Module 3 Inquiry Progress

While waiting for ethical approval and reading through the handbook and reader 7, I began to panic. How is it possible to write a detailed Inquiry outline, plan what you need to do for module 3 and still feel overwhelmed when it comes to actually putting your plans in to practice?

...and breathe...I have always found writing things down very therapeutic. There is something about putting my thoughts down on paper that seems to relieve me of the stresses of carrying thoughts/ideas /questions around with me and remembering them all! So I began to make some basic notes to remind myself of the purpose of my inquiry, as one thing I have found exceedingly difficult throughout this whole process is to stay on topic and not veer off down different paths.

Living as a professional Auditionee: How do qualified Musical Theatre Performers contend with ever changing auditioning procedures? 

What do I want to find out? 

I am interested to find out whether the components of a successful audition, taught whilst in training, have evolved and if so what they are.

I intend to compare the successful factors of an audition taught whilst in training to the factors professional auditionee's now consider to be vital, having ventured beyond training and into the industry. In essence, is training relevant to the current industry?

Initial Thoughts

• patterns in history - genres of musical theatre have developed through out time so it may be helpful for me as well as looking at literature to look at the history of musical theatre. The genre depicts the style of singing, style of dance and therefore can suggest what will be expected of you in an audition.
• speaking with my sig to gage a more detailed understanding of what other performers felt professional training did and didn't prepare them for. I can work off my own knowledge and also my interviewee's but I feel the broader the scope on this, the better.
• factors out of our control/factors college cannot prepare you for - look, agent etc
• do schools that offer professional training change their syllabus based on the current market? do they ever refresh the curriculum to suit the direction the industry is currently taking? If so how often?
• If college doesn't prepare you sufficiently, is taking dance class, singing lessons, after graduating, enough? Are there any audition masterclasses available? 
• developments in technology, showreels, voicereels, networking. Do any colleges have the resources to create showreels and voicereels before you leave college?

Although these initial thoughts feel like a bit of a jumble, they give me some direction in regards to future blogs are research that I can do along side my interviews and literature review.

As many of my fellow bapp students are performers I welcome feedback on my initial ramblings!