Disney Acting vs. Real Acting

After sitting behind the audition table for several years and hundreds if not thousands of auditions, I’ve started to notice that the acting style young people present usually falls into one of three categories:

1) Realistic Acting – It is rare to see realistic actors in high school auditions, but those who do present their material in a direct, realistic way usually get in.

2) I’m terrified – These are usually the students who have had no guidance on acting and are not really thrilled by the thought of standing in front of a panel of strangers and performing an acting scene solo. These are becoming a little more rare than they used to be.

3) Over Acting – This category of actors has been exploding lately. They flail all over the place, they try to be funny, and their auditions are often embarrassing to watch.

One day my wife and I were flipping through TV channels and we stopped on the Disney channel and the Hannah Montana channel as a joke. But then we started to watch and we had a revelation, the actors we are seeing in auditions are mimicking the acting styles on Disney shows! To test our “hypothesis” we watched iCarly and more recently Jessie, and sure enough the acting is almost always over the top and ridiculous. Are these shows funny to teenagers? Obviously they must be or they wouldn’t be on the air. However, for most adults they are not funny and since adults are the audience you are auditioning for you need to consider what it means to be an adult/real actor.

I edited the following video to help you understand what we are seeing on the other side of the table and what we are looking for. The first clip is from “Jessie” and the second is from an HBO series called “The Newsroom.” I’ve placed notes at the bottom of each scene. I encourage you to watch it through a few times. First, take in the scenes as a viewer, then go back and pause the video to read the notes. After you’ve read all the notes, watch it a third time and see what other information you can gather on your own.

Wishing you all the best in your future auditions!

Matt

Inappropriate Monologue Material

I just returned from the 2013 Southeastern Theatre Conference where I had a chance to audition high school juniors with my colleagues as part of the recruiting process for next year.  My colleagues and I made a bet about how many monologues and songs of certain topics we would see during the day.  Sadly, we were dead on; in fact I think we underestimated.  Here are a few of the most dreaded monologue topics that we continue to see year after year.  I’m sure this material has been covered before, but the message is not getting through to many students and/or teachers, so I thought it was worth repeating.

#1 – Suicide.  Sadly real people commit suicide; I’ve known two people in the last year.  Its not a topic for entertaining people.  Does it need to be addressed?  In the context of a show, yes.  But as a monologue, it should be off limits.  It brings everyone in the room down and it deals with a topic some people may not want to think about.

#2 – My life sucks/Teenage angst.  We all know that the teenage years are some of the worst.  You could not pay me enough to go back to being a teenager.  However, “my life sucks” is not the message you want to give in an audition.  It does not sell your skills, it just tells us more of what we already know – you’re a teenager, this is really hard, and you’re really nervous/scared.

#3 – Sex.  Sorry, you’re too young.  I’m not here to preach abstinence, but if you are having sex, we don’t need to know about it.  I specifically do not want to hear any type of monologue that tells me about a sex-capade and then asks me a rhetorical question about it.  For example:  ”We were really going at then my mom walked in the door.  I’m sure you remember what that feels like…..” NO!  Inappropriate.

#3B – Abortion.  I left this off the original list and then L.A. Casting Director Dea Vise added it in a comment and she is absolutely correct.  I thought I’d add it here in case you didn’t catch her comments.  Its too controversial, its inappropriate, and its too dramatic.

#4 – “Haha look how funny I am.”  Ok, so that’s not really a specific monologue, but I think you know what I’m talking about.  This year it was some monologue about doing a comedy skit with a fake head strapped to your back or something along those lines.  Not really that funny.  You’re trying too hard; just be you.  If you’re funny, then a simple comedic monologue will read funny.

#5 – Monologues talking about dead animals.  Self explanatory.

#6 –  ”F$%^ that S&@#, I mean #$!%”  A monologue is not a contest to see how many times you can swear in one sentence.  Does it happen in adult theatre?  Yes.  But you’re still in high school, sorry its just weird and it makes us feel awkward and embarrassed for you.

#7 – Anything from Les Miserables.  Its great material, but its too fresh in everyone’s minds.  And please if you sing it anyway, do not try to recreate Anne Hathaway’s performance.  She was wonderful, but there is only one Anne Hathaway in this world.

#8 – Excessive Screaming.  Its too much, we want to hear you talk, not scream.

#9 – Did I mention Suicide, Sex, and Swearing?  Just making sure.

#10 – Anything that attempts to impress us.  We watch thousands of auditions every year.  There is no material out there that can impress us.  The only thing that really impresses us is when a young person walks in the room, stays true to themselves, presents a simple but well thought out package, and then talks to us afterwards with confidence, intelligence, and maturity.  THAT is what we want to see.

Matt

Workshops at the year’s Southeastern Theatre Conference

If you’re attending SETCs this year, come check out my colleague Jonathan Flom and myself in a series of workshops covering the business and performing sides of musical theatre. If you’re there, stop by and say hi, I’d love to meet you. I’ll also be free for coffee to discuss the audition process if anyone is interested.

What’s Happening on Broadway – A look at 2012

A few years ago I analyzed the Broadway Box Office Sales and compared the percentages of four main types of musicals: Pop/Rock (those primarily consisting of pop/rock style music), Contemporary (musicals that combine traditional and contemporary styles often with some pop/rock influence), Traditional (those that are written in the Tin Pan Alley style that evolved in the early 20th century), and Legit (those musicals which rely heavily on the “legit” or classical voice).  I’ve been asked several times to review the most recent season, so this evening I compared the numbers as provided by BroadwayWorld.com.  Here are the numbers for 2012:

Pop/Rock	$407,162,561.00
Contemporary	$377,213,960.00
Traditional	$118,693,159.00
Legit	$76,459,865.00

 

The percentages breakdown as follows:

Let’s compare those percentages to the 2009-2010 season:

As you can see, there have been some significant changes.  The percentage of pop/rock has increased from 35% to 42%; Contemporary musicals have increased from 26% to 38%; Traditional musicals have remained steady at 12%; and Legit musicals have dropped from 27% to 8%.  When I spoke at the Indiana University New Voice Educator’s Symposium in 2011, I predicted that we would continue to see the rise of pop/rock singing on Broadway and an unfortunate decline in legit musicals.  My predictions have come true; Pop/Rock musicals are here to stay.  I think there will always be varying trends in the popularity of traditional and legit works, but I think for the next few years we are going to see more of the same.

Here are the shows I used for this analysis:

Pop/Rock

BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL

BRING IT ON THE MUSICAL

EVITA

FELA!

FRANKIE VALLI AND THE FOUR SEASONS ON BROADWAY

GHOST

GODSPELL

JERSEY BOYS

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

LEAP OF FAITH

LYSISTRATA JONES

MAMMA MIA!

MEMPHIS

ONCE

ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS

PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT

ROCK OF AGES

SISTER ACT

SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK

 

Contemporary

BONNIE AND CLYDE

CHAPLIN

ELF

MARY POPPINS

NEWSIES

THE ADDAMS FAMILY

THE BOOK OF MORMON

THE LION KING

WICKED

 

Traditional

ANNIE

ANYTHING GOES

CHICAGO

FOLLIES

HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT

ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER

 

Legit

PORGY AND BESS

THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD*

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

*There have been some comments that it is questionable to consider this song “legit.”  My decision to label this show in this manner was based on several casting notices that asked for “legit” voices as well as reviews that remarked on the scores operetta style.

Should I let my kid get a BFA?

This is a common question; here’s the short answer.  Its increasingly becoming obvious that you cannot get a decent paying job without a bachelor degree, no matter what its in.  (For more on that topic check out this link).  Outside of the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, English, and Mathematics) and health care in many ways a bachelor is a bachelor degree.  There are many great jobs out there for people with charismatic personalities.  There are also many careers that require a masters degree, for many of those degrees it does not matter what you majored in during your undergrad.  Right brained people bring a set of skills to the table that many left brained employees do not.  As computers increasingly become capable of replacing left brained tasks, employers will be seeking employees who can do tasks that computers cannot.  Courses that encourage creative thinking, public speaking, and other inter-personal skills will become more and more valuable in the new economy.

So if you are trying to decide between a BFA or a general liberal arts degree, I would go with the BFA any day.  If the choice is between a STEM subject or a BFA, the conversation and options are a little more difficult.  Just remember, many schools allow students to double major.

Matt

The Thank You Note!

Its the height of audition season and if you’ve been auditioning, its time to get caught up on your thank you notes.  Not sure what I’m talking about?  Then keep reading.

Thank you notes are a great way of reminding the audition panel about your audition.  The notes need not be complex, in fact you are better off keeping it short.  If possible, a hand written card is better than an email, however, an email is better than nothing at all.  Try to include the following:

• When you auditioned
• A special comment about anyone who specifically helped you
• Something you especially liked
• And if its true, a comment that the school is your first choice or at the top of your list.

To help you craft your own, I’ve posted an example below.  Feel free to copy any part of it you wish.

Dear Professor Smith,

Thank you for a great audition experience on January 15th.  Janice in admissions was especially helpful in guiding us through the details of the application process and left my family and me with a great impression of XYZ University.  I really appreciate the adjustments you offered for my song and I have already began the process of finding a new monologue as you suggested.  After my audition experience, XYZ University has risen to the top of my list and is definitely my first choice.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Samuel Student

A few thoughts on the process of creating art

You are not just a performer, you are an artist.  Take a few seconds to look at this painting then read below:

Leonardo da Vinci began working on this painting somewhere around 1503-1504.  Some scholars believe he began the painting in Italy and finished it around 15 years later while living in France, somewhere around 1519.  Others claim that the painting took less time to complete, somewhere between 4 and 7 years (http://www.authenticsociety.com/about/MonaLisa).

Regardless of which scholars are correct, it took Leonardo years to create this work.  He paid close attention to each color he choose, how he mixed the paints to get that color, which brush he chose for each section, how he detailed the mouth, eyes, nose, etc.  However, many people never think about all of those tiny details while looking at a painting.  Even if you didn’t notice all of those details on first look, the artist still had to make very specific choices in order for you to enjoy his/her painting for even a few seconds.

Art is not created immediately; art takes time.  Time for the artist to reflect on what they have to say and to think about how to say it.  During your college career and early professional years, you will often spend many more hours practicing your roles than performing them.  You need to approach your college auditions with the same mindset that you will those roles.  Take the time to research and understand the characters in each one of your songs and monologues.  Read and think about your character’s growth throughout the show.  Be able to talk intelligently about the character and the show.  You may be asked to try a different interpretation during your audition and the panel may ask you about what is happening in the scene/show, who your character is, who you are talking to, etc.  Your preparation before the audition will make a huge difference.  Hopefully if you really commit to doing your homework, the panel will see your singing version of this:

Instead of this:

~Matt