7 Tips on How to Get Through Your Audition Day
A professional actress, teacher and coach, Kathleen is faculty at Juilliard, Rutgers, Cap 21, and the Tom Todoroff Conservatory.
What can you control on Audition Day?
1. Pack a snack. The day can sometimes be very long and you may not have the time or desire to go foraging for food.
2. Have a game plan if you have a long waiting period. Will you leave the building? Bring music to listen to? Do you want to talk to other people who are auditioning? Can you bring a pal to wait with you? Will your parents be with you? Answer these questions and place a value on what increases or decreases your nervousness – then plan accordingly.
3. Rehearse with as many known factors as you can. Rehearse in the clothes you plan to wear. This is not the time to try out a new outfit or shoes that you have never worn before. Perform in a variety of spaces to approximate your audition room, almost all schools will hold auditions in a space of decent size to give themselves space from you. They want to see you. Have 1-3 people watch your audition and take notes while you perform. There will be lots of writing and scribbling and maybe even whispering – don’t let it throw you. Ask them to respond vocally to your material and then do it again where they give you no response. Be prepared for both and know that both scenarios bare no reflection on the success or failure of your audition; it is just the quirks of who is in the room.
4. Don’t neglect that song for theatre auditions. Many schools ask you to sing a song. In most cases the song is used to assess your acting skills, not your singing ability…..unless of course you are auditioning for a musical theater program (then ignore this). No matter what your song is you should have worked on it just like your monologues. Don’t just “sing” the song, know why you are singing the song. Create a need for singing it.
5. Be prepared to “play”. Have someone give you direction with your song and your monologues. Play the “as if” game. Do it as if: you are singing to a baby, you are a lawyer fighting for your client’s life, you are a ring master at a circus, etc. This game is often played with a song. In other words if you are given a direction go with it fully, don’t worry about making your piece “work”, just commit to any adjustment you are given.
6. Enjoy yourself. Remember this is your time, so take it. If you have done your work and are well prepared, then relish and enjoy this opportunity to tell the story and perform. You have earned it.
What can’t you control?
7. The outcome! There are a myriad of factors that go into how a school chooses its students. You can’t possibly prepare for that, so stick to what you can control and then forget it! Don’t let the outcome, acceptance or rejection, be the barometer of your talent or the final decision on whether you should or shouldn’t be a performer. They aren’t the ultimate decision makers of your future, YOU are!
Best of Luck! Be Bold! Be Brave!
Kathleen McNenny
