Student Blog: A Week in the Life: Audition Edition

Since I’ve gone back to school, my time has been split between classes, writing for my college’s newspaper, and lots and lots of theater. I’m in two productions right now—Legally Blonde and Newsies, also known as arguably two of the most iconic 21st century musicals—and auditions happened to be just a few days apart, making the first week of September a theater-filled week of craziness.

For this blog, I thought we could reminisce together. So here’s a look into a week in my life, audition edition. 

Saturday, September 2nd: Auditions day 1! This day was spent practicing, practicing, practicing. My friends and I like to rehearse together before auditions to have people who aren’t us hear what we’re planning to perform, and it’s always fun to see what songs they pick that show off their voices. 

Since it was the first weekend of the semester, this day also consisted of a Meet and Theat event: an opportunity for freshmen and people new to the theater community at Penn to chat with representatives from every theater group. At auditions themselves, we also had to sunshine: having a friendly face outside the audition room to make sure people feel comfortable and know that they know what to do. And of course, there’s the actual audition: there are always nerves, but over the last year I’ve been working on getting more confident, and I think it’s been paying off.

Sunday, September 3rd: A bit of an atypical day, to say the least! My friend and I took the train up to New York to see Little Shop of Horrors, starring the one and only Broadway heartthrob Jeremy Jordan—who happened to originate Jack Kelly in Newsies, the show I’d auditioned for the night before! We’ve now seen two Broadway heartthrobs in 2023 (Aaron Tveit in Moulin Rouge, and now Jeremy Jordan) and it’s been money well-spent: the show was absolutely incredible. It was our first off-Broadway show that we’d ever seen, and the intimacy of the theater combined with the incredible costumes, set, and cast made the experience absolutely unforgettable. And, of course, having a conversation with Jeremy himself at the stage door and getting my Playbill signed made it even more worth it—see the included picture—let's just say I was starstruck. 

But of course, all good days must come to an end: when we got back to campus, it was time to wait for callback lists—which took until quite late in the evening to be sent out. Although it was stressful, it all worked out well: a lot of us got the callbacks we were hoping for, which is always a confidence boost after the vulnerability of auditions. For shows at Penn under the Theater Arts Council umbrella, you can audition for as many shows as you want and can get callbacks for any of them, but then when it comes time for casting you are only allowed to accept a role in one show since rehearsal times are the same for any show. 

Monday, September 4th: A day to take a breather—sort of. This was a day to catch up on homework from the weekend, practice for auditions for Legally Blonde, and debrief about callback lists from the weekend’s auditions and start prepping that material. Because let’s be real: it’s theater, there’s always something to talk about! 

Tuesday, September 5th: Back to school! This was only the second week of the semester, so thankfully classes weren’t too crazy yet, but between auditions, callbacks, and classes this day led into a crazy week. This was also the day we all auditioned for Legally Blonde, which was in front of a professional directing team. Although this group guarantees you a role in every show once you’re in the company, auditions are still nerve wracking. There’s always a role (or roles) you’re aiming for, and you want them to think you’re capable of performing those roles.

This day was also callback prep day for the shows we’d all auditioned for over the weekend, including learning a dance call. It was another chaotic, theater-filled day in a week full of them. 

Wednesday, September 6th and Thursday, September 7th: Classes, homework, and callbacks, oh my! Callbacks are always a crazy experience: running around from building to building is a hallmark of the TAC-e callback experience, so it’s always chaotic but fun! And then, of course, Thursday was casting night. Throughout auditions, it’s drilled into you to keep your phone on and loud starting at 10pm and keep it on until you get a casting call or you see the email come out with the cast lists for the shows you auditioned for. 

In case you didn’t know COVID was still around, half my friends ended up getting COVID the week of callbacks, so we sat on a Zoom call for three hours instead of hanging out in person, since none of us wanted to be alone waiting for calls. Plus, that way, you can celebrate with people you know will support you. 

Friday, September 8th and Saturday, September 9th: This was really a time to breathe. We all caught up on homework, recovered from the first set of auditions, and, of course, prepared for another set of callbacks on Sunday for Legally Blonde.  

Sunday, September 10th: This marked the official end of the audition process: Legally Blonde casting day. Callbacks consisted of an hour long dance call (fun but tiring!) immediately into singing, acting, and then waiting for yet another phone call. But at last, by 6pm that day, auditions for the fall season were officially over. 

So yes, audition week is crazy. But it’s fun, even with all the stress, and that’s why we all do it. In the end, we know we’ll have fun in any rehearsal rooms we end up in - I know I'm having fun in both shows I'm in, and I wouldn't have it any other way. The theater community at Penn might be constantly filled with chaos and drama, but it’s one I’m so happy I’ve found a home in.  

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