Non-Equity at EPAs?

[MadameG]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 4:30pm

So I'm planning to go to an upcoming EPA, but I'm not yet a member of Equity. I just heard that sometimes non-Equity have a chance to be seen at the end of the casting day. Is this true? If so could anyone give me the run-down of how to go about it? Like, how much earlier than the posted time should I show up, what should I do once I get there, when will I probably be seen, etc.? Thanks a whole lot in advance. This is really intimidating.

[M J R]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 4:57pm

Show up as EARLY as possible to the audition. I mean SEVERAL hours before to start a Non-Equity waiting list

You have a chance of being seen IF:

1) There is any time after seeing ALL of the Equity members
2) Someone doesn't show up for their appointed time and there is no one there from the Equity waiting list.

Know going in that there's a very good chance you won't be seen. When you're there, be VERY KIND and do NOT annoy the monitor - they can often sneek people in when they want to do sooo. Good luck!

[ikmbway]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 5:26pm

I am not sure what to do for it but good luck.

[The_Wolf]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 11:06pm

i'm really happy that someone asked this question. i, too, was planning on going ot some Broadway calls soon, and i wanted to know what the deal was with EPA's and non-Equity members. i'm actually planning to go to the "Lestat" audition on monday. the report time is early in the morning (9:30, i think)... so what time would be appropriate for a non-Eq. to get there?

[Amneris]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 11:25pm

FYI usually if the auditions are held @ Actors Equity Center, you will most likely NOT be seen.... if they are held at Chelsea, or other studios , you stand a chance..not good but, still a chance.

[The_Wolf]

Posted: 4/14/05 at 10:29pm

oh, no. that's where this particular audition is being held. ah well, i'm still going to show up anyway. better to do that than always wonder what would have happened if i'd shown up, right?

anyway, what time would be appropriate to show up for a 9:30 call?

[The_Wolf]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 9:27am

anyone?

[Di2]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 10:48am

I am a member of Equity and I wouldn't bother going to AEA as I have seen so many non-eq. members get turned away at the door. When I was non-Eq, I was never seen at AEA but I was seen (sometimes) at Chelsea or Nola, etc. so that is a better shot.

If you decide to go to this EPA call, I would get there around 6:30am....It's gonna be a long day. The best advice I can give you is be VERY, VERY prepared. You are already fighting an uphill battle so make sure:
1. you have all of your music in order and everything looks professional (i.e. your pages are in plastic sleeves).
2. you know your repetoire inside and out. (So many people have songs in their books just to fill out the pages but get caught with their pants down when a musical director wants to hear something else from their book and then the performer has to sing a song he/she doesn't really know)
3. Be confident, kind and charming.
4. Make sure you are appropriate for the audition and you aren't wasting your time and theirs.

Not to be mean or anything like that, but we all have our limitations.

For example, I just auditioned for a show I knew I was too short for but I went anyway. And guess what? I didn't get cast. So, I wasted a day of my life and a half hour of the director's time. Don't be like me.

Anyway, break a leg, cutie!!! Kick it out and remember, lots of untalented people are Equity (they were simply at the right place at the right time) so it doesn't make them any better than you! Just be confident and enjoy.

Have fun!

D.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 10:54am

Be VERY patient.
Be ready to go at a seconds notice.
Be nice and realize the monitor is doing you a favor if they get you in. They don't owe you anything and can keep you from getting in at all if you are too pushy. Of course they will make you sit around all day before they tell you that you will not be seen.

[Love4Cheno]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 11:11am

I've actually been seen at a lot of EPAs. My best results in fact were at the AEA audition center. Chelsea Studios has, for me, proven to be a complete nightmare. Small, cramped with WAY too many people. Maybe it's the proximity to all the downtown colleges- it seems a lot of students can skip class or audition between classes.

[Di2]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 11:20am

Wow...Really? That was never my experience as a non-eq.

[DTC]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 11:46am

I too am a "future Equity" who sometimes crashes EPAs. I've found that it's like real estate -- location, location, location:

EVERY audition I've attended at Equity HQ, we never got seen at all. Ever. After waiting an hour or two past the call time, they make an announcment to that effect and collect pix/resumes. Granted, these shows I went for were very popular (like I suspect "Lestat" will be), so it could just be sheer numbers of people showing up that does it.

At places like Ripley-Grier or Chelsea Studios, or a company's own theatre space (i.e., Irish Rep) you're much more likely to be seen. My usual experience has been to get there BEFORE the call time, go straight to the non-Equity sign-up list, and wait. And wait. They collect Equity folks six at a time, in 20 minute increments; if for some reason one of them doesn't show up for their slot, the monitor will go to the non-union list. You NEED to be there when your name is called!

So far, my only bad experience with this process was with a much older guy as monitor, in a very small audition space. Rather than going to the non-Equity list, he'd ask other waiting Equity people if they'd like to go early, until he'd gone through everyone currently waiting in the room. Eventually, he asked all the non-Equity folks to leave and come back in two hours, right before the lunch break. We came back, waited some more, then he returned to collect our p/r, we waited some more, then he told us to come back around 4pm! Those of us who did return after that were seen, but by then I was so tired and frazzled that I gave a pretty poor audition.

I don't know what the official rules are; maybe that's the way it's actually supposed to be, and all those other auditions I attended were not by the book. Perhaps some Equity members out there could clarify?

[ShineOn]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 11:58am

I'm *pretty* sure it's a rule that all equity members MUST be seen first.

I just recently attended a call at AEA... but I was called into the audition by the casting director... knowing I was non-union going in she made it clear I wouldn't be able to be seen before they got through all the equity girls. There were some mishaps that day... let's just say that if I wasn't going into an audition in that building with the knowledge that the casting director was expecting me, I wouldn't go to the audition period.

[Di2]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 12:56pm

All Equity members MUST be seen first. If they see non-eq's it is purely out of the kindness of the monitor's heart. Equity actors would be pissed though. As, I would be. I pay my dues to the union and deserve to be seen before non-equities.

I was non equity for years so I know how it sucks but now that I have to pay $$ to be seen..its only fair. Non-Eq's don't have to pay a dime and you all have more jobs to choose from then we do.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 4/15/05 at 1:21pm

Actually--it isn't up to the monitor so much as it's up to the people doing the casting.

And there are lots of auditions that have low turnouts at AEA--and non-Eq get into them.

Popular theatres and musicals are most likely going to be packed. Most straight play auditions are packed, too.