Finding the Right Audition Piece

So you've all been there.  You are prepping for that audition.  You look through the breakdowns or the guidelines and begin to stress about what is going to be best.  If you are left to choose from a variety of prescribed pieces or from our own search, you start doubting your talents and skills.  Your decision making starts to turn stagnant and subjectivity and self-doubt take over.  It can truly be frustrating.  Should you go with the comic relief, or the dramatic ingenue?  Sometimes the decision and discovery can be overwhelming.  I would like to posit that it does not need to be a difficult endeavor.  Finding the right audition piece can be as simple following three things:

1.  Know Your Type and Embrace Your Range
You need to establish the roles that you are capable of performing deftly and then go after those for your audition pieces.  I know a lot of actors often speak about the "injustice" of being "typecast" or labeled as a particular "look" or type of actor.  Here's the truth:  the sooner you accept your type and look, the probability of you finding more work has increased.   There is a specific breakdown for all legitimate roles and submitting your info for a role that you don't fit physically or artistically is not that professional.  Clearly (but strangely not as common sense as you would think) stick to your age range, gender and physical type if possible.  For more great tips on submissions check out friend David Hogan's entry on this subject.

If you are looking to expand your range/type, use your classes and training to do that.  Stretch yourself with a tough piece or contrasting role in your workshop class, but not during your auditions.  Let your auditions showcase you and your best work.  Auditions are not workshop environments.  I can't tell you how many auditions that I've witnessed where the actor will come in and select a piece well out of type/range.  It is somewhat off-putting when that occurs, and that is not what you want your director/CD thinking.  We want to see you in the role that you are auditioning for, so give us help with this by sticking to the roles that you can truly "pull off."

2.  Do Your Homework (meet the guidelines)
There are some very crucial aspects of every audition that you need to find out about if possible.  Who is going to be in the room?  Will the audition be open or closed?  What sides will you need?  What materials are required/expected? Is there a time limit on the audition?  And perhaps the most important: where is the actual location of the audition?  It is never a bad idea to find these things out for success rather than failure.  Audition can be nerve-wracking and stressful enough.  You want to do whatever you can to lessen this anxiety by doing a bit of "homework" before hand so you can focus on the performance and other elements of an audition.

In my experience, I have seen more actors screw up their auditions due to lack of preparation/homework instead of being "bad actors."  Save yourself the stress.  Do your homework.  It will pay off in more ways than one.

3. Set Yourself Up for SUCCESS
This seems like common sense, but I'm surprised by how many actors come into an audition room already behind the proverbial 8-ball.  They will come into the room with a clear lack of confidence or simply just a bad day.  Either way, you have to find ways to re-focus that energy.  Setting yourself up for success means a variety of things.  Start showing up early to your auditions so you aren't frazzled or freaked out about "finding it." Select a piece that is clearly within your range so your audition showcases your strengths, rather than your weaknesses.  Start trusting your abilities and preparation so you can focus on the power of your moment when you start performing.  Take the time to study audition technique and listen to casting directors share their stories about what works and what doesn't. There is a lot of great information out there:  Backstage.com and Virtual Channel Network just to name two.  

Finding an audition piece when given the opportunity doesn't have to be an overwhelming task.  Take a step back, be honest and objective with yourself and always make your choice based on what will be best for your acting career.