Guest post by Sarah Gaboury

Is it your dream to get into a great drama school? We’re entering college audition season and I’m excited to share these tips to help you rock your auditions. Keep in mind, selecting your material is often the biggest hurdle for many of my students so give yourself lots of time. If you haven’t chosen your pieces, get started reading lots of plays and asking for suggestions from teachers or coaches you trust. Give yourself the time to really do the work you are capable of. You deserve it after all that hard work you’ve done in high school!

1. Ask yourself these material selection questions:

• How are you most likely to be cast?
• What are your acting strengths?
• What playwrights do you love?
• What kind of stories are you most moved to tell?
• Most importantly, does this monologue excite me in an “I can’t wait to work on it” kind of way? (If not, don’t bother!)

2. Make sure:

• Your monologues are from published plays.
• Do a web search and make sure they aren’t crazy overdone.  (Although if you’re amazing and in love with your pieces you can do anything…well, almost.)
• The pieces are active, meaning the character is really trying to get/do something.
• You have double checked the monologue requirements for the specific school.

3. Do your homework and rehearse the heck out of your pieces:

• What is the monologue about?
• Who am I according to the writer?
• What is my relationship to all people, places, objects, events and time?
• What does my character want?
• What are my obstacles?  And what are my intentions to break through those obstacles?
• What are the stakes?
• Now get on your feet and work it and work it and work it…and get a coach or trusted friend to help you.

Want to dive in even deeper?  Discover how to rehearse in a technical way, get mastery over your nerves and finally let it all go to totally rock it with Sarah’s free video series: The Top Three Audition Game Changers.

Though her work in acting classes, one-on-one and on-set, Sarah of Teen Actor’s Lab has skillfully guided thousands of tentative, timid newcomers to become confident, technical, risk-taking artists.