Audition Do's and Don'ts

Our participating theatres were asked to list "do's and don'ts" for auditioning, as well as overdone songs and monologues. Their replies are listed below. The following does not necessarily represent the views of all theatres or the MidWest Theatre Auditions.

Audition Do's:

• Choose appropriate material. Pieces of extensive anger and/or vulgarity can cause auditioners to tune out.
• Time you audition carefully. Timing starts on the first word or note after your introduction.
• Take time to shift focus between pieces.
• Announce yourself and your piece(s) clearly. If you are a replacement, please say your wait list number.

Audition Don'ts:

• Don't sing a cappella.
• Don't use pre-recorded accompaniment. An accompanist is provided.
• Don't sing if you can't; it will only hurt your audition. The same applies to the dance auditions.
• Don't choose a bad script just because it is obscure.
• Don't choose material that berates the audience.
• Don't use a dialect or an accent.
• Don't throw chairs onstage.
• Don't speak to the floor, the chairs, or the sides of the thrust.
• Don't spend excessive time arranging furniture.
• Don't treat the timer or the accompanist with disrespect.
• Don't turn your back to compose yourself or change the mood.
• Don't rush through it to get it over with.
• Don't speak so softly that you can't be heard.
• Don't apologize for your mistakes.
• Don't leave the stage with a negative feeling.

Overdone Monologues:

1. A, My Name is Alice (I and II) - All Monologues
2. Agnes of God – All Monologues
3. Baby with the Bathwater - All Monologues
4. Beyond Therapy - All Monologues
5. Blue Window – All Monologues
6. Boy’s Life - All Monologues
7. Brighton Beach Memoirs - All Monologues
8. Camelot – Guenivere’s Naked Monologue
9. Death of a Salesman – All Monologues
10. 'Dentity Crisis - Peter Pan Monologue
11. Dinner With Friends – All Monologues
12. End of the World – Father With Baby at the Window Monologue
13. Equus - All Monologues
14. The Fantastiks – All Monologues
15. Fifth of July - All Monologues
16. The Food Chain – All Monologues
17. A Girl's Guide to Chaos - Dating Speech Monologue
18. The Glass Menagerie – All Monologues
19. Heidi Chronicles - All Monologues
20. House of Blue Leaves - All Monologues
21. I Hate Hamlet - All Monologues
22. If I Only had a Brain - All Monologues
23. It Has to Be You – Opening Monologue
24. Jack & Jill – “Nice” Monologue
25. Key Exchange – All Monologues
26. King Lear – Edmond
27. Lakeboat – The Jock Who Wanted to Dance Monologue
28. Laughing Wild - Tuna Monologue
29. Little Footsteps - All Monologues
30. Lone Star – All Monologues
31. Long Day’s Journey into Night – Any Edmund Monologue
32. Love Minus - If Actors Go to Hell Monologue
33. Nuts – All Monologues
34. Our Town – All Monologues
35. P.S. Your Cat is Dead - Swimming Audition Monologue
36. Passion Fish – Anal Probe Monologue
37. Picasso at the Lapin Agile – All Monologues
38. Quilters - Sunbonnet Sue Monologue
39. Raisin in the Sun – All Monologues
40. Romantic Comedy - Marshmallow Monologue
41. Shadow Box – All Monologues
42. Sleeping Beauty – All Monologues
43. Spike Heels – All Monologues
44. Star Spangled Girl - All Monologues
45. Steel Magnolias – All Monologues
46. Suburbia – Strip Monologue
47. Talking With – All Monologues
48. Wall of Water - Last Cigarette Monologue
49. Wit – All Monologues
50. Zoo Story – All Monologues

Overdone Songs:

1. Any song from a show that the company you are auditioning for has done recently.
2. You should be wary of anything that is “hot” or currently on Broadway.
3. 1776 – “He Plays the Violin”
4. Aida – All Songs
5. Andrew Lloyd Webber songs
6. Annie – All Songs
7. Avenue Q – “Purpose”
8. Babes in Arms – “Johnny One Note”
9. Bells Are Ringing – “I Met a Girl”
10. Billy Elliot – “Electricity”
11. Candide – “Glitter and be Gay”
12. Carousel – “If I Loved You”
13. A Chorus Line - All Songs
14. Children of Eden – All Songs
15. City of Angels – “You Can Always Count on Me”
16. Closer Than Ever – “Miss Byrd”
17. “Embraceable You” by George Gershwin     
18. The Fantastiks – All Songs
19. Flower Drum Song – “I Enjoy Being a Girl”
20. Footloose - All Songs
21. Funny Girl – “Don’t Rain on my Parade”
22. Guy's & Dolls – All Songs
23. Grease – All Songs
24. Hairspray – “Good Morning, Baltimore”
25. Hello Dolly – “Ribbons Down My Back”
26. “I Get a Kick Out of You” by Cole Porter
27. Jason Robert Brown songs
28. Jekyll and Hyde - All Songs
29. Kiss Me Kate – “I Hate Men”
30. Les Miserables – All Songs
31. Little Shop of Horrors - All Songs
32. My Fair Lady - All Songs
33. The Mystery of Edwin Drood – All Songs
34. Oh, Kay! – “Someone to Watch Over Me”
35. Oklahoma! – All Songs
36. Once Upon a Mattress – “Shy”
37. Paint Your Wagon – “They Call the Wind Mariah”
38. Pippin – All Songs
39. Porgy and Bess - Summertime
40. Rent - All Songs
41. Seesaw – “Nobody Does it Like Me”
42. She Loves Me – All Songs
43. Show Boat – “Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man”
44. Sound of Music – All Songs
45. South Pacific – All Songs
46. Spring Awakening – All Songs
47. Stephen Sondheim songs
48. Sweet Charity – “Big Spender”
49. Thoroughly Modern Millie – All Songs
50. You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown – “My New Philosophy”