Ahhhhh Auditioning – sometimes it feels like this process will never end. That’s because it doesn’t – so start doing it and get comfortable. Even the stars and others who’ve “made it” have to audition for their roles. Auditioning can often feel like a whole other animal and in actuality it is. Being able to audition well can make all the difference when it comes to getting cast.
There are many parts of the audition process that we as actors can’t control when it comes to what they’re looking for: age, looks, height, weight, hair color, and just plain human chemistry are just a few of them. Some of those things can be controlled to a certain extent, but the moment you start questioning every single thing about yourself is the moment you become your own worst enemy. You can drive yourself crazy by trying to determine exactly what “THEY” are looking for. So stop, slow down, and instead think about what you can control – your preparation and performance (even your performance isn’t always completely under your control and is in fact, usually better when it’s not). A wonderful friend of mine once told me that our job as actors is not to book a role or even to perform a role, but rather to audition and audition to the best of our abilities. You can decide just exactly what if anything that means to you, but I can tell you that it changed everything for me! It made auditioning much less scary somehow. I started having more fun in auditions, I was more prepared, more relaxed, and I started booking more jobs.
Ok, so with all those thoughts swimming in your head, let’s talk about some of the more technical things.
Where do I go?
There are lots of places you can start looking for auditions. Now again, if you are just getting started, I recommend limiting yourself to student films and community theatre in order to first gain some more experience. With that in mind, here is a list of some places where you can look for audition notices. This list is nowhere near complete, but it’s a good place to start. Many of these will pertain to the Pittsburgh area, but others are available all over. Also, please keep in mind that you should be careful going to auditions – personal safety comes first – you can read up about it here. The last paragraph is probably the most important. I don’t agree with everything 100%, but until I get the chance to write a post on audition safety, this is a pretty good warning. Also keep in mind that while I am recommending these sites or pages as good resources, I do not endorse every audition posted – you must decide for yourself what you feel is legit and worth your time.
Audition Notices (in alphabetical order) - Note some of these services allow you to create online profiles and some require you to pay in order to submit yourself for auditions.
12 Peers Theatre
Actor’s Access
Backstage
Carnegie Mellon University
Craigslist
Dragonuk Connects
Gemini Theatre
Little Lake Theatre
Nancy Mosser Casting (sign up for free to be listed – they will contact you if interested)
Pittsburgh City Paper
Pittsburgh Film Office
Pittsburgh Filmmakers
Pittsburgh New Works Festival (once a year)
Point Park University
Smithfield Street Theatre
South Park Theatre
Stage Right
The Casting Pitt
The University of Pittsburgh
The Theatre Factory
Throughline Theatre Company
Facebook groups (in alphabetical order)
Actors* Models*
Auditions An'at
Carnegie Screenwriters (not technically an audition resource, but a great group of writers who host staged readings once a month)
Cleveland IndieClub
Greater Pittsburgh theater info board
Pittsburgh 48 Hour Film Project (once a year)
Pittsburgh Model & Actor Castings & Industry Networking
P.O.W. II Secret Group
Before I start, there are going to be some technical terms introduced here that you may not be familiar with, if you do not know what they mean, you should be able to find the definitions of them here.
What do I do?
Well, that depends. Are you auditioning for stage, film, commercials, industrials???
Stage: You will be asked to do one or more of the following – a prepared monologue, a cold-read monologue, a prepared scene (with a partner), a cold-read scene (with a partner) – a cold-read monologue or scene may be from the play or it may not.
You should always have at least 4 monologues memorized at any given time – one comedic contemporary monologue, one dramatic contemporary monologue, one comedic classic monologue, and one dramatic classic monologue. If you already have these, you are prepared for a monologue audition, if not, find some monologues (the library is a good place to start) and get them memorized.
Monologues are the most common form of audition for the stage and a good monologue is essential for a good audition – choose one that provides conflict and energy to your performance.
Cold-reading is a little different and a skill that requires practice. Aside from practicing this skill in itself, one of the best ways to prepare for a cold-read for a play is to read the entire play. Familiarize yourself with the characters that you are right for and their circumstances. You may not know ahead of time which section of the play you will be reading from or which character you may read for, but at least you’ll have a good idea what is happening.
Often your initial audition will be in the form of a monologue or 2 contrasting monologues and generally callbacks will require you to cold-read a scene from the play with a partner.
Film, Commercials, Industrials: You will be asked to do one or more of the following – a prepared scene (with a reader or a partner), a cold-read scene (with a reader or a partner), a prepared monologue, a cold-read monologue – most often the scene and/or monologue will be from the actual script and these scenes are referred to as sides.
You should read, memorize and prepare the scene as best you can and/or practice your cold-read technique – if possible, practice the scene with your partner, if given one, ahead of time.
For monologues – see above in the stage section – since performing a monologue for film auditions is rare, you can often do a stage monologue, but if you’ve got a film monologue prepared, all the better.
Often your initial audition for film will be in the form of a cold-read of the sides opposite a reader and generally callbacks will require you to prepare or cold-read a scene with one or many scene partners.
Often your initial audition for commercials will be in the form of a prepared scene (usually the whole commercial itself) with a reader and generally callbacks will require you to read the same prepared scene with one or many scene partners.
Often your initial audition for industrials will be in the form of a prepared scene (usually from 1-3 pages of the script) with a reader and generally callbacks will require you to read the same prepared scene with one or many scene partners – although many times you will be cast or not from your initial read.
How?
So how do you go about preparing a monologue or scene and readying yourself for an audition? If you’ve read my previous blog posts, you should be taking a class and in that class, you should be learning exactly, in detail, how to do this. Since I think there is no substitute for a class when it comes to teaching an actor to prepare a script, I’m going to just give you a neat little checklist to work with – I call it the Five FFFFF’s
The Five FFFFF's
1. Figure out your character. (Character substance, etc.)
2. Find your motivations. (What are you doing in the scene?)
3. Fix it in your mind. (Memorize your lines.)
4. Feel relaxed. (Calm yourself and trust that you got this.)
5. Forfeit your fears. (Give in to the process and most of all have fun.)
Next Week... The Actor Resume - The Who, What, When, Where, Why?
Ok, so with all those thoughts swimming in your head, let’s talk about some of the more technical things.
Where do I go?
There are lots of places you can start looking for auditions. Now again, if you are just getting started, I recommend limiting yourself to student films and community theatre in order to first gain some more experience. With that in mind, here is a list of some places where you can look for audition notices. This list is nowhere near complete, but it’s a good place to start. Many of these will pertain to the Pittsburgh area, but others are available all over. Also, please keep in mind that you should be careful going to auditions – personal safety comes first – you can read up about it here. The last paragraph is probably the most important. I don’t agree with everything 100%, but until I get the chance to write a post on audition safety, this is a pretty good warning. Also keep in mind that while I am recommending these sites or pages as good resources, I do not endorse every audition posted – you must decide for yourself what you feel is legit and worth your time.
Audition Notices (in alphabetical order) - Note some of these services allow you to create online profiles and some require you to pay in order to submit yourself for auditions.
12 Peers Theatre
Actor’s Access
Backstage
Carnegie Mellon University
Craigslist
Dragonuk Connects
Gemini Theatre
Little Lake Theatre
Nancy Mosser Casting (sign up for free to be listed – they will contact you if interested)
Pittsburgh City Paper
Pittsburgh Film Office
Pittsburgh Filmmakers
Pittsburgh New Works Festival (once a year)
Point Park University
Smithfield Street Theatre
South Park Theatre
Stage Right
The Casting Pitt
The University of Pittsburgh
The Theatre Factory
Throughline Theatre Company
Facebook groups (in alphabetical order)
Actors* Models*
Auditions An'at
Carnegie Screenwriters (not technically an audition resource, but a great group of writers who host staged readings once a month)
Cleveland IndieClub
Greater Pittsburgh theater info board
Pittsburgh 48 Hour Film Project (once a year)
Pittsburgh Model & Actor Castings & Industry Networking
P.O.W. II Secret Group
Before I start, there are going to be some technical terms introduced here that you may not be familiar with, if you do not know what they mean, you should be able to find the definitions of them here.
What do I do?
Well, that depends. Are you auditioning for stage, film, commercials, industrials???
Stage: You will be asked to do one or more of the following – a prepared monologue, a cold-read monologue, a prepared scene (with a partner), a cold-read scene (with a partner) – a cold-read monologue or scene may be from the play or it may not.
You should always have at least 4 monologues memorized at any given time – one comedic contemporary monologue, one dramatic contemporary monologue, one comedic classic monologue, and one dramatic classic monologue. If you already have these, you are prepared for a monologue audition, if not, find some monologues (the library is a good place to start) and get them memorized.
Monologues are the most common form of audition for the stage and a good monologue is essential for a good audition – choose one that provides conflict and energy to your performance.
Cold-reading is a little different and a skill that requires practice. Aside from practicing this skill in itself, one of the best ways to prepare for a cold-read for a play is to read the entire play. Familiarize yourself with the characters that you are right for and their circumstances. You may not know ahead of time which section of the play you will be reading from or which character you may read for, but at least you’ll have a good idea what is happening.
Often your initial audition will be in the form of a monologue or 2 contrasting monologues and generally callbacks will require you to cold-read a scene from the play with a partner.
Film, Commercials, Industrials: You will be asked to do one or more of the following – a prepared scene (with a reader or a partner), a cold-read scene (with a reader or a partner), a prepared monologue, a cold-read monologue – most often the scene and/or monologue will be from the actual script and these scenes are referred to as sides.
You should read, memorize and prepare the scene as best you can and/or practice your cold-read technique – if possible, practice the scene with your partner, if given one, ahead of time.
For monologues – see above in the stage section – since performing a monologue for film auditions is rare, you can often do a stage monologue, but if you’ve got a film monologue prepared, all the better.
Often your initial audition for film will be in the form of a cold-read of the sides opposite a reader and generally callbacks will require you to prepare or cold-read a scene with one or many scene partners.
Often your initial audition for commercials will be in the form of a prepared scene (usually the whole commercial itself) with a reader and generally callbacks will require you to read the same prepared scene with one or many scene partners.
Often your initial audition for industrials will be in the form of a prepared scene (usually from 1-3 pages of the script) with a reader and generally callbacks will require you to read the same prepared scene with one or many scene partners – although many times you will be cast or not from your initial read.
How?
So how do you go about preparing a monologue or scene and readying yourself for an audition? If you’ve read my previous blog posts, you should be taking a class and in that class, you should be learning exactly, in detail, how to do this. Since I think there is no substitute for a class when it comes to teaching an actor to prepare a script, I’m going to just give you a neat little checklist to work with – I call it the Five FFFFF’s
The Five FFFFF's
1. Figure out your character. (Character substance, etc.)
2. Find your motivations. (What are you doing in the scene?)
3. Fix it in your mind. (Memorize your lines.)
4. Feel relaxed. (Calm yourself and trust that you got this.)
5. Forfeit your fears. (Give in to the process and most of all have fun.)
Next Week... The Actor Resume - The Who, What, When, Where, Why?
Be sure to check out my very first audiobook, a humorous personal memoir collection entitled "A Trip to the Hardware Store & Other Calamities" written by Barbara Venkataraman. It's available through Audible, Amazon, and iTunes.
Also available at Audible, Amazon, and iTunes:
"Death by Didgeridoo" by Barbara Venkataraman
RSS Feed
