The music echoes in the halls leading students down to the choir room for one of the most exciting and terrifying moments, auditions.
January and September are busy months in the high school theater world, students and directors alike are involved in a constant hustle and bustle that is the audition process for the fall play and spring musical. These auditions can be extremely stressful and nerve wracking for aspiring thespians. With the 2024 school year coming to an end and the new group of students coming in, learning the do’s and don’ts of auditions can make all the difference.
Musical director and government teacher Matthew McKay has been in theater since high school where he performed in three Northview productions. Post graduating, he went on to Aquinas and Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC), earning a theater degree while performing in nine productions. Since finishing school and becoming a teacher, he has played in “Robin Hood” and recently auditioned for the musical “Spamalot.” With his personal experience going through auditions and now being the one to cast every Northview show, McKay brings insight, empathy, and understanding to the audition process.
“You [have] to rehearse, rehearse and rehearse until you’re kind of tired of trying to rehearse, then take a break from it, and then you try it again. Standing and acting in front of either a mirror or just in a space, you got to practice,” McKay said. “I tried to find ways to be positive with the other people around you because that’s like a job interview.”
Despite McKay’s depth of experience, pre-audition, pre-audition nerves still linger. Being able to stand in the shoes of his students, giving their all with song and performance, McKay can better understand the thoughts that run through their minds with anxiety.
“I think the students get in their head and they tell themselves ‘this isn’t good enough’ or ‘this isn’t right.’ That’s the thing that we always tell them, make a choice, commit to the choice and show me something loud and proud even if it’s the wrong thing,” McKay said. “You don’t know what I’m thinking, sometimes I’m seeing your mistakes and going ‘I love how you recovered from that.’”
Being able to make a mistake and continue with the scene is a big part in having a good audition. It lets the director know the actor can truly be in tune with their character and not freeze in moments of doubt. Senior Liam Price has gone through three auditions throughout high school. Although someone may audition year after year, the nerves still appear deep down.
“[I am nervous] whether or not the thing I want to go right is gonna go right,” Price said. “I’m less worried about forgetting a line or if it’s for singing, not quite hitting a note.”
Messing up during an audition is deeply scary but it’s good to remember to keep going with confidence. Senior Sevi Cullum has gone through seven different auditions in her life. Reaching out to those around her has proven to be greatly beneficial as well as taking time to pick the right song and monologue.
“Honestly, last year was my first musical audition so I really didn’t know what to expect. Talking with Mr. Philipson [choir teacher] and Mr. McKay was really helpful, especially with specifically musical picking monologues and songs for musicals,” Cullum said. “I definitely pick a song where I can show character through it and act through it, because that’s just such a huge thing you want to show.”
With the 2024/2025 year coming, auditions will be held in September for the fall play Peter and the StarCatcher. It follows the story of how Peter Pan became who he is and how the lost boys join him on his adventures. McKay will step down this fall as the play director, former dance instructor Phoebe Dawson will be covering in his place. Even though McKay will not be directing this time around he knows how auditions usually go after the years of going through them himself.
“I imagine there will be some opportunities for some cold reading. Make a choice and decide this character is how they act. A physical character choice will help you to remember,” McKay said. “If you’re like ‘I gotta play this dude, and he sounds like he’s a tough guy’, puff up the chest and then do the whole thing with the chest puffed up. It’ll remind you to do a different voice, and it’s kind of a stage voice. It’s great if you understand the character psychologically, but nothing matters on stage unless you can show it to me and you show it to me by doing it.”
