Northern Drama 2013/2014

Audition Information & Application Package

Welcome to Northern Extra-Curricular Drama!

Audition Information

Mainstage Acting and Singing: Room 225

Monday, September 30 – 3:15 – 5:35

Tuesday, October 1 – 2:00 – 4:20

Wednesday, October 2 – 3:15 – 5:35

Thursday, October 3 – 3:15 – 5:35

**Note: A singing audition is optional. You do not have to sing in your audition.

How It Works:

  • Students are required to perform a monologue from this package and a brief improvisation.
  • Prepare (memorize) your monologue in advance.
  • You may sign up with a friend.
  • Two people audition every 10 minutes.
  • You may also wish to audition to be a singer.Prepare to sing a cappella (without music) for one of the following songs: “What I Wouldn’t Do”, by Serena Ryder,or “Ho Hey” by The Lumineers or any song you already have prepared. You will find the lyrics to prepare in this package(pages 8 and 9).

To Do:

  • Memorize your chosen monologue (and song if you so choose)
  • Check in 15 minutes before your audition in Room 226
  • Bring your completed audition application form with you to your audition (attached, page 4)
  • Attend an audition workshop for acting or singing (optional)

Northern Drama Presents 2013/2014 Mainstage Production:

DEPARTURES AND ARRIVALS

Written by Carol Shields

Directed by Ms. Flora Wellsman, Sarah Klapman, Emma Keil-Vine,

Sarah Pouramn and Stephanie Sinclair

Discover the world of hidden drama in an airport, and explore the lives and craziness of the people passing through! From soap-opera melodrama to postmodern surrealism and everything in between, Departures and Arrivals tells the stories of air travelers on many kinds of journeys.

Workshops

This year, we have arranged for workshops to help you prepare for your auditions.

Monologue – Wednesday, September 25th – Start of Lunch – Room 225

Thursday, September 26th – Start of Lunch – Room 225

Song – Tuesday, September 21st–Start of Lunch – Room 225

**Note: Check the Drama Bulletin Board outside room 225 to keep posted!

Auditioning Advice to Remember

One of the most frequently asked questions received by the Northern Drama Department is, “How do I prepare for my audition?” We created this article to address this question.

The first thing to know about auditioning is that it’s highly unlikely you will do your best work in an audition. As a matter of fact, if you are like most good actors, you’ll probably walk out of an audition thinking that you” bombed it” and even if you think you’ve “nailed it,” there is still no guarantee that you’ll land the role. There are too many variables that are out of your control. The trick is to zero in on what is within your control. If you are fully prepared (which always gives confidence) then you are able to silently state, “I am committed and dedicated to my craft.” This work ethic is what will make you memorable – even if there isn’t a role for you at this time.

Auditions take place for one reason only: to determine without any doubt that you have the ability to be yourself in the given circumstances of the monologue that you will be delivering. Most auditioners are going to cast an actor who best exemplifies the characteristics and traits of the character as written. Remember that auditioners want you to succeed.

Do:

  • Read all of the monologues in your package and choose the piece that resonates with you.
  • Make sure you do your homework. Read or find out as much information as possible about the play in order to give a context to your audition piece.
  • Take the time to memorize your entire audition piece and practise it at home, speaking it aloud and incorporating actions.
  • Get coaching, if you think you need it.
  • Show your range of delivery. The easiest acting choice is anger. Auditioners get tired of being yelled at during auditions. Subtlety will not be unnoticed.
  • Warm up before entering the room for the audition. Prepare vocally, physically and mentally. Take the time to drop into role and focus your concentration.
  • Be pleasant and personable, but allow the auditioner to set the tone for chatting, asking questions or shaking hands. Be professional.
  • Appear confident even if you are feeling nervous.
  • Take your time to focus before beginning (e.g. turn your back to the auditioners and, when you are deeply in character, turn and begin) and be aware of the finish (e.g. fade out of role as opposed to calling out “scene”).Demonstrate your acting process.
  • Think of the audition as the delivery system for your personality and potential.
  • During the improvisational activity, remember to accept and extend the ideas that are created within the scene.

Don’t:

  • Don’t be late. Make sure that you are there early and ready to go.
  • Don’t apologize for having a cold or being unprepared. Just do the best you can.
  • Don’t look at the auditioner while delivering your audition piece.
  • Don’t take a bow after the audition or expect applause or laughter.
  • Don’t suddenly remember that you are not available for some of the dates of the performance after auditioning.

Don’t go into an audition wanting the part. You can’t know what the director wants.

**Bring this completed form to your audition!

Audition Date: ______Audition Time:______

Northern Drama 2013/2014

ACTING /SINGING Audition Application

Be sure to show up to your audition at least fifteen (15) minutes early.

Check-in is in room 226.

Name:______Phone:______

Home Form:______Teacher:______

Please list any theatrical or singing experience you have had, both in school and out:

Current Drama/Art/Music/Dance Courses (if applicable):

1.)______Teacher:______

2.) ______Teacher:______

3.) ______Teacher:______

List any special skills you may have: (e.g. gymnastics, stage fighting etc.)

Do you have any major commitments e.g. work, sports, babysitting, other school activities, etc? If so, what are they and when are you required?

**Remember, Drama Is A MAJOR Time Commitment!**

Drama Information and Audition Schedule

Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday
16 / 17 / September 18
Drama
Information Session: Audition and
Drama Roles
Sign-up
Auditorium / 19 / 20
23 / 24
Song Workshop
Room 225 / 25
Monologue Workshop
Room 225 / 26
Monologue Workshop
Room 225 / 27
30
Day 1
Auditions
Room 225 / October 1
Day 2
Auditions
Room 225 / 2
Day 3
Auditions
Room 225 / 3
Day 4
Auditions
Room 225 / 4
7
Call Backs
Rooms TBA / 8
Call Backs
Rooms TBA / 9 / 10
Roles Posted After School
*Check for date of 1st rehearsal* / 8

**Check the Drama Bulletin Board!**

Monologues

Monologue 1:

Ladies and gentlemen, mesdames et messieurs, we are about to descend. Will you kindly lean to the left. Will the gentleman who is not leaning to the left please do so at this time. We ask that you remove your shoes for landing- we are about to land and require your cooperation in this matter. Lean left. Thank you. Merci. Left again. I see one of our lady passengers has not removed her designer boots at this time. May we ask for full cooperation for a smooth and cheerful landing. A little to the left again. For additional oxygen, open mouth as wide as possible and please lean forward at this time and commence with foot action. Left, right left, mesdames et messieurs, gauche, gauche, left, for God’s sake, left!

Monologue 2:

My father was a man of simple but severe tastes. A traditionalist in the finest sense. We were far from being affluent and made do with countless small economies. But a single luxury was permitted: my father’s white shirts were sent out to be laundered. Seven shirts every week. No, on second thought, it was six, he made his Friday shirt do for Saturday as well. Wonderful man. Well, as a boy, I was given the task of fetching his shirts. The laundry - they no longer exist, not the same - was tiny, crowded, steamy - and the smell! How can I describe it? That smell held both the security of the present and the possibility of the future. Tradition and dignity. Comfort and order. The finest smell in the world.

Monologue 3:

That poor kid, I know just how he feels, you can tell he hates his haircut, the way he’s holding his head, all stiff like a robot, do I ever know how he feels- if I get in line behind him I could say something nonchalant like, “Hey, do you mind if I ask who cuts your hair? You look great” …something like that… or I could say, “Look, not to worry, it’ll grow out, that’s one thing about hair.” Ha, that time Mom gave me the home perm and I had to wear a scarf to school for a week while the frizz settled down... a soft perm it was supposed to be- I probably thought the whole world was looking at me and all the time everyone was just worrying about how they looked, that’s the way people are.

Monologue 4:

His full name is Mohammed. Now here’s a very interesting fact. What is the most common first name in the world? A good question for a quiz program. You’d probably think John or Bill or Jim, but no, it’s Mohammed. That’s on account of all the Mohammedans have to name their first sons that particular name. It’s a rule like the Catholics used to have, calling their first girls Mary, Mary Gladys or Mary Grace, or what have you. When Susan sent the birth announcement she said, “Now Mother, be sure to put it in the local paper.” Well, I did just what she said, but I didn’t put the name in. I just said, “A little son born to Dr. and Mrs. B. Khazzi. Mrs. Khazzi is the former Susan Kitchell of Rosy Rapids,” and so on. I wasn’t about to tell the whole world my daughter had a baby named Mohammed.

Monologue 5:

Very few people realise that in the busy life of a major airport there are moments of silence. Generally, it’s about two or three in the morning. Like right now. Listen. The noise of the giant jets is stilled. Their great silver bodies are at rest, the thunder of their engines silent. At this hour one senses a deep calm rising out of the absence of commerce and the petty distractions of human activity. For this brief interval:

The people of the sky are at peace;

Their frantic comings and goings have ceased.

At this hour (Pause.) the airport (Pause.) sleeps.

Monologue 6:

Sherry Hutchuk, please. Sherry? Hey, it’s great to hear your voice. Bet you can’t guess who this is. NO. No. Hey, wait a minute. Don’t hang up. I’ll give you a big hint. Quebec City. 1987. No, June. After the rock concert? Yeah. That’s right. No, that was Arnie. I was the one with the CCM. Now you’ve got it. Yeah. Were we wiped! Yeah, well I remember part of it. Anyway, I’m on my way to Seattle. I got a promise of a job out there, kind of important, and we had a stop here, so I pull out my book and there you are. Yeah, I’m out at the airport. No, I’m standing right here, no shit. Why should I lie?

Monologue 7:

Well. Well. Well. I guess I oughta say congrats. So when’s the big day? Yeah? That right? Hey, you still there? Well, you said you had to go to the dry-cleaners’ so I thought … Listen, that night in Quebec City, I wasn’t all that skunked, you know. I remember quite a lot, in fact. And I bet you do too. Remember we were up there at the what-do-you-call-it, that place where you look down and see all the lights, and we got to talking and you told me about how your cat got killed and you started to cry and, Jesus, so did I almost, and yeah, yeah, well, I remember things like that. I really remember that whole night. The stars and the moon and all that. That wet grass and those little, little bugs. I thought, this girl’s special. I was hoping maybe, wishing you maybe, well, yeah, I know, you gotta go to the dry-cleaners’, so, well, all the best.

Monologue 8:

There’s something I’d like to share with you out there. It’s about the rich and famous. I meet quite a few of them in my line of work. You know, there’s a saying that if you stand here, right here, at the information counter, long enough, the whole world passes by. No kidding, it’s true. I’ve seen it happen. But that’s not what I want to say to you. What I want to say is that the rich and the famous, well, they’re just like you and me. Inside I mean, like deep down, like, they’ve got feelings. They’ve got bad taste in art, some of them. They applaud in the wrong places at the symphony. They get struck by lightning. They get hives. Hernias. Corns on their feet, know what I’m saying?

Song Lyrics

"What I Wouldn't Do" (Serena Ryder)

If you should fall to pieces
You know I’ll pick them up
There are so many reasons
I’m never going to get enough
If you should leave this country
You know I’ll come to you
Because you always love me
oh what I wouldn’t do
oh what I wouldn’t do
I’ll carry the weight
I’ll do anything for you
My bones may break
but I’ll never be untrue
Woah-oh-oh Woah
Woah-oh-oh Woah
Woah-oh-oh Woah
Oh what I wouldn’t do
Oh what I wouldn’t do
Your love is like an ocean
that always takes me home
Whispering wind is blowing
telling me I’m not alone
Your love is like a river
that I am floating down
I’ve never been a swimmer
but I know that I’ll never drown
I know that I’ll never drown
The current grows stronger
under different shades of blue
I’ve fallen in your water
forget everything I knew
Woah-oh-oh Woah
Woah-oh-oh Woah
Woah-oh-oh Woah
Oh what I wouldn’t do
Oh what I wouldn’t do
… (We won’t make you sing past here)

"Ho Hey" (The Lumineers)

(Ho!) (Hey!) (Ho!) (Hey!)
(Ho!) I've been trying to do it right
(Hey!) I've been living a lonely life
(Ho!) I've been sleeping here instead
(Hey!) I've been sleeping in my bed,
(Ho!) I've been sleeping in my bed
(Hey!)
(Ho!)
(Ho!) So show me family
(Hey!) All the blood that I would bleed
(Ho!) I don't know where I belong
(Hey!) I don't know where I went wrong
(Ho!) But I can write a song
(Hey!)
1, 2, 3
I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart
I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweet
(Ho!)
(Hey!) (Ho!) (Hey!)
(Ho!) I don't think you're right for him
(Hey!) Look at what it might have been if you
(Ho!) Took a bus to China Town
(Hey!) I'd be standing on Canal
(Ho!) And Bowery
(Hey!)
(Ho!) And she'd be standing next to me
(Hey!)
1, 2, 3
I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart
I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart
Love – we need it now
Let's hope for some
So, we're bleeding out
I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart
I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweet
(Ho!)
(Hey!) (Ho!) (The last one) (Hey!)

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