AUDITIONING FOR 'MATILDA'
STEP ONE: RESEARCH
Please be sure to put in time on this step! You need to get as familiar as you can prior to auditioning!
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* The story of Matilda began as an awesome book written by the beloved Roald Dahl in 1988. A terrific read, if you're interested!
* If you'd rather listen to the book than read it, it was adapted as an audio reading by actress Kate Winslet. You can find that on Amazon or Audible!
* It was made into a feature film in 1996, directed by Danny DeVito - totally worth a watch, although it was not a musical.
* Finally, in 2011, Matilda was adapted into a musical! First on the West End in London and then on Broadway in 2013.
* In 2022, Netflix made a musical movie adaptation featuring Emma Thompson as Ms. Trunchbull - with some really great choreography!​
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READ THE CHARACTER BREAKDOWNS
Linked HERE
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LISTEN TO THE MUSIC
These links are for the Broadway Cast Recording and the London West End Cast Recording.
Play these on repeat! :)
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WATCH THE MUSICAL​
It's very important that you see a production of the musical before auditioning. If you aren't already familiar with it, we recommend you watch a production on Youtube. ​​​​​ Here's is the Youtube production that we recommend:​
🔗 Ridge Drama Club presents Matilda the Musical
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NOTE: Please... do not COPY these actors/actresses, their acting or blocking choices. Just get a sense of the pacing, plot, characters, etc. ​​​​​​​​​
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(you can watch the Broadway bootlegs, but The Ridge Drama Club production will be more similar to our show in terms of the age of the cast, as well as the scope of the production, so we would really like you to watch this one!)
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OPTIONAL: WATCH THE 2022 NETFLIX MUSICAL MOVIE​
It will help you further understand the tone, story and characters.
Plus it's fun.
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STEP TWO: PREPARE YOUR AUDITION
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Once you're super familiar with the show and music, decide which characters you identify with, which you think you're right for, and which characters would challenge you at this stage in your training!
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Please pick 2 to 3 different characters to audition with, so we can see some range!
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Yes, we want you to do ALL characters with a British accent (of any class/region)! Songs and scenes. If you're nervous about accents, just do your best. We will be doing accent coaching/practice this summer at camp.
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We are also interested in hearing dialects for Rudolpho (Italian) and Sergei (Russian).
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STEP THREE: SEND YOUR SELF TAPE (now thru June 11)​
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The first round of auditions are through video submissions only!
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Make a separate video for each character you are auditioning for, including each character's sides and/or songs.
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SLATE: At the top of each video, we would also like you to take a short amount of time to explain to us WHY you chose that character. If you can do any gymnastics (cartwheel, back walkover etc) or any ballet, please let us know.
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For your songs, use Youtube to find the right backing tracks (do a search for the name plus karaoke or instrumental). We prefer that you sing in the original key of the song. We can sometimes transpose the key of the song for the right performer, especially if there are no other characters involved in that song, but we will still want to hear you sing in the original key before we make that decision.
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Do take the time to ensure that you are clearly lit.
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PLEASE only shoot horizontally (we will not accept VERTICAL videos).
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Unless your character needs to be sitting in the scene, we would like you to do your tapes standing up.
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Frame: We would like to see only the upper half of your body in frame.
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A note on self-tapes: we are not looking for industry-quality self tapes. Please do not buy new equipment.
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Please, do not email or text us the file. We would like you to send us direct links. Upload each video separately to Youtube or Vimeo (on an unlisted link) and send those links to sierra@act1LA.com (...if you don't know how to do that, let us know!... we are happy to help with that).
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After uploading, label your video with YOUR NAME, and the CHARACTER'S NAME.
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Also with your audition video, please send in the completed registration forms.
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PLEASE SEND US LINKS TO YOUR VIDEOS ANYTIME, BUT NO LATER THAN June 11th! Sooner is definitely better! The sooner you send it in, the more time you'll have with your callback materials.
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STEP FOUR: COME IN FOR YOUR IN-PERSON CALLBACK
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Everyone will be asked to come in for an in-person callback, between June 15th through 19th.
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Some students may also be asked to come in again on June 20th, so please keep that date flexible if you are able.
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We will read some new sides together (which we will send to you in advance), and we might also have you show us the material from the self-tape auditions.
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We may ask you to prepare different or additional characters than the ones you sent in your videos.
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If you are auditioning for Miss Wormwood or Rudolpho, we may also ask you to show us some dance steps (so wear comfortable clothing and appropriate footwear)!
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Practice LOTS! Be ready to sing and perform to your best ability, especially if you're a brand new student and we don't know you yet!
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Ideally we would prefer you to be totally memorized. This will give you the strongest possible audition!
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If you are not memorized, please print off the material you need and bring it with you. DO NOT READ OFF YOUR PHONE, PLEASE!!!​
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CASTING
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The first day of camp is June 22nd, and you will be getting your script and learning what part(s) you are playing.
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We will be doing a table read at that rehearsal. We really hope that everyone can attend the table read/sing-thru! For anyone who is absent that day, we'll shoot you an email with the cast list. ​
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Thank you for your preparation and hard work! We are rooting for you!
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