What the Audition Panel are Really Thinking
My days in front of the audition panel are long gone but the sensations and emotions involved in putting myself up for scrutiny have never left me. Sometimes I even dream that I'm in the audition room and no one is paying any attention, I'm grasping for words that I just can't seem to find and I have no idea how the song goes....thankfully, I wake up! I now find myself on the other side of the table, comfortable in my chair with a cup of tea in front of me, fully appreciating the talent and dedication of the auditionees. I always thought the panel were criticising my performance, picking apart every bit of me from my technical ability (or lack of it) to the composure in my personality (or lack of it!). It never occurred to me that they may have been viewing my audition with positivity.
What the audition panel are really thinking is that maybe you could be the person that they are looking for. They have an aim of finding someone who is right for the job, getting them onboard and going home satisfied that the mission has been accomplished. When you walk through the door they are hopeful that you are that person. They WANT to fill the space, give out the job, cast the role. If you approach an audition aware that the panel are on your side you are less likely to let self-doubt creep in and sabotage your performance.
Many years ago while working on the casting of singers for a big show I overheard the choreographer and director exchange views on what they were thinking. Over my head (I was very low in the hierarchy and on my knees cleaning up spilt coffee at the time) they expressed how destructive nerves were being that day and that they were not seeing what people could really do. Nervous energy can be helpful but there is a point when it obscures the capability of the singer and this is frustrating for panel and singer alike. This is what the panel don't want to be thinking.
As an auditionee I would overthink and analyse every aspect of my performance, my appearance, my suitability for the role (and I might not even know what role I was up for), the availability of the role (even though I didn’t know what role it was?!), who else was auditioning and whether I, or they, were more suitable (for the unknown role) and so it went on. The time surrounding the audition was spent wasting energy trying to guess the unfathomable. It seems ludicrous now that I have learnt from the opposite side that the panel just want you to do what you do, to the best that you can do it, without destructive nerves and get the job!