Try Auditioning For an Act Using Poems

It's not common to use poems when auditioning for roles but it is possible to bring one to the audition and have a successful performance. Poems can be an excellent way to show your range and technique as an actor because the words that make up a poem don’t reflect the way people normally speak. Words are more colorful and hold deeper meaning, which is why poems are also difficult to recite. However, if you have the technique and emotional range as an actor, poems can be quite effective. Here are several poets whose works you might want to use:

Pablo Neruda
Neruda was a Nobel Prize winning Chilean poet who first wrote symbolic poems before moving to surrealism. However, some poems by this great South American poet are excellent reading for acting, especially if you will be auditioning for a romantic part. Try selections from his 'Cien sonetos de amor', a full volume of poetry dedicated to love or get his collection of poems from 'Selected Poems of Pablo Neruda'. If you can read Neruda and move your audience, you can definitely play a romantic character even if you dressed up as Quasimodo.

E.E. Cummings
If you want lyrical acting poems, Cummings is your man. The works of this American poet are characterized by non-conformity to traditional poetic form. There are plenty of distorted syntaxes and the use of slang is prevalent but you will love the rhythm if you are adventurous and willing to try something different. If you can get past the new words and hurdle the strangely placed punctuations, E.E. Cummings can give you the perfect acting poem for your audition.

If you want something that's closer to theater, try 'him' (small caps), a play Cummings wrote both in prose and verse. You should also check out excellent selections from 'Poems', '95 Poems' and :' six nonlectures'.

Shakespeare
The Bard never fails to bring out the best (and worst) in every actor. Everyone from the great Laurence Olivier to Keanu Reeves has played a Shakespearean character. His poems or sonnets, however, can be great pieces provided you understand the way the language was created and can work with the rhythm. Shakespeare likes to use metrics in his work.

Don’t be limited by the more popular Sonnet XVIII. There are about 150 sonnets to choose from, but make sure you use these only as part of an audition for a part in a love story. The sonnets are unabashedly romantic. They are also quite awkward to use if you are unable to grasp the rhythm early on. However, they are perfect for developing your vocal and rhythmic skill.

Want to be an actor? Get Instant Acting Tips from one of Hollywood's acting coach Calvin Jung. Jung, also an actor, is the coach to a number of illustrious actors like Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx and Mel Gibson. Be an actor, click here to learn Instant Acting Tips now.

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Audition - Guide to Finding Acting Jobs

Have your Resume Handy

Before even beginning to look for an acting job audition, you should remember that, like any good job opening, it all begins with your resume. No stint in acting should be overlooked, even ones in your high school or college drama club. Formal work with any theater will help pad your resume, and most importantly, if you've actually got stage acting experience list the plays you've done and the theaters you've worked with. Character references from any old contacts you have in the industry will be helpful, too.

Know Where to Look for Auditions

The simplest and easiest ways to look for auditions is to check common public information sources. Newspapers and the internet are the easiest and fastest ways to find any openings in your area. These openings will usually, but not always, be casting calls for a certain role on the stage. If your acting repertoire is limited by inexperience be sure to pick the roles that you know you can handle.

Do Research on the Role

Once you've got a set of potential auditions to go to, don't just jump into the car or hail a cab and run off to the theater. Do some research on the role that the audition is being held for. Remember that you'll most likely be competing with dozens if not hundreds of other hopefuls trying to land a place on the stage. You have to be able to slip into the character role in a heartbeat. You have to know how the character thinks, dresses, walks, and talks. If you can look and act the part before you actually start the audition, so much the better! There have been instances where a stage or movie director actually canvasses the line of applicants incognito, looking for someone who will jump at him out of the line screaming "pick me!" by his or her bearing and demeanor.

(Read Acting Is a Job: Real Life Lessons about the Acting Business)

When all Else Fails, Get an Agent!

Lastly, if you're having trouble finding an audition or getting booked for an opening in one, you should consider getting an agent. Do your research so you can find a decent and reliable agent. Call your local Screen Actors Guild office and you can ask for a list of any and all registered agents they have. Guild registered agents have to adhere to the rules and regulations set by the guild, and as such are completely reliable. A bonus to this is the fact that they will have contacts who are already established in the acting industry, and they can put in a good word for you to help you along.

Want to be an actor? Get Instant Acting Tips from one of Hollywood's acting coach Calvin Jung. Jung, also an actor, is the coach to a number of illustrious actors like Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx and Mel Gibson. Be an actor, click here to learn Instant Acting Tips now.

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How to Snag a Role - What to do for an Audition

Auditioning for a part in a television show, stage play, or movie can be a nerve-wracking experience. You need to get all your glamour shots ready, so you need to dress your best and be in good makeup and going into the audition in character. You need to get your resume in order, your documents in order, perhaps even your SAG card in order!

With the right preparation, however, your acting audition can be a walk in the park. All you need to do is follow these tips, and you might get that role you’ve been dreaming about for a long time.

- Some producers will allow you to apply beforehand for the audition, and they will give you specific lines that you should say, or scenes that you should act out. If you are working on a well-known story or play, read as much as you can on the character that you will be acting out. Ask yourself what the characters past is, and how it affects his or her present. What motivates the character? What does the character look like? All of these should help you deliver your lines better.

- If you have no lines or scenes to base your audition on, you still have to go to an audition prepared to act up a storm. Get sample scenes from the Internet, or buy a book with acting scenes (try The Actor's Book of Scenes from New Plays: 70 Scenes for Two Actors, from Today's Hottest Playwrights) that will require you to use a wide variety of emotions.

What time will the audition be? Schedule a certain time of each day to match the audition time, plus and minus an hour before. For instance, if your audition is on a Thursday afternoon at five, do your own auditions every day starting Thursday the week before, from four to six in the afternoon. Soon, auditioning and acting will feel like a simple routine.

- Some producers will require you to send them an audition tape. All the former rules apply: practice as much as you can, and perform your scenes perfectly. Dress up as the character, act as though you were already shooting your film, and get all the aspects of the audition tape down pat, from images to sound. Show how professional you are as an actor, and the producers will treat you like a professional.

- Relax! You are the character, and your nerves aren’t playing a part in the movie, show, or stage play. As long as you know your stuff, then you can be the best actor that you can be.

Want to be an actor? Get Instant Acting Tips from one of Hollywood's acting coach Calvin Jung. Jung, also an actor, is the coach to a number of illustrious actors like Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx and Mel Gibson. Be an actor, click here to learn Instant Acting Tips now.

Read more...