Music Director Interview - Question Number 2

This summer I began an interview process with three lovely Music Directors. All work in different areas of the country so I wondered if their answers would vary widely to the five – very long – questions I asked them about what their preferences are when in an audition situation.

Kim Dare works in Seattle at various Equity and Non-Equity companies

Darcy Danielson is the resident Music Director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

 Jeff Caldwell works on the east coast in the New York area, on Broadway and Off Broadway.

This is Question Number 2:

 If you could tell an actor one thing NOT to do in an audition -
what would it be?

Darcy

Apologize. The other total no-no is to learn the song the night before. That just never goes well. 

Kim

Don't come un- (or under) prepared. Also – don't make excuses! If your voice is tired, let it be. A good music director should be able to hear when a voice is tired or a person is sick or congested, etc. I hate hearing an actor stand there and give excuses – it's a weak place and really annoying and unprofessional! Certainly, if there is information that should be known, find a way to communicate without sounding like you're whining or making excuses. "Before I begin, I would like to share that I had my tonsils removed just 2 weeks ago. I don't expect an issue, but feel like that's information that you should have." would be perfectly fine!

Jeff

Don't ever snap, pound out the tempo on the piano, or set the music down and walk away. Rehearse your introduction and tempo setting skills all the time so it is second nature and easy.
The ONLY exception is if you're a jazz singer or doing a jazz standard as a jazz singer in character. Since even in the highest level clubs they will snap and count the band in, it is an acceptable practice in only a few circumstances. If you plan to do this, I would have a conversation with the pianist and ask them if they mind that. I personally am not a fan of someone sitting next to me to converse, or to putting their hand on my shoulder, unless we're super good friends. Don't set water or anything else on the piano. That's my domain in an audition.
And yes, be prepared. There will always be someone better prepared than you, so why not just set the bar high and be THAT person.

 

 

 

Active Audition Book

Active Audition Book


Your audition book is different from your “storage book”. Your storage book is just that – a place where you store material. My monologue storage book looks like this

Front panel – Clear so I can slip in the title page and a different color binder than my Active Audition Book .

Title Page – Bradetta’s Audition Material –( Name this anything you want – except Active Audition Book).

• 1st Tab – Comic 
• divided classic and modern - in all 5 sections
•  2nd Tab – Dramatic 
• 3rd Tab – Serio-comic
•  4th Tab – cross gender 
• 5th Tab – for others

These may be monos I liked, grabbed, stuck in, noted the source and forget about until I am looking for something specific. I don't know exactly what I have in storage until I look through it.
I have a separate storage book for Music. I copy the entire song and note somewhere in the book the source especially if the music was hard to come by.

I do the same tabs – My title pages says Audition Songs – it’s the same color binder as the other storage – because these stay in the house I don’t panic about confusing them

My Active Audition book I don't divide these into classic/modern monologues- beacuse I know them, I'm familair with all. They are Monologues are  that: -

• I know cold and after a focus exercise I could do right now – Performance Level

– I currently have 8 of those 

•  I could do if I ran through it in my head a couple of times – Performance Level -

– I currently have 6 of those

•  I have done my work, I have memorized them – I may have even done them before in an audition but I need to look it over, remind myself who the character is, maybe go over a couple lines I have forgotten- Performance level – IF I HAD TO

- I have 6 of these

• Monologues I want to use in the future – I don’t have them memorized, I have read the play, I have started character worked – they are nowhere near performance level -

-I have 6 of those –

The tabs are thus – Performance Level – Take A Moment – Take Two Moments - Soon

This shorthand works for me - do what works for you.

That is my monologue book. We’ll talk about songs in another post. Here is also what I keep in my Active book before the tabs start- Blank sheets of Audition Reflections, This includes a Mileage Log. I also have a pocket for any parking receipts or any other expenses I might have encountered on my outing. I do this later part for tax purposes. Take a look at the Audition Reflections. After I fill them out I put these in a three ring binder named – you guessed it – Audition Reflections.

More on that in the next post!

Choosing a Monolgue Part 2. Why an Active Monologue?

Why an Active Monologue?

Simply put and active monologue has an active objective. You -the character -want something right now. This means that -right now- you are pursuing an objective, varying your tactics and hopefully your stakes are high. That is what you want to show an auditor. You know how to make e a choice, you know how to go after it. Hopefully you know more than one way to pursue what you want. If it’s a good monologue it may have more than one objective and it DEFINILTY has more than one tactic.

I only recommend using a memory monologue when you are auditioning for a play that uses memory storytelling as the main modality. i.e. The Exonerated, Juvie, Runawys, A Chorus Line, The Weir, Still Life etc. The objectives in story monologues are not always clear, they are more about telling a story and sometimes you reveal your main intent at the end of the monologue. Memory monologues can also become self-indulgent – but let’s save that for another post!

This doesn’t mean M&Ms don’t elicit emotions. They are often entertaining and moving. Paul’s monologue in A Chorus Line is one of the most powerful moments of theatre I’ve experienced. Ruined has several memory storytelling moments that brought me to tears. In my opinion they are better suited for performance, not for auditioning.