Actors hate auditions-they seem artificial and contrived and extremely high pressure. That is exactly why they are excellent measures of who is a professional actor. The actor has the opportunity to show you their talent, inventiveness and professionalism, all in a few minutes. An audition must be a tightly-run selection process; else someone like a Barbra Streisand or Dustin Hoffman (both of whom distinguished themselves in their Broadway auditions) will fall by the wayside.
Instructions
1. Conduct an open audition. Advertise in local acting resources and hotlines (most of which are of little or no cost to producers). In New England, these sources include StageSource (stagesource.com) and the New England Entertainment Digest (jacneed.com); in Chicago, TheatreInChicagoAuditions (theatreinchicago.com/auditions); and in New York (and elsewhere), backstage.com. In all cities, Craigslist.com is increasingly popular to announce auditions, under the category "Gigs."
Most actors use online resources now, but some local arts and alternative newspapers, like the Boston Phoenix and the Village Voice in New York, are also useful for auditions.
State the name of the show, the production dates, audition times and contact information to book a time.
In all announcements, ask the actors to bring two head shots, describe whether monologues or cold readings are required, whether song preparation is required (for a musical), if an accompanist is provided, or whether or not to be prepared to dance.
2. Invite the actors you want for a private audition (and if this is allowable to the theater or producers). Some actors may be unavailable for the audition times or the pool from which you have to choose does not give you the talent for a superior show. If you believe a given actor, singer or dancer will make for an excellent production, then invite that person personally to audition.
3. Enlist a second pair of eyes---a producer, a casting agent or an assistant director. Treat a second pair of eyes as a greater depth of knowledge; as casting director Michael Shurtleff described, Barbra Streisand was once dismissed by a producer based on her looks, but the musical director and casting director opened his eyes to her obvious singing talent.
4. Enlist a "wrangler" for your auditions. This individual is a stage manager, who checks the actors in, brings in the head shots and announces the actors, and times the auditions with a stopwatch, stopping the audition at two minutes. A two-minute time limit allows you to see dozens of actors in a two- to three-hour time frame. And while two minutes seems perfunctory, a talented actor requires only two minutes to thrill or bore you.
5. Conduct cold readings. Provide "sides" from the play, several scenes which are representative of all the major characters. An excellent scene for Shakespeare's "Hamlet" is Act III, Scene 1, which includes strong dramatic moments for Hamlet, Ophelia, Claudius and Polonius. Act II Scene 1 of "Deathtrap" by Anthony Shaffer includes banter, humor and bickering between two gay male playwrights who have murdered the older playwright's wife.
Cold readings are well suited for musical auditions as well. W hile the musical auditions are perhaps the more important of the two, the actors must handle dialogue as well. For example, the first meeting between Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett (Act I of Sweeney Todd) will reveal the chemistry between the two actors.
6. Conduct musical and acting auditions on different nights or in a split evening. An actor must be talented at singing and acting for a production of "The King and I" or "Rent."
7. Include monologues in your cold reading, if monologues are essential to the play or musical. Skip the obvious monologues---Marc Antony in "Julius Caesar" ("Friends! Romans! Countrymen!") for more obscure monologues, about which actors have fewer preconceptions.
8. Require classical/contemporary monologues, for a total of two minutes. As arcane as this method seems, Shurtleff advised that if anyone finds a better way to put an actor through her paces, he'd like to hear it. This method provides a "gut reaction" to the actor---is she interesting and charismatic the instant she walks onto stage? Is she professional, giving her name, her monologues and a quick thanks, while sticking to the two-minute limit? Did she hold your attention for the entire two minutes, and transition well from the classical to contemporary monologues? Did she make her own choices as Blanche DuBois, or mimic Vivian Leigh in the film "A Streetcar Named Desire"? An actor who is professional in auditions is likely the better choice.
9. Keep detailed notes. An actor who appears later in the day may capture your attention more than the first one you see; conversely, you may be tired and bored and he captures your attention less than he deserves to do. Consult with your director, casting director and producer in making your final decisions.
Conduct call-backs when some casting decisions are up in the air. Select scenes which pit the actors opposite one another; see which grabs your attention more and which leaves a greater lasting impression.
10. Notify your actors immediately about whether they have been cast or not once you have made your decisions.
