Depending on the size of your church or school, this can be done in a variety of ways.
I will share what has worked best for me.
1.
Always try to be professional.
I used to think that holding an audition was not something we should do in church because it becomes a competition where people are put against each other.
But if you just ask people to play a part and not hold auditions, you may be accused of just casting your favorites or not finding the best person for the role.
When it comes to someone memorizing lines and learning to play a part in a production, I think there needs to be that opportunity to showcase talent.
This can always be a tricky area as you don't want to create prima donnas and puffed up Christians, even though they may be talented.
Always approach this with sensitivity and understanding, as well as being objective.
I would recommend that the director who is casting the play, have his or her assistant help in the casting.
I knew a director who wanted out of the casting decisions for the male parts because her own son was auditioning.
She asked me to cast the men, and I ended up casting her son in a prominent leading role, because I felt he gave a good audition and she was relieved that no one could accuse her of nepotism.
An audition is a good experience for the youth who are getting involved and that will help to determine who might be right for which role.
It is not an easy task and I'm sure there will be a lot of disappointed kids, but that's life, right? We all need to learn about rejection and success, both.
Everyone wants the bigger and more important roles, but at the same time, they have more lines to learn and more responsibility.
2.
Be ready to be surprised.
I have discovered at an audition that there are people with more talent and ability than I had given them credit for.
For instance, we were casting the story of Corrie ten Boom, and when a girl of 15 got up and read with a German accent and read with extreme feeling and emotion...
I knew that I had my Corrie.
No one else even came close to portraying that character the way it needed to be played.
Yet, after the auditions, several girls came up to me and said that they would be happy with any role, but they really hoped they would get the part of Corrie.
I was surprised that it didn't seem as obvious to them that the part was already cast by that amazing audition that we all just witnessed.
Years later, I was in a new church and casting the same part for a larger version of that story.
I didn't know anyone at this church, so auditions were completely necessary and essential.
I asked who would like to read first and a woman volunteered and so did a young man...
both of them read with Dutch accents and put an amazing amount of feeling into their readings.
I had been praying a lot that I could find my Corrie and suddenly, I was realizing that I found my two leads with the very first audition.
3.
Don't forget to pray.
I like to start my auditions with prayer and I also tell folks that they should give all their expectations to God.
People can sometimes come in with an over abundance of confidence and later be very disappointed when they don't get the part they wanted or expected to get; or be very nervous and not give a good audition.
Cold readings can be very hard for some people and very stressful.
Quite often, you can have a talented individual who may be just right for the part, but he doesn't give a good cold reading.
Sometimes you may not be able to determine that right off and you learn later the kind of talent they have.
I have cast people in lead roles who really struggled through the entire production and others who I thought could only handle a small role, ended up knocking it out of the park and could have clearly done so much more if they had a bigger part.
If they come back again...
then they might land a leading role the next time.
If I bathe the whole process in prayer, then I have to trust that this was how God wanted the casting to go.
Quite often, your most talented people will need to be cast in the interesting character roles, which might not be the leads.
4.
Don't always do it the same way, but try different methods.
A suggestion is to try some improvisation.
Not everyone is comfortable with this, as it can be a bit scary to invent a character and lines to say on the spot.
But you might see something that shows up in a person, where a cold reading does not bring that out.
I know a young man who is dyslexic and has a very hard time reading lines that he has not rehearsed.
From his cold readings, I probably would not cast him in large or demanding roles.
But I have worked with him in several plays and I know that he is a fine actor and has played a variety of roles dealing with various ages and even accents.
Because the director used improvisation a lot, he was able to see talent there.
Perhaps a mix of the two, if you have the time to do that.
5.
Take good notes.
If I am auditioning a large number of people, then I have to take notes.
Perhaps a rating system...
like grading them from 1 to 10 on different aspects of the audition.
Are they loud enough? Are they expressive? Do they show emotion? Can they quickly develop a character? Do they have good stage presence and do they play well off of the other actors on stage with them? If this is a musical, then how well do they sing? Do they stay on pitch and does their voice carry? Can they handle the demands of a solo? I have also had such a difficult time making my decision, that I called some of them back to read again.
This happens rarely in a church production, unless you have a large number of people.
I've never really had that experience at church.
Usually, I barely have enough people to cover the cast I need.
I quite often have each one read for me a few times during the audition process.
I also try to have the pages that they will be reading available for them to look over before they audition.
I'll even make them available days in advance and if anyone wants to practice at home, I will email the pages to them so that they can come prepared to give the best audition that they could possibly give.
Some may think that it gives them an unfair advantage, but I look at it this way: If they want to take that much effort in making preparations, then they have the right to that better chance of landing the part.
6.
Go the extra mile and publicize it well.
If possible, allow them to read the script.
After reading the entire script, they may decide that a certain part is just too large for them to tackle, or perhaps they just get a feel for a character and really want to play that character.
After putting something in the church bulletin for a couple of weeks, perhaps someone making an announcement or posters put up that tell about the audition, you can proceed.
I like as many people to know about it as possible.
I also try to have more than one audition in case the date is not good for someone.
I will have an evening audition but perhaps also one on Sunday afternoon.
I will also let people contact me if they cannot make either time and set up a time to perhaps let them audition with me privately...
before or after church, or at their home or mine.
If I show them that I am a director who is willing to go the extra mile to let someone have a chance...
then perhaps they will go the extra mile for me, when it comes to participation in this wonderful and unique experience.
In my desperation for finding an actor, I once offered to drive to someone's house and give them a private audition.
I had every hope and intention that he would be right for the part and that I could cast him.
When I arrived, he had been watching a movie so he could get the feel for the time period and the accents as he was reading the part of a young Dutchman.
His audition was amazing! Far better than I had ever expected.
I was so pleased that I talked him into reading for me and I think he really enjoyed the experience.
7.
Create good audition forms.
When people arrive at my auditions, I have them fill out a form that I will have them turn in to me that I can refer to as I make my casting decisions.
I can use this form to take notes on during the audition and it also lets me know what interests and abilities the person has, along with their schedule and time constraints.
For me, an email address is crucial, as I usually like to stay in touch with my cast via email.
I stress with them that they should be checking their email (or even Facebook) at least once a day to stay on top of updates.
I also will try to work around everyone's schedule as best I can to come up with the best solution for rehearsal times.
Quite often, the person's schedule is what keeps them out of the production, and in a small church especially, you may need every person you can get.
Don't be afraid to jump right in...
this can be such a fun and rewarding experience.
It is a lot of work, but the pay off is usually so great.
Remember, this has the potential to touch and change lives.
Warren Sager is a Christian playwright, his Christian scripts and plays can be found at http://www.
scriptsbywarren.
com