July 23-25,30&31

TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL AUDITIONS

You probably already know these things, but just a reminder...

The key to a successful audition is PREPARATION. The following tips have been compiled to help you - the actor - make your best showing at CPLC auditions. PLEASE READ THROUGH and PREPARE YOUR AUDITION with these suggestions in mind, and you will help to make the day more enjoyable for all involved!

For plays, auditions are a bit more straight forward and don’t require as much preparation on your part. However, your audition has a greater chance of success if you do some prep work. The first is simple, always read the script first. Buy a copy (or check the library) and study the characters. You will only be asked to read a small part, but if you read the whole play you will be able to get a better understanding of the characters you are auditioning for and how you feel it would be best to play him or her.

Don’t be upset if you don’t get to read for all the characters you would like. Directors often have many people to see in an audition. Directors will thank you for coming once they have heard you read enough and may consider you for roles you don’t neccesarily get to read.

For musical auditions, we ask that you do a bit more prep work. Your musical audition has a much greater chance of success if your music is properly prepared:

* An ideal song is about 90 seconds long. More than two minutes is too long. This way, we have time to hear more than one selection, and to visit with you.

* If at all possible, Do Not Use loose sheets of paper, that can blow off the music rack; Instead, photocopy song onto stiff card stock and tape together, accordian-style, or mount it in a three-ring binder, (if you use plastic sheet covers, make sure they’re the non-glare kind); At the very least, make sure the pages are attached together. Clearly marked as to tempo and where to start and stop, what repeats, etc.

Auditions are tough on everyone. Actors are tense because they are putting their talent forward in the hope of being cast. The directors are tense because they are giving up time to observe nervous actors, who are frequently unprepared, in an attempt to find the perfect professional to fill every role. On the actual day of auditions, the onus for making the audition an enjoyable experience for both actor and director falls primarily on the actors, whose script preparation and musical choices are what make up the audition.