To Nancy or not to Nancy...

I've been one of those who has been resoundly against these reality shows exploiting and encouraging the complete bypassing of the acting community in favour of some cheap television.
Now. Along comes a TV Talent Show (ie this Oliver thing) that has a part that I could actually play. Hmm. The shoe's on the other foot suddenly. I start to think, Mmm, I'm in the playing age... I can sing... how often, as an unrepresented actor, do I get a shot at a paid casing? And at least each time these shows have been on, they have given trained actors a decent job- the right person has got the gig.
The fact that I would rather pull my own teeth out than go to most musicals currently in the West End is neither here nor there!
At the and of the day, it's a way in, and I've tried the conventional route for the last 11 years, with limited success. Maybe my Mountview training might come in handy after all!
Is anyone else out there having dangerous thoughts like these? Encouragement or a slap round the face, please!


  • 16 years ago
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not sure..i sent mine by post 2 weeks ago :-s


  • 16 years ago
  • 41
Leila Reid
Actor

I went to the maria auditions with a friend and it was an organised cattle market but still a cattle market and it was a really really long wait but if you thing you have a chance then you should go for it!


  • 16 years ago
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Lee Ravitz
Actor

I suspect that however early you turn up the queue will already be streaming down the street (of course, it will only get worse as the day wears on). The truth is, of course, that there are bound to be many people there who are not professionals in any sense of the word and who (forgive me if I place my cynical hat on my head here) will probably have been prepared to pitch a tent outside the studio the previous night in order to be in with a chance of becoming a star. So, I would suggest getting there in good time (as always) and don't be surprised that it still takes forever for the crowd to shuffle on through and to even get given your number (or whatever they do). Still, I hope you *will* be seen if you get there in good time for the audition.

The Evian bottle tip sounds very clever - obviously, all people in TV land fear the reprisal of the advertising companies, so anything carrying a dreaded 'logo' cannot be shown on prime time television for fear of (shock, horror) LOSS OF CASH!!! On the other hand, if you want to be in with the chance of appearing on TV during the audition (perhaps you don't), I'd try and avoid wearing anything with a logo on it as well (they won't film you in a Reebok top...oh, no).

Clearly, I have not got the faintest clue about what Machiavellian plotting goes on behind the scenes as decisions are made as to who gets 'put through to the next round', but by and large, it splits into the 'talents' and the 'idiots':

I trust everyone who has been discussing Nancy is a true talent, and to 'prove' that, I guess they will be thinking about your look, the actual quality of your voice, the strength of your acting perhaps. You will need to look as professional as you can, perhaps with a hint of 'Nancyness' about you. I don't know quite what I mean by that, but simply, to show them that, yes, you could be capable of playing that archetypal 'tart with a heart'. I wouldn't advocate dressing up in a Victorian Madame's costume, however, unless you wish to be labelled an idiot. But dress with a bit of style, and make the most of whatever flatters your face, because they will be looking to cast someone who they think the viewers at home can root for/aspire to be. If you are young (and I think Nancy is typically cast in the late 20's - mid 30's range), then make sure you make the most of the fact if you get asked about it - it might be a selling point, depicting Nancy as a teenager. Be strong in yourself, and try as hard as possible not to let nerves cut in (although like any auditioners, if you are good, and they see you're nervous, they will let you off). They will never turn down someone they feel has genuinely offered them something remarkable. Whether you can provide the sort of performance that would light up a West End stage (or even a TV set for eight weeks) is your call.

If you wish to be seen as an 'Idiot', then I think the criteria are a lot more straightforward; you dress in a stupid costume that will make you stand out from the crowd, you come up with the most awful performance routine it's possible to think of, you adopt a ridiculous gimmick (coming with a violin, depicting Nancy 'after she's dead', bringing a dog to play Bullseye, being a man in a dress etc.), and you take every opportunity to talk to the camera people whenever they look with interest in your direction. Of course, I'm not thinking that anyone who has discussed these details will want to look like anything other than a total winner, but you never know, someone else may be reading this. The serious point is, I suppose, that always these guys are going to be looking for what makes good TV as well as what will be good for the MT scene - so, anyone who comes dressed as a cowgirl and is tone -deaf will probably be in with the chance of two minutes of airtime. There will be people there on the day who have no other intention than getting seen. Still, to become more likely to be picked as a 'talent', I think you will also have to have something that makes you stand out from the thousands around - an interesting look, a particular style and so on.

I'd say, if you're going, and you hope to be in with a serious chance of getting any further with it (as opposed to just going for the experience, which is fine), you need to give some thought to that - what will you sell them? What will they see of you when you walk into the audition room? In that sense, it's the same as any other audition.


  • 16 years ago
  • 43

Wise words, Lee.
As I haven't got a cowgirl outfit I might go for the more subtle approach!
Armed with a good "story" about how my luck has been so bad in my career up to now, I think. No sick grannies or sisters who need an operation, though! I still don't know if I'm going to go...maybe if I get my telephone call from the BBC it might resolve me to do it. I applied about two weeks ago too, so I should hear from them soon.


  • 16 years ago
  • 44
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I got my call 2 days after i sent my application via email. so hopefully you will get the call.
i'm torn on my 2 auditions pieces at the moment. i know you have to sing the unkown piece first but just in case always be prepared and all that. i know what my MT song is going to be but just wondering whether to sing anothe MT or a song that shows off my range that shows a different style. hmmmmmm...... decisions decisions!!!


  • 16 years ago
  • 45

I shouldn't worry yet. I haven't got my call and I posted mine off two weeks ago.
I'm in the same boat with audition songs- I've not done a musical casting since they revived Jesus Christ Superstar... God that was ages ago! I've got loads of modern ballads but I really need an upbeat musical number, and I'm clueless! Terrible, a Mountview girl not knowing her musicals! Well, I did do the straight acting option after the first year and tended to avoid anyone MT like the plague! What snobs we were!


  • 16 years ago
  • 46
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Well I am torn....only found out about it today and I would love the chance BUT, the only day I can go is Friday and that means taking a day off work (so no pay) and if I don't even get seen then that's a total waste.

But then there's the what if....? Lee Mead was excellent in Joseph (I saw it in October) and there's hope for the runners up to as Lewis is filling in for Lee in March...so despite the cruelty, he's a winner too.

It would be awesome to get through tho...but is it worth the waiting?

x


  • 16 years ago
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Alan Brent
Actor

If you don't do it you'll never know, will you?


  • 16 years ago
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Please don't take this too harshly, but if anyone is unsure of whether to go to the audition because they don't know if it's worth the wait in the cold or if they are not confident with their abilities - just don't go.
There will be many girls there with determination in bucket loads, you will not shine through if you are not 100% about the whole thing.


  • 16 years ago
  • 49

Sheri is totally right. You have to remember that its NOT a normal audition- your nerves or lack of confidence is the very thing that may cause you to end up on national TV looking like an unprofessional hack, even though the people going from this site are trained professionals.

Dont think Im being harsh either but...Its an open audition!! Its what MT pros do if they cant gte seen for a private and standing in the cold etc is what people in the West end etc and Broadway do... I had to wait in the cold for an hour to be seen for Aspects of Love.

If you are not confident about your abilities or have not sung for a few years and are rusty etc.. you have very little chance of being recalled...the voice seizes up under stress and it takes strong technique to overcome this... there are too many who are good and ready- consider the cost carefully because the production team casts a LOT of musicals and you will represent yourself badly. They wont see you agian, as you will be on their mind as a professional who isnt at the standard they should be at. I say this to protect and defend you, not to belittle or mock.. please hear my heart.

If you are primed and ready, and prepared for what awaits, break a leg and I hope you get recalled.

Good luck!!!


  • 16 years ago
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Alan Brent
Actor

Good comment there, Blake!
I cannot agree with you more.
Alan


  • 16 years ago
  • 51

A really good point from Sheri and Blake there. I did an open for Rent about ten years ago now and breezed in thinking- "I can sing, I know my pieces... I can do this standing on my head". Oh dear. I was so rusty, as I'd not sung for about a year and I just wanted to find the nearest stone to crawl under when I'd limped through it!
If my pieces aren't up to scratch by wednesday, I'm not doing it.
Luckily I sing in a band most weekends so my voice is in good shape right now, but I still need to brush up on my musical number.
It's one thing doing the worst audition of your career for a handful of people, but in front of potentially millions...
I've been guilty in the past of thinking that musicals are the "easy" option for an actor that can do both. Not any more!
x


  • 16 years ago
  • 52
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Goodness! What a lot of comments.

My experience of open auditions has always been good, and I know lots of people who have got the job as a result of their 16 bars at an open audition. I wish they still did them as its very hard to get seen by any of the top Musical Theatre casting departments these days. I was just listening to Bill Kenwright on Radio 2 and he said the Joseph show taught him a lesson as he had no idea Lee Mead had the talent he has, yet Lee had worked for him, and he thinks all the producers should look at their casts more closely.

My gripe with open auditions is that you have to get there at a ridiculous time, so have to get up at a ridiculous hour, and the voice needs 3 or 4 hours to warm up to singing standard. There is nowhere for you to warm up your voice, so I have frequently found myself treating the office workers of London to loud sounds of my Soprano Belt in the squares of London, as I warm up and go through my songs prior to the audition. The mens open audition days always seemed to start at 2pm which seemed unfair!

I have had great experiences at TV Reality show auditions. I noticed that several people who didn't even get as far as the final 10 in the televised finals of the Maria show were head-lining panto this year. Its all about putting bums on seats - even if the link to TV is tenuous.

Has anyone been to the auditions that have already been held for Nancy?

I believe the Belfast auditions were last Thursday and the Manchester auditions were yesterday and today.

Did everyone get seen? What time did people get there? What was the 1st song you had to sing that they give you on the day? Who were the "casting professionals?". When I've been previously to TV Reality show open auditions the "casting professionals" in the 1st round have been researchers... (I've not been to the Simon Cowell type ones, so can't speak for them.)

S x


  • 16 years ago
  • 53
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I don't know who they are using for the Nancy auditions, but for Maria I saw Anne Vosser, David Grindrod and Debbie O'Brien. I had not been seen by any of them for a few years and so it was a good opportunity. I have been called in by them since, which may just be a coincidence or maybe not...

Make sure you send your CV's in to them after the auditions to remind them who you are.


  • 16 years ago
  • 54
Lee Ravitz
Actor

Yes, that's an interesting point, about who will be calling the casting shots on the very first round...you're right that it's likely to be some seasoned casting directors (how can it not be?), but unlikely to be any of the 'big hitters' who have been designated to appear on TV to rip strips off people.

In fact (although this is rumour, it did make sense to me when I heard it), I have been privy to the suggestion that the 'vetting' that happens in the first rounds, which does not involve the star 'judges' at all, is vitally important to the first few weeks of any reality show. It is then that the first set of panellists arrange unseen for both the best...and more specifically, the worst...to go through to the next round.

I must admit it always puzzled me as to how some of the people on screen, who are so unreservedly bad that it becomes funny, could actually be so deluded as to genuinely imagine they stand a chance in the competition. Whilst I accept that they will be some extremely deluded souls out there, the truth is their misplaced optimism makes so much more sense if it's assumed that they have already been put through a 'qualifiying' round before we even get to see them appear for the 'first' time on TV - in essence, they can be seen to have won the first round (although no-one at the time told them they were being put through for the sake of people to laugh at). Then, the 'star judges' are carefully alerted to the quality of what is about to come through their door (whether fantastic or dire), and any 'decision' they make thereafter is already a) decided well before the candidate comes in and b) played up mercilessly for the sake of the camera.

As I say, I don't swear to the fact that this *is* true, but I can easily imagine it to be. Moreover, it's a slightly worrying thought to realise that if, say, the 'first' round of 'X - Factor' on TV is, in reality, the 'second' round, then clearly still something in the region of 400 people get put through to the 'second' (aka first 'televised' round) alone!

I would hope that Nancy is a more discerning product than something like the 'X -factor'. It's got a slightly less populist feel to it, and the parts being sought after are ones that emphasise a certain fundmental dignity in the whole set-up, so I don't think there will be quite so much deliberate engineering of 'freak show' elements. Also, for the very reason that if the 'real' stars of the (TV) show (the 'judges') aren't there on the day, I may have to retract one of my earlier supposings, and argue instead that it's unlikely the cameras will be on anyone at this stage - as what they aim to capture is judge reaction as well as contestant response.

Then again, I wouldn't stake my life on *that*! Any footage in the can is good footage, and I am now grown so cynical (probably rightly) that I don't even believe that all the reactions shown on judges face to any act were filmed during that performance. Why not just spend an hour afterwards getting 'reaction shots' from the judges doing a host of different types of mugging, and intersperse them liberally into sequences when you feel like it in the editing? It's how they do interviews!


  • 16 years ago
  • 55

Almost makes me glad I can't sing! Good luck to all of you who are attending. This is a very hard business. So we must take these chances when they come along.

I'm not sure I agree with the cattle market but at least there is a decent end product for the winner.


  • 16 years ago
  • 56
Kenny Richards-Preston
Actor, Singer

I really hate these things! I mean really REALLY hate these things.
I watched the Joseph one, as Ben Ellis (who is now in Harispray at the west end) is a sining pupil of a good friend of mine. Also, watched the early types of these shows, pop idol and the like.
Can't get my head around the reasons for half of these guys that get through to the latter stages, apart from they make the god singers sound better. A little like X-Factor, you don't meet Simon, Sharon or Louis till the 4th audition, and yet 75% of the people that those guys scoff at managed to get through the first 3??? Utter nonsense, a way for Cowell to maintain his nasty truthful image but proving that the only other reason for those pitiful miscreants with 0 talent are only there to make the others sound good! Shane Ward had a terrific singing voice but you'd never get that from his initial audition, shows what a bit of talent and a few weeks of hard work can do to a voice!
That aside, what I have noticed, especially in Joseph and You're the One That I Want, is;
Be smiley and warm when meeting the judges,
Show yourself to be a team player from the get go,
Prove your talent at appropriate times (on stage, in rehearsals etc)
Remember all criticism is constructive when the cameras are rolling, even those of your peers!

Ofcourse, if you're worried about your voice and performance not being as strong as the others, there is another route you can take that seems equally as useful..

Stammer through a verse and be really upset about it, claiming you have a problem,
Argue with another contestant openly, then whine to the cameras about how they treated you differently as you never had the training they had.
Cry about how you miss your family, or that someone you know is ill, or the dog had to be put down, anything that will make the viewing public give you a sympathy vote.

Remember that it's the viewing public that vote for you, and 60% of them have never been to a musical and probably wouldn't know what talent was if it jumped up and smacked them in the face. So don't get upset if you're in the bottom two and have to rely on lloyd-Webber to save your ass. That's always the fail safe isn't it? But if it's the best two that are voted bottom each week, he can only save one of you.
I find it hard to keep my cynicism in check in these matters, but seriously, Break a Leg for those attending, but most of all, have fun
Kenny


  • 16 years ago
  • 57
Alan Brent
Actor

Kenny's points are so true!
The whole thing is a lottery type chance of actually winning it. But enjoy the journey no matter how short or abrupt it seems.
The 'Great Unwashed' are those who keep you in the show. Without their expensive phone vote the show wouldn't exist. So they want not only excellent singing, they want DRAMA too.
The researchers are looking for that part of the show. They are the people you're meeting first.
Since you are all trained in drama Be The Drama Queen or the 'Little Voice' and give them a reason to chose you other than your terrific voice!
Good luck to everyone who has the bottle to have a crack at it!
It cetainly opened Bill Kenwright's eyes!


  • 16 years ago
  • 58

Just thought I'd let you know- they're forecasting SNOW for the end of the week... oh yes, it's just getting better and better...


  • 16 years ago
  • 59
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Less competition then!! LOL!!

At the moment I'm covered in a rash from my face to my boobs, which, apparently is an allergic reaction, although they thought it might be meningitis(!) but 2 doctors later and its apparently a reaction, and they think it might take a week or so to get better, so I won't be going to any auditions if this continues...

S x


  • 16 years ago
  • 60
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