New show auditions

well, the audition information has been posted on-line. Auditions will be January 9th and 10th. Because of the nature of the show, I can cast multiple people in the show or very few people. That makes it nice, but also challenging. This show also lends itself to slapstick and improv so the auditions need to be more than cold readings.

Cold readings are auditions where the actors come in and read from the script only.

So this next week I'll be figuring out some improv games to use as well as marking a few readings.

Auditions are terrible for actors because they always wonder why they didn't get the part or if they do get the part they try to second guess the director as to why they were chosen for the role. We all know that two people can be equally talented, trained, experienced but what it really comes down to is does the person look the part. People can be too old, too fat, too short etc. They will not be cast.

Auditions are terrible for directors too. You hope that you've cast the best person in the part. You worry that what you saw during auditions isn't a true picture of what they can do. Maybe that was as good as they are. Maybe you got them confused with someone else and you thought they were the person you really liked. Thank God for digital cameras - I can see exactly who is who when I get done. In the past I used to write notes to help me remember. Casting a non-equity show - especially a community show, where you're a new director and don't know who's a diva, who's husband is sleeping with someone else in your cast, who's auditioning only to have a showmance makes casting a minefield. I worked on a show once where one of the leading actors was dating the ex-wife of another lead while chasing another woman in the cast. The ex-husband told the ex-wife - fireworks. I worked another show where one of the women had dated 3 of the men in the cast - tense.

Ahhh...auditions - love them, hate them. They are a rite of passage in theatre.