks unprofessional. And two, it messes up your breathing and makes it hard to sing. *When my science professer gets into one of his lectures in tracking, these few words always come up: "If you want to be a successful tracker, you must always remember these three words, practice, practice, practice!" And so now I'm saying the same thing to you: "If you want to be a successful actor, you must practice, practice, practice!" Now that you know it, do it! PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! FOR PLAYS: *Now, auditioning for plays can be different all the time. Sometimes directors want you to get a monolouge or a poem and perform with that, and sometimes they give you lines from the show to memorize or act out. If you need a monolouge, you can either by a book of monolouges for your age from a bookstore (Barnes and Nobles has a lot of different varieties to choose from) or you can get one online by clicking here. There are many other ways you can get monolouges and if you can't find one, use a poem. *Once you have found a monolouge you like, read over it and try to act it out. If it is easy for you to act out, all you need to do is practice (practice, practice) it. *Once you you have it memorized and you know what you are going to do (as in gestures and expressions), perform it for your family and friends. Ask them if they have any suggestions or ideas or anything they noticed while you were performing it for them (example: speaking to quickly, not loud enough). Work on it some more keeping the things your friends told you in mind. Then, if you can find or borrow a video camera, get someone to tape you while doing your monolouge or poem. This helps a lot because, one, you can see yourself from the judges point of view, two, you can hear yourself saying it better because you are concentrating on listening (or watching) and not so much on saying it. You can tell if you are running your words together, not using enough expression in dramatic parts, etc. *If you forget what you are supposed to say while auditioning, improvise! What would the character say? How would he react to what has just been said or done? Impromptu sets the real actors apart from everyone else. If you forget what you are supposed to say so you come up with something else, the judges will really like it! A director doesn't want someone performing to forget their lines and freeze on stage while thinking of what they are supposed to say. Improvise! *Not all directors want you to say a monolouge, some will give you a script and say, "Read." If they give you a script ahead of time, great! Read it over immediently and get familier with what is going on in this scene. If you have time, memorize it! If you have it memorized, then you can concentrate on gestures and expressions instead of reading. But if you can't memorize it in time, don't feel ashamed to use your script. That's what they gave it to you for, so you can use it. This isn't a contest of who memorize the quickest. *If they don't give it to you ahead of time, they just hand it to you and immediently tell you act it out, sorry man. Do the best you can, and play around with it. Use expression both in your voice and facially, and act. Act like you're ready for anything that hits you and you can't wait to go on.
