With your fall season right around the corner, your mind may be spinning. After all, you’ve got to choose your shows, announce your season, run rehearsals, nail tech week, produce beautiful productions… The list goes on and on. However, one critical component of your planning should be mastering your audition and casting strategies.
Running smooth, professional, and dynamic auditions and following up with well-executed casting are key components to your theatre’s success – whether you’re a school program, community theatre, professional non-equity, or something else entirely. On The Stage explores how you can master your audition and casting processes and create art you can be proud of.
While you may think that the only truly important part of your showcase is the end result, you should plan for excellence as soon as your first actor enters the audition room. Why? Because well-planned auditions:
You’ve heard the old adage about first impressions – so make sure you’re taking it to heart when it comes to your audition process. If you enter the day organized, professional, level-headed, and gracious, you’re setting the best tone for the rest of your season. On the other hand, if you’re feeling off-kilter, disorganized, or overwhelmed, chances are some of the actors who wanted to get involved with your theatre may be turned off by your organization – or lack thereof.
Remember – auditions are a twofold first impression; not only should actors try to impress you, but you should try to impress actors – it’s their first introduction to how you and your theatre function.
Well-organized auditions, alongside setting a great tone, also set you as a director up for success in your production’s next steps. For example, casting will likely be much easier if you’ve come into auditions prepared with all the tools you need. If casting is easier, you can head into rehearsals earlier and more confidently. A confident director is more likely to lead well, ensuring deadlines are hit, numbers are perfected, and that a show shines.
All that to say, having an organized audition process can lead to a domino effect of success through your show’s closing.
Part of having an organized audition process is ensuring you’ve marketed the audition dates, locations, and expectations early and often. The more time you give between audition announcements and the auditions themselves, the more actors will hear about your theatre, take necessary time off from their jobs or other commitments, prepare for your auditions, and nail them.
Organized auditions yield better auditions and a larger talent pool, guaranteed.
Now that we’ve established why running organized auditions is so crucial to the success of your show let’s explore a few audition types and when you should utilize them.
The most classic form of an audition is the prepared audition. Your actors will typically practice whatever is asked of them in the audition announcements and come in with the materials ready to go. These can range from 2-minute monologues to several bars of a specific song, a few eight-counts of choreography, or whatever else you deem relevant to the show you’re running.
During prepared auditions, you can also stop the actors, give them directions, and ask them to try again. This allows you to see how an actor can take constructive criticism and how quickly they can apply it.
Prepared auditions are best for large casting calls where you’ll likely see a high volume of actors within a short time. Having people ready to go the minute they hit the stage will streamline your day drastically. Additionally, prepared auditions are excellent to utilize in first-round processes to weed out actors that wouldn’t be right for your roles before testing chemistry in callbacks.
During cold readings, actors are given scenes from a play or musical and asked to present them that day with little to no preparation. This eliminates the prep component of the audition process for your actors and instead highlights how well they work under pressure and/or with a group of people they don’t know well. Additionally, cold readings also showcase an actor’s instincts when it comes to interpreting a piece.
Cold readings are best if you want to see how actors can work together within a short time, and it is also excellent to get a reading on the chemistry between actors. Cold readings will also show you which actors can handle the unexpected, which is necessary during live theatre.
If your audition process consists of rehearsed scenes, you’ll likely split your actors into groups and give them scenes from your show to work on together. After a predetermined amount of time, each group will present their piece to you.
Rehearsed scenes are great for a variety of reasons. First, you see how well your actors can work in a group. After all, an actor may be amazing – but if they can’t mesh well with others, it will spell disaster for your show. Additionally, you get to see how actors interpret the work with little to no guidance. Which actors simply say their lines? Which take risks, explore their blocking, and create a dynamic performance from the written word alone? Rehearsed scenes also establish a low-pressure environment where actors can practice and perform together.
Many actors squirm at the idea of improvisation. Still, it’s an extremely valuable skill, especially in a live theatre situation where a technical mishap or forgotten line can quickly derail a show. If you want to plan for the unexpected, adding improv into your audition process is a great way to do so.
You can either present improv games to your actors or have them improvise part of a scene that you’ve already established. You’ll see how your actors work without a safety net, how quickly they can think on their feet, how well they can establish a character on stage, and how seamlessly they can mesh with others on the stage.
Before auditions, there are a few ways to prepare that will set you up for success.
A casting notice is a great first step in preparing for your audition day. The notice should articulate the values of your theatre, describe the show you’re producing, and include all the necessary details of what to expect on audition day. Ensure the time, date, requirements, attire, and other expectations are conveyed. A few questions your casting notice should answer include:
To get the best possible auditions, create character breakdowns for your leads. Consult with the script and see how the playwright describes each character, then collaborate with your creative team about what sort of acting choices and traits you’ll be looking for. If you are casting a musical, you should also include the vocal range for each character in the breakdown and movement skills for the dancing components.
An audition day sheet is specifically for actors to fill out when they arrive. This will provide you and the creative team with contact information, availability for rehearsals, and other pertinent details about the actor.
Think of this as a small resume for the actor if you aren’t asking for headshots. What other shows have they performed in? Is there a particular part they are interested in? Is there a part they don’t want to play? How open are they over the next few months? What special skills do they have?
The best way to prepare for your auditions is to advertise them as early and often as possible. Ensure the date, time, and location of your auditions are on your social media platforms, your theatre’s website, and community calendars, and plastered via billboards and posters. This is a surefire way to set you up for success – the more you market your auditions, the greater your talent pool!
Auditioning for your show can be stressful. Here are a few things to remember during the process.
Remember—as the director, you set the tone. Auditions are not the time to appear aloof, disinterested, or rude. Make sure to greet every actor who walks through the door and ensure they feel welcomed. The theatre, after all, is a safe space and a place of inclusivity.
Your intentions for the show should be set from day one. For example, if you’ve picked a production with a specific one of your actors in mind to star (which we don’t recommend), don’t waste other actors’ time during the audition process for that specific role. Additionally, don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep – even if you’re just trying to be polite. False hope is never fun.
During auditions, stay focused on the task at hand. Even if you want to appear relatable or friendly, don’t get sidetracked by unprofessional discourse before, during, or after auditions. If you have friends auditioning, do not display any preferential treatment.
Additionally, stay even-keel during auditions regarding reactions. You may see some of your community’s best and worst auditions in a day, but your face shouldn’t reflect how you feel.
When discussing auditions with your creative team, refrain from unprofessional comments and stick specifically to the audition requirements. Additionally, ensure you and your team are completely alone when deliberating—you never know who may be in earshot.
To save yourself stress and a long deliberation period before casting, ensure you know what you’re looking for before auditions. Refer to your audition prep notes and character breakdowns to see which actors truly check off every box you’re looking for – not just the ones who had stellar auditions.
Even if you’ve got the memory of an elephant, there’s no way you can remember every facet of every person’s audition. Ensure you’re writing down notes during the day, specifically of stand-out moments, good or bad.
When it comes time to cast, you may feel overwhelmed. A few tidbits of advice:
As the leader of your production, you will likely be the one catching flack for creative decisions – including casting. Make sure you cast the people who will help you create the best show, not the people who will kick up the biggest fuss if they aren’t the leads. In short, trust your gut and stick to your guns.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t welcome input from your creative team. After all, producing a great show can’t be done with just one person’s creative vision. Hear your team about casting choices, especially if several people are on the same boat and you’re out at sea. They may be seeing something you aren’t!
Whether this is figuratively or literally, make sure you’re accurately remembering auditions and not glossing over mistakes or forgetting stand-outs. That’s why filming your auditions and taking detailed notes on each audition is a great idea.
Whether you’re a school program, community theatre, professional non-equity entity, or something in between, you need to carefully inform actors about the good and bad news. When posting the casting results, lead with professionalism, kindness, and respect for everyone who visited your theatre.
Two actors may be phenomenal on their own but have zero chemistry with each other. This will severely diminish the quality of your show. That said, ensure you’re running chemistry reads and choosing leads that mesh well together.
Talent isn’t everything. During the audition process, one important strategy is to study the actors you’re considering for leads off the stage and on. Are they respectful of others’ time and space? Are they on time? Do they get along well with the other actors? Are they willing to take constructive criticism? If you answered no to any of these, you may have an issue on your hands. Remember that hard work and passion often weigh out talent.
When it comes down to it, casting is one of the most important parts of any showcase. But as a fearless leader, you won’t be able to focus on what matters if you’re also worried about ticketing options, marketing strategies, fundraising elements, streaming technology, and so much more. That’s why partnering with On The Stage (OTS) is such a great idea – we’ll take care of the logistics, and you can focus on what matters: creating great art.
If you’re ready to elevate your experience for everyone involved, book a personalized demo today. Even better, download our comprehensive guide: The Art of Auditions: How to Successfully Cast Your Next Show. Break a leg!