Although the winter weather and sound of sleigh bells may seem so far away, the months of September and October are a flurry of activity as auditions for an abundance of holiday musicals are held.
While in many ways identical to any other musical theatre audition, an audition for a holiday show does have some additional considerations. When preparing for your audition, consider the following tips:
- Do not abandon your musical theatre repertoire unless the music from the show is NOT musical theatre. Some shows incorporate traditional Christmas carols, so using another carol would then be appropriate. For a show such as Here's Love, composed by Meredith Wilson, staying within the musical theatre repertoire is much more appropriate. In ideal situations, you may be able to find a suitable musical theatre piece that also has a Christmas theme.
- Holiday musicals (with some exceptions, of course) have an uplifting, hopeful, "good will to all men" type theme. It's important to do your best to appear as if you will fit into this theme in the audition (unless of course you are auditioning for Scrooge or the Grinch!)
- If getting into the Christmas spirit before you've even seen Halloween is difficult for you, try reading a favorite holiday story or listening to some holiday music before heading off to the audition to get in the mood.
- The most popular holiday musicals are all based on well known stories and films, so there is no excuse for not becoming familiar with the characters and plot lines before the audition.
- Holidays are a busy time of year for everyone - check the rehearsal and performance dates carefully for conflicts either before you audition or before you commit to a role.
