Do you feel you have what it takes to shine on stage as an actor? Well, here’s a way to sharpen those audition skills before the big audition, for the 5th year the Savannah Stage Company is hosting their Audition Prep Workshop series.
The in-person workshop series will be taught by professional actors and is primarily for students interested in developing their audition skills, but the series is open to everyone.
“We’re super excited to be back in person this year. Over the years, we’ve fine-tuned the workshops and focused the content,” said Jayme Tinti, Artistic Director and Co-Founder of the Savannah Stage Company.
Tinti and Director of Education Lexi Balaoing Ambrose are leading the workshops that are designed to helps students auditioning for Savannah Arts Academy for Visual and Performing Arts and Esther F. Garrison School for the Arts.
“Garrison and Savannah Arts audition in the beginning of the year for their theater program. We make sure that we are including the requirements needed for those in our workshops,” said Tinti.
The different workshops will hit on a variety of topics including monologue selection and coaching, cold reading, professional technique, Shakespeare and imporv. Savannah Stage Company noticed the area of needs for the students and designed a curriculum that would better equip them for school auditions and beyond.
“We make sure that everyone has a monologue that suits them and that the monologues are active, engaging, imaginative, and simplified,” said Tinti. “We do lots of cold reading because they can feel so scary, but we show the students a lot of good tips and tools that they can use to get them as prepared as possible for that.”
The Shakespeare component was added after Savannah Arts Academy switched up things a few years ago and asked students to prepare a Shakespeare monologue. Improv is another huge component because it provides another way for students to engage and understand material.
In addition to the creative side, the workshops give insight to the professional side of things as well.
“We reinforce the professional standards like showing up on time. The audition starts as soon as you arrive and you never know who is watching you. Maybe it’s the resume, cover letter or headshots but we make sure that they understand the professional standards and have the necessary requirements,” Tinti said.
In summer of 2021 Savannah Stage Company introduced “Teen Company”, which is a group of 14-17-year-old professional teen actors. This group uses live productions to display and expand their skills.
“We met tons of really great people at the audition prep workshops and we asked how we can include them and highlight these young artists, so we created a teen company,” said Tinti. “We have a high success rate for students making it into their programs after going through our workshops.”
The workshops are one of many ways the Savannah Stage Company is making theater accessible and continuing education. The company has also started virtual field trips, which bring the theater experience to schools in a literary educational experience.
“It’s everything a teacher needs to provide their students with an engaging, immersive theatrical experience right to their screen,” Tinti said.
Though there are four workshops, there is an option to choose two. It is a part of the Savannah Stage Company’s mission to be sure that what they offer is accessible so there are “pay what you can” options available as well.
For adults they are offering 1 on 1 coaching audition services.
For more information on the virtual field trips and to register for the workshops visit savannahstagecompany.com
