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Auditions Articles for Drama Teachers

Browse 31 auditions articles

Directing & Production

Tips for Casting a Musical Revue

Musical revues are a great choice for a school production. There is no limit on how many students you can cast, you can tailor the casting of the show to fit the skills and talents of the students...
Directing & Production

Pros and Cons: Open Auditions vs. Closed Auditions

There are various methods of having students audition for your upcoming theatrical production. The most common methods are having students present a prepared monologue and/or song or doing cold...
Curriculum & Lesson Planning

The Audition Toolkit

Auditions require more than talent. Even the most talented students need confidence, communication, active listening, flexibility, a strong work ethic, and proper preparation. The Audition Toolkit...
Directing & Production

Round-up: Best casting advice for fellow directors

Every production requires the right blend of individuals to help tell the story. As theatre teachers, the challenge is finding these individuals and matching them to the parts that will best bring...
Curriculum & Lesson Planning

Thoughts on Gender & Casting

Casting a show, or even a class reading, is a tricky business. It takes care and thought to find just the right person to fill each role. As the song “I Hope I Get It” from A Chorus Line says, “How...
Directing & Production

Putting on a Class Production Part 3: Casting

**This is the third part of a five part class production series. Check out Part 1: What to Produce? and Part 2: Who Does What?. Things are moving along well with your class production. You’ve...
Acting Technique

How to Practice Cold Reading

Cold reading (or sight reading) is where actors read aloud from a script, scene, or text with little to no advanced preparation. It’s frequently used in auditions either instead of or in addition...
Acting Technique

Creating Your Audition Toolkit – Songs

In our last post, we talked about creating a monologue notebook to help students collect and reflect on various monologues that could be useful for any upcoming auditions. In this post, we’ll be...
Curriculum & Lesson Planning

Creating Your Audition Toolkit – Monologues

Finding the perfect monologue for an upcoming audition is often challenging. Students want to have the best piece possible, but may not know how to go about finding a good monologue, or what even...
Games & Exercises

Three “Get to Know You” Games

One of the most common activities that occurs during a first drama class or rehearsal is some form of a “Get to Know You” game. Starting with games is not just a nice break for students who may...
Acting Technique

How to Deal: Not Getting the Part You Wanted

Teachers: Not getting the part you want can be devastating! If you have a student who is unhappy with their casting result, here is a frank and honest list that you can share with your students. It...
Directing & Production

Pros and Cons of Double-Casting

In theatrical terms, double-casting is when two actors are both cast in the same role, and take turns playing the role during alternating performances. It is different than casting an understudy....
Acting Technique

There Are No Small Parts

Are small parts a major letdown, or are they “actor crack”? Here are 3 tips that show you and your students how to make the most of a small part. 1. Play that small part as if the character is the...
Directing & Production

Casting Challenge: Not Enough Actors!

Our next casting challenge is the exact opposite of our last post. What happens when you have fewer actors than named parts in the script? This can be a great acting challenge for students, as it...
Games & Exercises

Casting Challenge: Too Many Actors!

Having a large number of students auditioning for your school show can be a good problem to have: • You have more actors to choose from. • A bigger group means more potential learning opportunities...
Directing & Production

Pros & Cons of Callbacks

Imagine this: You’ve just completed your audition for the school production. You’re feeling really confident and happy with your performance. You can’t wait to find out who is going to be playing...