Watch: How to Prepare Audition Sheet Music Like a Pro

All across the U.S., kids are going back to school, which means they're due for some fall musical auditions! If you're going out for roles this semester, you already know your singing chops have to be on point. But any seasoned performer knows that a fabulous vocal audition starts not when you open your mouth, but when you hand your music to your audition pianist. Audition pianists spend entire audition sessions sight reading song after song on the fly with little to no prior preparation. I know the difficulty of this first-hand—literally. Before Playbill days, I started my professional theatrical career as a music director and pianist, which means I've logged a lot of hours in audition rooms over the years. I made this video a few years ago to show good best practices for preparing audition cuts for sight-reading pianists. Of course, there's no one way to do this, but I've found that these methods are unlikely to cause any problems or upset any pianists—which means you'll be free to focus on singing and acting your best. Watch the video, featuring narration by Roberto Araujo, above. One extra tip I'd add (that has become more of a situation since this video was made), iPads are indeed fantastic as e-readers for sheet music. But the process and even the equipment necessary to use them for auditions can be pretty individual to each pianist. Unless an audition notice has previously established a way to provide music to your pianist digitally, stick with physically printed music at auditions. And the audition help doesn't stop here! Find out what tips Broadway's best had to share with us here, and audition tips from college theatre adjudicators here. Read the rest of Playbill's Back to School Week features here.