In the Mood

An actor with whom I talked recently was perplexed. He had just been for his fourth audition for a long-running West End musical and had not been recalled. His disappointment was compounded by the fact that the fi rst and third time he had been in, he was recalled several times and got down to the fi nal two on both occasions, yet the second time he was also not even recalled once. ‘I just don’t understand it’, he moaned. ‘I did nothing radically different on each of the four occasions.’ I sympathised with his frustration and explained it could be one of two things. The fi rst was the fact that it was a recast and a suitable part may not have been available this time around (which we’ll discuss more fully in Chapter 38). The second and perhaps less obvious reason is that the outcome can depend on the mood of the director or panel on the day you audition.