I was wondering if I could call upon all the experienced theatre folks here for some advice. My 12 year old daughter just auditioned last night for her first Regional Theatre musical, the Wizard of Oz. She's been in several school and summer camp musicals but never a professional one. The good news is that she cleared the vocal audition and was called back tonight for the dance audition on Saturday. Since this is her first call back, I'm wondering what she should expect. Will the choreographer show the children a routine and ask them to follow? Are they looking to see how quickly they can learn? Unfortunately, she doesn't have much dance experience so she's a bit nervous! Thanks in advance for any advice you can give us!
Liz, every audition can be unique and you never know exactly what to expect unless the theatre tells you in advance. However, it sounds like in this particular case that the theatre is looking for two things--people who can sing and people who can dance. A lot of musical theatre shows require both skills in the actor and the lack of one of them can often mean the elimination of that person from the audition process. But there are other shows that have separate dancers and not everyone in the cast needs to know how to dance. So, in this case it depends if the theatre wants to consider hiring only people who can BOTH sing and dance, or if they're hiring some of both. At your daughter's age she could potentially be considered for Dorothy in this show (although she's probably a little young) or there could be other parts--such as a munchkin or an Emerald Citizen that she could play. With all those parts the theatre would likely be looking for someone with at least good rhythm and movement skills--maybe not real technical dance skills. Laura played a Munchkin once in the Wizard of Oz, an Emerald Citizen another time, and Dorothy twice. All are fun roles and all required at least good movement skills. Your child's skills will help define what parts she is suitable for in any given show in the future. I can tell you in general, that the actor who can also both sing AND dance well will have a tremendous edge in this business. It's not too late to start your daughter in dance if she really loves this stuff! Good luck to her!
Thanks so much Jane for your advice, we really appreciate it! She's actually being called back for a munchkin so maybe the dance won't be too difficult. We'll see! At least she made the callback and if anything it's good experience. I will say that when we watched GYTOTIW we realized the importance of being a triple threat. Needless to say she's starting ballet in November.
Well she made it! My daughter is going to be a munchkin. Her first rehearsal was tonight. They chose 30 munchkins, half of a 60 person cast. The producer told us tonight that they were amazed at how many people showed up to audition. Only 1/5 of the people that showed up made the cast. There's going to be 10 performances at our city's new 500 seat performing arts theatre. I'm sure it will be great, they ran through the music tonight and young and old had fun singing along together. Now the fun for the parents begins with rehearsals five days/week! Guess I better get the carpool van ready! And yes, we're all very proud of her! Thanks so much for your advice and interest!
Thats awesome Liz. Thanks for keeping us informed. And yes, get the carpool van warmed up. Its the wonderful support that young performers receive than enables them to blossom into stars. Keep up the good work.
By the way, what part of the country are you from? Maybe someone from this message board might want to come and see.
Congratulations to your daughter, Liz! Just decide right now to LOVE that time in the car! Make it a special chatting time, singing time, dreaming time...time to be mom and daugher! The years will fly and you'll have so many wonderful memories of time in the car and no regrets! Wow, just thinking about it stirs the memories in my heart and makes me lonesome for Laura. We had a blast in the car!
Hello799, we're about 45min. outside of beautiful San Francisco. A great place to visit!
Thanks Jane. I definately will enjoy it. I quit my career of 18 years last year so I could spend more time with my kids before they're grown and off on their own. While the income loss was a big adjustment it's not worth as much as time. Watching my daughter's excitement and smile all the way to rehearsals makes it all worth it. You can't put a price on that!