| TABLE OF CONTENTS | |
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| Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1 |
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| Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 3 |
| To the Young Actor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 3 |
| To Teachers and Coaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 5 |
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| CHAPTER ONE: The Fundamentals--"Gimme Attitude!" . . . . . . . . . | 9 |
| Motivation and Self-Respect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 9 |
| The Fun of Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 10 |
| The Need for Constant Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 13 |
| Life After Acting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 14 |
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| CHAPTER TWO: School Days--"Beam Me Up, Scotty" . . . . . . . . . . | 19 |
| Back Where You Belong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 19 |
| Complacency Is the Kiss of Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 21 |
| Getting Your Act Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 22 |
| Get Involved in Stage Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 26 |
| Learn to Take Criticism (and never apologize) . . . . . . . . . . | 28 |
| The Actor's Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 35 |
| Review and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 39 |
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| CHAPTER THREE: The Auditions Context--"O Brave New World!" . . . . | 43 |
| The High School Auditions Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 43 |
| What You Can Expect in Community Theatre Auditions . . . . . . . . | 48 |
| What You Can Expect in College and University Auditions . . . . . | 51 |
| What You Can Expect in ACTF and URTA Auditions . . . . . . . . . . | 55 |
| What You Can Expect in Auditions for Regional Theatre . . . . . . | 58 |
| Review and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 67 |
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| CHAPTER FOUR: Background Skills--"Cut to the Chase!" . . . . . . . | 71 |
| Getting the Self-Image Straight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 71 |
| Getting the Voice in Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 80 |
| Getting the Body in Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 88 |
| Review and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 96 |
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| CHAPTER FIVE: Selecting Material--"Words, words, words" . . . . . | 99 |
| Suitability and Appropriateness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 99 |
| Review and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 121 |
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| CHAPTER SIX: Preparing the Audition--"No excuses, please!" . . . . | 123 |
| Work on Your Own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 123 |
| Preparing Your Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 124 |
| Paraphrasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 125 |
| Goals, Obstacles, and Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 138 |
| Vocal Rehearsals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 145 |
| Movement Rehearsals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 149 |
| Working with a Coach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 156 |
| Review and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 159 |
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| CHAPTER SEVEN: Performing the Audition--"Your Little Nugget" . . . | 161 |
| Staying Fresh or Going Stale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 161 |
| Arrival and Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 164 |
| The Audition Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 167 |
| The Afterglow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 171 |
| Review and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 175 |
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| CHAPTER EIGHT: Cold Readings--"The Chips Are Down" . . . . . . . . | 177 |
| What is the Cold Reading? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 177 |
| Preparing for Cold Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 180 |
| Performing Cold Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 183 |
| Callbacks and Interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 196 |
| The Wrap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 203 |
| Review and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 203 |
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| CHAPTER NINE: Musical Theatre Auditions--"Get the Leg Up" . . . . | 207 |
| The Allure of the Musical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 207 |
| Building a Healthy Attitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 209 |
| Problems with Musical Auditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 212 |
| Selecting the Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 219 |
| Rehearsing the Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 223 |
| Staging Points for Singing Auditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 230 |
| Review and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 231 |
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| CHAPTER TEN: Supporting Materials--"The Paper Chase" . . . . . . . | 233 |
| Developing Your Acting Resume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 233 |
| Developing Your Photo Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 239 |
| Related Supporting Materials: Show Photos, Reviews, Testimonials, Coverletters, | |
| and Post Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 243 |
| The Audition Wardrobe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 245 |
| Review and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 248 |
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| CHAPTER ELEVEN: Auditions and the Computer--"Get Wired!" . . . . . | 251 |
| Actors and Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 251 |
| Correspondence and Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 252 |
| Industry News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 255 |
| Background Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 257 |
| Job Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 260 |
| Computer Savvy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 262 |
| Review and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 266 |
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| APPENDIX A: Scenes and Monologs for Class Work . . . . . . . . . . | 269 |
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| APPENDIX B: Selected Auditioning Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . | 274 |
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| APPENDIX C: Supporting Materials for Media Acting . . . . . . . . | 283 |
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| APPENDIX D: Auditioning for Colleges, College Scholarships, | |
| and Graduate Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 291 |
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| About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 295 |