I would like to echo Joan. Making audition sides available a day before the audition gives students with dyslexia and those whose first language is not English a fighting chance. I also allowed students to take a side into the hall on the day they auditioned and quietly read it over before auditioning.
During auditions, I also had all of the students who were auditioning sit in the theatre and watch the auditions. This gave students with less reading facility a chance to hear the sides read multiple times.
Students who had taken at least one theatre class with me were always better at cold reading auditions. Through most of the course, I had Theatre I perform short scenes from various periods of theatre history, usually after 10 to 15 minutes of rehearsal, during which I moved around the stage giving comments and answering questions. Besides allowing them to visit various time periods and countries through the text, this practice allowed them to get really good at cold readings. Figure out the words, determine what is going on, bring it to life still holding the script.
As far as the length of the auditions, I normally set two days for campus-wide auditions. Even with 50+ students auditioning, I could get done with two days, two hours per day.
Our musicals were produced by theatre and choir classes that met together. During a short audition unit before auditions, the choir director taught separate SATB 16 bar selections while I worked with students on audition monologues. We had a single audition day, then a day of callbacks.
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CJ Breland
Retired Theatre Arts Educator
NC
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-20-2022 23:02
From: Lisa Singleterry
Subject: Cold read tips
I'd love some tips on the best ways to manage cold reads for auditions. We've done cold reads for auditions for years but I've never loved our set up. With 30+ kids auditioning for a ton of roles, it can be quite tedious and I want to be sure everyone gets a fair chance in the audition while also keeping things moving and not taking super long. I appreciate any tips or advice any of you can give--
Lisa Singleterry
Portland Christian Schools
Elementary Music & Band Teacher
High School Drama Director
Masters of Arts in Teaching