help with audition monologue for children's theatre

[teachermom2834]

My 11yo ds just finished his first production at a local junior playhouse production.  He only needed to do a cold reading for the audition.  He would like to audition for a different children's theatre production which requires a monologue.

 

I could use some help with this.  Any good sources for material for kids? Is there a great website or book somewhere with monologues to choose from?  I assume it should be memorized ??

 

I am clueless about all of this but ds really wants to give it a try.  I don't want to send him in unprepared. 

 

Any tips? 

[redsquirrel]

google 'audition monologue boy' and you should find a selection. You can also try your public library.

 

That is how we find ours.

[Cinder]

Ds2's drama teacher refers them to this website for ideas. Ds did one of the Remember the Titans selections this year.

[NorthwestMom]

My DD12 uses this website: http://www.monologuearchive.com/children.html.

 

Good luck!

[catz]

Does he need a comedic or dramatic monolouge or doesn't it matter?  Reciting a poem dramatically can work for this too - we've used Shel Silverstein.  I know some kids will take a chunk of Shakespeare.  And that can be impressive.  Or it can backfire depending on the appropriateness of choice and how it's delivered.  I guess I wouldn't do that unless you're auditioning for Shakespeare.  :)  We try to pick something that would reflect the mood/level of the show being auditioned for and that has worked well for my DS. 

 

Break a leg! 

[teachermom2834]

Thanks.  I saw some on those sites that will work, I think.  He is going for comedic. He is a cute little guy and definitely couldn't pull off Shakespeare. :) 

 

So, he'll choose a monologue and memorize it and be prepared to perform it.  What else should he know?  Does he introduce the monologue (say what it is taken from or give background)?  Does he give the director a copy? 

 

Thanks for all the help.  I am a fish out of water with this stuff.  :confused1:

[catz]

My son has also used this (warning - this will download a pdf file of many monologues).  There's a comedic one in there he's landed several roles with (Pick Me).  Great for kids that like to be funny and can do some physical comedy!  :)  He's used some other ones in there too.

 

http://teacherweb.com/NJ/HammarskjoldMiddleSchool/MsGreenspan/BoysMonologues013.pdf

 

My kid has never had a copy of his monolouge for the director.  Sometimes when you get there if they are doing individual auditions the person checking people in will say state your name, age and then you can begin or whatever format they want.  I wouldn't worry about that too much.  Hope it goes great.

[redsquirrel]

He doesn't give a copy to anyone. He shouldn't have it in his hands when he goes in, in fact.

 

He walks in all friendly, says, "Hello, my name is John Smith, I am 10 years old. Today I am going to be performing a brief scene from Guys and Dolls. I will be reading the part of Sky Masterson"

 

or something more or less to that effect. It's not a big deal

 

His reading should only take about 1 minute. They have to get through lots of these in a day, so 1 min, maybe 90 seconds.

 

Good luck to him :001_smile:

 

[teachermom2834]

Thanks, everyone.  It has all been very helpful.

 

I made his appointment and the confirmation said the monologue should be from a play or book.  I think I have found a couple that he can do but any other ideas are welcome.

 

 

[Jenny in Florida]

Thanks, everyone.  It has all been very helpful.

 

I made his appointment and the confirmation said the monologue should be from a play or book.  I think I have found a couple that he can do but any other ideas are welcome.

 

I was going to mention that a lot of theaters want to hear monologues that are from published sources, but it sounds like you are already taking that into account.

 

My kids usually preferred to stay away from any monologue that had been included in a book of "scenes for young actors" or website or anything like that, since using those risks being one of the 27 kids the director will see that day who does the same speech. They did sometimes have luck, though, using collections in books and online as reference for sources that might include material appropriate for them, then look at other possibilities from those same sources. In other words, if a collection included a monologue for an eight-year-old girl from a certain play or novel, my daughter would go look up that play or novel and choose a piece to do that was different from the one in the collection. 

 

For auditions that allowed books as sources, my kids often chose to adapt something of their choice. My son, for example, used to have in his repertoire a monologue adapted from the novel (not the play) of Peter Pan when he was little. My daughter had one from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The material was familiar enough that the directors would have some idea of the character being played, but the specific chunk of dialogue wasn't one they heard all the time.

 

Does your son have a favorite book that he already knows well? That might be a place to start. We used to look for scenes that already included a good amount of dialogue and then string together enough material to make it work.

 

Beginning at around age eight, each of mine also had a Shakespearean piece to pull out when it was appropriate. 

[NewnameC]

Speaking of zombie threads….

 

Is this the son heading off to college this fall with a full ride? 

if so, sounds like he did well no matter how the audition went.

 

[teachermom2834]

39 minutes ago, NewnameC said:

Speaking of zombie threads….

 

Is this the son heading off to college this fall with a full ride? 

if so, sounds like he did well no matter how the audition went.

 

Well yes it is! And he never did do any theatre again after I asked this question. 🙂 but he got into other stuff and threw himself into academics and is doing just fine!