Emily Ellet

Sometimes, when I talk to people about being a performer, I realize there’s a big difference between what I experience every day as an auditioning actor and what people imagine auditioning much be like. No, I’m not going to make one of those infographics that swept Facebook several months ago. Instead, I’m just going to let you in on a little secret – when an actor, dancer, or singer auditions for a show, there’s not a stage in sight. Once upon a time, aspiring performers aud

It’s so kindly meant, I know, and it’s such a universal understanding that auditioning all the time is a heartrending experience because of all the rejection.  But I’d like to set the record straight once and for all: rejection is not what makes the actor’s life so hard. It would actually be wonderful to have a casting director say, “I’m sorry, but you’re not what we’re looking for.”  Or to have a producer frown and say, “I don’t like your voice very much.”  Or to have a writ

This is me.  No, seriously. It is a fact that as a nonunion actor/singer/dancer, waiting is your #1 job.  Standing in lines, crammed into holding rooms, or fidgeting on the bench outside the room.  People tell you that your job is auditioning, but it’s not – it’s surviving the eternal waiting period to psyche yourself up for your (literal) thirty seconds to perform for someone who may not even look up from their iPhone.  And you do this every single day. Well, on the days whe