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Legacy Theater
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Quote Legacy Theater Replybullet Topic: Everything About AUDITIONS!
    Posted: 7/19/11 at 9:47am
Hello Everyone,
I have a BUNCH of questions about holding auditions. A little background: We are a new community theater. Our first show was a big success and it was cast with folks I knew personally. But for our second show (Charles' Dickens Christmas Carol), I am opening auditions up to anyone in our community and want to run the auditions as professionally as possible. I will audition everyone in front of each other. I am the director and will be running auditions. So, I have a few questions for all you theatre guru's

1. Does anyone have samples of the audition sheets that you hand out at rehearsals? I would love to see some ideas.

2. How/Where do you post auditions so that the word can get around?

3. What do you do during auditions? Cold readings, games, etc?

4. Do you post the rehearsal schedule before the auditions, or just give a copy out at auditions?

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated! Many thanks to you all,
Erika
Legacy Theater Company
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Majicwrench
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Quote Majicwrench Replybullet Posted: 7/19/11 at 12:03pm
1. Don't have a copy, but simple, name, contact phone email FB etc, skills conflicts, experience. Then an area for director to take notes in.
 
2 Everywhere. Radio, community calendars, newspapers, FaceBook.. It is amazing how freindly and helpful media can be. Get to know them. Now. Offer to cut the radio spots (or have an actor do it) Write the articles. PICTURES of the last show with the article. Include your contact info.
 
3. Cold readings, prepared stuff if they have it. Have some short scenes from script on seperate sheets of paper, get some groupings together, see how it looks sounds. Not fond of games, although have done so with my kid auditions before.
 
4.  Hmm, both. Early rehearsal schedules are usually flexable. I want to suck as many folks as possible into audtions. If somebody is good, I will work with them and their schedule.
 
Any other?? Keep auditions hopping. I HATE stuff that drags. Be ON TIME. Start ON TIME. Be PREPARED. This set the tone for everything else. Write out an agenda, even if just for yourself. Have an assistant to deal with some of it, take another grouping to a diff room and have them read. Even if just to keep em busy. Can learn a lot about some people by how they deal with the AD. HAVE FUN WITH IT.
 
 
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Quote Jake Replybullet Posted: 7/19/11 at 7:03pm
To add to previous post (all good suggestions), I have color coded audition sheets for males and females. Leave room at top right for a big number.
Every show might have different requirements that you might ask- like special physical talents, or height. I like to include a place where they indicate if NOT cast, are they still willing to work on the show in another capacity? Helps to build your membership and participation.
   Don't know how big your community is, but flyers or posters at places like libraries, art galleries, rec centers, colleges, etc. are good to get the word out. Since you are new, you might not have an email list of members, friends, patrons. Start one and use it.
   Especially agree with BE PREPARED and move things along. First impressions are important. Have fun and have a great show!
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Quote Legacy Theater Replybullet Posted: 7/19/11 at 10:11pm
Great ideas! Thank you so much for sharing. You are right, Jake, we don't have a big email list yet, so I will utilize the ideas you mentioned. Plus I will be sure to use media like Majicwrench suggested.

Thanks so much! Any other ideas are welcome!!!
Erika Hose
President Legacy Theater Company
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Quote PaulyWally Replybullet Posted: 7/20/11 at 10:31am
Some other thoughts:

Originally posted by Legacy Theater

I will audition everyone in front of each other.


I personally don't like doing this.  I think it adds a level of stress to the actors that isn't needed.

What do you do during auditions? Cold readings, games, etc?


It really depends.  Sometimes I have more time than others.  Sometimes I can have callbacks.  Sometimes the play itself demands some specific things during auditions.

If you know your schedule and have done your homework with the script, you should have a pretty good idea of what you need to accomplish in your auditions.  And if you know what you need to accomplish, you'll have a good idea of how to format it.

Do you post the rehearsal schedule before the auditions, or just give a copy out at auditions?


No.  I would have an idea of the rehearsal schedule, but rehearsal schedules can always be "modified" depending on actor conflicts.  I would let the actors know on what date rehearsals start.  And I might put the tech schedule in as well.  What's most important, though, is to allow space for actors to give you their conflicts.

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated!


When you post your audition notice, state the expectations.  It is your first impression with the actors.  And as an actor, it looks very unprofessional to me when there is no description of the audition process in the audition notice.  In the last audition I attended, I didn't know if they wanted monologues, cold readings, or what.  That's not all that bad... but... I also didn't know how long the audition would last.  I figured it would be fairly "normal."  Nope.  The audition took OVER THREE HOURS!!  I found it extremely inconsiderate to not tell the auditioners that it would take that long.  The director didn't even mention this when auditions began.

CT actors do this in their spare time.  They have other responsibilities in their life.  Respect that and they'll give you a much better effort.

Finally, control your auditions.  Keep things on schedule (or close to it) and show everyone that you are in control.
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Quote Rorgg Replybullet Posted: 7/20/11 at 2:57pm

>I will audition everyone in front of each other.
I'm not convinced this is a good or a bad idea, but it is atypical for a professional audition (at least in full), so you may want to keep that in mind.
Actually, I'll specify.  I did a professional production of A Christmas Carol last year, as luck has it, so let me tell you what my audition process was like for that:
In June, I went through the general audition with about 1000 other people.  At the general, I went in -- alone -- the company's artistic director and the various show directors were there.  I did a 1-minute monologue and a 32-bar song cut, was thanked, and went home.
In late July, I got a call from the company, calling me back, with what part I was being considered for (Present/Fezziwig), and the date of the callback, and told I'd be emailed.
Later that day, I got an email that had a link to a webpage that included sides (and a note for which part needed each one), a 4-part song, and a song for my part.  I had about 4 or 5 days between then and the callback.
At the callback, the entire group of about 60-80 was taken into the auditorium, sorted by voice part, then combined into quartets.  The musical director then went through the parts for about 15 minutes, and we sang in quartets.
At that point, about a third of the group was dismissed, and the rest of us sent back to the lobby.
[Note that this was one of two callback nights.  The other was for the parts considered to need some amount of dancing, they had a similar dancing section that my night did not.]
The stage manager then called us up in groups of 2-5, assigning us our parts in various scenes that we'd been given on the webpage.  Each group would have 5-20 minutes to run the scene amongst themselves before being called in to read for the director.  She may or may not give notes and ask for a re-read, after which we were dismissed back to the lobby.  Shortly thereafter, the SM would release anyone who was done for the evening, otherwise another scene with new scene partners was assigned, and the process repeated.
In August, I got a call from the company's AD, offering me the part (as well as another in a different show I'd also been called back for) listing the dates, pay, and broad rehearsal schedule.
Rehearsal began mid-October, we opened around Thanksgiving and did 32 shows up to Christmas Eve.
Hope that was useful.

>I am the director and will be running auditions. So, I have a few
>questions for all you theatre guru's
Suggestion 1: PLURALS DO NOT TAKE AN APOSTROPHE.
Sorry, pet peeve of mine.  Onwards.


>1. Does anyone have samples of the audition sheets that you hand
>out at rehearsals? I would love to see some ideas.
Not in copy format.  But you've seen these before.  Name, email, phone, history, parts wanted/will you take anything ... typical stuff.  One thing I do like is to have a calendar sheet for conflict marking.  If you've already set a rehearsal schedule (which I'm against, for reasons earlier discussed) it can be put on there.  If you ASK auditioners to bring a resume, more of them will do so, and ultimately ease their workload in filling out the thing, so do that.

>2. How/Where do you post auditions so that the word can get around?
I'm in the greater Chicago area, and we have a handy regional CT message board exactly for such a thing, plus a couple sites that are mainly for professional non-equity stuff but will take a CT listing.  I'll also include my company's site, e-mail blast them, and create an event on Facebook, and blast it out to my 300-400 odd theatrical FB friends.
Oh, and I've also used Craigslist, but I forgot the old saw: PEOPLE DO NOT READ.  And from the half-dozen responses I got, once I wrote back to an initial inquiry with "also, a reminder, as the listing stated, this is not a paid performance" they all failed to write back or show up, except for one person who wrote back the day AFTER auditions to ask if I still had a part for her.

>3. What do you do during auditions? Cold readings, games, etc?
Varies a little.  First thing I do is note in the audition announcements that a short monologue is acceptable but not required.  Some people like to prepare and do their best that way, so let them know it's okay if they're so-inclined.  I read an interesting article a while ago called something like "Audition the actor, not the part" or something that basically said cold-reading was stupid, and use improv exercises to find out who can act.
I was mostly persuaded, but I recognize that some people struggle with improv -- largely in coming up with their own dialog, so I moderated the advice a bit for the next show I directed, and asked my auditioners to do some stuff that did not require any dialog.  The two key exercises were:
I. Skip to the other end of the room.
This play was a comedy, and I needed to see if they felt uptight or reluctant to commit to something unusual in a crowd; and
II. I would describe a 2-3 person scene, and have them act it out, with the catch that all dialog must be in the form of numbers.  That lets you show some acting choices and ability to act against someone, without making you think of what to say.
And then, because I didn't completely buy it, I did cold reads.  But, while it was good to hear specific people do specific parts in a few cases, I could easily have cast the show from those two exercises.


>4. Do you post the rehearsal schedule before the auditions, or just
>give a copy out at auditions?
Okay, I'll restate it here: I think it is very, VERY desireable to NOT schedule the rehearsals before auditions.  You'll obviously know when you'll start, when tech starts, and generally when you're rehearsing (Mon-Thu evenings, and Sunday afternoons, say) but if you can, WAIT until you do the auditions, then find the people you most want to cast, look at their conflicts, and THEN cast the show.  If the staff and crew have a little flexibility, you can then cast the people you want.  And if that means doing Act II on Monday, then Act III Tuesday, and Act I on Wednesday ... well, I've done it, and it's all fine when you put it together.

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Quote falstaff29 Replybullet Posted: 7/25/11 at 1:42pm
On open vs. closed auditions, my strong preference as a director is closed.  A couple of reasons:
1. If I've seen what I need to halfway through an auditioner reading the scene, I'll ask them to stop and let them leave.  On the other hand, if I need to read them for something else (not an intended side), I will.  Sometimes I'll ask an auditioner to absorb some direction I give and read the side again.  I can't do these things to the same degree in open auditions.  Closed auditions give me as a director more liberality in figuring out who's right for the show or not, and (esp. if you ask auditioners to pre-register for time slots) tend to be more respectful of auditioners' time.  (If I need to see auditioners again, say, to read against someone who showed up the other night, I have callbacks.  That's what callbacks are for!)
2. Closed auditions mask much better any flaws in the audition process, and thus help preserve the reputation of the company.  For instance, if there is low audition turnout, that can be a turn-off to actors; they think their peers know something they don't about the theater's poor quality.  The same goes for when the eventual casting of the play seems to go against the way auditions look.  It's easier for a theater to develop a reputation as cliquish if the obvious choices talent-wise aren't getting the parts.
3. A lesser gripe about open auditions: as an actor, if you've prepared, you have in mind some notions about the scene.  If the actor who auditioned right before you used a similar bit of schtick or whatever, that's not fair; either it looks like YOU'RE a copycat, or you have to come up with something new on the fly just to be different.
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Quote pdavis69 Replybullet Posted: 7/25/11 at 5:37pm
Open vs closed
I run my auditions open.  I want people all together so I can try pairing people up.  We only run two nights of auditions with no call backs.  As far as lowering the stress level for the actors, if they are too stressed performing with their fellow actors at auditions, I have serious concerns about their stress level when confronted with a full house on opening night. 
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Quote PaulyWally Replybullet Posted: 7/25/11 at 8:46pm
Originally posted by pdavis69

As far as lowering the stress level for the actors, if they are too stressed performing with their fellow actors at auditions, I have serious concerns about their stress level when confronted with a full house on opening night. 


In my experiences, many times there is a difference between performing in front of a group of actors, and performing in front of an audience.

In CT it is very important to be sensitive to your actors.  Personally, I believe it's important to be sensitive to any cast, crew, or design team member at any level.  But in CT it is unrealistic to expect nerves of steel from an actor.
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Quote pdavis69 Replybullet Posted: 7/26/11 at 9:25am
No one expects nerves of steel but if they cant sing above a whisper because they are nervous about people hearing them, maybe they arent the best choice for the musical.
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