Here are some of the directors' reflections on the audition process:
James Plummer...
It was a rough process. Long nights. Bright lights. Tired eyes. Weary sighs. Though exhausting, occasionally dull, rather unending, and sometimes painful, it was glorious when people succeeded, especially those who we did not expect to do well. NIGHT 1 WARM-UPS: When we started the warm-ups on Wednesday, everyone seemed really focused and into it; the stage was silent with the soft steps of actors, an occasional snicker from a pubescent male, and the systematic bellowing of a number. NIGHT 2 WARM-UPS: Everyone was much more excited or just really unfocused… hopefully the former. There was a lot of vivacity on Night 2 as everyone exhibited great enthusiasm toward every activity. When the night began, I was nervous that people may mistake others’ enthusiasm for unfocused behavior. Fortunately, the group remained attentive and we continued forth through the night.
Sarah Carlson...
Lawrence Academy’s 2013 One Act auditions on Wednesday and Thursday went remarkably well. We split up into pairs to host each of the activities each night. We started off with a game called “Look up, look down”, where people stand in a circle and scream bloody murder when they catch someone else’s eye. It was interesting seeing who took it seriously or not- it was very clear when they did not. Next we played “Yes and”, which involves people, in this case, planning Philip’s birthday party. Someone would interrupt someone else and build off their ideas. Then we played “Flying Disc”, which involved the auditioners balancing on a floating disc in space, where the four people in the center had to carefully balance each other’s weight in order to not go flying off into space. It was life or death- some people realized that, others didn’t. Then, we gave each auditioner a prompt and they had to come up with an answer immediately. This tested creativity, nervousness, and just gave us a general idea of what the person would do as a go-to acting choice. Finally, we instructed each auditioner to pick one of three scenes to read with a person of the opposite gender, as well as to learn a monologue. It was interesting seeing all the different takes on the same scenes. Especially with the girls’ monologue- Naomi in the Living Room- many of the girls tried playing it as if the were mentally insane, while others thought of it as much less insane.
Jillian Thero...
The
audition process was a lot more difficult than I had expected it to be. I had
planned on it being difficult to find people that would do my parts justice,
but I didn't realize that all the other members of Honors Theatre would be so
steadfast on their own choices, many of those choices having nothing to do with
me…except that one debacle between Haley, Connor, Joe and I. I understand I
guess, you have a dream cast and you would do anything to keep that exact cast,
but there does have to be some leeway and I think that after two hours most of
us were just fed up and gave up on some of our choices, which was kind and helped
us as a group solve problems.
One
thing I really liked was watching people take direction after we asked them to
read again. I thought that it was very helpful to watch them do that and I wish
that the night before all of us felt a little more comfortable in our roles as
directors. I think all of us really got the hang of the auditions... although
the first night the group listened more and that helped. For me watching the
monologues and the improv really helped me. Since my roles are all somewhat
narration, not somewhat they are narration, I think they really helped me
decided on who would fit what best and how clearly they would be able to
dictate the language of my piece, which is extremely important because it is
such a serious topic.
Jimmy Lawrence...
The auditions went well.
Surprisingly so. I was first surprised by the turnout we got, just in sheer
number of auditioners, because earlier in the process one
of my concerns was that with 10
plays being put on, we would either need really small casts or to cast just
about everyone we could, but with such a strong show of interest from across
all Lawrence Academy walks of life it turned out to be no problem. The
“auditioners” were energetic and
all seemed genuinely to want in on the One Acts action, which only made it more
difficult to have to turn so many students away. When we started getting the
first day’s worth of auditioners warming up, I was surprised how quickly so
many of our peers changed from their everyday demeanors to much more
focused--dare I say almost professional--manners. They listened to directions,
didn’t chitter-chatter in between activities (much), and committed to whatever
scenes or questions they had to react to. The second group kept up the energy
from the first day, and provided a more than broad variety of actors from which
to choose.
When it came time for all of us
to get together and deliberate (Read: fight) over who we would be
casting, it took about two hours for us to finally settle on who got who, and
everyone seemed pretty thrilled about their casts.
It’s been a long two days of
rigorous vetting, but I believe we’re just about ready to get underway with the
rehearsal process proper, and will soon be presenting to you the very best
shows we can possibly offer.
Philip Titcomb...
Going
into One Act auditions, I felt very nervous, yet very excited about the
upcoming casting process. I knew that I would need two characters, one playing
Harper, a bubbly, yet excitable young woman, and Cameron, a more stoic,
straightforward kind of person. I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted Cameron’s
gender to be, but I was hoping that I would be able to figure that out based on
people’s auditions.
Once
the auditions themselves began, I was quickly able to separate the people who
took the games seriously, and those who just wanted to make their friends
laugh, eliminating the latter. I especially needed people who would be able to
truly recreate a Ferris Wheel with their physical theatre abilities, so I
needed people who could truly command their entire bodies and remain balanced
at all times. I observed everyone carefully as they tried to remain steady as
they tried to balance on a floating disc in space. The people I ended up
casting, Adrian and Gib, could both fully commit to the absurdity that was the
floating disc.
During
the improvisation scenes, both Adrian and Gib had the ability to do what I was
looking for—I needed people who could think on their feet. Also, during the
pre-scripted scenes and monologues, both Adrian and Gib were articulate. Adrian
had a masculine, yet not dominating demeanor that would have allowed him to
play Cameron. Gib had a very feminine manner, and she could play the type of
girl that shows up fifteen minutes late, holding a Starbucks; the type of girl
that Harper is. Cameron is a lot calmer and a lot more reserved, yet still
interesting to watch, making Adrian a good match.
Our
group casting process was very difficult, but eventually everyone was happy
with the results. I look forward to working with my cast!
Kacey Hartner...
Auditions
were a lot of fun. As I expected, people surprised me. I had ideas of what I
wanted, and tried my hardest not to pre-cast. I went in 100% open minded, which
was helpful in the end, because none of the auditioners I selected were in my
head in the slightest to begin with. It was interesting to see some of these
kids out of their element, but from a director’s standpoint. I was impressed, as
a normal audience member might be, but was also especially glad to find the
potential they all had even after I dissected their auditions.
There were of course moments that I knew immediately whether a certain
auditioner was not fitting of my roles, but the moments where I wasn’t sure
were the most interesting. Each has something to offer, but some things were
more important in terms of my own piece. I needed sweetness, charm, innocence,
focus. If I couldn’t find this during someone’s audition, I found myself
immediately incorporating them into someone else’s piece. I
formed a dream cast, and then a second one. Other than that, I didn’t have many
options. I had my eye on about eight kids. When I didn’t get the narrators I’d
hoped for, for very fair reasons as they fit other roles of higher importance,
I was forced to channel the strengths I had noticed sporadically. I was forced
to mesh them together in ways that I hadn’t envisioned, and the more I think
about my cast, the more excited I am. I really am thrilled. It fits, it really does.
Haley Gowland...
After
two days of auditions and one long night of casting, what started with a circle
of people screaming ended with an honors theatre group hug. We are so relieved,
and eager to get working on the scripts we’ve been working on for so long. I’m
so excited to hand over my script and see it come alive.
Auditions
brought out fun sides to a lot of people. It was great to see so many people
who do theatre, dance, baseball, hockey, or lacrosse come out to play “yes and”
and try the improv. Every auditioner brought something new to the table. It was
terrible to accept that a lot of talented actors could not be cast. We had 31
roles for between 60 and 70 auditioners. When we were casting, we had to focus
on who could fit each role the best. Although we had to fight for the best fits
we collaborated with the bigger picture in mind; that each of our one-acts is only
one out of ten. We made sure to consider each other’s needs and find the best
place for each actor. Although casting
was incredibly stressful I’m not gonna lie, it was nice to be on the other side
of auditions for once!
When
casting I was looking for actors who could play two sides of one character. I
adapted “The Catbird Seat” by James Thurbur, which has been described as a
“revenge comedy.” My script will become physical and call for over dramatic
play as well as contrasting stillness. Aaron, Emma, Jess, and Lisa demonstrated
strong potential in the auditions, and I think they can really run with my
script. We will start rehearsing next week.
Connor Gowland...
The casting process is
exhausting. It is so difficult deciding on one person for each
role. I had a list of about three of four people for each of my roles and
had trouble deciding on a single person. We always have to keep in mind
that there are nine other directors who most likely want at least a few of the
same people you do. We all had to be very flexible. The audition
process was very enjoyable. Every single auditioner really got into the
games and exercises and then gave it their all for the script readings.
During the improv game “Yes And”, I took note of people who had energy and
went all out in this game. I was looking for actors who were physical and
over the top dramatic. My one act requires these qualities in an
actor. I also thought about groups of people who worked well
together. I needed a group of actors who would be able to build off of
each others’ energy, five very different people who all fit in this show.
I also watched people closely during their warm up games. During the
screaming game, I noticed someone going all out, circled their name, and then
cast her. Once we were casting people, we had to negotiate over the people
who fit into certain roles, and take those who did not have conflicts.
When I walked into the classroom to begin casting, I announced “Let the 76th annual Hunger Games Begin!” We ended the stressful night with a group hug and
happily texted our casts.
Emily Perrault...
Emily Perrault...
Auditions pleasantly surprised me, as I knew they would. I loved seeing the "non-theatre" people really step out of their element and go for it. Everyone was unbelievably talented! They made choices, they worked well together, and they weren't afraid to be goofy. Honestly, at the end of auditions, I was sure that everyone deserved to be cast, but there were only 31 spots to fill. It was a hard decision, but I'm thrilled with the outcome.
We started our casting session with a group kumbaya and a collective shout of "I love you", and then we decided (very civilly, might I add) which actors worked best for which roles and which shows. I ended up casting Shae and Eli, who I'm almost positive will work well together. They both displayed enormous potential to take my script and run with it, and I'm really excited to see where it goes.
Joe Casper...
I hate auditions. You heard me; I hate auditions. You probably expected to see some kind of fluffy blog post about how auditions were high in energy and they brought out the best in everyone. Well, that isn’t what I want to write about. Auditions suck. They sucked when I auditioned for past one acts, they sucked when I tried out for all of the LA theatre productions, and they sucked even worse as a director auditioning other actors. I’m not saying that the actors themselves sucked, they were phenomenal. I was surprised a lot by what some of the actors brought to the table, especially those who don’t normally do theatre. The thing that sucks is the process. First we try to ease the tensions with some warm ups, but even those aren’t enjoyable because we’re watching every move the actors make. Then we put them on the spot and make them improvise. And even though we tell them they don’t have to be funny, they’re going to try as hard as they can to be funny and will end up beating themselves up for not improving well enough. Finally we put scripts in their hands and tell them to rehearse for 5-10 minutes. Finally when it comes time to perform, they’re going to do their scene to the best of their ability, see somebody make an amazing choice, and then spend the rest of the audition wishing they’d thought of making that choice first. Now that auditions are “over” us directors get to duke it out over the actors we want the most. In the end, I’m immensely pleased with my cast, but it wasn’t an easy time getting them. We spent about two hours bartering and trading actors, all the while the actors at home waited to hear back from someone (anyone). It’s a horrible feeling putting someone through this grueling process only to tell them “better luck next year,” especially seniors who won’t be getting that chance. In the end we rejected half of the auditioners (or accepted half, depending on how you look at things). I think the worst part of all of this is that this process is absolutely 100% necessary. Actors and directors agree that auditions suck, but they’re a necessary part of the theatre process. And so I’ll say one more time, auditions suck. However you can’t live with em’ and you can’t live without em’.
No comments:
Post a Comment