For
auditions you must prepare the following:
· 16-20 bars of a song from a Broadway Musical. Please come with a copy of your music for our accompanist—no acappella!
· A memorized 1 to 3 minute monologue from a play—and be sure that you can talk about the play it comes from.
You will also be asked to do a cold reading from a play of our choosing.
We know you may be nervous - we are rooting for you so try and relax! We will do our best to make it an fun and learning experience.
What is a Monologue?
A monologue is a speech that one actor makes in a play. It may or may not be spoken to another person. Please be sure that the monologue is from a play. Be ready to talk about the play so…be sure you have read it!
Selecting a monologue:
• Find a monologue you enjoy. Monologue books may be found at your local library or bookstore. Below are several links on the web for possible monologues. With the exception of the first listing, they have not been carefully vetted.
• For a first time auditioner, chose a character that is someone similar to yourself.
• Make sure that you select material that has an age range you can play convincingly. A good audition monologue can show off a few different sides of yourself for the director.
Monologue
links: other than the first link these have not been vetted
http://youthplays.com/monologues
http://www.whysanity.net/monos/mlinks.html
http://www.stageagent.com/browse/Monologues/teen/page/2#results
http://www.dramaticwriter.com/Monologues.html
PREPARING A MONOLOGUE:
When deciding how to present your monologue, think of these questions:
• Who are you and what is your personality like?
• Where are you?
• When is it? What century, year? What time of year? What time of day?
• Who are you talking to?
• What do you want from them – or want them to understand – or want to prevent them from doing?
Three things to remember...
1. Give it some gusto!
Have energy in the presentation of your monologue. Too much energy can be irritating, but you won’t find any producer or director who thinks that not enough energy is better than too much.
2. Move around!
When you’re emotional, you move, and that needs to be reflected in your monologue. But avoid the “actors shuffle” where you step back and forth between your feet. Movement should be purposeful.
3. If you goof up keep going!
If you flub up, just keep going and stay in character.
The chances of your audience having the monologue memorized are slim – if you
stay calm and in character they won’t even know. Above all, do not stop and
apologize! Act as if everything went exactly as planned.
SINGING
AUDITION
10
things the auditionee should be aware of
1.
Know your music and lyrics and the tempo of the song well.
2.
Know exactly where you will begin singing and where you will end.
3.
Good posture promotes good breathing and singing technique.
4.
If you make a mistake don’t acknowledge
it. Instead, keep going as if
the song were written that way.
5. Use body movement to help express the meaning
of the song (arm gestures & simple movement) 6. If you know some warm-up exercises, do them
and drink lots of water. Sing for awhile before you go in for the
audition. 7. Choose a song that shows off the best parts
of your voice. A simple song sung well is much more impressive than a hard song
sung poorly. 8. Make sure you have real sheet music for the
pianist. If all you have are the words this is not sheet music. 9. Make sure the sheet music you have is in the
range you want to sing. Don't expect the pianist to transpose (play it higher
or lower) the music. 10.
Sing out! Try to fill the room with you voice - even if you make a
mistake. If you know the song well enough try to show some emotion with it too.
This makes it much more believable to the
Act like you are having fun and enjoying the process even if you are nervous.
Information on South Bend Civic Theatre may be found at www.sbct.org
