The best way to start off an audition is to properly fill out the audition slip. Make it clear, make it legible. If you have read the play and have a role you really like, mark that role down, but also be sure to write "or any role that you think I would fit."


You see, if you have three directors and they all read the same show, they will each see a character differently. If you leave yourself open only for the role that you like best, you are just hurting your chances for a part in the show. The director might not immediately picture you as a certain character in the play, but that could change. By auditioning for only one or two roles you will automatically cut yourself out of any other options. 

If the director asks you to read for a smaller part, or what seems to you a minor role, do it even though you might not be immediately interested. By doing this you can show the director varieties of characters that you can play. If it doesn't help you immediately, it may help you in the future, for if the same director remembers the work you did at this audition, he may consider you for other parts at future auditions. 

If you are cast in a smaller role, take it, even if it though it isn't the one you originally wanted It may turn out to be a two page scene, but the stage is yours when you are on it. There is a reason for every character in a play; if there wasn't, the author would never have created that role. By taking these smaller roles you can ensure that the director will remember you at his or her next audition. And who knows-maybe this time you will get that leading role you've been wanting. 

In our upcoming production of ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, I am playing two roles, both small ones, and I am having a ball. One role, a bum off the streets, comes on in the first act. The other role, the head of the Happy Dale Institution, doesn't appear until the end of the third I get to change costumes, change make-up and become two completely different people. Not only that but I get a break in between. What a challenge for any actor. So remember "There are never any small parts, only small actors."