<p>Well…so long as the play isn’t a musical, and so long as you haven’t found the monologue on any overdone lists…you might be okay.</p>
<p>Ok that’s a relief! 
</p>
<p>It is a popular book and it was a somewhat popular movie (it did feature a few well known actors but they weren’t famous at the time and it certainly isn’t considered one of their defining roles now). It’s so different to my comedic monologue that I think it could show two ver different sides of me to the auditors. </p>
<p>Thanks for the advice and info! :)</p>
<p>Ok so I have another question… I apologize for asking so many. </p>
<p>I just did an internet search on commonly overdone monologues and unfortunately my comedic pick was on a few of those lists… I know that we should generally stay away from overdone monologues as the auditors might be sick of hearing of them and thus might not reflect on your audition as well. The thing is though, I know this monologue extremely well and I feel very confident in being able to deliver it well. I’ve used it before for competitions and exams etc. and I’ve always done very well. I know it’s hard to judge, since you don’t know me outside of my few posts on this forum, but do you think I should just forget about this monologue and look for another, lesser known one? or does the fact that it’s overdone not matter all that much if I’m sure I’ll do a decent job at it? </p>
<p>Once again, thanks for all your insights! :)</p>
<p>JME1992, your question is difficult to answer. It’s such a personal thing. What I think you should NOT do is stop searching for fresh monologues. If you succeed in finding one or more good ones, add them to your “arsenal.” </p>
<p>That way, if the auditors want to hear something else after you do your main monologues (usually you have to deliver a minimum of two), you’ll have something impressively fresh to present.</p>
<p>As others here have pointed out, you should probably have as many as six monologues ready to go when audition time rolls around. On rare occasions, students have been asked to deliver as many as nine!!</p>
<p>Of course, if you had to deliver nine monologues, not all of them would be equally polished, but the auditors would understand.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I recently spotted one of my son’s college audition monologues (from a Neil LaBute play) on an overdone list. He didn’t realize, at the time, that it was overdone.</p>
<p>He was still accepted into three auditioned BFA programs, fortunately. But it is probably best not to take chances if you can avoid it.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your help NJTheatremom </p>
<p>I think what I’ll do is have 3 monologues completely prepared and polished - 2 contemporary dramatic/comedic and one classical.</p>
<p>I think I’ll also re-orientate myself on a few monologues I’ve done in the past. They may not be as polished as the first 3 but they’ll just be back-ups in case I’m asked to do more. </p>
<p>Everyone who has replied to thread has been extremely helpful, especially NJTheatremom! 
Thank you all so much!</p>
<p>“The auditor doesnt care if they know the show or not. And generally they wont care if you get all the words right either. People edit parts out of monologues all the time. Something people dont want to see is a monologue that they are familiar with a very famous and talented person performing done by Student A. And the goal is never to please with the material, but with the delivery. It has to be honest, and the monologue really has to speak to you.
Show yourself in your audition. The auditors dont want to see a character that you can play, but they want to see who they will be working with, and how honestly you can perform”</p>
<p>well…thats somewhat true. It DOES matter if the auditor knows your material. If you have a monologue from a play that they have performed in, or directed then they will know that monologue. If you cut it for time, they will understand, but if you change the words to where the monologue doesnt even make sense or capture the intended purpose, then thats a problem. People should choose material that is close to your age, something you can connect to, and something you find intresting. When you are auditioning for schools, they arent really looking at you to see if you are “talented” or not, they are trying to see if you are a good fit for their program.</p>
<p>NJTheatreMom, if you don’t mind, could you fel us what Neil LaBute play (and character) your son’s overdone-but-successful monologue was from? My son’s reading some LaBute plays now in search of monologues for next year’s auditions…sigh…the whole “overdone” issue really is frustrating and possibly misleading, I know, but it helps to have the info! Thanks in advance…</p>
<p>I happened to notice that on Fordham’s do-not-use list they say “Anything by Neil LaBute”!</p>
<p>Interesting, glassharmonica! The LaBute play my son’s monologue was from was “Fat Pig.” </p>
<p>If you were to read the play, it would be clear what the monologue is and what character delivers it. </p>
<p>A huge number of plays don’t even contain material that can be used as a monologue. That’s one reason the good ones get overdone.</p>
<p>A very good resource about monologues is [Welcome</a> to monologueaudition.com](<a href=“http://www.monologueaudition.com/]Welcome”>http://www.monologueaudition.com/),
where in addition to all sorts of other bits and pieces there are lists of overdone male monologues, female monologues, and Shakespeare monologue.</p>
<p>I’m afraid EVERY male monologue from “Fat Pig” by Labute is on the list (it doesn’t break them out, it just says “ALL” male monologues from the play).</p>
<p>I don’t know the play at all, but this really makes me think you should avoid the male monologues from that play. The auditors will have already heard them so many times that they will be thinking “oh no, not this darn thing again”.</p>
<p>KEVP</p>
<p>I figured that was the play in question…I’m also figuring most of LaBute’s stuff is either inappropriate for audition monologues (just b/c of the KIND of monologues they are) or…overdone! Ah well, good stuff for S to read and know, anyway. And the search goes on…</p>
<p>This is a great topic…I wasn’t involved at all when my D chose her audition monologue. She decided on one from “The Crowd You’re In With” by Rebecca Gilman, in part because Gilman lives, works and writes in Chicago where we live and the play is set there so my D knew it had “touchpoints” for her. After she did her monologue the auditioner said, “Nice. Who wrote that?” I think the combination of it being a more regional piece with lesser-done monlogues (though certainly not a lesser-known playwright) impressed him a little and showed some thought and orignality. I can only imagine how many times they must hear some of the same things over and over. (She was accepted to the program.)</p>
<p>I know it’s been a long time since someone’s posted on this thread, but I have questions regarding the contemporary monologues:
- Some schools consider “after 1960” contemporary, and others are not so specific. Can I consider a play written during the late-50’s contemporary?</p>
<ol>
<li>I was thinking of a monologue from a play which wasn’t played by any famous actress on theater, but it was played by a very famous actress on it’s film adaptation (although the movie is not that famous and her performance was not talked about much, even though I consider it an awesome performance). It is possible that auditors who are film buffs or who are old enough have seen this picture. Do you think I should change?</li>
</ol>
<p>It would I think help if you told us what these monologues are.</p>
<p>A “contemporary monologue” really means one in “contemporary” language, the way people speak English right now, today. The 1960 date is rather arbitrary, so it is possible that a monologue just before 1960 would still be “contemporary”.</p>
<p>With the other one I am really going to have to know what the monologue is. Make absolutely sure that you are using the monologue from the PLAY script, NOT from the movie script, and that you use the title of the PLAY when introducing the monologue–some movies change the title when they adapt a play to film (e.g. Mamet’s play “Sexual Perversity in Chicago” became “About Last Night”)</p>
<p>But I think we are not going to be able to help you unless you tell us what the monologue is.</p>
<p>Not to worry, I just gave up on that monologue. I discovered it is on one of those “Overused monologues” list. Oh well…</p>
<p>The best monologue I ever used was from a play almost nobody has heard of.</p>
<p>And famous can sometimes be bad (Neil Simon monologues seem to be universally detested because of how common their usage is)</p>