Auditioning For Broadway

What is an open call?

An Open call auditions, for a Broadway play for example, generally are advertised in trade papers like in New York here we have 'Backstage.' There's several other ones that deal with the acting community. And those say, "Hey, listen. We're doing this revival of 'Oliver' the musical and we're going to have an open call audition for it from 10:00 till 6:00 on whatever day." So on that day, people will show up and sign a list and then you have to wait. That's the thing about an open call, it's not quite as scheduled as an agent submission. Open calls generally are not the best way to book a show because generally agent submissions are where most of the roles fall out. But when somebody shows up at an open call with, as I said before, that triple threat, I can sing, I can dance, I can act and I'm incredible and they've got the confidence, then people will see it and say, "Look, this guy is for us. We've got to have him."

What is an agent submission for a Broadway audition?

Agent submissions for a Broadway audition are generally where the casting directors will call different agents and say, "Listen. We have this part" and "Who have you got who can fill the part?" The casting agent then will call an actor and say, "We've got this show. Here is the part. The audition is going to be -- whatever day-- at such and such a time." So you will have a specific time that you can go for your appointment. Say it is at 3:30 in the afternoon. You definitely want to get there a little early so you can be prepared and feel confident about what you are about to do. You will go at your time and when they call you in you will have a specific slotted time to do your work. Generally, what makes agent submissions more desirable is that the people who are in the decision-making position generally are going to be at the agent submissions; versus at the open calls, they might have people who are definitely involved in the artistic process but maybe not as powerful in terms of making final casting decisions. So the agent submission is definitely the more desirable one because then you have a chance to be with the people who are going to make the decisions in the end anyway.

What will I need for a Broadway audition?

You've definitely got to have a bucketload of talent. The Broadway theatre tradition in this country is a great and honorable and a highly sought out thing, so when you show up for a Broadway play, you've got a lot of history in back of you that says, "We're expecting something really fantastic." So you want to be there with your best. You have an audition for a Broadway play, read the play. Read the whole play. Understand it, so that when the guy says, if the director should say to you, "You know earlier this happens," and you say, "Oh, I didn't know that that was supposed to happen." Well, yeah, that's why you're saying this now. So you can cut a lot of that off by just reading the play. It is one of the simplest things you can do and one of the things that a lot of people forget about. You should be ready with what you've been asked to prepare, whether it be a song, whether it be a monologue, whether it be sections of the particular play that you want to, that you're auditioning for, and you want to be relaxed. Part of the reason you want to get there a little early is so that you can be relaxed, and be confident; feel like you're not at your wit's ends in the middle of the audition. And when the audition is going on once you start it, keep it rolling, if you can. You don't want to stop if you can possibly avoid it. Unless a chandelier falls down or something like that, keep singing, keep talking, keep doing your thing. In fact, if it falls, keep doing it.

What is a monologue?

A monologue is something that is usually cut from a play. Actors are often requested to bring a monologue. Young actors should find something that they can communicate with.

What is a 'casting couch'?

The casting couch is a term that we have used, that has been used in the acting industry for sexual favors for work. The idea is that a producer, a director, a talent buyer, somebody who is in a position to give someone a job is somebody who is in a position of power. One of the misuses of that power is to try to use it for sexual exploitation. A lovely young woman may encounter some producer, director somewhere along the line who is promising them work in exchange for the opportunity to get closer to them in a sexual way. It may happen for a young man as well, the exact same way.

What is a 'triple-threat'?

We call somebody who's got incredible chops, singing, dancing and acting a triple threat. Somebody like Hugh Jackman, this Jennifer Hudson who just won the Oscar for Dream Girls. These people have the ability to come in, sing you up and down the avenue, make you cry when it is all over and then spin around on their heels like their tinkle bell dancing. That's a triple threat.

What lessons should I take to prepare for Broadway?

You should take singing lessons. You should take dancing lessons. You should take acting lessons and you should take observant life lessons because you know the acting, the singing, the dancing everybody's going to have that. Everybody who shows up for a Broadway play is going to have that. What you have to have is some understanding as well that says hey look you know I can understand this guy even though he's a truck driver from Salt Lake Xity divorced and with cancer and I'm this guy from New York or whatever I'm going to try to find some way to layer myself into that and that comes with understanding through life.