AUDITIONS
Audition Announcement and Preparations
A musical is a commitment of time and energy. Make sure you review the rehearsal and performance schedule in advance. Do you anticipate any conflicts with soccer, piano or other activities? If so, it is important to let the directors know in advance. If this is the case, you might also want to encourage your child to take on a less time-consuming position with the production. Remember, every contribution is important!
What function or job is your child curious to explore? Does your child want to perform as a leading actor/singer/dancer? Would they prefer to be in the ensemble as part of the supporting cast?
Aside from the support and guidance you're bound to offer your child, any extra time you have to volunteer on the production is more than welcome!
Having your child participate in theatre has little to do with creating a “star”. The objective of rehearsing and presenting a musical is to provide children with opportunities to develop life skills and have fun.
In general, you can expect the following: Group auditions require participants to learn a short dance routine under the choreographers direction. The group has a brief lesson, and then present the dance to the audition team. After the dance component has been completed, the group will sing a song as a whole. This will be a common song (e.g.. Row Row Row Your Boat, O Canada etc.). Participants may be asked to sing a harmony line as part of the audition.
Audition techniques:
Smile and enjoy the audition process
Show good behaviour
Trust the directors choices
Callbacks (Round Two!)
At callback auditions, the director may ask certain auditionees to return to sing again, read a scene, dance some more or any combination of these. Each individual performs for the audition team by themselves. It is at this point that the auditionees must be prepared with memorized lyrics and melody of the required song.
Extracted from: Family Matters, A Parent’s Guide to the Magic of Theater