Audition: Everything an Actor Needs to Know to Get the Part

Much has been written already about his twelve guideposts, and I have nothing new to add to those already glowing (and well deserved) comments. What I did find most illuminative and refreshing is his comments on how to behave at the job interview. It is in this chapter that this book becomes helpful to even the non actor. In this chapter/section, Shurtleff urges all people to realize that ultimately the pressure in the job interview is on the employer and that a good prospect will immediately put the interview board at ease. All too often actors become so self centered and fail to realize that their performance is really about their audience, not them. The same is true therefore of the job interview. It is about the employer, not the employee.

As a teacher, Audition has been most helpful to me as it has provided objective certainty to an area filled with far too many subjective judgements. In other words, Shurtleff has helped define the skills and tasks necessary to train actors in a manner that will help them transition successfully from the educational venue to the professional market. He has given us clear, active objectives to teach toward.

In Audition, Shurtleff articulates what constitutes good, effective acting. Once that becomes defined clearly, then success becomes not a nebulous ideal, but rather a concrete proposition.

If this is not in your theatre library, it is time you add it now.


It works. It creates actors. It simply works.   February 4, 2003
Brian's Dad (Los Gatos, CA United States)
49 out of 52 found this review helpful

I had no acting experience. None. Not even in school plays.

I got into acting on a lark, as a hobby. I had been studying and auditioning for about three years with no success, and very little progress.

An instructor recommended this book. I read it, and then read it again. All of a sudden, things that had been drilled in my head during acting classes finally started to make sense. Within the following 6 months, my skills grew in a series of leaps, and I began booking at auditions. Not a lot, not yet. But the sudden increase in my abilities was astounding.

I am still not a great actor. But this book helped me get out of the "student" mode and into the "working" mode. Well worth it.


I've nearly worn my copy out with use!   May 10, 2000
36 out of 38 found this review helpful

This book is an INVALUABLE resource. And I'm not a traditional actor, I'm an opera singer. I had to read this for a class on (what else?) auditioning, and loved it so much that I finished it the first day of class. Shurtleff's 12 Guideposts, carefully applied to just about any performance (I use them for arias, art songs, etc), can help create something nuanced and fascinating. As if the guideposts weren't enough, Shurtleff gives wonderful ideas on the nitty-gritty of auditions (how to present your past experience, what to wear, etc). I just can't say enough good about this book. When I perform an operatic scene that I've run through the 12 guideposts, I get comments like, "You're a great actress! You really have a theatrical flair!" Boy, does that feel good. I'd give this thing six stars if I could. I hate to even tell other people about this book, because then everyone can gain my edge.


Actors advice   June 27, 2004
20 out of 21 found this review helpful

I highly recommend this book in our quest for the great parts as actors. I also recommend: Voice Lessons to Go by Vaccarino- a cheap way to get your singing lessons taken care of, because we've all had to sing at some audition, The Artsts Way by Cameron- a 12 week program to help you really focus and baby your creativity and abilities, Back Stage West- You've got to have it for audition info, and lots of great friends to support you through all the madness!


I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E!!!   October 28, 1998
YeahSure7@aol.com (Maryland, USA)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

My acting teacher is actually using this book as our textbook (undergrad intermediate theatre class)! It isn't only guidelines for auditioning, it is a guideline for acting. The book explains how to look at a character in a way that I have never thought. My acting has improved incredibly because of this book.