Pre-Audition Jitters?

[Note: All my facts about the audition experience come from Journey Theater Arts Group since that's the only theater group I've ever been with.]

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If you're a theater person, you know exactly what I mean.

You've been practicing your intro and audition song for weeks (hopefully), asking your friends if they're auditioning, reading up on the show, and trying to think of anything but that minute and a half when you'll stand in front of a room full of people by yourself and try to earn a spot in the show. In a word, terrifying.

That being said, I have my tenth audition coming up this Friday.


Oh, and in case your wondering, the sixty seconds right before you walk up to sing are just as terrifying the tenth time as they are the first time.


I have heard people say countless times, "Wow, I could never perform in front of four hundred people! No way!" But in reality, we find it a lot easier singing solo in front for four hundred strangers rather than forty friends.

This is the way I used to explain it: "If I mess up in front of strangers, odds are I'll never see them again so it doesn't matter. If I mess up in front of friends, I'll have to live with it forever."


Of course, now I realize that whole idea is kind of ridiculous. You should strive to never mess up, no matter who you're performing in front of.


And if we can't sing, act, or dance well in front of someone we know, how can we be told ways to improve? Face the audience here, pronounce this word this way, you're doing a dance step backwards... all these things we can't figure out by ourselves. We need our parents, our friends, and our directors to help us out and make our performance the best that it can be!

Ok, mostly just our directors at JTAG... but you get the idea.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that we shouldn't be afraid to sing solo for a minute in front of people that love us, support us, and want to see us do our best.