Musical Theater Auditions: Helpful Hints and Reminders

Here are some helpful hints and general guidelines when preparing to audition for a musical at Grandstreet Theatre. While Grandstreet is not a professional theater with paid actors, we do want you to succeed, be your best, and maintain a high level of quality for our audience and community. Read these over, and if you have more questions, please contact Jeff Downing.

There are no rules – only choices. Your choices reflect what kind of performer AND what kind of person you are. Make smart, creative, daring, exciting, honest choices.
BE YOURSELF! You are selling a product that is very special: your personality. Attempting to be what you’re not is not helpful to you or those making a casting decision.
Choose material age, gender and physically appropriate. If you are in high school, don’t sing “Send in the Clowns.” If you are a guy, don’t sing “How Lovely to Be A Woman.” You get the idea…
Know the composer and lyricist! Who wrote this song? What show is it from? Do your research.
Choose a song you LOVE LOVE LOVE to sing. If you skip this step, you will fail before you begin!
If you make cuts or shorten your audition song, make sure it still makes sense: beginning, middle, end – a complete story or thought.
NEVER APOLOGIZE! Mistakes happen. Take a breath and keep going. Do not fall apart. How you handle the mistake can help/hurt you more than the mistake itself!
Take care of your accompanist. Clearly mark your starting and stopping points in your sheet music. Have your music 3-hole punched and in a 3-ring binder. Explain politely any cuts and provide a tempo. Be sure to thank him or her at the end of the audition.
Your audition starts at the moment you walk into the audition room. Be ready, confident, and polite, but never boring and small.
Casting is subjective and completely based on someone else’s opinion. Sometimes casting decisions are based on looks, height, if you fit a costume or how you look next to other cast members. You will not get cast in every role you want and sometimes you won’t get cast at all. Do not base your self-worth on someone else’s opinion. Every audition is an opportunity to perform and love what you do. When it is over, do not dwell. Look forward to the next audition.