Auditioning

The Stage CC

These ideas should help you succeed at and even enjoy auditioning.

It matters only moderately. There always are other, perhaps better or at least better-suited, roles. Yes, prepare modestly but don’t overprepare because that can make you too rigid to respond to the auditor’s request to, “Try it bigger…Try it smaller.” Don’t try too hard — That could affect both your acting and your spirits if you don’t get cast.

Be personable from moment one until the moment you’ve left. The person who checks you in and, of course, the auditors are assessing whether you’d be pleasant to work with. It’s usually wise to withhold suggestions until rehearsal. Suggest something during an audition and unless you’re like Fanny Brice in Funny Girl who, in the audition, told-off legendary director Florenz Ziegfeld, you risk being deemed more trouble than you’re worth. Remember, directors have myriad moving parts to keep in sync.

Project! More parts are landed and lost on whether the actor’s words can be easily understood, not just heard, in the back row. Trick: Emphasize each sentence’s key consonants, for example, “You can’T eat the orange and throw away the peeL. A man is not a piece of fruiT.”

Your monologue. Pick a great one — one that guarantees the auditor will smile or frown. Remember, the theater masks are laughing and crying, not staring.

Too, less is more. The auditor is considering many people for roles and usually has decided yes or no in the first 30 seconds. So keep your monologue to 60 to 90 seconds. The auditor may not be paying full attention for the first five or ten seconds — S/he, for example, might be reviewing your resume. So look for a monologue in which you say or do something powerful at the 15 to 30-second mark. This from A Few Good Men:

You curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: That Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. (beat) You don’t want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall. You need me there. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone to a life spent defending something. You use ’em as a punchline.

Be just slightly bigger that real life. Unless it’s a farce or melodrama, too big usually seems phony, too little seems too forgettable amid the other auditioners.

Be open to a different role. The director may not picture you in the role you’d like but could have a wiser vision. Consider any role you’re offered. By the way, the cliche, which I’ve adapted here, is true, “There are few small roles, more small actors.”

Remember, much casting is luck — The director is looking for X and you’re Y. Yeah, perhaps ask for feedback, but often, the best response is to shrug and look for the next audition.

I read this aloud, including performing that monologue from A Few Good Men, on YouTube.

Marty Nemko is an award-winning community theatre director and actor. His new book is Starving Artists: stories and advice. You can reach him at mnemko@gmail.com