This past weekend, I auditioned for a few musicals and a few pays.  However, while it appeared to be a simple audition, including one monologue and one song, it was much more.

This weekend was a large challenge for me.  It was during Work Week for my sorority.  After a week of chanting at the top of my lungs, jumping, and dancing (all while in heels), made me a tad tired.  Actually, it was more than a tad.  I lost my voice, had a bad cough and runny nose, and thought I might have had Strep Throat.

Everyone hates auditions. Everyone. Actors and actresses hate doing them. Directors and producers hate doing them. No one in the theater enjoys the audition process. It is stressful, uncertain, time consuming, and uncomfortable for everyone involved. However, it is also the only way that actually works. As an actress, there are some things you can do to make the process easier on yourself, and that ultimately will make you a more professional prospect to an auditing director or producer. Some of this may sound obvious, but you know what? You would be surprised. The following tips are meant in the context of the general theater auditions.

Prepare your audition pieces. 

Rehearse them as you would rehearse a play. Work on them with a coach, director or other knowledgeable colleague. Be as confident with the piece as you would a role you were performing. Work on them outside of the context of an upcoming audition. Work on them in front of people. Don't wait until the night before your audition to search for, memorize and rehearse an audition piece! Practice, practice, practice!

Search audition books! 

Finding the perfect audition piece is probably the most difficult task of all. Take the time to find a piece that speaks to you; that you like and identify with. Ask fellow actors and directors their opinions, if you have any playwright friends ask them if they have anything you might use! Gather two to five possibilities and ask friends and colleagues what they think.

Pick monologues from plays. 

It is perfectly okay to use a new play or something the auditors have not heard before, but pick a piece from an actual play and read the play in its entirety, not just the scene or the monologue.When rehearsing your piece, make one to three clear, distinct acting choices and commit to them fully. When in doubt, simplify.

Keep the blocking in your piece simple as well. 

Choose one to three clear, precise movements or crosses. When in doubt, simplify. Show the auditors what they ask for. If they ask for two monologue pieces and a song, prepare that. If they ask for two contrasting pieces, that means they want one contemporary piece and one classical, one of which is serious and the other funny. Classical pieces generally mean language verse pieces- Shakespeare or his contemporaries, The Greeks, Moliere or the like. When using a translated piece like Moliere, make sure the translations are in verse as well. The auditors want to see how you handle poetic and metered language. If the auditors give you a choice of presenting one or two pieces, choose to do one and do the funny one. Give that one piece the same amount of preparation you would give two pieces.

Work to keep your audition pieces at one minute long. 

Usually the audition will have a time limit. Do not go over that limit. The auditors will stop you and it is embarrassing to be stopped in the middle of your monologue. More is not better. Nine times out of ten the auditors have decided whether or not you are right for the role within eight seconds of you walking in the door.

Enter the room with confidence. 

If hands are offered, shake them. Look the auditors in the eyes during introductions if there are any. Introduce yourself and let them know what piece you are doing and who the authors are. Then let them know which of the pieces you will be performing first.

Stop, drop your eyes to the floor and take a second (one second) to take a breath, focus your thoughts and communicate to the auditors that you are beginning. 

Jump into your character with all your ability and passion. Transform into the character in a heartbeat. Commit one hundred percent. This is the most important half second in your audition. Practice it. If you want to be impressive, be impressive here. Never use the auditors in your piece or speak directly to them. This makes them uncomfortable and they will strongly dislike you for it. If your character is speaking to another person, place that person just above and to the right or left of the auditor's heads.Just continue if you make a mistake. Pause if you have to, but do not berate yourself, or stomp your foot or leave character. Do not break character.

I may have lost my voice for my audition, but I got 3 callbacks the next day, and landed the lead in a Broadway Christmas Carol.  Follow these steps, and just be yourself.  There are only limits if you put yourself down.