A Christmas Story Auditions
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Topic: A Christmas Story Auditions
Posted By: mattyjaco
Subject: A Christmas Story Auditions
Date Posted: 9/26/06 at 1:51pm
| Last night we held our first round of auditions for A christmas story, i think i am going to be able to compile a somewhat nicly rounded cast. What I was wondering is if anyone has any ideas on how to make kids open up a little for auditions, it is almost pointless to have them read script, and when we ask for a monologue the most we can ever get out of them is twinkle twinkle, or "i pledge allegiance", from this we can see their projection capability but have no idea what type of acting skills they have. How do you cast children? does anyone have any game like activites or any suggestions to try and give me a better idea? |
Replies:
Posted By: eveharrington
Date Posted: 9/26/06 at 1:59pm
Ok first off, to be honest I've never directed kids, so take this for what it's worth. If you want to see their acting skills, have them improv. Try putting them in small groups and giving them a simple situation to act out. This will allow you to see whether or not they spark. Depending on their age cold reading isn't likely to do you much good because they don't have the experience to put the dialogue in context quickly like adults (sometimes) do. Good luck to you in any case, kids are a patience tester in a theatre situation. Be brave, they're smaller than you.  ------------- "If nothing else, there's applause... like waves of love pouring over the footlights." |
Posted By: POB14
Date Posted: 9/26/06 at 2:43pm
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Definitely improvs. Just tell them you're going to play some games with them, and that it will be fun. I've used the "telling a story" one, where you start a story, then point to somebody to continue it, then to another, and so on. A good test for listening skills. Then, just give them a very simple situation with a clear conflict. I would tend not to use the kids in a group for this, but rather pair them up with adults (actors or staff). Something like, they want to go to the park, but their mom needs to go shopping. See what they will do, vocally and physically. ------------- POB Old Bugger, Curmudgeon, and Antisocial B**tard |
Posted By: Nanette
Date Posted: 9/27/06 at 10:11am
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I've worked with kids for many years (20+) and have approached it two different ways. The first is improv ... but, don't expect too much, especially if you don't know the child. He'll be shy and hold back what he can really do, or you'll get the same thing in the show. The second way is to have them come prepared with a short monologue. (If you insist that everyone who auditions be prepared with something, then you don't really have to worry about singling out the little ones.) That way they can be prepared to show you their all ... ability to memorize, character, projection, body language, etc. Of course, come show time you may get the shy little kid even if he did give you a stellar audition. The best bet is to cast your more experienced little actors in the bigger roles and your newbies in supporting roles to get them exposed to acting in front of a house full of people. Some might not think this is fair, but reading kids is really tricky. If you've never worked with kids before, or have little experience working with them, you're going to find it difficult to know if you've cast them in a role they can handle in front of a crowd until opening night. Hope this helps. ------------- In a world of margarine, be butter! |