Audition Tips
1. Be In Good Voice. If you haven’t sung in a while, you can’t expect to go into an audition and perform well. Singing every day (or very close to it) is essential for keeping your voice healthy and strong. It’s a great idea to look over the score (if you can find it), or listen to the cast CD, and start singing the songs from the show several weeks ahead of time.
2. Know the Show. In musical theatre, there’s no excuse for not being familiar with the show you’re auditioning for. Remember that the better you know it, the better you'll audition for it. Hop online and find a synopsis, listen to the cast album (buy the CD, or find a copy of the album at a library...sometimes theatres even have copies they’ll loan to you), and read the script (again, look online for it, or ask the theatre if they have perusal copies available).
3. Prepare your audition material. If the theatre asks for a prepared monologue, and you don’t already have several in your memory banks, find one AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Do not wait until a week or two before the audition. Learn that monologue ASAP.
4. Keep your hands out of your pockets.
5. Have properly prepared sheet music. Make sure it’s written out in the right key, and that any tempo changes, repeats, codas, etc. are all marked clearly (red ink works well for this). Never give a pianist sheet music in the form of a music book. That makes it too difficult to turn the pages. Make a photocopy of your song, and tape the edges together, accordion fashion.
6. Enter with confidence. Believe it or not, the way you walk on stage can either make a great impression on the director, or a very bad one. Keep good posture (shoulders back!), your chin at a natural level, don't stare at the floor. Walk with confidence, even when you’re terrified.
7. Dress Well. Dress for an audition the way you’d dress for a nice date. In general, avoid jeans and sweatshirts, and don’t dress in an evening gown, either. Don’t wear clothes that are so big and floppy nobody can tell whether or not you have a beer gut. Don’t wear uncomfortable shoes, or something that’s too tight; that’s the last thing you need when you’re already nervous.
Don’t come in costume, but don’t miss the chance to “dress the part” a little, either. If you’re bald and must portray a role of a long hair rock star, you don’t have to get a hair restoration really but a good, well suited wig might just help. If you’re called back, wear the same outfit you wore the first day, and wear your hair and makeup the same way, too. They liked what they saw...don’t change it! In a large audition, wearing the same outfit also makes it easier for the director to remember you. (Carol Burnett tells a wonderful story about her big break: She wore an orange dress to the audition, and—because she had no other “good dress” to wear—wore the same orange dress to the callbacks. It was a good thing, because the director couldn’t remember her name—he just asked the stage manager to bring out the “girl in the orange dress.” If she’d been wearing another outfit, she may never have landed the role that became her "big break.")
8. Be friendly. You don’t want to be overly talkative (auditions take a long time, and everyone wants to be done as soon as possible), but you shouldn’t be antisocial, either. Smile and be personable. The director wants to know he'll be spending the next few months (or weeks or months) with people that are easy to get along with. Although you want to be friendly with the other auditionees, avoid conversation in the auditioning room, and don’t get so engrossed in chit–chat that you end up having no time to center yourself and concentrate before you audition.
9. Sing out Louise. When you sing, just stand there and sing. Never do choreography or blocking to accompany your song. (An exception to this might be the pop singer who has dancing as an integral part of their act.) Don’t wander around the stage. Use hand and arm movements only if they are natural. This is no time to be shy, so sing out, as if you were giving a performance. And, just like a performance, don’t forget to feel your song. Good acting is vital to good singing.
10. Never Snap your fingers or clap your hands at the pianist. Even when you’re just “trying to help them with the tempo.” Many musicians take deep offense at this.
