Unfair Audition Process? - 2008/04/12 16:09So there's this youth drama program in my state called [Name Removed]. It's one of the few I've heard of involving people I am close friends with who can tell me about the process. Their names are Kat and Wendy.
Kat's mom is signed up for e-mail alerts from the director of the program, and a few months ago she received an e-mail telling her that one of the shows they will be doing this summer is... LES MISERABLES! *squeal* This is only one of my most favorite shows of all time, and I would love to be in it. Especially playing Eponine. Which is cliched, but I really like the role.
However, my friends in the program have told me about the "casting" process, and what I have heard isn't very comforting (The process is called casting because everyone who signs up gets into the show in some way).
The audition process for vocals goes like this: everyone is given the same set of lines from the show and is asked to sing them. From this, the directors choose your role. As I am new to the process of casting, I don't know if this is how it normally would be run, but it doesn't sound very fair to me.
And although the program's website says, and I quote, "A student new to our program has the same opportunity of being cast in a lead role as students who have performed with us a long period of time," my friends have told me that no one who has ever been involved in the program for less than maybe four sessions has ever received a lead role in their memory (Wendy has been involved in 3 sessions, but not consecutively).
If I could get feedback as to what you guys think about this, that would be great.
Post edited by: triplethreat, at: 2008/04/21 14:56Susie Do YOU Hear the People Sing?
Dream Roles: Eponine (Les Mis), Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Lucy Harris (Jekyll & Hyde)
Current: In Rehearsal for Madame D'Arque, Beauty & the Beast
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minesayrejoice
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Re:Unfair Audition Process? - 2008/04/12 16:28That is not normal casting. Not everyone is going to sing.........they honestly give everyone the same cut of the same song to sing? Each character has a different story and voice. They couldn't possibly tell who could best play Gavroche using one of Cosette's songs, for example.
Unless all the people auditioning for the same part are given the same song, not everyone. Like everyone auditioning for Eponine sings one of her songs.
Still, it's not something I'd do.
You see, normally you don't prepare anything from the show, but rather a part in another show that is similar to the part you're auditioning for.Maddy, aka minesayrejoice, GreenGirl, GavrocheGrrl, EriksWife (Erik'swife), and jewelkat.
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triplethreat
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Re:Unfair Audition Process? - 2008/04/12 16:42This is not a totally unheard of way to cast a show. It does have some benefits - it saves time, and it takes the pressure out of choosing an audition piece. It also prevents the panel from having to listen to a bunch of terrible song choices (which are frequent in children's theatre). There are disadvantages to this method too, but I'm sure you can see what those are.
Whenever I have seen this done, the portion of music chosen is a chorus piece, so that it WOULD make sense for anyone to be singing it.
I think it's also important to remember - CASTING IS NEVER "FAIR", regardless of the methods used._____________ Kris MTA Admin
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minesayrejoice
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Re:Unfair Audition Process? - 2008/04/12 17:10triplethreat wrote: Whenever I have seen this done, the portion of music chosen is a chorus piece, so that it WOULD make sense for anyone to be singing it.
That makes sense.
Yeah, I didn't know that because I've never been to that kind of audition.Maddy, aka minesayrejoice, GreenGirl, GavrocheGrrl, EriksWife (Erik'swife), and jewelkat.
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nyc_etoile
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Re:Unfair Audition Process? - 2008/04/13 12:20This is actually a completely normal way of casting a show, however, it's usually seen at callbacks. I've been cast this way in several professional productions. Usually it's either a chorus number or girls and boys get separate numbers, but everyone needs to learn the same part. This saves much time because they see who can sing music from the show, instead of trying to figure out if a song you sing matches the show music.
When I was younger, I also was in a large theatre company that put on a huge show every summer, and I was there for six years. The first few years, I got chorus parts, then I started getting featured chorus, and then I got lead parts in my last years. There is a hierarchy, and there are loyalty factors, which you're going to find anywhere in theatre. However, many times new people came in their first year and got lead parts, so it's not impossible.~*~ Kris ~*~
Currently In: Rehearsals for Nine The Musical
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lilygrimm128
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Re:Unfair Audition Process? - 2008/04/13 13:04I can understand everything you guys have said. It makes a good deal more sense now. And it might be beneficial for new people who aren't used to the audition process because they might not even have a song prepared.
For those who would like to take a closer look, here's a link to the page detailing the group's casting process.
Also, the group will be announcing the shows for their next season on April 18th. It says that some of the shows will be HSM (Has it become a law that every youth theatre program will have to do this? Overload! ), Willy Wonka Jr., and Alice in Wonderland. But as Les Mis is such a high-profile show, do you think it might have been one of the shows they listed in advance? Or might be exactly the reason they DIDN'T post it in advance? So confused!
Post edited by: lilygrimm128, at: 2008/04/13 13:05
Post edited by: lilygrimm128, at: 2008/04/13 13:05Susie Do YOU Hear the People Sing?
Dream Roles: Eponine (Les Mis), Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Lucy Harris (Jekyll & Hyde)
Current: In Rehearsal for Madame D'Arque, Beauty & the Beast
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stlgurl702
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Re:Unfair Audition Process? - 2008/04/13 13:15Well, for my beauty and the beast audition, we all sang a portion of "Be Our Guest" as a character which the director chose once meeting the actors. (Based on appearance, type, etc.)
However, in Beauty and the Beast, most of the roles are CHARACTER roles. With CHARACTER voices. I could see this as an incredibly difficult way to cast Les Miserables.Auditioning For- Bye Bye Birdie (Hoping for Kim for Ursula)
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CwEinDallas
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Re:Unfair Audition Process? - 2008/04/17 17:01I've seen castings like this before. As Kris said, the piece they have you sing is usually something from a chorus part that everyone would sing in the show, or they have the boys sing one piece and the girls sing another. in any theatre company, especially one where they have the same casting pool and everyone gets something, seniority is always goign to be a factor. from a producer's standpoint it's a known quantity (someone i've worked with before who i know will show up, learn lines, etc) v.s. an unknown, (i.e. a risk). while it may not be overt this mindset happens in traditional audition processes as well. "Fair" is a pretty loose concept, how can there ever be a level playing field when people have different looks, heights, vocal ranges, levels of training etc?
"It's un-fair!" is usually a way of saying "I might not get exactly what i want!" which, lets face it, is life.Chris
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smilinggiggle
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Re:Unfair Audition Process? - 2008/04/18 23:18Ive seen things like this where everyone sings the same chorus song and then for callbacks they sing a song for the cahracter(s) they're called back for. I've actually auditioned like this twice (I was only called back once from a process like this one)
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bwaybound77
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Re:Unfair Audition Process? - 2008/04/18 23:27I've auditioned this way through many school auditions who think it's easy or fair, but it just annoys me. I haven't had to do this is a while.Name: Devyn
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stlgurl702
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Re:Unfair Audition Process? - 2008/04/19 00:00CwEinDallas wrote: "It's un-fair!" is usually a way of saying "I might not get exactly what i want!" which, lets face it, is life.
Amen!
It is unfair. But so is ALL theatre! For any actor to say that they don't think that at least one of their roles were given to them for some reason other than raw talent is a liar.
Politics will ALWAYS happen. People who are less talented than you will get better roles. You might have a better audition than a thousand people, but honestly if the directors don't like your "look" or already have pre-cast 80% of the show than you might not get a role.
Is it fair? Nope! Is it wrong? Of Course! Is it going to happen? Yep!Auditioning For- Bye Bye Birdie (Hoping for Kim for Ursula)
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I could sit here and scream unfair because I'm a better actor than someone else (or so I think!), but if that isn't what the director sees, then so be it.
For what it's worth from an old theater person, you just take the auditions as they are tossed at you, do your best, complain and moan when you don't get what you want, strongly consider accepting what's offered (even if it's chorus) and do the absolute best you can with whatever you're given.
Why?
Because many directors are watching people to see what they can handle. Someone may be incredibly talented, but if they turn out to be unreliable, for example, they may not get cast again. Conversely, someone who is willing to put forth enormous effort for a tiny role will get noticed and the larger parts will come to them.
Of course, if those larger parts don't come, it doesn't mean you aren't talented but that the director(s) are complete morons who wouldn't know talent if it slapped them in the face! Andrea
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btbushi
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Re:Unfair Audition Process? - 2008/04/21 14:10I've seen this for callbacks, but I haven't been in a first round audition for theatre that did this.
[offtopic]
Andrea wrote: What, exactly, is fair?
This brings the quote to mind 'I used to think that the universe was unfair, but then I thought that if the universe was fair, everything bad that had happened to us would be because we actually deserved it. So now I take great comfort in the overall unfairness of the universe.'
[/offtopic]Currently Auditioning for: Narnia
Currently involved with: Nothing...
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I have only done 4 shows and only 3 of them were musicals. For the first two, there was a song and everyone sang it.
My advice? Be really nice, friendly, courteous, cheerful and congenial at the audition. If you get the chance, tell them how much you love the show, how you would love to play Epinopine (sp?). Then, compliment her shoes. If you have time, ask if you could try them on (Okay, well maybe not that last part , but suck up big time to the casting people).
Sometimes, it takes a few shows with the director before you can get the lead parts. They are reticient to cast unknowns in big parts, because they don't know if they are going to melt down or quit the show 2 days before opening.
Do your best to stand out (in a positive way) at the audition. It will be your one and only trip through the salad bar, so make the best of it.
Break a leg.
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), Willy Wonka Jr., and Alice in Wonderland. But as Les Mis is such a high-profile show, do you think it might have been one of the shows they listed in advance? Or might be exactly the reason they DIDN'T post it in advance? So confused!
