Audition Ettiquette

Hey Lauren, This is such an interesting question with no easy answer. I think the reality is that everyone is going to have a slightly different idea on what circumstances make this okay or not. Your question reminds me though of a big decision I had to make a few years ago. I had an audition for Oklahoma in February but I also knew that my home theatre company was doing Les Miserables and that the auditions for that would come up BEFORE Oklahoma was even halfway through - meaning I couldn't possibly do both. I decided to be honest with the Oklahoma people at the audition time and told them that if I didn't get a big enough role then I probably wouldn't do the show as Les Miserables was coming up. Saying that now seems really arrogant and big-headed, but I'm still proud of the honesty. The Oklahoma people ended up casting me as Curly which made the decision really easy - I love "Oh What A Beautiful Morning" *wink* So, I didn't audition for Les Miserables. Anyway, why I told that story is because I think that whatever happens, you need to be up-front with the director/producer from the outset. Also, once you have committed to a project I think that you need to be really careful about taking on another one. There is a BIG thread about multiple shows that you should have a read of. Sometimes working two projects can be done, I personally can't do it (I tried and almost killed myself) but I know people who do it quite successfully. The key to that is, once again, honesty. Make sure the director of each project is aware of your other commitments AND is okay with it. Darren