Student’s Corner
This page is for those who are participating in a current Acting UP! Musical Theatre Course or Camp. Here you will find updated Rehearsal Schedules and other bits of information to help you get the most out of your experience. Please check in regularly to make note of any changes.
Audition Information
You DO NOT need to audition to join the Senior Company. However, we need to do informal auditions in order to cast the show out of the students who are already registered. While we try to give students a real audition experience, we are also there to help you learn “how” to audition. Everyone will be nervous…even those students who have done this before so just do you best!
How We Choose Our Shows
Are the rights available and affordable?
Many shows are restricted due to the fact that they are still playing on Broadway, touring, or are being done by another company in the area at the same time we plan to perform. The full versions of musicals are also much more expensive to perform than the Junior versions so that can be challenging for a smaller company like Acting UP!
Are there lots of opportunities for the whole company to be involved?
It’s important to us to have as many people on stage as often as we can – so we’re looking for a show with big group numbers and many, many characters. Lots of popular shows only feature a few leading roles and have very little for the rest of the company to do. For example, in “The Sound of Music”, Maria and the children have most of the singing in the show and are the only characters that dance. The majority of the cast play nuns in the opening number, and party guests right before intermission… and then have to sit on the sidelines for the rest of the night. So we may end up picking shows that fewer people have seen before, because we want to make sure there are opportunities for everyone to participate throughout the show.
Is the show challenging enough that everyone has something to learn?
We want to make sure that our more experienced performers have roles that require them to stretch and grow their acting, singing and dancing skills. But we also want to make sure that our newest members have a chance to shine. So we are looking for shows that offer challenges for many different skill levels.
Does the show fit with the company’s values?
We want to perform shows that are fun and appropriate for the whole family. Some shows were written so long ago that they encompass values that people now realize are problematic – we’re going to try to avoid doing these kinds of shows.
Is the music fun?
We’re looking for a show that has lots of diverse music so that we can practice different dance styles (ie tap, jazz, ballet, etc) and work on our harmony-singing skills. We also want to make sure that there are lots of solo opportunities (in suitable ranges for young voices) for everyone in the cast.
How We Cast Our Shows
There are no auditions required to become part of the Acting UP! Company. However, it will be necessary to hold informal auditions for specific roles in the show. Our first few weeks will be dedicated to skill based workshops which will include sessions on singing, dancing and acting. We will also be teaching the students “how to audition”. Out of these workshops, we will cast the show.
The larger roles will be given to the students who we feel are ready to tackle them. Preference will be given to the older, or more experienced members of the group so that they can provide mentorship for the younger or more inexperienced performers. But everyone will be given the opportunity to take on a role that includes at least a few speaking lines as well as solo singing lines. There are also many large ensemble numbers so everyone is ensured plenty of stage time!