What I've Learned About Auditions or, A Love Letter to NY Actors
I’ve been through this process a many times since then, for off-Broadway, regional and off-off Broadway theaters. This is a post for directors (about
what I’ve learned) and for actors (about what I’ve observed).
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| (From L to R): Producers Mark Johannes and Amy Danis of MARS Theatricals, moi, playwright Topher Payne, Producer Dan Shaheen, Michelle Bossy, and Casting Director Stephanie Klapper. |
IN PREPARATION
1.
Use ten-minute slots
Be civilized.
Five minutes just isn’t enough time, because an audition isn’t just about the actor showing you what work s/he has
done. It’s about you working with the actor, and the only way you’ll have
enough time to do that is if you use ten-minute slots and if you…
2.
Choose short sides.
Seriously, you know in the first 30 seconds if the actor
and the role are the right fit. Don’t waste their time preparing ten pages. If
you need to see ten pages, you’re a horrible director. Besides, short sides allow you time to
work with the actors, which leads me to….
DURING THE AUDITIONS
THEMSELVES
3.
Work with the actor
Any actor worth their salt, as was EVERY SINGLE ACTOR that I saw
this week, comes to the audition prepared, focused, intelligent and rehearsed. They worked on their sides, looked
great, got up that morning, put their audition outfit together and traveled to studio
in horrible humidity from all over the city, and sometimes further. One actor
(to whom we made an offer) commuted down from the Berkshires for both the audition and the callback a few days
later. Treat every actor as if
they’re traveled that far.
Even if you don’t think they’re
going to get a call back, they might be right for something else you work
on. You might learn something
about the part or the role.
They’ve traveled all that way.
See what they can do. And show them what you want. They’re not just
auditioning for you – the actor you want
might get a conflicting offer, and then they’ll have to choose which project
they’re going to work on. How you treat them in the rehearsal room might be an
important factor. You’re auditioning for them, too.
4.
Be present
I was exhausted after my week of auditions, they same way I
would’ve been after a week of rehearsals. That’s actually a great way to think
about auditions: as a series of short rehearsals. Like rehearsals, they require you to be present so that you
can respond to the choices the actor is making. The director is an audience of
one. Be the kind of audience member you would like to attend one of your own
shows: present, kind, and easily delight-able.
And if you think the actor isn’t reading for the right role,
ask them if they mind taking a few minutes to look at a different side. This happens even
with a great casting director, and don’t be scared about
asking them to look at a different part (another one of our offers is out to an
actress who was game enough to read for someone else with no notice). Be
especially sensitive if you’re asking the actor to read for a part that’s
smaller, or older. But ultimately, I think actors would rather read for a role that they actually had a
shot of getting.
THE CALLBACKS
5.
Don’t call someone back you don’t think you’re
going to cast
Don’t waste their time because they’re your friend, or you
think they’re cute, or you saw them in a show a few years ago and they were
amazing and even though they’re not right for this part, wouldn’t it be fun to
spend a few more minutes with them?
You are taking hours out of this actor’s life. Don’t do it in vain.
6.
Tell them what you want to see
You’ve called them back for a reason, right? Tell them why –
tell them what you and the people in the room responded to, and tell them what
you’d still like to see. It shouldn’t be mysterious or enigmatic. You have an idea
about the part, they’re bringing something that you’ve responded to. Identify the space between those things
and let them show you what they can do.
AFTER
7.
Email your friends when you know you’re not
going to cast them
I described auditioning to my husband like this, “Imagine
interviewing twenty of your best friends for a job for which they’re
over-qualified, then not being able to hire most of them because there are
only three slots.” He looked
horrified. That’s what we have to go through.
Your relationship with your actor friends has
to be strong enough to withstand that kind of pressure, and it’s your job to
make it as easy as possible. Reach out to them. Tell them they were wonderful.
Thank them for coming in. As the
director, you job is to see as many brilliant actors as you can, so that your
show has as many options as possible.
As a friend your job is to thank your friends for making that possible.
Your friends will thank you, and write you back, and be so
kind that you’ll be amazed. And if
one of them sends you a drunken email at 2AM berating you for not casting them,
let it go and tell them you love them. Be a lover, not a fighter.
In many ways, I think, this post is a love letter to the pavement-pounding
actors of New York. Actors are New
York’s best and brightest, one of this city’s most potent natural resource. I could’ve cast my show three times
over from the people we saw. And
actors, how do you get off-book so quickly?
I don’t just mean sort of off-book. I mean like totally and 100% off-book. And how do you take
adjustments and change your performance just like that? It’s really amazing. You’re really
amazing. You are the greatest subsidizers of art in this country.
Bless you all.
mb
p.s. And please comment - there is so much mystery around the auditioning process, and one of my goals in this post was to blow that open, and get a dialogue going about what you like in auditions, what you don't. Talk to me!
