Open Call Auditions

Point of You held open call auditions for Hurt So Good last week at Atlantic Studios. They were a first for our company, but this show has a multitude of parts and we needed to find great actors and actresses to fill them. We - Johnny (Playwright/Director), Jeff (Artistic Director), Suse (Assistant Director), Gerard (Technical Director) and Marc (Production Coordinator), Sean (Production Manager) and me (Administrative Director) - arrived early and got set up. Sean was going to be the "gatekeeper" in the hallway and I was to be the "greeter" in the waiting room. The rest of the production staff was in the room waiting to interview potential actors. Sean, Jeff and I were set up with walkie talkies - complete with headsets - and I felt quite tech savvy. They really came in handy!

The open call started at 7pm and ran until 10pm - practically on the dot. We had a steady stream of auditioners and I had the privilege of sitting in the waiting room with them. It's a great place to be because I was able to talk up the show and interact with the auditioners in a very casual way. I got to see a side of them that the audition panel did not get to see. It was great! Although I think I acted a bit like a mother hen for I felt the need to reassure every auditioner that the panel of people they were going to meet was great and they shouldn't be nervous.

I am not sure if all open call auditions run this smoothly, but I think our first time out was quite the success. We met a lot of really great people and if they weren't quite right for this production, we will definitely keep them in mind for future projects.