Student Blog: Audition Season

I am back on campus which means that it is audition season at Yale. There are many student productions for students who want to try their hand at direction. After application, students are granted a sum of money to put towards the rights for the shows they are directing as well as other aspects of the production like props and costume. Thankfully, there are many free resources for students to access such as the Yale costume shop and prop shop. At these places, students can find materials to start their production off which leaves little left to be purchased. There are often many people on campus willing to be a part of the production even if they are not directly on stage. There are many interested in producing, stage managing, lighting design, scenic design, or the orchestra pit. It is nice to see so many of my friends branching out into directing their own shows and taking on larger plays and musicals. With so many people willing to volunteer their time, so many productions are able to take off during each semester. With that being said, there is so much to audition for coming back to campus. In order to organize everything, I took a chunk of time to sit down and start signing up for a bunch of different shows. These productions usually have very flexible schedules which allow you to do multiple at once! I was speaking to a friend about how auditioning feels like the worst part of the whole process and once you get past it, everything feels far smoother. Auditioning comes with so much preparation with learning new monologues and songs. Then that first round is followed by a series of callbacks with even more to learn and prepare for. Despite going through the process so many times, I still get anxious. This happens even in cases where I know everyone behind the table. I get still get nervous because auditioning really feels like one of those situations where you only get one shot to showcase your ability.

I am getting better at adequately preparing for auditions. Although many directors and production teams are fine with actors referencing sources for their lyrics and monologues, I found that I am least nervous when I have committed to memorizing or becoming familiar with the audition material to some extent. Memorization allows me to have more confidence and range when making acting choices without having to constantly look back at the paper. Each new audition season at Yale, I feel that I learn something new to bring with me into the next. I hope that by the end of my senior year, I have accumulated the most effective set of strategies to bring with me into a potential career.