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Emphasis should be on you rather than your environment. We recommend a default background of a blank wall or backdrop. However a blank background is not required.

Landscape orientation is preferred, but portrait orientation is acceptable.

You may frame yourself as best fits the piece being presented.

• An intimate or quieter piece with little physical movement, or a piece geared toward filmmakers, can be framed to show only your head and shoulders.
• If you are presenting very physical work or seeking to work with outdoor or large venues, full body or 3/4 framing from above the knees and up is recommended.
• If you are undecided, we recommend 3/4 framing as a default.

Trimming the start and end of your video to keep the emphasis on your audition is encouraged.

Editing and cutting your video to showcase your best take of each portion (slate, piece 1, piece 2) is acceptable but not required. If you opt to edit/cut your video, we discourage edits during a song or monologue. The emphasis should be on your performance skills (instead of your editing skills).

If you film your slate and/or performances separately, edit them together to create one seamless video to make viewing easier for the auditors. While our database and the binder can accommodate having multiple links in one blank, it turns out the Excel spreadsheet that some auditors like to use cannot.

You may use the video distribution platform of your choice. Alt hough the option is offered to have a password for password protected videos, we strongly recommend that you adjust the settings of your video to enable anyone with the link to view it. Entering a password would be an additional step for our auditors.

Some platforms (such as YouTube) offer the option to set a video to “unlisted,” which means the platform does not suggest publicly to viewers that they watch the video. However, recipients of the video’s URL can view it.

Note that some platforms (such as YouTube) do not allow viewers to download videos. Other platforms (such as Vimeo) allow viewers to download videos if the person who posted the video has an account upgrade enabling them to make videos downloadable. Making your video downloadable is not required, but enables auditors to save and re-watch your video, even if you have deleted it.

We recognize that due to social distancing measures, access to an in-person in-the-moment accompanist will be difficult if not impossible for many candidates. Therefore, the requirement to work with an accompanist in-person in-the-moment will be waived for 2022 Citywide General Auditions.

Instead, we very strongly recommend that singers sing with a pre-recorded instrumental accompaniment such as a karaoke track.

Accompanying yourself or singing a capella, while allowed, are not recommended. Auditor consensus has been that these methods do not provide the information they need to determine whether to cast you for a musical. If you wish to play your own accompaniment, record the accompaniment separately, and then sing along with the recording.

When recording your audition, place your music player and yourself at distances from your recording device such that neither drowns out the other.

The Citywide General Auditions are like a job interview, so your attire should reflect your professionalism.

Avoid distracting clothes: jewelry, uncomfortable or noisy shoes, loud patterns, torn jeans, T-shirts, etc.

Avoid wearing solid black, solid white, and small patterns.

Style your hair in a way that keeps it out of your eyes.