Getting it all Started

As you might already know from my about page, I’m Sara and I love theatre. The dramatic arts is a way to express yourself, have fun, and learn many different skills. It is also a way to bring enjoyment to other. Throughout this blog I will take you along on a journey through a high school musical production. Right now we are working on Shrek the Musical. If you would like more information on our production or would like to buy tickets you can visit our website z center stage theatre company. There is much more to a show than what meets the eye.

“Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.” – The Sound of Music

The first thing you have to do for a production is auditions. Not only actors have to do this but also the tech. If you want to be a part of the tech crew you have to fill out an application, do an interview, read the script, and wait for the directors to tell you whether or not you made it on the team.

If you are wanting to act there is a whole different process to go through. You must fill out an application noting whether you want a main part or just to be a part of the ensemble. One thing that you might not really expect is a dancing audition and you have to read the entire script. They want you to read it so that way you know the story and what is going on.

Then you have to pick out a monologue. You can find practically any type of monologue you want online. Our director also has books of monologues if we want to use one from that. When picking out a monologue you want to keep in mind the character you want but you don’t want to do one from the play or musical you are doing unless otherwise told to do so. I have spent hours upon hours searching for monologues but after you do a couple you start to figure out what you like to do so DO NOT stress yourself out if you don’t find one right away that you like. Once you have chosen your monologue, the first thing you do with it is memorize it. By the time you memorize it you should already have an idea of what you want to do to act it out. Then, as you might have guessed, you try it out. Practice, practice, practice. You definitely need to do your monologue in front of someone else, preferably someone with acting experience but even just your family would suffice. You want to perform it in front of someone so that you get some outside feedback. Sometimes you think you’re acting really well and moving a lot when in reality you’re standing still and are not conveying any emotion.  Then you can work together to get out all the little kinks. If you want to learn how to do a proper monologue with the introduction you can go to our website page How to prepare for your audition.

You also have to practice singing. For our program we are required to sing parts of songs from the musical we are doing. Everyone just going for an ensemble part has to sing two songs that the chorus parts sing. If you are going for a lead or a supporting lead you will sing the chorus songs and a song or two from the character you are going for. The directors tell us which songs are for what and then we have a few weeks where we get together once a week to practice the songs together and then you can go home and practice on your own. Again you need to practice, practice, practice.

Finally the days of auditions arrive. The first day of auditions we do the singing. It’s just you, the stage, and the directors. For this part we all wait in the band room, which is connected to PAC (the stage/auditorium), for our name to be called. When it is your turn you walk onto the stage and wait for them to tell you what they want you to sing. They will start the track and you’ll sing. Once they are confident they heard everything they wanted to they will dismiss you.

The second day of auditions we split into three groups. Group one will do their monologues for most of the directors and everyone else in your group. Group two goes and does their dancing audition with our choreographer. There is no preparation for this. She teaches it to you as the audition. It’s just to see whether or not you have feet. The third group goes and practices their monologue. When its time the groups rotate until all the groups have gone.

If they need call backs they will post who they want to come back and when you go they will tell you what they want you to do.

Then the agonizing wait begins. After a couple of days you will get your cast letter telling you if you made it and who you got. You just have to respond to the director whether or not you accept what you got. Then you can start the rehearsals!