Production Auditions

Production Audition Policy

The theatre and dance department has a Production Audition Policy that must be followed by all students who wish to audition for a theatre and dance production. The department produces a robust season of professional-level, fully-mounted theatre and dance pieces in the Irene Coger Theatre, the Balcony Theatre and the Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts at various times throughout the academic year. Such productions serve as the necessary extension and application of laboratory, practicum, and classroom work. Student actors, designers, directors, technicians, and managers learn invaluable lessons in planning, collaboration, teamwork, time management, setting and meeting goals, and the challenges and rewards of dealing with the feedback of a live audience.

Because participation in these productions is essential in acquiring experience and wisdom in the craft of performance, all BFA Theatre Performance students are required to audition for all departmental productions. Bachelor of Arts and BSEd majors are welcomed and strongly encouraged to audition. Freshmen BFA theatre performance majors are not allowed to audition for departmental productions until they have completed 12 hours in residence at Missouri State University.

Specific information about auditions will be posted well in advance of audition dates. Students are expected to sign up for a given audition appointment and to arrive at the audition site well ahead of the scheduled time. Students who arrive after their scheduled time will not be allowed to audition. When signing up for an audition time, a student must take the next open time slot. Students who fail to keep their audition appointments will not be permitted to audition for a subsequent semester’s productions.

All students who audition are expected to have fully memorized and rehearsed material as specified in the audition announcement. A student who auditions without full preparation may be stopped and dismissed by the auditors. Each auditionee has a specific time allocation, as specified in the audition announcement. Stage managers hold a stop watch on each individual auditionee and will yell "time" when the allotted time has elapsed. The student is expected to stop immediately when time is called, even if the rehearsed piece has not been fully presented.

After open auditions have been completed, the director will post call back announcements. A student who is called back is expected to initial next to his or her name to acknowledge this call back. BFA and BA Theatre majors who audition for departmental productions must accept roles as cast. Failure to do so will result in prohibition from being cast in any future mainstage, studio, or workshop production. A student may be excused from a production if the faculty advisor has granted written permission, but that student cannot be excused from open auditions. Appeals to this policy should be addressed to the theatre performance faculty of the theatre and dance department. Students must submit appropriate documentation for exceptions to the above policy.

It is the policy of the department to cast actors in productions on the basis of the quality of the audition given, the attitude and work ethic of the student, as well as the actor’s emotional and physical compatibility for the role. All Missouri State University students are eligible for roles. The department chooses plays each year with the intention of using as many majors as possible, but casting is not guaranteed. A student may be, under certain circumstances, assigned to an understudy role. If this occurs, the student understudy will be given at least one performance opportunity in that role. If a student volunteers to understudy a role, no such guarantee will be made.