“Time to Audition!”

The last five weeks we have been talking about most of the components needed to ensure your child is ready to embark on his/her first professional audition. You may already have some auditioning experience under your belt. Our kids have participated in several local audition processes. The professional process is a little more structured, at least we have found that to be true.
There are different types of “calls” for audition opportunities. There is the “open call” which is exactly as it sounds, open to anyone. This is where you would need to start unless you already have representation that could get you an appointment to be seen. If it’s an open call for an equity show then kids with an equity card may be seen first. Usually very few equity kids are at this type of call as their agents or managers will get them appointments to be seen, but sometimes the shows don’t offer appointments to agents prior to open call and the kids will come to ensure an opportunity to be seen. These open calls can be huge and take all day. Remember the news stories last winter about the “School of Rock” open calls with 800 kids wrapped in a line around the theater in the rain waiting for a chance to audition?
There are also “principal equity calls”. These definitely give priority to the kids with the equity cards. We thought that Zack could not attend this type of call because he’s not equity, but we were wrong. A non equity child can attend but he/she is not guaranteed to be seen as they will see equity kids first. Fortunately, the children’s calls are generally offered separately from the adult calls. There are a limited number of equity kids so generally all kids are seen at these calls. The equity kids are given first choice of time slot to be seen and then the non equity kids who arrive for the day are slotted in as times become available. This means , as a non equity kid, you don’t get to just breeze in at your appointed time; you have to sit there until they call you. As I mentioned before, it can be a long day.
Some auditions break the categories down even further into singer call and dance call. This is where your child gets to put his/her best foot forward first. We talked about that in an earlier entry. There are dancers that sing and singers that dance. Your child should attend the call that best fits his/her strength. If the casting director likes what he/she sees, then singers will be asked back to dance and dancers will be asked back to sing. Zack is definitely a singer who dances’ so I’ll go forward from here using our experiences auditioning as a singer. We have not experienced auditions as a dancer so if someone reading this and would like to offer any information, please leave a comment!
This business is not for the feint of heart. It is a long , heartbreaking process full of callbacks, cuts, and disappointments before eventually finding some reward. The reward is sweet and Zack says “worth waiting for!”. If you attend an open call you are hoping for a call back. Be assured there may be many callbacks before the creative team makes their final decision. The actual director and his/her creative team may not see your child until final callback, and no one will be cast until the auditioners have been seen by these people.
Be sure to tell your children that their job is to show up, smile, do their best, and most importantly, to have fun. There is MUCH more that goes into decisions than talent. Height, hair, posture, even shirt color have impacted our outcomes. Very rarely is a child cast in his/her first attempt. This certainly can happen, but initially the goal should be to get “in front” of the casting directors so that they get to know your child. Often times you can get a call on another project because your child was seen at a previous audition. This has happened for Zack at least 2-3 times.
Many of these “calls” happen only in NYC. Sometimes, as with School of Rock, they can happen in several cities across the country. The casting directors may also take video submissions for the “initial call”. Ultimately you will need to be prepared to make a trip, or even a few trips, into NYC if your child is successful in obtaining callbacks.
Another opportunity, at least for the Matilda show, is to go to the website for its casting director. Her name is Nora Brennan of Nora Brennan Casting. On her website they will list any upcoming Matilda auditions and whether it’s for Broadway or for the National Tour. They offer an opportunity right on the website to upload a picture and resume to get your child onto her radar. Even if there aren’t any current auditions listed she is known to review those uploads regularly, and you will hear from her directly if your child looks as though he/she may fit a specific need the show has to fill.
With equity shows they are mandated to hold open auditions every 6 months. Sometimes they are actually looking for replacements, sometimes it’s a required call. They don’t have to tell you if they are actually, currently replacing, although sometimes they will. A lot of the time you are not sure even after you have left. Zack has received a callback as long as 5 months after being seen at a required open call. There is no formula for how the process will play out. It’s a wild ride. Two things I can tell you are 1) it’s feast or famine. You can go weeks without anything to work on and suddenly find yourself juggling three different opportunities on the same day and 2) something will happen when you least expect it.
Your audition will have a sign in time. People will arrive as early as 7:30-8:00 for a 9 am sign in time. This is fine if you’re anxious and feel the need to get there early. For adults , getting there early is imperative because there are so many of them that if they don’t get on the list early they may not be seen. With kids they will likely get to everyone so don’t hurry in, you can shorten the day by arriving 15 minutes prior to the sign in time.
If you come to a morning sing call and are able to show them what they are looking for, you’ll most likely have to come back in the afternoon to dance, and dancers who are successful will ultimately have to sing. It can make for a long day. Bring snacks, water, a book, your smile, and patience.
This is where a well organized and prepared audition book becomes your golden ticket. If your child is able to enter the room with his/her headshot and resume prepared as mentioned previously, and can hand it to the person at the door and walk into the room with his/her thumb on the page of the song they are prepared to sing, then the nervousness of entering the room will be minimized. The call notice will state how many bars the child should be prepared to sing. If it says 32 bars also be prepared to shift to 16 bars quickly if the auditions are running late. In the room your child will usually find the casting director, an accompanist, and 1 or 2 associates. Remind them to smile and have fun. Casting directors can see hundreds of people a day. Don’t be offended if they don’t offer a handshake or accept one that is offered. There can be a little germophobia present in their line of work.
Your child many only be in the room for a few minutes during an initial call. There have been days we have travelled 6 hours for ten minutes in the room and returned travel for another 6 hours. There have been 12 hour call days. One never knows. Remember there is no formula. Sometimes they see what they need to see in 2 minutes. Sometimes they may ask your child if he/she has another song in their book to sing. Make sure they have prepared a second song and make sure they don’t have any songs in their book that they would not feel prepared to sing. Sometimes the accompanist will look through their book and ask them to sing a song found in there. That can get uncomfortable if your child hasn’t sung that song recently and doesn’t remember it. The casting director may chat with your child to get a feel for his/her personality and may also give some direction to change the feeling of the song. He/she is looking to see how your child takes direction.
Often, but not always, there may be “sides” also associated with the call. This is where the casting director could have your child read lines from the show to see how they capture the character. This is another time he/she may give directions to see how the child is able to make changes. The sides need to be familiar but not memorized; they can be held during the reading. Sometimes your child won’t get them until he/she arrives, so no need to panic, as he/she can have the copy in hand.
When your child has completed his/her audition, make sure he/she knows to smile and say thank you, even if he/she doesn’t feel he/she did his/her best. Most children feel very strongly that they did well or did not do well as they leave the room. Save the discussion for after you’ve left the area.
One of the most difficult things about auditioning is the waiting to hear after you’ve left. Unfortunately, for an initial open call, you may never hear from anyone if you are not called back. There are just too many calls to make so this is normal practice. We have learned to watch some local chats like “Backstage”. This is a parent forum where parents can start a topic and others can chime in. I can usually find a notice on there that the part has been cast or that call backs have gone out allowing my child some closure. It is not a good idea to call the casting directors yourself. They will be in touch with you if they want to see your child again. If you are fortunate enough to get as far as final call backs you generally would get a call re/ the results of that session.
As a parent, audition calls can be long and stressful. Generally there is a “holding room” you are expected to sit and wait in. Try to be patient, try not to read into what is happening in the room. Believe me when I tell you there will be a lot of posturing going on. People will name drop; they will want to talk to you about all the shows that his/her child has been in; they will call their agents and talk loudly on the phone about how hard it is to juggle all of the possibilities; they will encourage their children to warm up in the room and you will see and hear some incredible talent. Everyone starts somewhere. Don’t let it get under your skin.
What you don’t want to do is make an impression as a difficult parent who doesn’t follow the rules or directions. Believe me, the casting director and his/her associates in the holding room will take notice. Try to go with the flow. If you have a time limit you can let them know; they may or may not be able to make it work for you. They don’t owe you anything; it’s an open call. Mention it once, but if you have to leave then let them know you’re leaving and leave. There’s always the next time. If they ask you to wait in the room then do so. Please don’t follow your child to the audition room purposely placed around the corner and listen with your ear pressed to the door. They will note this and you’re going to stress your child out. Make it your job to encourage your child to drink water, snack lightly, and relax during what could be a very long day.
As a final note I will say that we almost always have a session with our coach(es) prior to a call or audition of any kind. You will find that it helps tremendously in the preparation and your child’s confidence when entering the room.
There is so much more to the audition process but this is a great start. As always let me know if you have any comments or questions. Until next week 🙂