So you want to be a star; first you must audition

Every show at Lyric Theatre begins with the audition process, a time when the directors and producer gather together the best talent in the area and force them to compete for our approval. I'm kidding of course, we are always grateful for the high level of talent we see at auditions and the process of casting a show is one of the most difficult parts of the job. For the Mikado, we had over 50 people audition for us, each one seemingly more and more talented. Of those who auditioned we had to cast a show of just 9 leads and a chorus of 17. As you can imagine, this requires a lot of debate and give and take among the production staff to cast the best person for each role.

For the staff the whole process begins about a month before the audition dates. During this time, we work on creating an audition notice that has a show synopsis along with the lead roles for the show and a short description of each character. That notice is then sent off into the vast expanse of the internet through our mailing list as well as posting to various message boards and Facebook groups dedicated to informing Bay Area actors about audition opportunities. Before anyone knows it, the audition date rolls around and we gather together to listen to each prospective candidate. The directors are listening for musical ability as well as style and natural acting ability, occasionally we will have a "cold reading" where we provide a number of lines from the show and ask each candidate to read one, this is an opportunity for our stage director to see how each candidate approaches a role without any direction. After 2-3 days of auditions, the staff will meet to discuss who will be "called back" for which role. Call backs are where we provide music and dialogue from the show and ask each candidate to prepare this material. Each role will have 2-3 people called back and from those candidates we will cast the show (chorus members are not called back, but cast from the larger pool of candidate).

After call backs production staff begins the arduous task of casting the show. More often than not, we simply wish we could cast everyone who auditioned for us, but unfortunately that is not an option. We will spend hours pouring over our notes about all our candidates and discussing their performance and how they would fit with the artistic vision for the show. As I mentioned earlier, this is a long process and my personal record so far has been 3 o'clock in the morning to fully cast a show! In the end, we contact everyone who auditioned for us and tell them the good news, or in some cases the bad news, and move on to working on other tasks. Next time we will talk about one of those tasks, set design.

Ewa as Perichole
photo courtesy Steve Stubbs

Before we go, I wanted to share another perspective of the audition process with you, that of the person auditioning. I asked Ewa Nowicka who most recently stared as the title role of La Périchole with Lyric to tell me a bit about her process of auditioning. Obviously, the first task is to decide if you want to audition for the show, this can be a question of interest in a show, available roles, location of company and performance venue, etc. Assuming you decide to audition the next step is to sign up for an audition slot (Lyric uses an online booking system allowing our candidates to pick the time that works best from our available pool). Then you have to decide what song you are going to audition with; do you want a song from the show that will show off your compatibility with a desired role or do you pick a song from another show that shows off your range and acting ability. Finally, no matter how many times you audition there is always the challenge of working with a new pianist (often you don't know who it will be until you walk through the door) and overcoming your nerves. For all the work actors put into their auditions, they have about 6 minutes to make an impression on the production staff and secure a call back!

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