As someone who does theatre, I've been to my fair share of auditions. But nothing makes a theatre kid shudder more than when you add "college" to the equations. My college audition experience was less than perfect, but I learned a few vital things that will hopefully help some of you out there who will be going through this process in a couple of months. One note: I went on auditions for theatre programs and while I'll try to make these as general as possible, some will be more specific to theatre than others.
1. Be prepared.
This step may seem obvious, but it is absolutely vital. Read and re-read the audition requirements for each school. If you're auditioning for a voice or musical theatre program, check to see if you need to provide accompaniment or not. Do not be that girl who realizes that she needs sheet music 10 minutes before an audition and has to ask a children's library if they'll print it out for her (what? That totally didn't happen to me, shut up, let's move on). If you're traveling somewhere for auditions (New York, LA, Chicago, etc.) make sure you either have everything you need or you'll be able to get things from wherever you're staying. Make multiple copies of everything, just in case. Make sure you are in control of everything you could possibly have control over, and you'll take about half of the stress and anxiety out of the process.
2. Be nice.
Chances are, if you're feeling stressed or worried or tired or frantic, lots of people in your group are feeling that way too. Introduce yourself to people you're auditioning with, and be as friendly as possible. Of course, if someone wants to be left alone, respect that too. These people could be your future classmates and colleagues, so try to give a good first impression. That goes for the audition room as well. Take a deep breath, and walk into the room with a smile.
3. Don't try to be perfect. Try to do your best.
This is probably the most important piece of advice I can give, and it's something I wish I was told when I was going through this process. Doing your best means highlighting what makes YOU special. If you try to tailor your audition to what you think people want to see or hear, you won't have as much fun and you're setting yourself up for more stress than you need. If you sing songs or play pieces or deliver monologues that you love and you know you can do, you'll feel way better about the whole thing. If your strengths require you to do something a little differently, so be it. The people you audition for want you to do well. They have to sit through a lot of auditions, so make that five or 10 or 15 minutes you're in that room ones that they'll enjoy and remember.
In the words of my favorite English teacher, I wish you all nothing but the best of luck. Hop to it!
