Youth Theatre

CentreStage Rolleston currently produces one Youth Show show annually for around 30 students.

We’re passionate about our Youth Theatre being ‘by young people, for young people’, in that we offer opportunities and mentoring for people passionate about lighting, sound, backstage, costumes, front-of-house, directing, musical directing and choreographing. We’re aiming to grow the next generation of theatre in Selwyn, and that extends beyond just being on stage!

Past Shows

High School Musical Jr, October 7-9 2022

Legally Blonde Jr, October 8-10 2021

Disney's Peter Pan Jr, July 12-14 2019

What can I expect at Youth Theatre auditions?

We run auditions for our Youth shows a little differently from other groups. Auditions are held in groups of 15-30 people at a time for 2 hours, as it allows us to spend more time with everyone auditioning, and also give the opportunity to audition to more people in the same amount of time.

Warm Up (~20 minutes)
We start our auditions with a brief physical and vocal warmup with an emphasis on introductions and breaking the ice. Feeling comfortable in the audition room is crucial to being able to take risks and do your best!

Singing (~35 minutes)
Auditionees are taught about 30 seconds of an unknown song, and have plenty of opportunity to practice, learn and ask questions as a group. The group then stands up, and the creative team has the chance to walk around and hear the blend of voices as a group. At the end, auditionees sing the section on their own, with the opportunity to showcase themselves and put their own spin on the song.

Acting (~35 minutes)
Auditionees are allocated to small groups, and will have some time to read and practice a short script excerpt as a group. Each group then has a chance to workshop their scene with the director, and afterwards they perform their excerpt in front of the creative team. Groups are allocated when you arrive for auditions, and the script will be handed out during the audition.

Dancing (~30 minutes)
Auditionees are taught choreography to a small section of a song in lines. The lines are rotated throughout the dance to give everyone an equal opportunity at the front. The emphasis is on learning and leading, and the dance is run a few times at the end without the choreographer as a performance.

Since there can be a lot of people in each audition group, sometimes the creative team feels that they’d like to see a little bit more of some people at the end of auditions, and it doesn’t mean anything either way or guarantee a spot in the show.

Callbacks

Some auditionees may be invited to present a prepared musical theatre song of their choice immediately following the group auditions. Callbacks are an opportunity for the audition panel to see more from some auditionees, but do not guarantee a place in the cast.

How do I prepare for auditions?

The audition material (song, dance and acting scene) are not made public before the auditions, so everyone comes in on a level playing field. A big part of what we’re looking for in auditions is learning and taking risks with content that isn't very familiar. Remember that we put together the entire show in only around 11 weeks, so it’s important to be able to learn quickly!

There are a few good things to remember on the day:

Bring in a drink bottle
Wear clothes and shoes that you can easily move and dance in
Make sure you’ve eaten before the audition - there’s nothing worse than trying to focus when you’re hungry!
Remember that we’re not expecting anything to be perfect - the creative team knows that the material is all new, and you'll find some parts of the audition easier than others. Give everything 100%, and don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and take risks
Have fun!