Recently, AKS Performing Arts students took part in a rigorous three-night audition process, including a callback session, as we prepared to cast our production of West Side Story. Students were challenged across acting, singing and dance, demonstrating not only their skills and versatility, but also their tenacity, commitment and resilience throughout the process.
Hear from Johnnie R, a Year 12 Drama Scholar, as he documents his audition experience:
The overall audition process was very exciting but equally quite intense. Throughout the audition, there were different sections focusing on the three key musical theatre skills singing dancing and acting. I enjoyed how in depth this was as it gave me the chance to showcase the different sides of myself as a performer. In particular, I enjoyed the accent work where we experimented with New York and Puerto Rican accents, this workshop process was brilliant and took the pressure off as we encourage to take risk and explore all possibilities. I also enjoyed watching others perform and playback their work.
Personally, the dancing audition was quite challenging initially. However, after a few practice rounds of running through the routine, I found my flow and it became extremely enjoyable. With West Side Story being such a physical and heavily choreographed show, I had to focus on picking up the choreography quickly whilst also performing it with confidence.
We were given two weeks to prepare our individual audition performances. As such in preparation for my singing audition I constantly listened to my song and making sure I knew it really well. To develop my performance further I took time to interpret the character and thought carefully about their emotions and objectives. This helped me communicate the meaning of the lyrics and approach the audition with more confidence as I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve through the song.
For the acting section, we worked on different scenes from the show and explored the relationships between characters. I really enjoyed working with the other students across the years and it was great to see their interpretations of the characters and how differently each person approached them.
After Night one of my auditions, I was extremely excited to be invited to a callback. The callback process was fantastic because it meant I had another opportunity to perform in front of the creative team and we got to work on different characters, compared to the previous day. However, there was still a little pressure because I knew the creative team were looking more closely at where people might fit within the show, considering in dividual characters and partnerships. This process was also great for me as a performer as throughout each workshopping session I was able to receive advice and redirection to make my performance stronger. Responding to redirection is a great skill as it shows that I can adapt my performance.
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole audition week. The process has also changed my approach to auditioning because in the future, I know I can go into the room with more confidence. I’ve realised that an audition isn’t always just about what you can already do; it’s also about showing that you’re willing to take direction, experiment with characters and work with other people.
I’m thrilled that my audition was successful and to have been cast as Riff. I can’t wait to properly start rehearsals and work alongside the other Jets. After putting so much time and effort into the audition, it was an amazing feeling to know that it had paid off.
I’m incredibly proud to have been given this role, especially knowing there was so much competition. I’m really looking forward to developing Riff and exploring my own interpretation of the character. Most of all, I’m excited to see how everything comes together with the rest of the cast, and I just know it’s going to be superb.