Think it o-o-ver...

Wow. May is done. Before it started I noticed I was getting more and more work scheduled from my day job. So much so, I decided to put a hold on everything else. That meant taking no classes, no lessons, and going to no auditions. I would just make money to pay my bills.

I was ok with this. Auditions had slowed down considerably. There wasn’t anything that I just had to be at or die. I had wanted to get back to voice lessons. I just didn’t get a moment before May to set them up. I also wanted to go back to Dance class. With the schedule of work that I had, that would be impossible. One week in May, I put in 75 hours of catering. Seventy-five hours! The physical toll on a body from catering that much is like working a 200 hour work week at a desk job.

There wasn’t much I could do besides eat, sleep and work in May. I did, however, get a chance to sit behind the table at a pretty big audition though. It was enlightening to see and hear all those hopefuls display their wares, searching for a buyer.

Time is still at a premium for me, but I want to take a moment to share with you what I witnessed at that audition. Instead of interesting stories and connecting anecdotes about my, or my friends, related exploits in the Performing Arts world, I’m going to cut right to the point-

Stop.

Stop singing iconic songs like “Somewhere over the Rainbow”. You may sound amazing singing the song. You may believe you have a new and interesting take. One or the other or both may be true. But you cannot compete with the people behind the table’s memory of the song being sung by (in no particular order)

Judy Garland

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole

Sam Harris

If your amazing version of “New York, New York” could outsell and outlive Frank Sinatra’s version, then you need to not be singing it at an audition. You need to professionally record it and share it with the world.

Know where your strengths lay and what will get you noticed.

Stop.

Stop asking questions that either:

A.) You already know the answer to.

 
or 

B.) The answer is easily found in the information on the monitor’s desk, on the internet or in the text of the piece you’re auditioning for.

This does not give you an opportunity to make a personal connection to the monitor or people behind the table. It’s like screaming “I am not prepared” at them. And in fact, hinders any connection you could establish. Use those precious moments to concentrate, focus and do whatever you need to do to let your personality shine through the work.

Stop.

Stop making excuses. If you’re late to a call simply say “My name is ______. My apologies. I’m late.” And be ready to drop your stuff and walk into the room, More often than not, the monitor will ask if you need a minute to collect yourself. That is, if they'll still see you.

However the monitor is not going to relay the message that your cat wouldn’t take his medicine, ran under the bed and wouldn’t come out, to the people behind the table. Nor does anyone care that there was a “sick passenger” on the train causing it to go out of service.

The only thing the people behind the table want to know is, how well you are suited for the available parts in the show that is currently being cast. And if you’re talented and lucky, the next show that they’re casting.

Stop.

Stop spewing your neurosis all over your fellow auditionees. You know if you talk a lot when you get nervous or upset. Someone in your life, be it your parents or friends or teachers, has already told you this.

If auditions trigger incessant talking, you have a couple of choices. You can find someone else who has the same reaction. Then the two of you can go off, in a far corner, and talk till your tongues fall out. You can step away from the others who are preparing for the audition. In a far off corner, and blather to yourself in a soliloquy form.

Holding rooms are not the place to let your "eccentricities" roam freely. That stuff follows you into the audition room and displays itself to the people behind the table.

Get help in identifying and controlling your nervousness. That in itself will improve the quality of your auditions. It will also probably greatly improve the quantity of auditions as well. And we all know it's a numbers game.

Stop.

Stop trying to psych out your competition. You know who you are. I see at least one of you at every audition. At vocal calls, you ask what someone is singing and then make a face at their choice. At dance calls, you sit in a center split or stand with your leg up the wall because you “feel tight today”. At acting calls, you somehow figure out how to announce, to the entire holding room, that you’ve worked with the director, the playwright, the casting people or anyone else who happens to be behind the table.

The audition is about you and how you can best serve the piece at hand. If you want to get cast in a piece and do what you know in your heart you were born to do, focus on being prepared. Focus on being polite. Focus on looking and sounding the best that you can at that particular moment.

Focus on you. Have confidence in yourself and your talent. Everything else just gets in the way. So just...

“Stop.

In the name of love...”