> I have recently (very recently) decided that I am going to try out for my college's production of The Hobbit. I have never read it, but am going to go over a really good summary of it. My problem is that I have never been a drama person. This is my second semester at college and in my entire life I have only tried out for the one acts last semester. Needless to say, I didn't make it, but I felt lucky to be able to get the practice. I think it should have been a learning experience, but I don't know what exactly I learned - I didn't really pick up any tips. We were reading from the scripts which no one had seen and I have really good eye contact and projection, and I have never seemed nervous when I do public speaking things. The only thing I could think of that may have hindered me last time was where I filled the sheet out saying I had absolutely no drama experience. Is that really all that important if the audition is done well?
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> This time we have to prepare a 60-90 sec monologue and I am going to read a poem I wrote (it doesn't need to be memorized). I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to how I go about this. What do directors look for?
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> I will be going to the audition around 4:00 tomorrow - sorry for the short notice! Any suggestions would be appreciated, even afterwards, for there will always be next time.
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> Ga"thanks for the help"halia

I'm certainly no expert on this subject. But I must have learned a few things as a theatre buff for over 50 years. I remember watching the tryouts for a play a long time ago. I was painting scenery flats while would-be actresses were reading for the part of an old maid. The scene they were reading was the old maid discussing her budget for cosmetics and one line was, "I value my beauty at $100 per year." Most of them read smoothly through it and went on to the next line. But one lady, who was really too young to look like an old maid, read it, "I value my beauty at $100. . . . . . per year." The pause after the hundred dollars got a chuckle and the "per year" got a horse laugh from the dozen or so people present. We had all heard the line several times without realizing it could be funny.
I guess I'm saying that you need to do something a little differently so that you can be sure of being noticed. The young lady got the part and the makeup people made her look like an old maid. She was about 18 and probably was the youngest person in the cast, but she stole one scene after another.
Howard