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AUDITIONS FOR DEPT. STAGE PRODUCTIONS

Spring 2022 Auditions will be held online.  Please read the instructions below.

 

Auditions are required for mainstage and Senior Thesis Festival productions.

Since Barnard and Columbia have decided to hold the first two weeks’ classes online, auditions for the Spring semester productions have been moved online as well.

To audition:

Fill out the audition form (linked here). On the form, there is a means to upload/link your audition file. If you are auditioning for Fun Home, you should have a 1-minute monologue, and a 1-minute singing excerpt a cappella. If you are auditioning for any/all of the Senior Thesis productions, you should have a 1-minute monologue. On the audition form, you can indicate which shows you are auditioning for: you can audition for any/all, but will be cast in only one. You need submit only one audition file.

Audition material must be submitted by 6pm, Wednesday, January 19.

On your audition file: Please say your name, your year, whether or not you are a major, and what show(s) you are auditioning for. Then give the name of your monologue, and do the monologue (1 minute max); if you are auditioning for Fun Home, then give the name of the piece you are singing, and sing (1 minute max).

Callbacks will be held in the evening Thursday, January 20, via Zoom. If you are called back, you will receive an email with the time and the Zoom link either late on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning. You may be called back for more than one production.

Casts will be announced Friday, January 21; everyone who was called back will receive an email about casting. If you are cast, you must register either for THTR UN2022 Rothe (Fun Home) or for the appropriate section of the Senior Thesis productions, THTR Un 2024, THTR UN2025, THTR UN 2026. 

The first rehearsal for Fun Home will be online, Monday January 24, 6:30pm.

Audition Guidelines 

The audition piece must be memorized if you are a declared Theatre major or if you have taken an acting class. If this is your first time auditioning for the Department, it is very strongly recommended  that your audition piece be fully memorized.  Auditioners may have the script in hand. Prior performance or acting class experience is not required.

Directors—whether faculty or senior thesis students—of the Department of Theatre are looking for actors who are actively and imaginatively engaged in the pursuit of an intention/objective rather than merely demonstrating an emotion or personality. The most successful audition piece is one that actively reveals the experience of a person other than the actor him/herself. It is recommended that you select material that you respond to personally.

Accessibility

We are committed to providing an accessible and welcoming environment for all participants. Individuals with disabilities who anticipate needing accommodations or have questions about the Theatre Department's accessibility should contact the Theatre Administrator for assistance, cgrant@barnard.edu.

Preparing for Auditions

Choose an audition piece, and read the entire play it’s taken from before the audition. Work on the audition piece in advance; waiting until the night before the audition is highly discouraged. The audition monologue is limited to 60 seconds.

Some basic questions to consider when preparing your audition piece:

  • Who am I?
  • Where am I (what is the time, weather and place)?
  • Who am I talking to?
  • Why am I saying this now, or what makes it important to say this now?
  • What am I hoping to achieve by saying this? Or, how do I hope things will change because I say this?

Audition Procedures

All students auditioning for classes and/or productions must attend an informational meeting in the Minor Latham Playhouse prior to auditions, typically at 6pm on the day of auditions.

Auditions will begin shortly after the introductory session. Auditioners must be present at the beginning of the audition period, but will be auditioned individually, and may leave one they have auditioned. You will have the opportunity to declare whether you are auditioning for all shows produced that semester, or only for one show. If the director would like to hear you sing, that information will be announced prior to auditions.

Callback lists for the semester’s productions are posted later in the evening: callbacks are scheduled for the following evening and instructions will be provided. All shows for a given semester will be cast by the end of the first week of class, so that students who are cast may register for the class/production. Students are required to register for the appropriate section of Performance Practicum or will be dropped from the show.