Learning the Audition Ropes At TriArts

There’s a trick to auditioning, well, actually quite a few tricks, and Sharon Playhouse Artistic Director John Simpkins spent Saturday morning advising a group of young actors, 12 and under, how to appeal to the people who cast plays.

First, you have to know what slating means. That’s saying your name and the title of your song. And you have to do this while looking at the director and without stumbling or running out of breath. Everyone in the class tries this, and by the third time everybody is pretty good at it. 

Then, of course, you have to exude joy and confidence, Simpkins tells the kids assembled in the Bok Gallery. “It’s perfectly all right to be shy in real life,” he says, “but not on the stage.” 

I guess that’s why they call it acting.

Everybody takes a turn at slating, at saying hello and handing sheet music to the accompanist, at figuring out the meaning of the song they are performing and getting that meaning across while riveting their gaze at a space between two heads in the front row.

Evan Fine takes a turn. “He has a little swagger,” Simpkins observes. “That’s good. You’re owning your personality.”

Some of the youngsters are reluctant to sing, but that’s the thing about Simpkins. He can get anybody, at any age, to perform, and perform their best, on a stage. 

“When you finish say ‘thank you’ and ‘goodbye’ and don’t forget your sheet music,” Simpkins adds.

Most of these young people will be joining lots of actors of all ages in the Sharon Playhouse auditions slated for this coming weekend. 

For information on auditions and the upcoming season, call 860-364-7469.