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I recently have been traveling around the DC, Virginia & Maryland area reviewing and seeing many plays, opera and local artists.

One of the most important aspects of performing is connecting with your audience.  We do that through character connection & if we are performing ourselves as a singer we do that by communicating with your audience.

Now, let's consider you're not out of tune...everything else is working well before reading below. :-)

#1 Biggest mistake I've seen lately is watching an artist keep their eyes closed during an entire song!!  In fact, I watched one young lady recently who through every song she sang during the evening kept her eyes closed.  YES-- the ENTIRE EVENING!! What was this artist afraid of?

A crutch?  You have to be aware of these simple things because they look terribly unprofessional!

Simply put:

You cut off any personal connection with your audience if you don't make good eye contact.

But let’s face it. Keeping your eyes open comes with it’s own challenges. I know I’m stating the obvious here, but one of the biggest “disadvantages” of singing with your eyes open is that you can SEE everybody. LOL! Yes, this is not always the greatest thing. Because the honest truth is, no matter how good or anointed a person is, there will be people in the audience that are just not with you. For whatever reason. They might not like the song. They may be distracted. They just might not like you. It can be somewhat discouraging when you see that from up on stage.

The other challenge is where to look. Simply staring at one spot in the room or up at the ceiling isn’t any better than having your eyes closed. You’re just as disconnected from the audience that way as with your eyes closed.

So what do you do??

I teach my students a very simple performance tip called   the “Four Square” method. It’s a very easy to implement method of connecting with your audience in a genuine, effective way. It will also keep you from staring at one fixed spot in the room.

It works like this:

As you stand in front of a room, mentally divide it into four large squares. As you sing, simply move your eyes from square to square, each time focusing just briefly on one person sitting in that area. Simply continue to do that throughout the song. Go to square one; look at the person in the front row. Move your eyes to square 2. Make eye contact with the person in the middle. And so on, you get the idea.

This keeps your eyes moving and keeps you connected with the audience in a much deeper way. More importantly though, it allows you to speak directly to people with the message in the song, through YOU.

So what about those people who aren’t looking very nice? Not enjoying you for whatever reason? There will always be some. That’s just reality. But the great thing is, unless you really need to come see me for a lesson (smile) there will usually be a lot more people who ARE enjoying you and being blessed.

As you continue to rotate through the four squares, simply keep coming back to those people who are smiling and loving your performance. Clearly that’s who you’re there to sing to anyway!

Ready to start auditioning in the professional arena?

An audition is a job interview.  Doing well at an audition is the only way you will get the actual job and get paid. While you never know everything a casting agency wants there are some things you should never do. Below are things that may just get you blacklisted from a casting director.

Audition Tip #1 - Don't Chew gum
Don’t ever walk into an audition chewing gum. It’s unattractive and comes across terribly on camera. Plus it likely doesn’t fit the role you’re auditioning for unless it’s a valley girl.

Audition Tip #2 - Don't Talk too much
Don’t talk too much. It will annoy the casting director and assistant and then may cause you to miss something they tell which is important, like some directions on how to do your audition or scene.

Acting Audition Tip #3 - Don't Forget your headshot
Make sure you always have your headshot with you. It doesn’t matter that they’ve seen your photo before. They want another one, give it to them. Or maybe they didn’t even see your photo. Your agent may have called you in. They need to see you and keep a picture of you. They see many people & you do not want to be forgotten.

Acting Audition Tip #4 - Don't Have an unstapled resume
Staple your resumes before you get there. It’s tacky to use their stapler to staple your most important work document. Keep a mini stapler in your car if you have to just don’t hand in an unstapled headshot and resume. If you can keep your resume to one page even better.

Acting Audition Tip #5 - Don't Make excuses
Don’t make excuses for not having the script memorized, being late or not being dressed correctly. They don’t care; they’ve heard it all before. In other words…be prepared…

Acting Audition Tip #6 - Don't Touch the casting director
 If they extend their hand to shake yours that’s one thing, if they don’t though just let it be. Give them their space by simply going in and doing your thing.

Acting Audition Tip #7 - Don't Be rude (to anyone!)
There’s no reason to be rude. Everyone is just there to do their job and nothing more. Respect everyone, the other actors, the assistant and the casting director themselves.

Acting Audition Tip #8 - Don't Talk about acting, dancing or singing
Everyone called into the audition can act, sing, model & or dance. They don’t care. They want to learn who you are as a person/actor and what else you’re involved in and can do. Talk about something else. It is important to set yourself apart. 50 equally talented people called to the audition---they want to learn why they should choose YOU. BE YOURSELF.  SELL YOU!

Acting Audition Tip #9 - Don't Crash casting sessions
Do not ever crash a casting session. If you weren’t called in there’s probably a reason. If you happen to be around for another audition and you think you’re right for another one you can ask the casting director, don’t just sign in and pretend like you’re supposed to be there. It’s rude and you will be blacklisted by the casting director.

Acting Audition Tip #10 - Don't Show up late
Always arrive early, do not show up late to your auditions, it’s rude. It is like showing up work to late, unprofessional and careless. Just don’t do it. You should show up early for yourself as well: prepare, relax & get into character. Again, be yourself….they want to know you & why you are special & the one for the job!

I have many clients asking me about how to get their child in front of ligit casting agents.  Here some information on what to look out for-

All My Best- Ms. Christine

Do you think you child has talent…? Don’t be scammed by fraudulent agencies promising money, exposure and stardom.

There are so many scams out there.  Companies push themselves off as talent agencies, and then inform you that you have to pay for photos, classes, travel, etiquette training and other various fees.  Unfortunately, many families pay out this money, allow their children to perform for free, insist the company is legitimate and are waiting for a paying gig to come around "any day" which never comes.

Buzz words to look out for:

•  "Agency Ready” ANYONE can be ready for an agency.  This is a term thrown around to make you think that your child is special and going to be a star.

• “Fees”, “Registration fee, Consultation fee, Administrative fee”.  Legitimate agents work on a commission. The talent agency gets paid a small percentage of the work they have obtained for you.  An agent's time should be spent finding work for his or her client, not selling products and services.”

• “Contracts”, read the fine print and never sign anything without attorney approval.  There are strict laws that govern talent agencies & child labor laws.

• “Guarantees”, No talent agency can promise you will work. Talent agents are not casting directors. An agency can “think” you will work, but there’s no way they can “guarantee” you will work.

Do your homework. You need to do research on any talent agency that you are potentially going to get your child involved in.  Avoid agencies that advertise in the classifieds section of your local newspaper, mail postcards or advertise on the radio.  Legitimate talent agencies have plenty of signed talent and they audition actors all the time. If they are in need of new talent, they know how to find it – and it isn’t by mailing postcards or putting an ad in the paper. Check with the Better Business Bureau.

Always always, ask:  Are there any upfront fees?  Virtually all successful models and actors work through managers and talent agencies that do not charge a fee payable in advance for screen tests, photographs, acting or modeling lessons or other services. If you are signed as a client by a licensed talent agency, you will pay such agency nothing until you work and then a percentage of your earnings as a performer - - BUT NOTHING IN ADVANCE. To ask for money upfront is unscrupulous.  

Remember, performance is a wonderful way for your children to express themselves, build self confidence, interact with other children & work in a team atmosphere. Don’t push & most of all make sure performing is what the child wants.  Enjoyment and fun should be #1!! 

Feel free to email me with any specific advice or questions!!

christine@kidz-act.com

Biologists and anthropologists have long agreed that “play” is an important dimension of childhood growth and development.  This is not news for parents, who often go to extraordinary lengths to see that their children are provided with myriad opportunities for play and socialization.  These often take the form of team athletics, which indeed, can teach our kids important life values such as responsibility, loyalty, and dedication.  Children learn that they can prevail in social situations by out-manuevering their opponent, kicking the winning goal, or going the extra mile in training, effort, or dedication to their team.  Yet there is a decided emphasis in athletics on the physical rather than emotive avenues of expression, a province in which adults often struggle.  How many times has one heard a co-worker forced to resort to a sports analogy in order to convey some matter of importance?

Clearly, there is a deficit of emotional sophistication in our society, especially when it comes to interactions that do no, or should not as a matter of utility, depend on pure physical strength or intimidation.  This fewness might very well be attributable to a lack of empathic development during formative years. 

The performing arts, including theatre, oratory, and musical performance, provide one important avenue of development that parents and educators, perhaps mistakenly, often relegate to the fringe of child development.  Piano and ballroom dancing lessons, once a rite of passage amongst the American middle class, have become an endangered species of extracurricular activities for adolescents. 

This trend has not been helped by the recent crisis in the housing market.  With home values plummeting and a tax base rapidly evaporating, both public and private schools have been forced to cut their budgets, and the performing arts have borne the brunt of the cutbacks.  These have not only affected extra-curricular opportunities, but also “enrichment classes” like art and music, which are routinely viewed as a luxury rather than a necessity by school administrators and PTAs.  Over the last decade, many schools across the country have followed a logic of “curriculum narrowing” in attempting to meet new state imposed standards for reading and math skills implemented under the “No Child Left Behind” policies of the Bush Administration.  However, in their zeal for academic excellence, they have left behind the motivation and curiosity that provokes learning—the artistic impulse that the performing arts embody.

Whatever the cost, performing arts provide children with an opportunity to hone those skills most vital to the development of their personality: the exploration of their own psyche, the establishment of confidence and a sense of empathically rooted personhood, and the ability to communicate their thoughts, feelings, and passions with others at a deeper level: all capabilities that make for sensitive, ethical adults.  Not only does participation in the arts introduce our kids to a sense of civility imperative to the healthy operation of democracy, but it instills a complete array of positive social values. 

In The Dead Poets’ Society, Robin Williams reminds his class of scrubby prep school boys, “[T]he powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” Why do memories of events such as a school play or piano recital persist in our memory?  Perhaps for the same reason that a favorite novel or film stays with us.  Moments such as these represent cathartic breaking points in a personality, the emotive equivalent of our first steps or a growth spurt.  We identify with a character, viewpoint, or narrative position. We assume the troubles, dilemma, virtues and vice that inhere in a particular subjectivity, whether this is found in a novel, musical score, poem, screenplay, or monologue, and we make it our own.  We experience something beyond the purview of our own experiences, we recognize its validity, and we grow into more worldly and mature individuals.     

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