Calling All Talent!
A talent show is a fun way for members of a community to strut their stuff, compete for prizes, and even raise money for charitable causes. If you've never directed a cast of amateurs, however, it's an exercise that's not unlike trying to herd cats, much less trying to teach them to respond to cues and not go wandering off. Here's ensure your show goes on without a hitch and that - with especially competitive participants - no one scratches anyone's eyes out.
Instructions
1. Identify the purpose of the talent show. Is it just to bring everyone together for an evening of entertainment or to raise money for a specific cause? If it's the latter, be sure to let the receipient organization know what you're doing so they can assist in promoting the event through the media as well as get the word out to their employees, clients and sponsors.
2. Find a good date for the show and coordinate the availability of the performance space you'll be using (i.e., a community auditorium, church, school or park).
3. Identify a theme for the talent show unless you don't mind having a totally eclectic lineup. For instance, you could tie the sa season, a holiday, or a particular era or style of music.
4. Get the word out that you are holding auditions. Most of this will probably be word of mouth but you can also print up flyers, put an announcement in your local suburban newspaper, and post audition notices on school, library, and grocery store bulletin boards.
5. Identify how long the talent show is going to be. This will help you determine how much time you can allocate to each performer, plus include an intermission with refreshments.
6. Have each "talent" bring a headshot and resume to the audition and briefly describe on the sign-up sheet what they plan to do (i.e., sing, dance, tell jokes, play an instrument, lip-sync, do magic, etc.). If you have a large turnout for auditions, this will help you remember who was who.
7. Prescreen each of the acts to make sure that they don't exceed the individual time allotment and, further, that the acts are suitable for family audiences.
8. Notify everyone who has been chosen by email or phone. At this time, you also need to provide them with a rehearsal schedule so that each of the acts can be practiced and polished prior to the actual show.
9. Record all of the music selections on a master tape or CD. Be sure to make a back-up copy. This will be much easier than expecting everyone to remember to bring their own music on the night of the show.
10. Determine which act will open the show, which act will close it, and the order of everyone else in the middle. Both the opening and the closing acts should be upbeat. Evenly distribute the types of acts you are including so that you don't have all of the tap dancers or comedians clumped up one right after the other.
11. Design programs to be distributed to audience members upon arrival.
12. Determine how the acts are going to be judged and decide who gets prizes. You might, for instance, appoint a three-person panel of judges (perhaps your most distinguished guests) to decide. You could also have the audience vote by a secret ballot included in their programs.
13. Give your cast a pep talk before they go on and be sure to thank them for all of their hard work.
