Ola readers, so over the last few months we have hosted quite a few agent showcases and from sitting in on many of them we have gathered a TON of info that we think will be super helpful for future auditions. I am going to breakdown scene type, length, partners and a few other things that we think are crucial to a good audition.
1. Length of piece You want to pick a piece that showcases your best attributes within a good amount of time. We have come to realize that a three minute monologue/scene is kind of the sweet spot and is probably where you want to be. Less than that is too short and you definitely want to avoid doing a long drawn out scene that may have the agent thinking, “when is this gonna end?” A solid three minutes is much better than an alright five minutes. Pick a three minute peiece and really work the hell out of it till its ready to be presented.
2. Picking the piece First, you should decide on whether to do a monologue or a scene. This is completely up to you, however if you decide to go with a scene make sure your scene partner is just as experienced or more experienced than you. Remember you are looking to present your best work and in a scene you are only as good as your weakest link. That might sound a bit mean and I’m totally not trying to be at all. It is important that you are both just as familiar with the material as one another or the audition will suffer. Next, try to avoid deep drama when doing a workshop. We all love to showcase our range and even shed a tear from time to time but for some reason it just doesnt translate the way we want when doing these showcases. We have realized that the best auditions are those that show your talent and also present YOUR CHARM. You want to make whoever is watching remember and like you. Be charming, so many of you are just so naturally charming then you do an audition about killing three people and its like….that was unexpected.
We know you guys can act, but pick the right material for the right circumstance. Remember you have a few minutes on zoom to make someone like you. Act your ass of and charm them and I promise your chances of getting signed will be higher. Finally, try to stay away from very difficult theater pieces. We have seen scenes from some of the greatest plays of all time and all though we love your ambition that material is very very difficult to do. For example, trying to pull off Long Days Journey Into Night in a five minute zoom time slot is literally impossible. Actors work on that material for five years before trying to actually tackle it. We don’t want to discourage you from working on these pieces, in fact quite the opposite. You should work on all the great plays forever and don’t stop. Just avoid them when doing a showcase. It just doesn’t translate well. But work on them in class….all the time 🙂
3. Perception Vs. Reality Practice your pieces in the mirror and in front of your camera before you do it on zoom. A lot of times we perceive it is going to look a certain way but the reality is much different. Don’t do a lot of moving around, pick a nice medium shot so they can see you and stay away from props if you can. If you are going to use a prop practice with it on camera and in front of a mirror. Remember, props want to kill actors. If you can, record your audtion and watch it before you do it at the showcase. See what it really looks like vs what you think it will. Recording yoruself and watching it back may sound dreadful to many (I hate watchig myself) but it can be a game changer.
Ok guys, thats really it. We want you guys to know that you are honestly all doing really great. It is impressive to see the level of talent in these showcases and we really want you guys to get signed and be out there working. Hopefully these small tips help. You are all fantatsic, these are just a few things we noticed that we thought we should share.
