Reruns Welcome

A comment on yesterday's post:

"Regarding the aria package: what if we're singing the same arias as last year?"

I'm guessing that the writer wants to know if it's OK that the list is identical to last year's audition offerings. Generally that's not a problem at all - especially if you're in the first few years of auditioning for schools and YAPs. After all, it does take a while to conquer some of these iconic arias. If they represent you well, and if you're making good progress, bring on the reruns. There's no reason to change just for the sake of change.

If, however, you and your teacher/coaches feel that this rep is getting stale or that it is hampered by old/bad habits, you may need to shake it up. And if you've been offering the exact same arias for four or five years, you may also need to introduce some new material.

Audition quote of the day, by way of Joanna Merlin's Auditioning: An Actor Friendly Guide, from actor and director Bill Duke. It stems directly from the theater and film industry, but is no less true for us:

"Auditioning: the difficult part is surviving the industry, which is a culture of rejection. Facing that in the most courageous manner, I rely on a quote from Winston Churchill, "True power is an individual's ability to move from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm."