That Wrap Dress - what are you wearing?

I mean, if you don’t really like it, get rid of it!

Hear me out.

What are you wearing to auditions these days? Music Theatre AND opera auditions?

Traditionally, opera auditions have been a little more “formal” but things are a-changin’ and the bland suit and tie, or jewel-toned wrap dress and nude heels that may never been seen anywhere else, could now find its way to the back of your closet, or in a giveaway bag!

So, what DO you wear? What ARE you wearing? How do you figure it out?

I would love answers to these questions, so please comment below.

First, it’s still a job interview of sorts. HOWEVER, it’s about YOU and who YOU are. Discovering your authenticity is crucial so that you not only feel good in your own skin, but also in your own clothes.

What are you projecting? What do you want them to see? Who are you projecting? And more importantly, WHO do you want them to see?

You are not a runway model: that model can’t be more important than the clothes that are being worn. On the runway, it’s the clothes that are the focus.

In an audition, YOU are the focus. Dressing to reveal your authenticity, personality, and everything that goes with it, is crucial to create the ambiance, the subtext, the mood of YOU.

Who are you in your every day life? Then how do you zhuzh that up to make the impression in the room?

What types of clothes do you gravitate toward and why? What does that leaning in determine and reveal about you?

Oh, I hear some of you right now, trust me. “My every day life is glamorous sloth. I can’t take that into the audition room.” “My every day life is Sporty Spice. I can’t take that into an audition room.”

Uh, why not? How do you zhuzh it up a little?

This can allow for some creativity and exploration and possibility. Trust me, if you feel like YOU, if you feel like a truly badass version of YOU waiting to present yourself, that audition tone is SET and CONTROLLED, BY YOU!

You will look like it matters to be there if you truly commit to yourself and your authentic sensibility. An audition presentation should simply be an elevated presentation of the self. How many agree that wrap dress and nude heels is/was an elevated presentation of you? Or that ill-fitting suit? Or whatever you thought you HAD to wear? (including heels…yes, I said it. You all know how much I love my heels.). But heels are part of MY authenticity. They might not be yours. You don’t wear what isn’t you. The only time you wear what isn’t you, is when you are embodying a character on stage in a production that has nothing to do with YOU.

So, share with me your ideas below. I would love to know what you are wearing in the audition room. Opera AND music theatre. They aren’t as far apart as we sometimes think.

If I am sitting at a table waiting for a singer to cross the threshold, I want to see and sense the energy of that human being IMMEDIATELY. I want them to be as comfortable as they can possibly be, because I know if you are comfortable, if you are real, if you are authentic, your work is going to have even more authenticity and truth in it.

with fondness & fierceness,