I talk about this all the time….
But it does bear repeating.
In an audition, many things are out of our control. We usually don’t control who our scene partner is when we get paired up to read for a musical. Today’s economics pretty much dictate that we don’t hire and bring our own accompanist to a musical audition anymore. We certainly can’t control whether or not a production team sees us as having the right look or image for the characters and matchups they have in mind (even if we do wear an original sailor’s outfit from Dames At Sea to the first audition — btw, don’t do that…).
But we can certainly control whether or not we are “present” when we audition. “Present” means simply being there. When you walk in the audition room, be there. If they say hello, say hello back. Don’t prepare a speech or a witty line for when you first walk in — that moment of inspiration is long past and you might not have their immediate attention if and when you do say it; you may unwittingly appear controlling or just loud and obnoxious, possibly interrupting their conversation about the singer who auditioned just prior.
We flip the switch when we are asked to perform. At that point, we must let go of all self-observation as it is most important that we are present and focused on not just how we sound, but what we are saying, who we are saying it to, why we are saying it and thinking all the thoughts that go along with the freedom of being present.
When you can walk away from a vocal audition and honestly say, “I felt present when I sang,” then you truly did your work as an artist.