How to Blow a Musical Theatre Audition

If you’re the type of person who succeeds by learning what not to do keep reading, as this week on the SimonMorris blog I let you know how to blow a musical theatre audition.

Set Yourself Apart from the Competition

Musical theatre is a competitive industry. Each role has a thousand contenders, with only one actor destined to fill its shoes. You need to separate yourself from every other auditionee if you hope to secure the role of your dreams.

Distinguishing yourself apart from the competition begins at your very first audition. Nail your first audition and you’ll stick in the casting director’s mind as one to watch, as they weed their way through the hopefuls to find the right actor for the part. As such, you might find it pretty useful to know which mistakes you should avoid making on your first audition.

Five Mistakes That’ll Blow Your Audition

Auditioning is a minefield. The following five mistakes will have your casting director screaming ‘next’ before you’ve even gotten started…

•       Picking the Wrong Audition Song: The right song will make your voice shine and show a casting director why they need you in their production. The wrong song will not only point out your vocal weaknesses, but show the casting director why you’re wrong for the part.
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•       Assuming You Know What Directors Are Looking For: Directors are a strange bunch. They like to look for something fresh, new and innovative. If you assume you know what a director’s looking for before you step on stage, you may convince them you’re not right for their interpretation of the character in question. Just be yourself.
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•       Doing Something Offensive: People seem to think doing something offensive at their audition will make them stand out. Yes it’ll certainly make you stand out… as someone who’d be a nightmare to work with. If you get the urge to pick an audition song or a monologue with a curse word in it, think again.
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•       Crying on Stage: This is not the X Factor. Bursting into tears and letting everybody and their mother know why this means so much to you won’t do you any favours. It’ll just convince the casting director you’ve got a screw loose. No one wants to work with a performer who bursts into tears every five seconds.
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•         Talking back to the Casting Director: Musical theatre is not a democracy. It’s a dictatorship. If a casting director tells you to do something, you do it. If they tell you to jump, you ask how high? If they tell you to do the Macarena whilst singing ‘Defying Gravity,’ get dancing!

Think About What You Do, Say and Even Think!

Let me make something clear. Don’t think that if you avoid these five mistakes you have free reign to do whatever you want in your audition. Think long and hard about what you do, say and even think before you walk into an audition if you want to secure the role of your dreams.