The worst audition stories.

[StarStruckGB]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 11:22pm

Last year I had the world's stuffiest nose.
YOU try singing In The Shadows with a stuffy nose.
And now everyone is coming down with mono, and auditions are monday and tuesday.

But this is just recent stuff.

Who feels like sharing some actually bad audition stories?

[elvenprincess971]

Posted: 11/22/06 at 5:46pm

This isn't completely terrible, but it sure traumatized me.

I was in elementary school and I went to audition for "A Christmas Carol." This was my first community theatre audition and I was really nervous. I knew my monologue, I knew my song. However, on the way to the audition, I decided I was going to sing a different song in the car. I got there, got up to sing, and COMPLETELY forgot my monologue, and ended up singing a different song... all facing the floor.

Like I said, traumatized.

[BNN]

Posted: 11/22/06 at 6:18pm

I had to stop a monologue because I was shaking so bad, and it was an audition I thought I was ready for (and probably was) but I couldn't stop and just told our director that I couldn't do it and she just said to come back the next day.

Also, I have started an audition song an OCTAVE too low but I worked my way up and then forgot a line and made one up. I got into the show but I was mortified.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 11/22/06 at 7:04pm

I was auditioning for Sandy in Grease, and happened to be really ill when auditions rolled around. I croaked my way through the beginning of my song, and then told them I forgot the rest of the lyrics and left, because I was so mortified.

[StarStruckGB]

Posted: 11/22/06 at 8:27pm

Everyone is getting mono at my school now,
I'm pretty sure 1/4 of the people auditioning can't even talk now.

And are auditions Monday & Tuesday? Of course they are.

Posted: 11/23/06 at 1:15pm

I auditioned for Annie when I was in 8th grade. I was cold reading with a girl who was probably in 3rd grade. She was in the middle of her line, stopped and said, "Oh no. This isn't good." and ran offstage. I was confused, stepped forward and stepped in something.

She wet herself onstage.

[nate2]

Posted: 11/23/06 at 2:21pm

I haven't had any bad audition experiences yet but at a recital i was singing c'est moi from camelot! I had rehearsed the song for a talent show at a show choir camp...didn't get in but my voice teacher wanted me to sing it anyways at our summer recital! Well the last 2 phrases of the song repeat but are different words. And I accidently subsituted one of the other words for another lol but i had to keep going so yeah!

[Marlene]

Posted: 11/23/06 at 10:55pm

It wasn't for a show, but an oratory competition, and there could only be one rep from our school. Basically I got up there to do my monologue. I just spazzed, and I couldn't stop my right hand from trembling, in that process I mized up ythe middle of my monologue, and told the panel of judges, that I was done and that I was was sitting down. Except one of them wouldn't let me, and made me continue. Tramatizing. Except I kicked ass with the monologue the third audition I had with it. So it was all good. A learning process.

[Broadway Baby4]

Posted: 11/23/06 at 11:43pm

ladyofthelake- thats the funniest thing I've heard all day

[StarStruckGB]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 11:51am

To the boy with no bad auditions.

You are either very lucky or very much a liar.

Haha.

[Mark_E]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 12:00pm

I have never had a bad audition, although i have only ever had three. Had to sing and act for two of them and sing and dance for another.

I quite enjoy auditions to be honest. I tend to do better when I know im singing for something I really want.

[zoom]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 2:09pm

Nothing like wet pants audition stories!

[HeartandMusic]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 3:03pm

About six years ago I auditioned for Into the Woods w/ a children's community theater organization and was asked to read (not sing, unfortunately) the Witch's rap and I was the first to go. There were about fifty people in the room (director, producer, and every single other person who came to the audition) and I was so nervous that I said the rap like a normal witch, not a witch who has been cursed with old age. I was the first to go and every other girl who went after me did the rap in character. I don't know how horrible that is, but I was mortified! At the time, Into the Woods was my favorite musical.

[bwayprincess142]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 9:59pm

I had my first bad one last week...and of course, it was my first audition for a mainstage show at my college. I honestly wasn't expecting me, a non-theatre major, to even be cast because my school has such a strong theatre program, but I at least wanted to do well...but I didn't.

Anyway, I was really busy the weeks before the audition and didn't have time to prepare anything until the day of auditions, but I worked on the monologue ALL day so I thought I'd be okay. Yeah, I completely blanked and badly made up practically the whole monologue. I maybe got 2 sentences completely right and I'm pretty sure my acting was tragic because I seriously could not remember anything for the life of me and that just made me nervous.

And to top it all off... my monologue was from Our Town, and I'm pretty sure the director of the show I auditioned for was somehow involved in a production of that over the summer (I found that out after the audition).

But the director was at least nice about it...he complimented my performance in a student-directed show I was in earlier this year (I guess a nice way of saying you have talent but that was not-so-great). And I can sort of laugh about it now... because I learned my lesson not to prepare the day of, but I am still embarassed that I did that badly!

[EmieMarie]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 10:22pm

first musical audition for high school
sang all that jazz and send in the clowns
nuff said
thankfully next year i did way betrter and actually got called back (THey said i sounded like rosemary clooney!)

[MissElphie]

Posted: 11/25/06 at 6:18pm

Um...most definately the last one I did for a community theatre production of Beauty and the Beast. It was in two parts. The first day was movement/dance. I am in no way a dancer, but figured it was community theatre - how hard could it be?

Try really freaking hard. The choreographer was shouting words I'd never heard and we had to memorize an entire routine to Be Our Guest. It went terribly. I couldn't keep up, and things would happen like you were suppose to spin backwards and I'd go forward. You were to end on your right foot and somehow I'd end on my left. The worst part was when they broke us into groups of five and we had to do the whole thing for everyone without the choreographer. It was the worst, most humiliating thing ever. But I still had to show for the vocal audition.

When I went two days later for the vocal audition, I could hear the girl in there before me. She was incredible. She had the most beautiful voice and they had her in there for like half an hour and had her sing all of Belle's songs. I really didn't want to follow her.
I walked in with my two songs (Good Morning Baltimore and I'm Not that Girl) and they hated both choices. They had me do the Hairspray song, but all glared at me as I sang (no one smiled) and I got so freaked out, my voice cracked when I hit the belting part. Needless to say, they did not ask me to do my second song. Then they had me do the cold read (the only part of the entire thing that went well, as they used the words "wow" and "I loved how you did that"), but then I was over and done. It took all of 3 minutes.

A few days later, I got the call that there was not a spot for me in the show.

I would say that audition blew the big one.


Updated On: 11/25/06 at 06:18 PM

[theaterFrEaK07]

Posted: 11/25/06 at 11:24pm

I had bronchitis(sp?) at one audition for Ten Little Indians and i sounded like hell. My director wouldnt stop calling me Harvey Fierstein. I kinda did sound like him though, only because i was sick. It was really embarassing.

For my Noises Off audition i was reading for Garry, and our Director is puncuation crazy. There was one line that was "Or it could be, you know" and on my copy of the script the comma wasnt there because of the copier! So as I said that line and completely ran over the non exsistent comma she threw her papers down and started yelling at me! There I was a senior who should be making all the freshman envy me and im getting yelled at! I actually almost cried because it came out of nowhere. I came really close to bitching her out too, but im not dumb lol. Me and her laugh about it now, but it was the worst feeling ever.

[gertiecummings]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 4:22pm

I was auditioning for Cider House Rules (which I wanted to be cast in HORRIBLY). I spent about three weeks rehearsing my monologue like there was no tomorrow, and by the time I got into the audition I was so stressed out that I completely bombed it: not having the character or any of the stuff I had worked my ass off on. Plus I was sick and I started sweating really badly during the audition. I could actually feel beads of sweat running down my back. I came out of that audition and I just bawled.

The next month I auditioned for A Funny Thing Happened.... when I was coming down with mono and didn't know it. Singing my song honestly felt like someone had put a belt around my throat and was pulling it tighter the higher I sang, and it was Don't Tell Mama from Cabaret which is not high at all.

[JemimaPearl]

Posted: 11/27/06 at 3:52pm

I missed a line...
In a cold reading with the script RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY FACE!
How did I do that? I have no clue.

[Kitzarina]

Posted: 11/27/06 at 5:56pm

My freshman year of high school I worked and worked on a monologue with my mother, praying I could finally get cast in a show.

Turns out I grabbed the wrong monologue off the board. The show was "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and I did a gangster monologue. Needless to say, I was not cast.

My freshman year of college, I got sick right before auditions for "Titanic." I could barely talk, much less sing. They preferred that we sing songs from the show, but I couldn't sing high enough to get any of them out. I went through all of my books at home and finally found a song that I didn't crack on. Except I totally did during my audition. Thankfully, they knew my voice and let me stop before I completely embarassed myself. I made the show, too

[b*r*o*a*d*w*a*y baby]

Posted: 11/27/06 at 7:04pm

this was a particularly traumatizing event. I tried out for Beauty and the Beast last fall and I thought I was prepared...
The first song I planned to sing was either from State Fair or Oklahoma. I completely blew it. I forgot all the words! They gave me a chance to start again and I didn't do much better. The second time through I was thinking so much about the words I screwed up all the notes! Miraculously, I got cast. probably because I had been in a show with the director, producer, music director and assistant director. Got to love small community theatre productions.

[theatreholic]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 7:38pm

At my theatre camp, Stagedoor Manor, I was doing my audition (it's not a big audition or anything-no matter what, you get in to a show, but it's the only audition I've screwed up badly) and about 10 minutes before the audition I switched from singing 'Tomorrow' because I thought it was overused and decided to do 'All That Jazz' (only after the audition I realized how over-used that song is, too) and I got through my 16 bars belting away (as I do) and then I belted out a completely wrong last note-and cracked it. Luckily, I asked if I could do it over and they said okay and gave me the role of Yertle the Turtle in Seussical (I also played a Who and a Cadet).

Posted: 11/28/06 at 9:31pm

ive never had a "crash and burn" audition yet (knock on wood!) Recently, I tried out for the show and before actually performing the song I quickly went up to the musical director and asked him to quickly nod me into the song (I was starting at a very random spot before the bridge of the song). So I get up there, and Im standing there with a big (doofy) smile on as the MD plays and plays and I wait for the cue and at least 30 seconds into the song he goes "Yea, that was you." Hmmm so much for that. It kinda made me look like an idiot (which I was for not knowing when to come in) and I had to start over. Luckily I got a callback and went on to get the lead...somehow.

[StarStruckGB]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 10:48pm

...Hooray for miracles!
Haha.

I just had my audition as Mrs. Potts last night.

I was talking to them and all, appearing relaxed, and inside I was a nervous wreck like nobodys business. Then I had to (in character) describe Mrs. Potts, then apparently one of the teachers had 5 questions for me to answer in character (it went different for everyone) but apparently I was so twittery inside I could improve like it was going out of style.

I really hope I get it,
too bad I'm drowning in the sea of favoritism in our music department.
They give me parts in the drama, and then kick me in the face come musical time (chorus)
I heart B&tB backwards and forwards, it was my first Broadway show, and I got to see Gary Beach in it.
Haha...hopefully all went well.

Sorry to the ramble, feel free to rant on here.

[AnythingCanHappen]

Posted: 12/1/06 at 2:14am

I went to audition for Little Shop and as I walked up the stairs the director said *Nicholas, you are doing costumes, you know this, right?* so I walked back down the stairs and everyone had a good laugh.

hows that?