Also didn’t set her sights on Broadway and stays mindful of not comparing herself to others. This is a great article that dispels the notion of a formula for success and emphasizes how important staying focused on your own process is. Every year, I see consistent success come to auditionees who really DO THE WORK of artistic preparation instead of focusing on who they think they “need” to be. If you’re a student or parent, it’s not a bad idea to keep this article nearby and refer back to it throughout your audition year when you’re down or doubting yourself, and KEEP WORKING on your skills and your audition pieces. You don’t necessarily have to show colleges where you “fit”, b/c that may not yet be clear, but you DO have to show them you are uniquely interesting, authentic, and really comfortable sharing the real you through your work.
@CoachC Thanks for sharing this great article. All you wrote is very helpful advice to those pursuing this field!
I feel lucky to have seen Jessie Mueller in Waitress while it was at American Repertory Theater. Jessie was amazing! Unfortunately I didn’t see her in Beautiful but I saw her sister, Abby, in the role on the tour. She’s great too.
I observed in the article she says she doesn’t read reviews of shows she is in and I notice my D says the same!
Anyway, the advice about being the best YOU, rather than what you think they need is spot on.
I saw this wonderful article yesterday and emailed it to my D. At her PA school, some of the teachers make a big deal about type – being sure you know your type and only doing songs/monologues that fit it. Her problem has been that different teachers and directors view her differently – some insist she is the classic ingenue, some see the “smart best friend”, some see the “strong, sexy” type, and then apparently some even see the Elle Woods type, since that’s a role she’s played. This has been a source of frustration and worry for my D, so I emailed her the article in hopes it would ease some of that a bit. It’s comforting to hear that there’s someone like Jessie Mueller who is so talented and successful who doesn’t necessarily fit into a neat little box either.
Has anyone else’s child struggled with this issue? How did you resolve it, or did you? Is it more about looks, voice type, or both? My daughter wonders if it’s because she can both belt and sing legit soprano.
My D is the same, a belter and a legit soprano. She has been told she can be the ingenue, but also the quirky best friend. She is a great character actress, but has also been a wonderful leading lady It will be very interesting to see how school sees her or if they throw her every which way as her career has been so far.
My D is the same way, different people see different things. She’s played Elle Wood, and in her next two shows she’s playing Alice in Alice in Wonderland and Wendla in Spring Awakening – hard to get more different roles! Amusingly enough, she sees herself as most comfortable being the quirky best friend. Lol! Her book is full of music she identifies with and that showcases her voice the best, and chooses audition songs that compliment the musical style of the show. Let the directors or casting professionals figure it out from there.
I agree that Chicago, and probably many other Regional markets, may offer artistic (and economic) advantages to certain types of actors. A non-profit theatre with 30,000+ subscribers is able to take very different artistic risks than commercial productions which rely solely on single ticket sales.