What I Learned from Running the Bollywood Auditions

We had auditions last week for the Great Bollywood Puppet Extravaganza. As the producer for this show, I was in charge of coordinating the auditions. About a week or two earlier, I attended Impact Theatre’s season auditions because I will be directing Briefs for them next spring. A lot of actors didn’t show up for their scheduled auditions slots, and we all sat around talking wondering if actors realize that directors remember when they don’t show up. The next time they audition for the same director, they already have a preconceived notion that the actor is a flake.

When I was putting together my email to send to auditioners giving them all the details on the audition, I thought of that conversation. I wondered if maybe actors had just never thought of the idea that flaking now could bite them in the ass later. So I added this line to my email:

If you're going to be late or can't make it, call me at as soon as possible. Failure to do so will hurt your chances of getting cast in this and/or future productions.

Wow, did that work! Everyone who cancelled gave me plenty of warning they weren’t coming, and not a single auditioner was late.

So if you’re running auditions any time soon, you might think about saying something like that to your auditioners. Having it spelled out like that really hit home.