Limiting our list to just 17 tips to cure audition panic is quite a challenge. Just when you thought you knew everything you need to know prior to audition. You arrive at the venue with cold feet. It’s normal. It cannot be avoided. But it can be lessened. Whether you prepare or not, you’d still get nervous. So might as well prepare. These 17 tips would help alleviate worries on audition day itself.
17 Tips to Cure Audition Panic
17. Conduct research about the project
Good for you if the musical theater production involved a revival production. You have Original Broadway Cast Recordings to dig on iTunes. If it is a musical theater spin-off, watching the film from which the musical is based will help. Just take note that a musical will involve a different approach to acting. It will involve singing. At least before getting into the script-reading session. You have an idea about the lines already. Adaptations from books would help too as reference. Keep this tidbit among our list of 17 tips to cure audition panic. It would immediately condition your mind into the role as if you already bagged it.
17 Tips to Cure Audition Panic
16. Check what roles are up for audition
Some productions are particular with roles. Being familiar with the novel or film with which the musical will be adapted from won’t be enough. If you are going to research, make sure that it fit the requirements mentioned for roles the casting director is looking for. For example, you are familiar about the film The Bodyguard. But the vacant role is that of the stalker. Or parts in the ensemble. Read the fine print in audition announcements. You might have missed the most crucial part of the research. You might have gotten too nervous that oversight occurred. Avoid oversight and you easily remember this tip in our list of 17 tips to cure audition panic.
17 Tips to Cure Audition Panic
15. Skip to the learning the songs involved with the character required
Say you managed to buy from iTunes the complete album of the Original Broadway Cast Recording for Hamilton. If you are a female fan, you might have taken The Hamilton Mixtape to heart. And the roles up for audition are that of the Schuyler sisters. The part sung by the Schuyler sisters are in the album. You can focus on their parts for the meantime. If your part is that of Aaron Burr, good for you. The Hamilton Mixtape is his opening number. But rehearse on his other songs included in the musical too. Practice until it becomes second nature to you. Sounds cliche but worth including in our list of 17 tips to cure audition panic.
17 Tips to Cure Audition Panic
14. Get the lyric sheet if available
You would get a problem finding the newer ones. Quite tough to find. Sites highly recommended for lyric sheets are in 2 of our previous articles. Top 10 Musical Theater Audition Songs for Women and Top 10 Musical Theater Audition Songs for Men. You’d be surprised at finding the underrated pieces there. Very essential as one of the 17 tips to cure audition panic.
17 Tips to Cure Audition Panic
13. Know your type as opposed to your actual age
If you don’t have a problem admitting your actual age, well and good. What matters is your appearance. Does it suit the character you plan to audition for? Remember how most students in Glee are played by actors and actresses. They are older than the characters they portray. And not all musical theater performers can get away with playing characters younger than they are. Going safe is advisable by using your actual age. If you are 39 years old, ideal roles would be characters aged between 40 to 50 years old. Vying for 60-year-old characters might be going too far though. Makeup and clothing would do the tricks on looking older if the script calls for it. But for the meantime, keep this tip in mind. It is one of the crucial pointers among our list of 17 tips to cure audition panic.
17 Tips to Cure Audition Panic
12. Recite the lyrics first
Pick a song. Then scan the lyrics by reading it out aloud. You would realize how different it felt. There are some songs that still sound even when set to music like lyrics from the opera versions of Jerry Springer and Anna Nicole Smith. (Nothing we can do about them, truth be told.) Then again you have Chicago’s All That Jazz. “Stop the car. I know a whoopee spot where the gin is cold. But the piano’s hot.” Or that line from Hedwig’s Angry Inch. “Where my penis used to be where my vagina never was.” Concepts come rushing forward in this essential tip among our 17 tips to cure audition panic.
17 Tips to Cure Audition Panic
11. Go monologue mode once the recitation part turns out well on audition day itself.
Some auditions require a monologue piece and a song piece. They don’t have to be the same song. They may come from the same musical featuring the same character. Your call. Singing is not enough. This tactic usually works on highly volatile performances like Dames at Sea’s That Mister Man of Mine. You realize how it’s a transition from a match made in heaven to a death warrant made in hell. And Mona Kent dodged a bullet there. The same approach in monologues could also work on Chicago’s Funny Honey. Especially on the part that said “Lord knows he ain’t got the smarts.” Differentiating singing from performing is noted in our list of 17 tips to cure audition panic.
17 Tips to Cure Audition Panic
10. Move around. You’re not a post.
Being nervous doesn’t mean giving in to your nerves. Moving naturally meant not letting your arms stay down like you got cornered. Not because audition day felt like putting yourself on the chopping block meant you’d act like a log. Imagine yourself performing Something Rotten’s It’s Hard To Be The Bard in a stiff position. How can you make the casting crew believe in you when you don’t even loosen up at the thought of being The Bard yourself? To quote Dr. Frank N. Furter “Don’t dream it. Be it.” Take note of this as one of the 17 tips to cure audition panic.
17 Tips to Cure Audition Panic
9. Clothes and some accessories help in convincing the casting crew
Wearing glasses to show up on an audition for Rent? The casting crew would think you’re interested in playing Mark Cohen. Now you don’t have to show up in green body paint to convince them that you’re the next Elphaba in Wicked. Taking a broom while singing Defying Gravity would be fine. Now to help the casting crew focus on your talent, stick to the dark, solid colors. A little black dress for the women. Black plain shirt for men. Then perform. If you wear something with neon colors, everyone else gets distracted. Unless you’re wearing Angel’s Christmas red ensemble while auditioning for Rent. But to be sure, dress casually in dark colors. Dressing the part is worth mentioning in our list of 17 tips to cure audition panic.
17 Tips to Cure Audition Panic
8. Update your head shots
Your hair grows. Sometimes you let your facial hair grow for quite some time. Weight loss can also be seen on your face. And no matter how advanced your smartphone seem to be. It still pays to have professionally-handled head shots for your next audition. Some photographers even offer packages that included medium-shot and full body shot. While it helps in auditions, sticking to getting the head shots possible still takes the cake. A reminder you need to jot down in our list of 17 tips to cure audition panic.
17 Tips to Cure Audition Panic
7. Don’t sing without introducing yourself first.
Seems basic, yes. But some auditionees have a tendency to walk up the stage and sing without even handing the lyric sheet to the accompanist. Or just sing outright because he/she just wanted this audition to be over and done with. Or is it? Whether you intended it or not, that’s the perception once you do it. The casting crew understood that you are nervous. But it’s not an excuse to letting them see how unprepared you are in your chosen piece. Breathe. You’d be surprised at its calming effects. Then introduce yourself and the song that you are about to perform. If it’s a monologue and a song, say the title of the songs and from which musical you got them. Then sing. No need for long introductions in alleviating negative vibes in our 17 tips to cure audition panic.
17 Tips to Cure Audition Panic
6. Be ready for questions
Questions can be thrown at you either before singing or after. Why before singing? Because before letting you start the piece, they would have some clarifying questions at hand. If you have been on theater for quite some time, they might have seen you in another musical or a different play. Seeing your CV is different in seeing you and remembering you from a different production. Because the audition is where you get to prove your mettle.
17 Tips to Cure Audition Panic
5. No need to go eye-to-eye with the casting crew
While the musical theater character Evita dared her audience to look straight to her eyes, you don’t have to do the same to the casting crew. Some of them might feel awkward. It can get worse if you feel awkward too. If both the casting crew and the person auditioning for a song feel awkward, it would be hard to finish the song on a relieving note. If you know the casting crew enough to pull off the eye contact, then go. Once you bag the role, you’d be looking at more faces. More possibilities for eye contact too in this tip among 17 tips to cure audition panic.
17 Tips to Cure Audition Panic
4. Breathe slowly. Because people are waiting for you to perform.
The only song where being nervous and shaken are acceptable is Phantom of the Opera’s Think of Me. The problem arises when you’re already half-way through this song and you’re still nervous and shaken. How can you perform properly when you can’t even breathe properly? Let alone sing? One of the most underrated tips among 17 tips to cure audition panic is breathing. It makes you realize that you don’t know as much as you think you do. Ego is okay when it comes to knowing your self-worth. But it can also get even the most talented blinded to the limits that they overlooked.
17 Tips to Cure Audition Panic
3. Set your expectations.
It may sound cliche by now to read setting yourself for rejection or failure. It may sound like preparing to fail in case the casting crew had other plans. This is not about whether you did your best or not. This is about doing your best whatever the outcome may be. If those who did their best did not make the cut, what more for those who didn’t? This is why even pros keep lists of contacts and audition opportunities on their planner. Got rejected now? Move to the next audition.
17 Tips to Cure Audition Panic
2, Act to feel. Not pretending how to feel. Overall, perform.
The easiest explanation behind reel couples transitioning to the real world is the ability to feel and find authenticity in it. Some pundits call it as acting without acting. There is something in a role that got you interested not only because it’s the lead role. Conservative fathers can relate to the main character on Fiddler on the Roof. And butch lesbians can relate to Alison of Fun Home. Of course you don’t have to be a deformed recluse to relate to OG of The Phantom of the Opera. Or be a serial killer like Sweeney Todd. Acting meant finding emotions in you that are the same as that of the character you thought you can play. Like bitterness and pain that turned Sweeney Todd. From being the victim of injustice to becoming a perpetrator of injustice himself. This factoid in our list of 17 tips to cure audition panic takes us to our next point.
17 Tips to Cure Audition Panic
Top Spot. Feedback is meant to help you, not destroy you
Whatever reinforcement is applied, the way you handle it still lies on your hands. You may have read about certain performers auditioning for the role of Roxie Hart and ended up bagging the role for Velma Kelly in Chicago. The role you want may not want you back. And it’s a tough way to look at what you are capable of doing as opposed to what you can do. Not that you would limit yourself in terms of casting choices. Remember the previous pointer emphasizing acting without acting? There are some qualities innate in you that the casting director discovered before you even did. And you deserve to know them so you’d learn how to make it work in your favor. Worth noting as the top-ranking tip in our list of 17 tips to cure audition panic.
Speaking of casting directors, two of the ideal sites worth visiting are Casting Call Pro (CCP) and Playbill. UK residents will find jobs related to the performing arts at CCP by clicking here. For theater professionals in the United States will find job openings at Playbill by clicking here. Get to them while the openings are still up.
Panic is part of the audition process. The trick is in neutering it. You don’t need to pretend that you are nervous. You just need to tone it down enough to not affect your audition. Surely, there would be more tips and insights found here for you. All that is left for you to do is do 3 things. First, subscribe to our online newsletter. Second, like our official Facebook page, Musicals Online. And third, follow us on Twitter @musicalsnews. Thanks for reading.
