You're in the city, you've got your bag all packed, your audition book is ready to go! So the only questions that remains is where are we going? Well, while non-equity auditions might take you all over town -- sometimes auditioning in the space you'll be performing in or in smaller rehearsal studio spaces -- you will be seeing a lot of The Big Three if you attend any equity auditions as they are almost exclusively held in one of these three locations. The holy trinity of audition spaces is Pearl Studios, Ripley-Grier Studios, and The Actor's Equity Building, and trust me, it is intimidating to walk into these holding rooms for your first few auditions.
But wait wait wait, not so fast! We've never talked about what exactly attending an equity audition will look like. So before we jump into the differences in studios, let's quickly break down the bullet points of how an equity audition goes!
What To Expect When You're Expecting [An Equity Audition]:
-You enter the ground floor lobby where you'll sign in with security before going to the elevators.
-You emerge from the elevator into the studio lobby; from there, you can check the callboards for what audition is happening in what space and at what time (or you can simply ask reception -- they're all very nice and happy to help).
-You make your way to your audition's holding room (not the audition room, this is important) and find the monitor's table.
-You go to the monitor's table first (do not pass Go, do not collect $200) and write your name on the next cell of the Non-Member's Sign In sheet as you want your name as high on the list as humanly possible. **This is where the differences between equity and non-equity would come in as an equity member's morning routine would deviate here (a topic I will tackle in a future post) so for our purposes of today, assuming that most readers will be non-equity, all you need to know for now is that all equity present is seen before any names are called from the non-equity list.**
-You go set up camp either in the holding room or in the hallway -- wherever you're comfortable and close enough to hear when the monitor is calling people.
-You hang out! As I said above, all equity has to be seen before non-equity, meaning that equity members can show up throughout the day, well after you arrived, put their name down, and they will be seen before you. Also, remember how I used the word "present" above? If your name is called and you do not respond / are not there, you lose your spot and you have to put your name at the end of your respective list (alternate or a later time slot if available for equity, bottom of the non-member's for non-equity). So since you never know how quickly a room with move and when your name might be called until you get a feel for it, it's possible you'll be hanging out for a lot of the day. Bring a pastime and some patience.
-When you finally hear your name called to be put on line, do a little jig, first of all! Then, right after that, you'll hand off your headshot and resume to the monitor and walk over in your group to the hallway outside the audition room . At that point, the monitor will give you "the spiel" (this is the audition you're on line for, this is a shared studio space so no vocalizing or warming up while on line, you better be back by the time it's your turn if you have to leave the line, here's what they are asking for in the room by way of monologues / song cuttings, etc.). Then, you'll be just a handful of people away from an equity audition room!
-Once you have been seen and you've left the audition room, that's it! You did it! Make sure you take a picture of the In The Room information sheet on the monitor's desk if you like to have that recorded for future reference on your way out.
Phew! Okay! That's a general play-by-play of attending an equity audition. So how do The Big Three differ? Let's break each of them down individually!
Pearl Studios
Pearl Studios is located on 8th Avenue between 35th and 36th Street. You'll either be on the 3rd or 4th floor, but even if you're unsure, don't worry, their giant callboard in the lobby is the most straight-forward of the three. The actual spaces of Pearl Studios from the lobby to the hallways to the rooms are very clean, very simplistic, and give off a very professional, put-together air. The layout makes sense, and it's extremely easy to figure out where you need to go, even if you've never been before. The holding rooms are typically sparse with chairs, meaning you're gonna have to get comfortable with the floor or out in the hallway, but there are at least three actually comfortable armchairs per floor if you can swipe them early -- just be aware that they are probably as far away from holding rooms as they could be. Also, it's really hard to find outlets anywhere? So that's a bit problematic if you wanna be on your phone while you wait around: you may need to invest in a portable charger.
A big benefit to Pearl is the ability to rent rooms to warm up (for a small fee) if you're feeling extra cold. They also offer printing services and have staplers, three-hole punches, and paper cutters readily available in case of emergency. Another really cool element to Pearl is that "major" shows -- yes, sometimes Broadway -- will rehearse there, meaning you will be right down the hall from the action. From the new queens from the tour of SIX learning their solos, to the Broadway cast of Wicked working a put-in rehearsal of "One Short Day", you will hear it all! It's enlivening and inspiring!
In general, Pearl Studios is easily my favorite locale of the three -- anytime I see an audition posting with Pearl, I immediately am more inclined (or at least excited) to go.
TL;DR Verdict: MVP, 10 out of 10, would recommend. Needs more armchairs and more outlets.
Ripley-Grier Studios
Ripley-Grier actually has four different locations within NYC, but the one that we'll be dealing with is 520, also on 8th Avenue. The building lobby is cavernous and intimidating, and oh so opposite from the Ripley-Grier floors! The studios are on the 16th and 17th floors of 520, and you have never seen such an eclectic, artsy place. The walls are lined with show posters -- shows that started there, rehearsed there, passed through the halls, etc. -- and it really feels like a love letter to musical theatre. In that sense, it is a very joyful place, and actors will feel very at home in the space.
That is, if you find the space you need to be in.
There will never come a day that I don't get lost trying to find my holding room -- and then trying to find the exit again! -- the place is so labyrinthine. It's undoubtedly the biggest collection of studios between the three, but I swear there must have been a better way to lay it out. I guess having more space to get lost in means that you can definitely find a space to sit (and you probably will want to venture out as you won't find outlets available in any of the holding rooms, only in the halls), but the question is will you be able to find your way back to the holding room when you want to? May the odds be ever in your favor.
Like Pearl, you can rent rooms to warm up (also for a small fee) and there are printing services available. There is constant movement happening in Ripley-Grier, so it is pretty cool to walk the halls and listen to all kinds of performance happening around you.
TL;DR Verdict: Ripley-Grier, I just want to go home at the end of the day, where is the elevator?! At least you're pretty.
The Actor's Equity Building
I saved this one for last as it's most unique from the other two; the Equity Building is up in Times Square on 7th Avenue and 46th Street. Unlike Pearl and Ripley-Grier, the audition space is the entire building. Getting into the building, you're asked to show your equity card, and if you're non-equity, security takes your picture before letting you in. The first elevator takes you up to the sky lobby, which is a giant open space that really does not direct you where to go at all, so you better be prepared to look like you know what you're doing. When you find the holding room, you'll notice that it's just a big open room with a ton of chairs, no studios for auditioning in sight. That's because this holding room is exclusively for non-equity and EMC. If you are non-equity or EMC, you go hang out in your own holding room, away from the studios (which are actually on the 16th floor) unless and until your room's monitor gets the okay to send people up to the studios.
So, if you're lucky enough to get called up, you get on another elevator to go to the 16th floor, then you go to another holding room, the alcove, until the upstairs monitor comes to get you. As always, equity gets priority and is always seen first, so even being upstairs does not mean you'll get seen right away. Being upstairs is basically like being in the holding rooms for Pearl or Ripley-Grier: the Equity Building has two rounds of waiting for non-equity and EMC.
The Equity Building does not have warm-up spaces available, nor do they have printing, but they have outlets GALORE. It's magical. What's not so magical? The holding room is freeeeeeezing. Like I swear you could catch a cold being in there long enough, it's actually torturous. The holding room isn't the only place to hang out in the sky lobby though; they have a very nice cafe that serves Starbucks drinks and some very good food. There are many very comfortable chairs in the cafe and even more outlets!
TL;DR Verdict: I may have hypothermia, but at least I have a full battery on all my devices. Easy access to coffee / tea / snacks.
Who knew that WHERE you audition would be so much to process! And I've really only given you a brief sampling of The Big Three. More stories and more details will undoubtedly come up down the road, but in the meantime, any questions about these audition spaces or what to expect? Let's start a conversation!
Thanks for reading, #DreamTeamHLJ, and go buy yourself a portable charger.
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