Newsies Dance Audition

Naturally he got to the audition and they asked him to sing the Newsies songs, which he hadn’t heard with piano accompaniment, so he didn’t know his cues. He ended up singing “Electricity,” his go-to song at the moment, and did several scenes. He said he got lots of laughs, but the song flub no doubt got his headshot dumped down the BAD EGG chute. Or, he’s just too tall. Coming from the world of modeling, where height rules, it’s hard to watch J hit the ceiling as far as child acting opportunities. The most successful kid actors are teeny tiny. They can play young kids (but with the advantage of great maturity—same deal with child models) and stay in the same role for a few years. A tall kid is a risk; a growth spurt could propel him past the adult cast members.

AUDITION TIPS

1. Practice songs with the piano tracks, which you often can find on youtube (I didn’t learn this until after the fact). Or, even better, with a vocal coach who plays the piano.

2. Ideally, prepare all the material you are given. (But my theory is, don’t make yourself/child nuts if it’s just not feasible.)

3. Often actors read from a script in the audition, so memorizing may not be expected.

4. Murphy’s Law will ensure that if you haven’t prepared, casting will want it all, and if you’ve prepped carefully they will ask for a smidgeon of the material provided or something different altogether (J prepared the callback song for “A Christmas Story” exclusively for 3 weeks prior. For once, plenty of time to practice and specific intstructions! Yeh! Nope, not so fast. He was totally thrown when they asked him to sing his original audition song instead. Does that qualify as child abuse?)

5. Short child actors have a big advantage!

On Monday, J auditioned for MacBeth at Lincoln Center. He nailed the scene. He really did. He was reading for the role of MacDuff’s son, age range 8 – 11. Perfect. J is 10. Then I noticed a little note in the audition info: “The younger looking, the better.” Groan.

Newsies audition song: Carrying the Banner

Don’t forget to enter the Modeling Mentor Model Search. I’ll be choosing August Model of the Month next week!

Judy Garland in “Wizard of Oz”

Clearly Mrs. Gumm took things way too far, but few stars would have made it without a push. The key is to find a way to gently push in the direction where a kid shows potential, not shove them so hard they get whiplash (and lasting emotional scars/drug addictions). As my nine-year-old is pretty serious about dancing (and acting), I’ve asked any serious dancer I encounter about how much is too much. Almost all say they wanted to quit at some point when they were kids, but their parents pushed them, they stuck with it, and they’re glad they did. I guess the question is when does push come to shove? It takes work to become great at anything and kids tend to be lazy. Although Amy Chua took pushing (and shoving) to the extreme, I think her book Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mom made some excellent points about coddled, unmotivated American children.

For now, pushing and shoving don’t work into the toddler modeling equation. The wee ones have to love it or they won’t last past the first booking. On these little breaks from real life, there’s more hand-holding between T and me than there would be in our chaotic house of six. I don’t offer her speed but perhaps break a few nutrition rules when packing the snacks. I carefully assess her response when I say, “We’re going to New Jersey for pictures.” So far, this statement still yields a huge grin and a question of what toys she’ll get to play with this time. The big motivation for me, stagemom/chauffeur, is not the money (read about that here) or the tear sheets (these shots were for packaging; we’ll have to buy the toys to get the tear sheets!) or the blog material. I’m pushing open doors. Print modeling leads to commercials, which lead to acting opportunities. I was obsessed with acting as a kid, and I see that gene in two of my kids. What I would have given for the chance to audition in New York. J will be auditioning for Sesame Street this week and Matilda on Broadway this weekend. Being a realist, I suspect these experiences will be great opportunities for learning to deal with rejection. That is a lesson that is blatantly absent in most kids activities these days.

Are stage moms any different from parents who are paying for expensive extra training for their young athletes or intensive tutoring and SAT prep classes to plot a course to the Ivys? Maybe we’re worried about child actors ending up like Lindsay Lohan (see the latest news)? Comment and let us know what you think!

Stay tuned for my Stylemama pic and the skinny on Fashion Week.

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