The Process of Success
MAY 1st HAS COME AND GONE, Y’ALL! And that means one VERY important thing: our incredible MCA students are committed to their future programs, the school swag is purchased, and WE ARE SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!! Congratulations and a HUGE round of applause! I hope you are insanely proud of yourselves because I know we are SO proud of you!
Now that you’re looking ahead to bright new horizons, it might be tempting to close the college audition door and never look back. BUT … I’d like to press pause (just for a moment) to reflect on all the lessons learned, all the progress made, and all the useful things you can carry forward with you.
I know, I know - Senioritis! You thought you were done … but hear me out!
As a Monologue Prep coach, there are two things that I typically tell my students when we first begin our coaching journey.
The first: “Process Over Product.”
The second: “You’re going to learn an incredible amount about yourself during this next year. And while this process is focused on getting into college, it’s also (most likely) your first real glimpse of what it’s like to be constantly auditioning and your first real opportunity to build your own audition practice.”
When I was in middle school and high school, I did NOT have an audition practice, and I did NOT enjoy auditioning. I loved performing, but auditioning turned me into a total stress monster. I could never decide on material, and I usually wouldn’t make a decision until AN HOUR (at most) before my audition. I rarely felt confident, and I never felt prepared. I was Winging it - with a capital W.
Sound familiar…?
My own college auditions were the first time I ever ENJOYED auditioning. I was fortunate and privileged to work with an amazing coach who helped me select material in advance and really prepare and personalize it. I learned how to trust my preparation, to channel my nerves into a sense of curiosity and play, and frankly, to fake it till I made it. I grew confident in my craft and preparation, I was PROUD to be sharing my work, and by Chicago Unifieds, I was having the time of my life doing 3 auditions a day. Much to my own amazement, I was actually sad when it was over.
In the years since then, I haven’t always retained that enthusiasm for auditioning. Sometimes it’s pretty hard to summon up that confidence and ease. But something I come back to time and time again, is the knowledge that somewhere inside me, there IS a part that LOVES auditions and has fun doing them. And simply knowing that part exists, always helps inspire me to find my way back to it.
Now, your experience with college auditions may or may not have looked like mine, but I’m willing to bet that there were at least a few “magic moments.” Times that you surprised yourself. Times you made big discoveries. Times you persevered even when you questioned whether you could. Maybe even times you had fun …
The truth is, while this college audition process may be over, your journey with auditioning has only just begun. In the life of a performer, until you book a job, auditioning is your job. Thanks to this process, you’ve already discovered so many things about what helps you succeed - and that’s worth building on.
So how do we repeat success?
At some point in every monologue preparation process, there’s a magic moment where everything you’ve been working on clicks into place. It’s this beautiful moment of synergy when both actor and coach go “OH YEAH! THAT WAS IT!” You know the one I’m talking about! It’s euphoric … for a minute. And then it’s often replaced with feelings of stress as the actor feels the pressure to recreate it.
Trouble is … you can’t recreate a moment. Not really. And we don’t actually want to, right? Great acting is all about being present and truthful in this specific, new moment. So what can we recreate?
For me, it’s all about the steps - the process - that we took to get there.
That means using all of the great preparation and tools you’ve discovered through rehearsal. The things that proved to have a positive result. Because guess what? That “magic moment” wasn’t actually magic - you made it happen. The trick is figuring out how. Maybe it’s tapping into a really powerful cue line or moment before. Maybe it’s putting all of your focus on your objective. Maybe it’s a repeatable physical gesture that grounds your body and triggers your stakes.
There’s no right answer. The best answer is whatever you’ve discovered during rehearsal that works best for you.
The first and most important step of repeating a successful process is generating an awareness of what works.
So how do we do it? Well, when that magic moment happens in a monologue prep session, my very first step is to get curious. It usually looks like some variation of this:
“That was AWESOME. YES! Go YOU! Now … what worked? What helped get you there? What was your prep? What were you thinking about beforehand? Where did you focus your energy and intention? Was there anything you needed to let go of?” Etc …
And that is the exact same step that I eagerly invite you to apply to your audition practice as a whole. If it hasn’t sunk in yet … You made it through college auditions, and you are a success. It wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t magic. YOU are the secret sauce. So take a moment. Generate an awareness of what helped you succeed. Refine your process. And use that knowledge to help propel you forward into success after success after success.
Trust me - your future artist self thanks you!
If you need a little help getting started, here are some questions to get your creative juices flowing. So grab your audition journal, and get curious. You’ve got this, rockstars!
Before going through the college audition process, what were your overall thoughts and feelings about auditions? How have those things evolved now that you’re on the other side?
What does ideal audition prep look like for you? What do you need to feel prepared? What are the special ingredients that help you feel and do your best in an audition? (During, day of, night before, long before, etc …)
Think about your best audition (or moment) in this process. Why was it the best? What do you think contributed to making it that way? How did you contribute?
Think about your hardest audition (or moment) in this process. What got in your way? Is there anything you can do in the future to make this type of challenge easier?
What types of outside support did you receive (if any) that helped you succeed? Why were they helpful?
Did nerves play a part in your audition experience? When? How did you work with them? What helps you feel most confident?
Were there moments in this process when you doubted yourself or wanted to give up? What helped you keep going?
What did you learn are your greatest strengths? How about your greatest areas for improvement?
What are you most proud of?
What’s your biggest takeaway about auditioning that you would like your future self to remember?
