Kids auditioning for school play - I am clueless, please help!?

Question:My kids (7 and 9 years) have decided to audition for 2 schools plays that will be spoofs on popular fairy tales. Audition is on Monday and they can come prepared with a scene or will get one at audition. Play's script will only be given to those selected. Not available online/library. No time to ask teacher about these ?s. Appreciate any input:

1. About how long shld the kid's audition scene last? 1min? more? less?

2. If the scene my kid selects is from a play, does she only perform the lines of HER character, or read lines of ALL characters from the scene?

3. Does the scene have to be from a PLAY, or if we can find a story with dialogs, she can perform the dialog parts?

4. Can they just read out portion of a humorous fairy tale?

Any tips on elementary school plays audition appreciated.
I am totally clueless. Thanks!!!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: My kids (7 and 9 years) have decided to audition for 2 schools plays that will be spoofs on popular fairy tales. Audition is on Monday and they can come prepared with a scene or will get one at audition. Play's script will only be given to those selected. Not available online/library. No time to ask teacher about these ?s. Appreciate any input:

1. About how long shld the kid's audition scene last? 1min? more? less?

2. If the scene my kid selects is from a play, does she only perform the lines of HER character, or read lines of ALL characters from the scene?

3. Does the scene have to be from a PLAY, or if we can find a story with dialogs, she can perform the dialog parts?

4. Can they just read out portion of a humorous fairy tale?

Any tips on elementary school plays audition appreciated.
I am totally clueless. Thanks!!!

Hey,

Elementary school play auditions are always fairly simple. To answer your questions:

1. If the sides for the play are not given a monologue (on person scene) would be best, as used in a professional audition. (I would suggest about 1 min.)

2. If a monologue should be selected, preferably. If you do select a scene only her role should be read.

3. The scene or monologue does not have to be from a play, it can be from any form of media: play, film, novel etc. Unless of course they specified that the scene/monologue must be from a play

4. They could very well just do that, read from a humorous fairy tale. Though the audition piece doesn't necessarily have to be from a fairy tale, it should simply showcase her comedy skills.

It's very nice that you are so concerned for your kids audition, it's so wonderful you a backing them up 100%! I hope the audition goes over very well :)

Her is a link to a monologue website (though I prefer to take monologues from novels) : http://www.ispgroupinc.com/monologues/mo...

1. Around 2-5 minutes.
2. ask the director at the audition. (it depends!)
3. oh...people audition with dialougs from MOVIES....so try something from a disney princess movie maybe!
4. They can read what theyd like as long as theyve nailed it.

Unfortunately, there are no straight answers for any of these questions. Here are some averages and thoughts though -

1. The norm is that it will last just a few minutes. Hopefully, they will take the kids one by one. There is a chance that the teacher will stick them in the same room at the same time though, which would make it take longer.

2. She would perform her lines only. Someone else (another kid, the teacher, or an assistant) would read the other characters' lines. Again, I suppose anything can happen, but I have never in my life heard of someone reading every character.

3. Depends on the teacher. Generally, people prefer it to be from a play, but most folks they know they should give young kids a break and not be too fussy.

4. This is done frequently with the youngest kids (see answer 3), but again, it depends on the person in charge. I'd stay way from it simply because telling a fairy tale is not the same thing as reading a scene.

Again though, most people know they need to take it easy on little kids and make a lot of allowances.

If I were in your position, I'd have the kids perform monologues which are usually no longer than 2 minutes and are performed by a single speaker. Hence, you don't have to worry about the other person's lines because there is no other actor. You can get books on monologues out of the library. Be sure to choose one that is appropriate for each of your children. If you want more information on choosing a monologue you can go to
www.musical-theater-kids.com/monologue...
and for audition
do's and don'ts you can check out the audition section while you're there. The main thing to remember is that the kids should feel confident when they do their monologue so be sure they have practiced enough and memorized their lines.
Good luck to them.