Musical Theater Audition Technique

Terminology

1. 8-bar/16-bar/32-bar cut: In vocal auditions, you’ll often be asked to sing short (sometimes very
short) sections of a piece to make the day more efficient and allow the auditors to see more people.
To determine your 8/16/32-bar cut, you can either count the measures of music or time your cut:
an 8-bar cut should be around 15-20 seconds, a 16-bar should be around 30-45 seconds, and a 32-
bar cut should be around 1:15-1:30.
2. Alternate list: When an audition is full, the monitor may make a list of alternates on a first come,
first served basis. Depending on the audition type, Actor’s Equity members may be given priority,
followed by EMC actors, and then non-union actors. Often at an Equity audition, actors will create
a “non-official” list if they arrive before the Equity monitor; the monitor will usually accept this
list as it stands, but they are not required to.
3. Belt vs. Mix: The terms “belt” and “mix” mean different things to different people. To me, the
best definition is that a belt needs to sound like a call (basically a yell that sounds pleasant to listen
to). A mixed quality gets most of its acoustic power through vocal placement (i.e. “singing in the
mask”). I encourage you to ask your individual voice teachers about how to specifically develop
these qualities in your voice.
4. Callback: When a creative team wants to see more from an actor, they’ll give them a callback,
where the actor will come back at a different time to sing/dance/read again. Often, the callback
will involve preparing material from the show (see “sides”), but not always. One of the purposes
of the callback is to allow more people who are involved with the show to see the actor’s work.
5. Chorus Call/ECC: There are two types of Equity Chorus Calls (ECCs): one for dancers and one
for singers. For dance calls, dancers will generally be called in in groups to learn a combination.
There will then be a cut, where certain dancers will be asked to stay and learn more combinations
and/or sing 16 bars, and others will be released. At a singer chorus call, singers will go in
individually to sing 16 bars of their own material.
6. Contrasting song: If you’re asked to sing a “contrasting song,” you should strive to show both a
different side of your voice (if you sang soprano, maybe belt) and/or another side of your
personality. If you’re unsure what they mean by contrasting, ask for clarification. Even better,
present them with two choices: “If you’d like to hear my belt, I can sing ‘Astonishing’ for you, or
if you’d rather see something comedic, I can do ‘Adelaide’s Lament.’ ”
7. Creative Team: The creative team for a show can include any of the following positions: director,
music director, choreographer, composer, lyricist, book writer, orchestrator, set designer, costume
designer, lighting designer, sound designer, and dance arranger. Generally, the term refers to the
behind-the-scenes artists who are collaborating to create the artistic vision for the show.
8. Dancer vs. Mover: If you label yourself as a dancer, it’s expected that you have extensive training
in that department. If you have athletic ability and a knack for rhythm but lack formal dance
training, you should classify yourself as a mover. Traditionally, a mover tends to favor character
and dramatic commitment over precise steps and technique.
9. EMC: Equity Membership Candidate, a program whereby actors can accrue 50 weeks of work in
Equity theaters as a credit toward eventual membership in the union. The main audition advantage
for EMC actors is that they get to be seen before other non-union actors at EPAs (although not at
chorus calls.)
10. EPA: Equity Principal Audition. The audition panel will usually see six actors every 20 minutes,
so there’s time to sing a short song or a 32-bars.
11. Equity: Actor’s Equity is the union for actors and stage managers. Equity works to support actors
by negotiating wages, providing safe work environments, and connecting actors with health
insurance and pension plans. For actors in Broadway shows and certain tours/regional theaters,
Equity membership is required for the contract.
 12. Holding room: At many auditions, there will be a holding room where actors can wait for their
turn to perform. Often, this is where the audition monitor will be stationed.
13. In the room: When actors enter the audition space for their appointment, it’s usually referred to as
being “in the room” (sometimes abbreviated “ITR”).
14. Legit singing: The term “legit” refers to a singing style that is more closely related to classical
singing (think of a song like “If I Loved You”).
15. Monitor: The monitor is at an audition to help ensure the process runs smoothly, and to be a
liaison between the audition panel and the actors. If you’re at an EPA, the monitor will be an
Equity member; at other types of auditions, the monitor may be associated with the theater. Pro
tip: the monitor is on the lookout for professional vs. non-professional behavior from actors, and
they’ve been known to report bad apples to the folks in the room, so it’s in your best interest to
treat them with the respect they deserve.
16. Non-union: If an actor is not a member of Actor’s Equity, or the EMC program, they are
considered non-union.
17. Off-book: When an actor has memorized a scene or song, they are said to be “off-book.”
18. Open call: An open audition call means that any and all performers are welcome to audition.
There may still be procedures that need to be followed to secure an audition, but there are no
union prerequisites in place.
19. Pop/rock style: If an audition asks for a pop/rock song, that generally means that the actor should
sing a song off the radio and not from a musical, even if the musical is written in the pop/rock
genre.
20. Reader: In some callbacks, there will be a reader in the room who will perform the sides with the
actors. Generally, the reader does the scene while sitting at the audition table rather than getting up
and interacting with the actor who is auditioning.
21. Sides: If an actor receives a callback, they’ll usually be given sides to learn. Sides are sometimes
singing (learn a song or a harmony part) and sometimes acting (learn scenes). The expectation is
that the actor be as close to off-book as possible on the sides they have been given.
22. Song that “shows your range”: If an audition asks for a song that shows range, don’t only think
of a high C and a low F. You can choose a song that shows a range of vocal textures, a broad
palette of dynamics, or an exciting dramatic journey.
23. Typing: Typing is a process that occurs at some auditions to make the audition process go faster.
The actors come in in a group of 25-30 people and the audition panel goes through
headshots/resumes and selects (“types in”) the actors that they want to see audition that day. The
other actors are “typed out” and released. For dancers, there’s also a “dance type” where a short
across-the-floor ballet combo will be used to determine who will stay to learn the full
combination.

2. Character Analysis:

The actor must know the answer to every question, though the
character in performance may be (and probably is), ignorant of
many.
Physical Qualities
1. Who am I? 


2. Who am I named after? Do I like my name? 


3. What is my gender? What do I think about sex? 


4. HowoldamI? WhatdoIthinkofmyage? 


5. How does my posture express my age, health, inner feeling? 


6. How is my complexion? What do I think of it? 


7. What is my height? What do I think of I? 


8. What is my weight? What do I think of it? 


9. What is the pitch, volume, tempo, resonance or quality of my voice? What do I

think of it? 


10. Is my articulation careless or precise? Is my articulation standard or

colloquial? Do I have a dialect or accent? 


11. What is my hair color and style? Do I like it? 


12. Do I have any deformities? What do I think of them? 


13. Do I have any mannerisms? What do I think of them? 


14. Do I have any handicaps? What do I think of them? 


15. How energetic or vital am I? Do I like it? 


16. Do I suffer from any diseases past or present? 


17. Are my gestures complete or incomplete, vigorous or weak, compulsive or

controlled? 


18. Do I like my walk? 


19. How do I usually sit? 


20. How do I usually stand? 


21. Do I have any objects, hand props or accessories with me? Why? How do I
handle them? 


22. Are my basic rhythms smooth or jerky, even-tempered or volatile,

impulsive or deliberate, ponderous or light, 
broken or continuous? 

23. What do I like to wear? What do I have to wear? How do I wear my
clothes? How do I handle them? 


Social Qualities
1. What do I do when I wake up each morning? 


2. What is my relationship to my environment? Do I like it? 


3. What is my educational background? How much discipline was I subjected to?

How intelligent am I? 


4. What was my childhood like? What are my strongest memories? 


5. How much money do I have? How much do I want? 


6. What is my nationality? What do I think of it? 


7. What is my occupation? Do I like it? What other jobs have I had? When and
why did I choose this one? 


8. What are my political attitudes? 


9. Am I religious? 


10. Whom would I choose to be if I could be anyone else? 


11. Did I have childhood heroes? What did I like about them? 


12. Do I like members of the opposite sex? What do I like about them? 


13. Who were my parents? What do I like and/or dislike about them? 


14. Do I like my family? What do I like? What do I dislike? 


15. How has my mother influenced me? How has my father influenced me? 


16. Do I have brothers and sisters? What do I think about them? 


17. What was my favorite fairy tale? Why? 


18. Who are my friends? Who are my enemies? How can I tell if someone is a
friend or an enemy? 

19. What ideas do I like? What ideas do I dislike? 


20. What hobbies or interests do I have? 


21. Do I have children? Do I like them? Why? Do they like me? 


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22. What advice do I have for my children?
23. Am I married? Why did I marry
the person I did?
24. What do I think about my spouse? What do I dislike?
25.
How do my physical traits affect each of the social traits? 26. How do the social
traits affect the script and my objective? 27. How do the social traits affect my life
needs and wants?

Psychological Qualities
1. What choices do I face? 


2. What choices do I make? 


3. What makes me angry? What relaxes me? 


4. What are my driving ambitions, my goals? 


5. Do I have ny instincts? 


6. Do I do things impulsively? 


7. What do I worry about? 


8. What do I want? What do others think I want? 


9. What do I like about myself? Dislike about myself? 


10. What do I need? 


11. WhatdoIfear? 


12. Whycan’tIgetwhatIwant? 


13. Do other people like me? Why? 


14. Are any of my psychological traits manifested physically? 


15. Are any of my psychological traits manifested vocally? 


Moral Qualities
1. Are the choices I will make based upon expediency of some ethical standard? 


2. Who do I admire? 


3. Will the pursuit of my needs lead to a moral choice? 


4. What is my attitude toward the choice I make? 


5. How do I express this attitude vocally and physically? 


Play Qualities
1. Why am I included in the play? How do I contribute to the overall idea the
playwright wises to express? 


2. What similes, metaphors, or personifications are used to describe me? 


3. How and why are these figures of speech related to my physical, social,
psychological, and moral traits. 


4. Why do I make each of my stage entrances? What do I want each time? What

am I thinking about at each stage entrance? 


5. Where have I been prior to each of my stage entrances? How does this affect my
actions verbally and physically? 
What would I like to see or do when I
enter? 


6. How does the locale of the play make me feel? 


7. How does the time of the play make me feel? 


8. How does the period of the play affect my actions? 


Uta Hagen’s “Nine

Questions” Uta Hagen: “Respect for Acting”
1. Who am I?
2. Where am I?
3. What surrounds me? 4. What
time is it?
(character-search for character’s life prior to
play’s/scene’s beginning)
(environment: location, conditions) (persons, objects,
color and texture) (hour, minute, date, year, century, era)
5. What are the given circumstances? (those events,
facts, and conditions occurring before or during the
play/scene that affect
6. What is my relationship? 7. What do I want?
8. What’s in my way?
the character and /or action)
(to all of the above and to other characters-solid or
shifting?)
(Objectives or Intention –includes the overall character
objectives as well as more immediate beat- to-beat
intentions).
(Obstacle)
9. What do I do to get what I want? (ACTION –
VERBS; physical, verbal, psychological)
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SEVEN STEPS TO HEAVEN
“How

to Prepare or Coach a Short Scene for Lab/Studio/Class/Audition

Performance” Jerry Crawford

DO EACH STEP A MINIMUM OF 60 MINUTES 

KEEP A LOG OF ALL
REHEARSALS/PERFORMANCES 


COMPLETE A SHORT-FORM ROLE ANALYSIS

DOCUMENT 

DO NOT FORCE LINE MEMORIZATION. LET THE
LINES BE ASSIMILATED INTO MEMORY 
OVER THE
REHEARSAL PERIOD. 


USE NO EARL Y , SET BLOCKING. 


USE COSTUME AND PROP ITEMS FROM THE
BEGINNING (AT LEAST USE FACSIMILES—NO

PANOMIMIC WORK.) 
THE SEVEN STEPS

1. Information read-through (no effort of any kind; do not work for

characterization or emotion; just gather textual facts.) 


2. Communion read-through (maximum eye contact, touching when

comfortable and natural; pauses and paraphrasing used as
necessary) 


3. Improvisation (talk and walk-through; focus on covering the

information learned via your own words; focus on covering
all “subject” or “issue” beats in the scene. 

4. Exploration (script in hand; “organic combing and search”).
weather/climate work 
eating/drinking work opposite value work
entrance/exit work opposite style work
role reversal work
single
intention work correlative art forms work music work 
special
problem work (dialects, limps & handicaps, love scenes, fights,
nudity, violence, etc.) metaphor work
special object/hand prop
work, etc. 


5. Set the movement patterns and set all “scoring of business”. Make
final character and emotion decisions (choices and
discarding). 


6. Rhythm run-through with all performance “tech” items involved.

(Full character and emotion work.) 


7. Polish run-throughs (ideally with someone observing, taking and

giving notes). “Preview” in front of a few persons, if
possible. 


Performance. (Followed by self-evaluation in writing via the

completion of your log. Complete any revisions of the short-form
role analysis document.) 
ACTORS, DIRECTORS, COACHES
CAN APPLY THE SEVEN STEPS TO FULL SCENE
REHEARSALS AS WELL AS TO ENTIRE PLAY
REHEARSALS. 
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Character Biography
(if additional space is needed use a separate sheet)

Play Title:
PHYSICAL
Age:
Posture:
Dialect:
Eyesight:
Tempo/Gestures/Movement/Speech
PERSONALITY
Secret:
Religion:
Prejudices:
Curiosity: Imagination:
Ambition:
Education:
Ability to Reason:
Alertness/Daydreamer: Self-Image/Ego: Giving:
Reliability: Jealousy/Fear/Pride/Inferiority: Thoughts About Other
Characters:
Other Characters’ Thoughts About Him/Her:
ENVIRONMENT
Parents/Status:
Other Relatives/Status:
Residence/Status:
Previous Action/Off-Stage Action:
taken from the video “Building a Character”

Character Name:
Center of Gravity: Cleanliness: Hearing:
I.Q.:
Siblings/Status: Husband/Wife Status:
Job/Salary/Social Class Childhood:
______________________________________________________
___________________________ Superobjective:
Secondary Objectives: Obstacles:
Passion(s):
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Short-Form Role Analysis

This form was developed by Jerry Crawford, University of Nevada-
Las Vegas and was distributed at a regional American College
Theatre Festival workshop.

Each actor/actress is asked to complete this form and return it.

Whenever possible, all answers or comments are to be based
strictly on information about your character supplied in the actual
text! When this is not possible, you may create answers or
comments provided they are logically related to information in the
text. Note: This is an opportunity for fresh, original actor
creativity, provided in an organic framework for directing and
acting which permits and encourages artistic individuality as well
as artistic collaboration.

Name of actor/actress Name of character Age of character

Astrological sign
Generally, how "physically active" is your character?
Name an animal (not a bird) which in appearance, movement, or
manner seems analogous to your role. What is it about this animal
that most specifically relates to your role?
Can you name a person close to you, family or friend, who seems
to be a good deal like your character? If so, name him or her.
(relationship)
Can you name a famous person who seems to be a good deal like
your character? If so, name him or her. Vocally, is your character
generally quiet and demure or loud and flamboyant?
_______________________________
___________________________________________
Precise birthdate of character ________________
____________________What significance, if any, to this sign?

If neither, how would you describe your character's vocal nature?

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Basically, how would you describe the way your character likes to
dress (casual, tailored, sloppy, neat, colorful, etc.)?
How would you describe the way your character likes to wear or
comb his/her hair?
Select the three or four major emotions your character seems to
encounter the most (fear, love, hate, anger, etc.).
Give an example from the text in which each of the examples you
listed are revealed (use back of page if necessary).

What is the MF or motivational force (spine) of your character?

(e.g., in Death of a Salesman, "Willy wants Biff to love him
again.") State the MF of your character by beginning with the
name of your character and the word, "wants. . ." If possible, the
spine or "want" should relate to another character or characters in
the play.

What is the major beat or action (or key moment of activity and/or
decision/choice) in the play for your character (the most important
moment in the play for your character)?
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Describe in short phrases the major activities your character
engaged in during the day of action of the play (from rising, up to
the first entrance on stage).

Describe in short phrases the major activity your character engages

in during all offstage time after every exit made during the action
of the play.
Create a list of 5-8 major character "idiosyncrasies, likes and
dislikes" for your character. (e.g. likes cheeseburgers and french
fries, suffers from insomnia, reads mystery novels, likes Dustin
Hoffman movies, hates John Wayne movies, etc.)
Add any other pertinent notes or comments about your character.
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