"Every Little Step" – Not Every Millennial Gets The Part
Last Saturday I took time out to see Every Little Step. As noted on Yahoo:
“Explores the journey of A Chorus Line from its initial idea to its current Broadway revival and goes behind the scenes with exclusive interviews and footage of the revival’s audition process, revealing the dramatic journey of the performers.”
First of all, run don’t walk to a theater near you to see this documentary. The film has a lot to say about the creative process. However, what I want to address here is the competitive nature of the audition process.
In thinking about this post I came across a blog titled, Gen Y Driven by Affirmation. Alyssa Carter talks about everyone getting a trophy or an award. Contrast that reality with the audition process for the current remake of A Chorus Line. According to the documentary, there were over 3000 people auditioning for thirteen primary roles in this production. In contrast the typical Ivy League School gets about 20,000 applications and makes about 2000 admission offers.
So how does the Millennial prepare himself or herself for such an audition process when the conventional view of this generation is one of entitlement and neediness?
Here is my hypothesis. For the Millennials who show up for an audition like the one for the casting of A Chorus Line, it is not their first rodeo. These twenty-somethings are a product of schools like Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music, Art & Performing Arts (formerly The NYC School for Performing Arts made famous in the movie Fame). Getting into such places is an audition. So when most Millennials show up for an audition for a Broadway Show, they know that most will not get the “trophy”.
Tags: Add new tag, commentary, Millennials, Observations