Step By Step Guide to Nailing Your Disney Audition
Let’s face it. At some point in our lives, we’ve all wanted to be best friends with a Disney character. We all dreamed of being a prince or a princess, or even pals with Mickey Mouse. What’s crazy is that some people get to make that dream a reality…and you have the chance to do that too! All you have to do is make it through an entire Disney Audition.
Applying For Your Disney Audition
All Disney Auditions are listed online at www.jobs.disneycareers.com/auditions. Here you will find a plethora of auditions for each Disney Park. From character performers to character look-a-likes, to parade dancers and musicians, there’s an audition for everyone. If you don’t see an audition that fits your talents, check the website every couple days as it is updated regularly.
What You Need to Know
Each Disney audition posting will provide a detailed description of what you need to know. It lists the location of the audition, what time to arrive at the audition, what the audition will consist of, and what type of performer the casting directors are seeking to hire.
This is where you need to pay most attention, for example, if you are 5’8’’ and you show up to an audition for female character look-a-likes from 4’8’’-5’2’’, you will indeed be cut right away.
If You Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail
Once your Disney audition date is decided on, the next thing to do is prepare. Many people question what they should wear, if they should do crazy makeup, or even wear a costume. The best thing to do is be yourself. People show up to Disney auditions wearing athletic clothing, dance shoes, dresses – you will see anything and everything.
Some people wear tons of makeup and dramatic eyelashes, and others wear no makeup at all. People will wear their hair slicked back in a ponytail, while others will curl their hair and add an accessory. If you’d like to greater your chances of being noticed by the casting directors, wear a bright color rather than darks.
If you are attending a character look-a-like audition, wear the color of the character you look like the most. Supposing the audition page says they are hiring for Cinderella and you feel you have the look, wear a blue top with sparkly earrings and put your hair up to show off your face shape.
You Make Me Feel Like Dancing
There are a few others ways you can prepare for your Disney audition. Make sure to stretch beforehand and practice your basic dance skills. Normally the audition website will state if a dance routine will be taught. Sometimes there is no choreography, just animation. You are told to animate certain things without speaking.
For example: act as if you just found $100 on the ground, act as if you’re about to throw up, act as if you are in a meet and greet with an old woman in a wheelchair, act as if you’re a cowboy, etc. You have to be able to come up with your animations on the spot.
Most of the time you will be doing these dances/animations in a group of four, with all of the casting directors and the rest of the auditioners watching. It can be a bit nerve-wracking with all eyes on you.
Moving On
Other auditions will be as easy as pie. You stand in a row of ten, the casting directors look at you, and then the pick who they want to move on. Disney music plays in the background to make things a little less awkward. If you move on to the next round, you will be measured and have photos taken.
Then you will be given a short script to read. You’ll have about twenty minutes to practice your script before having to read in front of the casting directors, and again the rest of the auditioners. Sometimes three people will be reading for the same character. The casting directors may even ask you character specific questions such as, “Cinderella, where is your fairy godmother?” and you are expected to come up with answers right away.
If you are one of the few to make it past this round, you will be put into costume and makeup for your assigned character. A video will be taken of you in costume performing the same script to be viewed by the rest of the casting team later on.
It’s All About the Attitude
The most important part of a Disney audition is to go into it with a good attitude. Talk to others while you wait in line! Make friends and smile. This is what will get you noticed.
If you mess up while dancing, laugh it off! Make it look like you did the dance right and everyone else had it wrong. Most of all, don’t be discouraged if you get cut. That doesn’t mean you won’t get it the next time around, so keep trying. Some people attend ten Disney auditions before they finally get the role.
Bringing to life the classic Disney characters is a life-changing opportunity, and attending your Disney audition is your first step towards creating magic. As Walt Disney once said, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”