What is an Open Call When Referring to Auditions (Showbiz Term of the Day)?

Open Call, Getty Images via @daylife

When we talk about acting and modeling auditions, it is important to know what it means if the audition is an Open Call. Today’s Showbiz Term of the Day is “Open Call.”

My daughter went to Open Calls a couple of times for shows such as America’s Most Talented Kid before we moved to LA. Those were not experiences I really wanted to repeat!

We arrived early in the morning for one particular Open Call. We sat in the waiting room with hundreds of other people, trying to pass the hours. We did not know that other people would arrive long before the open call time to get in line, so there were many people in front of us.

After waiting for many hours, my daughter was finally told she would go in next to audition. She was very exited. She warmed up, practiced, and got psyched and ready to go in.  The assistant came back, and my daughter stood to go in.  But then the casting assistant informed us that casting was going to take a lunch break, and that she would be first after lunch.

My 5-year-old daughter, who had been waiting happily and patiently for 5 or 6 hours, then started to cry. She had been all excited that she was next, and being told she’d have to wait some more was upsetting to her. She was hungry and tired, and we were not sure we even had time to get her lunch before they called her in!

Her Dad rushed off to pick up some lunch (along with hundreds of others). When he finally got back with food and my daughter eagerly took her first bite, smearing ketchup all over her face and hands, the casting assistant showed up to take her back to audition!  I quickly tried to wipe her hands and face, and she finished chewing that bite as we walked back for her audition.

She was not really at the top of her game when we went back to audition. Of course, that was not surprising, given how things had just gone. But she was a trooper and did her best, and I was very proud of her even though she was not selected for the show.

If you are not in the LA Area or NY Area or other areas where theatrical auditions (see  Do You Know What Theatrical Acting Auditions Are?) and commercial auditions (see What Happens When Your Child Is Auditioning for a Kid Commercial) are common, an Open Call may seem like the only way you can be seen by entertainment industry professionals.

So, “What Is an Open Call When Referring to Auditions?”

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