Here’s a fact.

There are a lot of people who want to be actors in this world.  (It’s one of the reasons this is my most popular post.)

And I get it.  I was an actor once (although I hung up my masks pretty quickly when I realized that I was never going to be George Clooney . . . or even George Ballooney).

What does this have to do with the price of pizza in Poughkeepsie?

You see, whenever there’s a lot of people who want something (which is what we call “demand”)  . . . people are going to want to hear when that thing is available.

Let’s use a tech example . . . like, the iPhone.  Well, shoot, that’s the coolest new thing around, right?  And when a new one is announced, it gets headlines.

New product = News.

You see this happen on Broadway when shows like Hamilton, etc. announce a “new block of tickets” on sale.

But roles in shows are even rarer than tickets to shows!  And that means auditions and casting can get even more press attention.

Now I’m not saying your show is the next iPhone or the next Hamilton, but if you have more public and accessible auditions (aka “The Open Call”) . . . they become not only auditions . . . they become advertising for your show.

I always have open calls for my shows for three reasons:

1. I think it’s the right thing to do to make auditions as accessible as possible.
2. You never know when the next superstar is going to walk in the door.
3. Auditions advertise the show without having to pay to advertise the show.

Auditions are one of the easiest ways to get the word out.  The announcement usually generates press, whether that’s the TV response we got for the open call of my Broadway revival of Godspell, or whether that’s an announcement in a local paper for the local Community Theater production of The Music Man. 

And I got news for you  . . . people that audition for theater go see theater.  Those people in line are your ticket-buyers (I’ve done special offers to auditionees before and have seen very good results).

Open calls are what I call a Marketing Perfecta . . . because both sides win.  You get the word out and a chance to discover new talent that you might not have seen otherwise and people get their shot at their dreams.

And . . . wait.  Wait a minute.  I just got an idea.  Ooooh, this will be fun.  Stay tuned.