MMT’s First Youth Audition Prep Workshop Is a Wrap!

On Saturday, October 3, MMT welcomed a full house of young performers for our first-ever Youth Audition Prep Workshop — a morning designed to take some of the mystery out of auditioning and help young performers walk into their next audition with more confidence.

With the workshop at capacity and a waitlist behind it, youth ages 8–16 spent the morning learning, trying new things and getting practical experience in the three building blocks of a musical theatre audition: acting, singing and dancing.

Learning by Doing

Participants were divided into two groups and rotated through hands-on sessions led by members of MMT’s Mainstage creative team: JQ Smith, Erica Astles and Craig Marshall.

Rather than simply talking about auditions, each session gave participants a chance to get up, participate and practise the skills they might be asked to demonstrate in an audition room. They also left with take-home resources they can return to when preparing for future auditions.

Young assistant leaders Hunter, Katie and Ella helped bring that experience to life, demonstrating exercises and giving participants the opportunity to see other young performers tackling the same kinds of challenges alongside them.

The morning wrapped up with a group Q&A, giving participants the chance to ask questions and hear directly from experienced performers and creative team members.

More than Audition Technique

One of the messages we wanted participants to take away was simple: be kind to yourself, be kind to others, and give it your all.

That message stood out to our workshop sponsor, The Rotary Club of Mississauga, whose representatives joined us for the morning.

Following the workshop, Lorraine Crow from the Rotary Club described the day as an opportunity to share “wonderful life skills, delivered with expertise” and expressed the Club’s enthusiasm for continuing to support MMT’s work with young people.

We are incredibly grateful to the Rotary Club of Mississauga for helping us make this inaugural workshop possible.

Thank you to our community

An event like this takes a lot of people behind the scenes. Thank you to our workshop leaders, youth assistants and the many MMT volunteers who gave their time, energy and encouragement to make the morning welcoming for every participant.

And, most importantly, thank you to the young performers who showed up ready to learn and try something new. Your enthusiasm made MMT’s first Youth Audition Prep Workshop a success.

This may have been our first audition workshop — but judging by the response, we hope it won’t be our last.