Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Worst Audition Ever

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ilove2act
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Joined: 11/25/06
Location: United States
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Posted: 12/10/06 at 10:17pm

One of the kids in my children's theater production asked to skip a rehearsal in the week befor Hell week so she could go to an audition at the local TV station. I granted her the request and joked with her if she made it big she had to thank me. It was down from 100's of kids to a select few and the director was asking them all the same question when the were in a line up on stage. I have always told my kids, "Don't be first, Don't be last, Be UNFORGETABLE in the middle." So there she was in the middle, thinking of a great answer to the SAME question he was asking all the other girls. He got to her, asked the question and she delivered a wonderful answer and instead of moving to the next girl he asked her another question. She was silent as she thought, she then answered and he complemented and thanked her and she ended it right there when she said "Thank you Mam" Needless to say, she didn't get the part and she blames me for being in her head.

All I had to say was, "I can only take you so far honey!"LOL

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POB14
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Joined: 7/01/05
Location: United States
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Posts: 349

Posted: 12/11/06 at 9:36am

Hey, at least she was unforgettable!

POB
Old Bugger, Curmudgeon, and Antisocial B**tard

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ComebackKid
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Joined: 3/07/07
Location: United States
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Posts: 0

Posted: 3/11/07 at 10:06am

My worst audition was not for a show but for a university program...and it was not just one audition, but an entire day of humiliation.

Among other schools, I auditioned for the Cincinnatti Conservatory of Music, both for the musical theater program and the voice program. My musical theater audition was early in the morning, and the first thing was the dance audition (two hours long, which consisted of about an hour of ballet class, followed by learning and performing a dance combination).

At the end of the dance audition, they started cutting people and invited only some of the people to come back to sing and act. I did not make the cut, and I had a complete meltdown (I prefer to think of it as a "diva moment"). I stormed up to the judges and shrieked at them that I had flown all the way across the country for this audition, that singing was my real strength, and by God they WOULD hear me sing! (Hey, this was something like 30 years ago...give me a break!) In retrospect I think it was a combination of stress, fatigue and disappointment. Surprisingly, they let me stay and sing...and not surprisingly, I did not get offered a place in the program.

My voice audition was later that afternoon, and I was still rattled from my musical theater audition (which was the program I really wanted). The first song they asked to hear was an opera aria with a loooooong piano introduction and then starting on a very difficult high note (okay, it was "Una Furtiva Lagrima"), which had never given me problems before. The pianist played the introduction, and I sang the first note....in the completely wrong key. I stopped dead in my tracks and asked if I could start again. Same loooooong piano introduction, and once again I croaked out the wrong first note, this time even further off. At that point I burst into tears and started blubbering about how this never happened and I didn't know what was wrong.

They were very nice about it and told me to take 15 minutes and go outside for some fresh air and then come back. When I came back, I was somehow able to get the first note right, but I was certainly not at my best. Would you believe I didn't get a spot in the voice program either?

The story has a happy ending. I did get into the BFA musical theater program at far less prestigious university, and it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. I got terrific roles and tons of experience that I'm sure I never would have gotten at Cincinnatti.

Comeback Kid

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theactordavid
Lead
Lead

Joined: 5/29/06
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 44

Posted: 5/23/07 at 11:57am

Another worst is best story:

At the age of 13, I accompany a friend to an audition as we are on our way to a party. He wants to audition for a youth production of 1984 for our local arts council. I want to go to the party. I sit in the corner waiting. Many friends and schoolmates there. The director has no script, so he chooses sections of dialogue from the novel. Everyone reads. Very dramatic, you can imagine. He turns to me. "What about you?" "I'm just here with my friend, we're going to a party." "Well, you're here now, why don't you read?" "Oh, no, I'm just waiting for my friend." "Yes, but while you're waiting, why don't you read?" "I don't think--" "Oh, come on, you ---" "Alright, jeez, already." I read. I make jokes, ham it up, mugging, totally not what Orwell had in mind. Hey, what can I say? Never been in a play, never auditioned before, had no clue about acting, didn't even want to be there, just wanted to go to the party. Got the lead, my friend got supporting role. Stayed friends anyway. When the applause died down, I thought, "yeah, I like this". Nearly forty years later....

There are no small roles, only roles with a low line-load and minimal stage time.

http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com

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AngelSong76
Walk-On
Walk-On

Joined: 5/08/07
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 0

Posted: 6/22/07 at 9:41pm

Hmm... I just had my worst audition ever only a few days ago. Then again, I'm pretty new at this, so there haven't been many. My community theatre is doing Hamlet right now and auditions were Monday. It rained and I was soaking wet when I entered the theatre, not to mention the rain had practically washed my contacts out of my eyes. So there I was, trying to read the page they wanted for audition, and one of my contacts folded in my eye. I couldn't see a thing! I had to look down at the paper with one eye just to read it, and then when I looked up at the actor who was reading Hamlet and I know he thought I was winking at him or something! Not being able to read property, I messed up most of the lines and left the theatre feeling pretty stupid.

Needless to say, I didn't get a part. But it is going to work out fine because I wanted an opportunity to work backstage, so here's my chance!

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sparkingdiamond
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Joined: 8/27/07
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 0

Posted: 8/27/07 at 2:11pm

hahahaha my worst audition was in middle school, we did Seussical. The director told us we could either audition in the morning with the pianist or in the afternoon with a CD. I decided to be a smartass and audition in the morning with the pianist so it would be like a real audition.

Well, as everyone knows, it's not always your best performance in the morning, especially when you decide to sing I Dreamed A Dream for SEUSSICAL.

Long story short, I got a tiny supporting role with 3 lines, and my younger sister got the lead.

Never doing THAT again...haha

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whitebat
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Joined: 8/05/07
Location: United States
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Posts: 137

Posted: 8/27/07 at 8:37pm

"Twelfth Night" at CSU. Nobody told me "Twelfth Night" was a musical. Everyone else there has major theater or at least English background. I chose what must be one of the most obscure monologs in Shakespeare. And I had to dance, which I just try to avoid, and I had cowboy boots on, and when I took them off my sock had a huge hole in it. But I learned how they run a musical audition for real, and I hope I made the other people at the audition feel better.

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SherrieAnne
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Star

Joined: 8/08/06
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 72

Posted: 9/09/07 at 4:38pm

In college, I got a call from a friend that there was an audition for THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK...in ten minutes. My first audition. Mind you, this is the mid-1970s, & I was just planning to be hitting the library that afternoon - I was dressed in a long t-shirt & jeans with the outseams split to the knee, with hand-decorated sneakers & Marsha Brady pigtails. No time to change - the theatre was on the other side of campus. Now, I've always been a large gal, so the part for me is Mrs. Van Dann. As I read the part about still having good legs, I stuck mine out...and my jeans leg fell away, revealing knee socks with wide red, white & blue stripes. I was mortified. And needless to say, I didn't get the part.

There's a little bit of diva in all of us. Some just have a larger helping than others.

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biggertigger
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Joined: 4/16/07
Location: United States
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Posts: 188

Posted: 9/20/07 at 9:56pm

I had just moved to California (I was going to be a star

) and went right down to my first audition there. I had a monologue all planned, a musical number all planned and arrived with my Polaroid head shot (hey, I was poor). Needless to say, they handed everyone a new song to sing (which I never heard) so instead of wowwing them I fell flat with all this wonderful training I had.

Well, like everyone has mentioned "needless to say" I didn't get the part, but the director was really kind to pull me off to the side and tell me that he felt I had potential and that I needed to learn how to audition better.

I stuck it out and ended up auditioning for him again a few years later, I didn't get the part, but I did make a good friendship with him after that. He keeps encouraging me to move back out to California again.

The two greatest days in a theater persons life, the day you start a new show and the day the damn thing closes.

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Gaafa
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Joined: 3/21/04
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1181

Posted: 9/21/07 at 10:03pm

But do you really need all that Sun, Surf 'n Ssss ? Confused

{wots the word again???
Oh yes!
Ssus.. su..
sunsceen Approve

}
The Glam 'n Glitz of gold bricks would be Thumbs%20Up

though!

Joe
Western Gondawandaland
turn right @ Perth.
Hear the light & see the sound.
Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"}
May you always play
to a full house}

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Acting
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Producing Theater :Acting

Topic: Worst Audition Ever( Topic Closed)
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Author	Message
ilove2act Walk-On Joined: 11/25/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 12/10/06 at 10:17pm
	One of the kids in my children's theater production asked to skip a rehearsal in the week befor Hell week so she could go to an audition at the local TV station. I granted her the request and joked with her if she made it big she had to thank me. It was down from 100's of kids to a select few and the director was asking them all the same question when the were in a line up on stage. I have always told my kids, "Don't be first, Don't be last, Be UNFORGETABLE in the middle." So there she was in the middle, thinking of a great answer to the SAME question he was asking all the other girls. He got to her, asked the question and she delivered a wonderful answer and instead of moving to the next girl he asked her another question. She was silent as she thought, she then answered and he complemented and thanked her and she ended it right there when she said "Thank you Mam" Needless to say, she didn't get the part and she blames me for being in her head. All I had to say was, "I can only take you so far honey!"LOL
	IP Logged

POB14 Celebrity Joined: 7/01/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 349	Posted: 12/11/06 at 9:36am
	Hey, at least she was unforgettable!
	POB Old Bugger, Curmudgeon, and Antisocial B**tard
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ComebackKid Walk-On Joined: 3/07/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 3/11/07 at 10:06am
	My worst audition was not for a show but for a university program...and it was not just one audition, but an entire day of humiliation. Among other schools, I auditioned for the Cincinnatti Conservatory of Music, both for the musical theater program and the voice program. My musical theater audition was early in the morning, and the first thing was the dance audition (two hours long, which consisted of about an hour of ballet class, followed by learning and performing a dance combination). At the end of the dance audition, they started cutting people and invited only some of the people to come back to sing and act. I did not make the cut, and I had a complete meltdown (I prefer to think of it as a "diva moment"). I stormed up to the judges and shrieked at them that I had flown all the way across the country for this audition, that singing was my real strength, and by God they WOULD hear me sing! (Hey, this was something like 30 years ago...give me a break!) In retrospect I think it was a combination of stress, fatigue and disappointment. Surprisingly, they let me stay and sing...and not surprisingly, I did not get offered a place in the program. My voice audition was later that afternoon, and I was still rattled from my musical theater audition (which was the program I really wanted). The first song they asked to hear was an opera aria with a loooooong piano introduction and then starting on a very difficult high note (okay, it was "Una Furtiva Lagrima"), which had never given me problems before. The pianist played the introduction, and I sang the first note....in the completely wrong key. I stopped dead in my tracks and asked if I could start again. Same loooooong piano introduction, and once again I croaked out the wrong first note, this time even further off. At that point I burst into tears and started blubbering about how this never happened and I didn't know what was wrong. They were very nice about it and told me to take 15 minutes and go outside for some fresh air and then come back. When I came back, I was somehow able to get the first note right, but I was certainly not at my best. Would you believe I didn't get a spot in the voice program either? The story has a happy ending. I did get into the BFA musical theater program at far less prestigious university, and it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. I got terrific roles and tons of experience that I'm sure I never would have gotten at Cincinnatti. Comeback Kid
	IP Logged

theactordavid Lead Joined: 5/29/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 44	Posted: 5/23/07 at 11:57am
	Another worst is best story: At the age of 13, I accompany a friend to an audition as we are on our way to a party. He wants to audition for a youth production of 1984 for our local arts council. I want to go to the party. I sit in the corner waiting. Many friends and schoolmates there. The director has no script, so he chooses sections of dialogue from the novel. Everyone reads. Very dramatic, you can imagine. He turns to me. "What about you?" "I'm just here with my friend, we're going to a party." "Well, you're here now, why don't you read?" "Oh, no, I'm just waiting for my friend." "Yes, but while you're waiting, why don't you read?" "I don't think--" "Oh, come on, you ---" "Alright, jeez, already." I read. I make jokes, ham it up, mugging, totally not what Orwell had in mind. Hey, what can I say? Never been in a play, never auditioned before, had no clue about acting, didn't even want to be there, just wanted to go to the party. Got the lead, my friend got supporting role. Stayed friends anyway. When the applause died down, I thought, "yeah, I like this". Nearly forty years later....
	There are no small roles, only roles with a low line-load and minimal stage time. http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com
	IP Logged

AngelSong76 Walk-On Joined: 5/08/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 6/22/07 at 9:41pm
	Hmm... I just had my worst audition ever only a few days ago. Then again, I'm pretty new at this, so there haven't been many. My community theatre is doing Hamlet right now and auditions were Monday. It rained and I was soaking wet when I entered the theatre, not to mention the rain had practically washed my contacts out of my eyes. So there I was, trying to read the page they wanted for audition, and one of my contacts folded in my eye. I couldn't see a thing! I had to look down at the paper with one eye just to read it, and then when I looked up at the actor who was reading Hamlet and I know he thought I was winking at him or something! Not being able to read property, I messed up most of the lines and left the theatre feeling pretty stupid. Needless to say, I didn't get a part. But it is going to work out fine because I wanted an opportunity to work backstage, so here's my chance!
	IP Logged

sparkingdiamond Walk-On Joined: 8/27/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 8/27/07 at 2:11pm
	hahahaha my worst audition was in middle school, we did Seussical. The director told us we could either audition in the morning with the pianist or in the afternoon with a CD. I decided to be a smartass and audition in the morning with the pianist so it would be like a real audition. Well, as everyone knows, it's not always your best performance in the morning, especially when you decide to sing I Dreamed A Dream for SEUSSICAL. Long story short, I got a tiny supporting role with 3 lines, and my younger sister got the lead. Never doing THAT again...haha
	IP Logged

whitebat Celebrity Joined: 8/05/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 137	Posted: 8/27/07 at 8:37pm
	"Twelfth Night" at CSU. Nobody told me "Twelfth Night" was a musical. Everyone else there has major theater or at least English background. I chose what must be one of the most obscure monologs in Shakespeare. And I had to dance, which I just try to avoid, and I had cowboy boots on, and when I took them off my sock had a huge hole in it. But I learned how they run a musical audition for real, and I hope I made the other people at the audition feel better.
	IP Logged

SherrieAnne Star Joined: 8/08/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 72	Posted: 9/09/07 at 4:38pm
	In college, I got a call from a friend that there was an audition for THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK...in ten minutes. My first audition. Mind you, this is the mid-1970s, & I was just planning to be hitting the library that afternoon - I was dressed in a long t-shirt & jeans with the outseams split to the knee, with hand-decorated sneakers & Marsha Brady pigtails. No time to change - the theatre was on the other side of campus. Now, I've always been a large gal, so the part for me is Mrs. Van Dann. As I read the part about still having good legs, I stuck mine out...and my jeans leg fell away, revealing knee socks with wide red, white & blue stripes. I was mortified. And needless to say, I didn't get the part.
	There's a little bit of diva in all of us. Some just have a larger helping than others.
	IP Logged

biggertigger Celebrity Joined: 4/16/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 188	Posted: 9/20/07 at 9:56pm
	I had just moved to California (I was going to be a star ) and went right down to my first audition there. I had a monologue all planned, a musical number all planned and arrived with my Polaroid head shot (hey, I was poor). Needless to say, they handed everyone a new song to sing (which I never heard) so instead of wowwing them I fell flat with all this wonderful training I had. Well, like everyone has mentioned "needless to say" I didn't get the part, but the director was really kind to pull me off to the side and tell me that he felt I had potential and that I needed to learn how to audition better. I stuck it out and ended up auditioning for him again a few years later, I didn't get the part, but I did make a good friendship with him after that. He keeps encouraging me to move back out to California again.
	The two greatest days in a theater persons life, the day you start a new show and the day the damn thing closes.
	IP Logged

Gaafa Celebrity Joined: 3/21/04 Location: Australia Online Status: Offline Posts: 1181	Posted: 9/21/07 at 10:03pm
	But do you really need all that Sun, Surf 'n Ssss ? {wots the word again??? Oh yes! Ssus.. su.. sunsceen} The Glam 'n Glitz of gold bricks would be though!
	Joe Western Gondawandaland turn right @ Perth. Hear the light & see the sound. Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} May you always play to a full house}
	IP Logged