A percentage of ever vocal coach's business consists of actor/singers calling because they have just gotten a last minute audition- one that could be the chance of a lifetime, and one that they have to learn ad prepare a new audition song for.

I used to try and beg out of these assignments with the pretext (usually true) that I was completely booked up because no vocal coach wants to have to do, in days, what should take weeks to accomplish, namely the choosing, teaching, and staging of musical audition material.

With the business in the sorry state that it has been season, with very few Broadway musicals coming in, performers are more desperate than ever to be considered for any kind of role. When there are fewer and fewer shows to audition for, actors do not want to invest the money on a vocal coach to prepare audition material. This affects vocal coaches, including myself, for not only do I find myself taking more of these last minute assignments, but I find that more and more people are waiting till just a few days before the big even to prepare audition material.

Why is this such a big mistake? Because if you, the performer, blow the audition you have lost the opportunity to be seriously considered for anything else by the casting director who not only is casting that show but many others as well.

For the last decade the casting director has become one of the most influential people in the business. Lets' see how and why this should be.

Some years ago, all submissions, whether for chorus or principal roles, were through theatrical agents. Those submitting members of Actors Equity were Equity franchised agents. Equity thought it unfair that these agents were allowed to collect ten percent on the minimum scale producers paid a performer so they made it illegal for a franchised agent to do so. Many agents thought that this was grossly unfair. After all, they had to work hard to get their clients submitted and they incurred expenses in doing so. It meant a big drop in income when this went through. If agents could no longer collect commissions it was obvious that they were no longer going to submit clients.

Enter the Casting Director.

Before Actors Equity declared agents could no longer accept commissions on minimum scale, the way producers would cast a show, the way a producers would cast a show was by announcing auditions and accepting submissions of talent from theatrical agents. Usually producers had their own production staffs that acted as casting consultants. One of the most famous and gifted casting directors of all time, Shirley Rich, worked exclusively for Hal Prince. She was a phenomenon. She could meet you years and years later and remember your name and everything about you down to the last detail.

Now that agents were no longer submitting their clients for roles that paid minimum, producers needed someone to sift through pictures and resumes and screen out those performers who did not seem likely prospects, whether through looks or experience, for the shows that needed to be cast. Guess who they turned to? You guessed it! They turned to many of those former agents who now became casting directors. After all, what better way to make a buck. If you can't get it from the actor, get it from the producer, in fees.

The agent-turned-casting director sees thousands of performers in the course of a few months. He is not easily impressed and knows exactly what he is looking for. He keeps extensive files of pictures and resumes and works hard at keeping them up to date. He stays in business because he can deliver talent to the producer that is worthy of consideration. He usually is casting more than one show at a time. He is the one you have to impress, for if he believes you have the goods you will stay in his files and be repeatedly called to audition for whatever shows he is casting that you are remotely right for. If you give a lackluster performance it is obvious he will be turned off by your work and you may not get a second chance with him.

How do you turn off a casting director? By giving him a performance that isn't ready to be seen. First of all, I should explain that no matter how gifted a person is, it takes no less than three weeks of living with material before you can truly make it your own. It's true that in a few days, one can easily learn the music and lyrics of a song and even the staging. But it is through repeated performance, over a period of several weeks, that the subconscious mind takes over so that performer's personality is able to imprint his or her special stamp on the piece.

This can be likened to the three weeks of rehearsal that it takes just to be free of book. It takes another couple of weeks of previews before the performers can begin to feel comfortable with the material. It's true that sometimes numbers have to be learned overnight but it still takes weeks of breaking them in before they will work.

The musical theater is a business where actors are hired because they are the characters needed to play a particular role. Putting it simply as possible, you just can't be yourself when you are desperately fighting to keep afloat and are giving your all not to blow the lyric or sing the wrong notes. There may be many opportunities in a lifetime, but seldom will a casting director give you a second chance if you louse up the first one.

Now, while there isn't the pressure there may be later on when things get busy, is the time to call a vocal coach and work up a repertoire of numbers of general use that will serve you in good stead when you get the opportunity for a specific audition.