My EPA Preparation Strategy

Since I joined Equity this past fall, I’ve been relying heavily on the good ol’ Equity Principal Audition (EPA) to not only look for work, but also to develop relationships with casting offices that haven’t seen my work before and remind others whom I’ve already met of my existence 🙂

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After one of the aforementioned EPAs I attended a few months back, I discovered that the Artistic Director of the theater for which I’d auditioned that day wrote (what became) a pretty controversial blog post outlining his disappointment with both the EPA process in general, and with most of the actors who had auditioned that day because their lack of preparation for the auditions and knowledge of the production.

While I was pretty offended with a lot of what he wrote and his method of getting his point across, his post did strike a chord with me and I vowed that I would also learn from it. I had been getting myself pretty prepared for EPAs prior to this, but not always doing everything that I could do. So I decided to step up my game and come up with a step-by-step EPA preparation process that I thought I’d share with you.

My EPA Preparation Strategy:

1. See EPA notice on Playbill/AEA Call/Backstage

2. Is there a role for me?

3. If yes, have I read the play? Give myself a pat on the back if I have, especially if it’s because of Art & Soul Acting‘s book club 🙂

4. If I haven’t read it, use my pal google to determine if it’s a published play

5. If it is, put a hold on a copy from the library or track it down at the Drama Book Shop

5. READ IT

6. If they’re asking for monologues or songs, use my newfound knowledge of the play to determine which one from my arsenal to use

7. Occasionally, I don’t have one that’s appropriate. That means I need to find one and learn it. Usually, if I don’t have one, that means that the style of the play is very specific, so I use a monologue from the play or from the playwright’s body of work.

8. Google the heck out of anyone and anything listed in the audition notice, i.e. artistic director, director, playwright, etc.

9. If there’s a casting office handling the EPA, check my records to see if I know anyone in that office

10. Brainstorm what to wear to subtly suggest character ahead of time

11. Get a good night’s sleep the night before!

12. I generally show up half an hour before the call begins (which is when the monitor is technically supposed to arrive), unless I believe it will be an unbelievably busy call (popular show,  exciting theater company, etc.). I often check Audition Update to see how busy it is before I start getting ready!

13. Rock out at the audition (hopefully!)

14. Take a picture of the sheet listing who’s in the room for my records

15. Let my agent know who was there and how it went if it was positive

16. Rinse and repeat!

If I do all of this, I can rest assured that I’ve done all that I can to be prepared to give my best work that day! What is your standard EPA preparation procedure? Do you have anything to add to mine?