The Actors' Scene Showcase consists of ten 5-8 minute two-actor scenes chosen by a panel of local theatre directors. The Showcase features twenty local actors performing for an invited audience of agents,casting directors and other theatre professionals, as well as for the general public. Originally modeled after showcases in New York and Los Angeles, the Actors’ Scene Showcase has been a great success for the Women’s Theatre Alliance and its participants for nearly two decades, serving as a springboard for many acting careers.
19th ANNUAL SHOWCASE AUDITION INFORMATION WTA invites actors (men and women) to perform a 5 to 8 minute, two person scene of their choosing before a panel of local directors on Saturday, November 12 from 10am to 4pm at Stage 773. The top ten scenes from these auditions will perform in the Showcase on Wednesday, December 7 at Stage 773 for agents, casting directors, and the public. You must be available on December 4 and 7, from 6-10 PM, for the rehearsal and show. The Showcase is attended each year by casting directors and talent agents including, in the past, representatives from Bailiwick Repertory, Baker & Rowley, Camenae Ensemble Theatre Company, Chicago Dramatists, Connor Casting, Court Theatre, Ford Talent, Jane Alderman Casting, MPAACT, Porchlight Musical Theatre, Pyewacket Theatre, Rogue Theatre, Shirley Hamilton, Side Project, Stage Left, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Stockyards Theatre Project, Theatre Hikes, Walkabout Theatre and many more.
If you're an ACTOR interested in auditioning a scene for the Showcase, you will need to choose a two-person scene, a scene partner, and a director, and then register by the deadline. Auditions will be held on Saturday, November 12.These are open auditions, but the slots can fill up by the deadline.Scenes may come from an original work or a published work, but it must be a scripted scene and not improv. Your performances are judged as fully realized scenes, and are selected based on the state they are in at the time of the auditions. You do not work with anyone from WTA between the time of the auditions and the Showcase.
If you're a DIRECTOR who is available to direct a scene, email Program Director Scott Dray and he will put you in touch with any actors who contact him about needing a director. This is not a workshop or a program in which meetings are held, but with email we are able to help you if you need advice or you can't find a director.
Scene Choice The purpose of the event is to showcase the actors, using material that suits the actors and suits the 5-8 minute format. Each year there is always a wonderful variety of scenes at the auditions and the Showcase.The 5-8 minute scenes are most commonly taken from full-length plays orone-acts, though the scenes do not have to come from published material. Newer and lesser-known works, if they are well written, have one advantage: the director-judges have not seen them hundreds of times before. Some excellent Showcase scenes in recent years have come from unpublished works by up and coming playwrights. However, the event itis not a competition for new or actor-written material. If you plan to audition a self-written scene or a work-in-progress, keep in mind that your competition for the most part will come from published works, rather than from other self-written scenes. We don't want to discourage you from presenting new material, just to be aware of your competition.
Judging Scenes are judged equally in four categories: Acting (one score foreach actor), Directing, and Scene Suitability. Scene Suitability is a score for the choice of material -- how well it suits the actors and the Showcase format.
Directors You must list a director on the application. Your relationship with the director can be as informal as someone giving you notes on the scene a couple of times, or as involved as someone with final say who works with you frequently. It's up to you. If the scene was developed in an acting workshop or class, you may list the teacher as the director, whether or not you receive notes from others on the scene. One of the actors may be listed as the director, but self-directed scenes tend not to fair as well in the auditions. It helps tremendously to have outside feedback on your scene. For purposes of the application, you may list a tentative director, and make a change later if necessary. You may NOT list both actors as co-directors.
