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As part of the Playworks Program here at the International Thespian festival, students have the opportunity to audition and rehearse one of the plays being workshopped. The audition day was very intense. We sat through auditions from 9:00 am straight through to 12:45 and then we have half an hour to cast the roles between five plays. Students were put in groups and performed in scenes from the individual plays with monologues, duets or trios. Over the course of the morning, we say 185 students and that doesn't count the students we saw twice who were called back. By 11 am we were starting to feel the time crunch. Call backs were discouraged, repeat reads had to be culled down, we had to see the groups and move on if we were ever going to make sure every students got their moment.

Preparing a trendy audition song seems a logical choice to many. The piece may have universal appeal, and a sense of it being "safe" material. Many actors fail to see that though this may be "popular" to perform in front of their peers, directors might have a slightly different take. Directors are looking for unique & creative individuals, and having "fresh" audition songs can separate you out from all the others. As an actor, you also show the ability to stretch yourself and take a risk on something that no-one else is doing.

Rachel McAdams Audition with Ryan Gosling reading lines off-screen for The Notebook.

The Amazing Individual Event. The Amazing Audition. The Amazing Monologue. This is your Guide to being amazing in two minutes or less.