Audition Tips

We want your audition for the ACU Theatre Department to be the best it can be! Here are some tips and tricks for an amazing audition.

Choosing Material:

Choose monologues that reflect your age.

Try not to choose monologues we've heard many times before. For example, "To be or not to be" is not the best choice. Here's a list of frequently performed monologues and songs that we recommend you avoid using in your audition:

Overdone Contemporary Monologues

• A…My Name is Alice – jock strap speech
• A…My Name is Still Alice – bridal registry speech
• Baby with the Bathwater – Daisy’s speech about being a baby
• Blue Window – falling off the balcony
• Boy’s Life – “No one should need anyone that much…”
• Camelot – Guenivere’s speech about running naked in the palace
• Dinner with Friends – various
• End of the World – father with baby at the window
• The Fantasticks – Luisa’s monologue
• The Food Chain – anything
• A Girl’s guide to Chaos – variations of the “dating” monologue
• The Glass Menagerie – Tom’s “you think I like the warehouse?”
• I Hate Hamlet – the “to be or not to be” speech
• It Had to be You – opening monologue
• Jack & Jill – “nice”
• Lakeboat – (Mamet) the jock who always wanted to dance
• Laughing Wild – tuna fish monologue; Cary Grant monologue
• Little Footsteps – the sperm monologue
• Lone Star – the Grand Canyon speech
• Long Day’s Journey into Night – Edmund’s speeches
• Marriage of Bette and Boo – Fr. Donnelly
• ‘Nuts – “what went wrong, mama?”
• PS, Your Cat is Dead – auditioning for the commercial
• Passion Fish – “I didn’t ask for the anal probe”
• Picasso at the Lapin Agile – woman getting swept away
• Sleeping Beauty – “this womb is closing in three months…” or “the hair on the back of Ricky Lardner’s neck”
• Spike Heels – Teresa Rebeck’s car monologue
• Star Spangled Girl – “Mr. Cornell” speech
• Suburbia – strip monologue
• Waiting for the Parade – going away “one piece at a time”
• Wit – various

Overdone Songs

• Annie – “Tomorrow”
• Anyone Can Whistle – title song
• Candide – “Glitter and be Gay”
• Carousel – “Soliloquy” and “When I Marry Mr. Snow”
• Chess – “Anthem” and “Someone Else’s Story”
• Chicago– “All That Jazz”
• Children of Eden – “Lost in the Wilderness”
• City of Angels – “You Can Always Count on Me”
• Company – “Being Alive”
• The Enchantress – “Art is Calling for Me”
• Fantasticks – “Much More”
• Fiddler on the Roof – “Rich Man”
• …Forum – “That’ll Show Him” (it always sounds flat)
• Funny Girl – “I’m the Greatest Star”
• Grease – “Worse things I could Do”
• Guys & Dolls – “Adelaide’s Lament”
• Gypsy – “All I Need is the Girl”
• Jekyll & Hyde – “This is the Moment”
• Les Miserables – “On My Own”, “I Dreamed a Dream” and “Empty Chairs”
• Little Mermaid – “Part of Your World”
• Lucky Stiff – “Times Like These”
• Miss Saigon – “Why, God, Why”
• My Fair Lady – “On the Street Where You Live” and “I Could Have Danced All Night”
• Night Music – “Clown”
• Oklahoma! – “Girl Who Can’t Say No”
• Once Upon a Mattress – “Shy”
• Ragtime – “Daddy’s Son” and “Wheels of a Dream”
• Rent – “Take Me or Leave Me”
• Secret Garden– “Hold On”
• Seesaw – “Nobody Does it Like Me”
• She Loves Me – “She Loves Me” and “Vanilla Ice Cream”
• Showboat – “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man” and “Old Man River”
• Sophisticated Lady – “Hit Me With a Hot Note”
• Titanic (the movie) – “My Heart Will Go On”

For auditions, it's best not to use accents. We want to hear your own voice!

Most importantly, choose material that you love and are comfortable with.

At the Audition:

• Be professional in your attire.
• Be confident! Smile!
• When you are given your cold reading, try to look up from the paper as much as you can. Seeing your face is more important than getting all the words exactly right.

Remember, we are on your side. We want you to succeed!