After winning Make Believe’s One Dream competition in 2018, Charis Tetteh joined Make Believe & MB Talent to take her first steps into the industry.

Unsurprisingly it didn’t take Charis long at all to land her first professional role, and it was an impressive one, as she joined Andrew Lloyd Webber’s cast of the School of Rock as Tomeka at the Gillian Lynne theatre.

We caught up with her to discuss how she enjoyed being a school kid on and off the stage, and how she balanced the two lives, all the way from the audition process to the final curtain call!

Being a School Kid On & Off Stage

Across the whole audition process, I had a long and very hard five different stages in order to get the role. In my first audition I had to sing my own choice of song and I had to read a poem in an American accent.

After the first round of the auditions, I got a call back and I was happy but nervous at the same time. Then after, I got another call back, and I was so surprised and shocked because this was only my second ever audition! Then I just started getting call back after call back and I started to loosen up and have fun with it all!

Having been a talent agent for 5 years now, I’ve seen a lot of things change in a short space of time when it comes to casting for stage and screen. These changes have definitely been accelerated over the past 12 months, which is no surprise as the casting world has had to adapt to keep up with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now more than ever, the casting world has become so heavily digitally based, with initial face to face auditions becoming rarer and rarer! Normally, your first audition in the casting studio is a great opportunity to show the casting directors what you’re about, and what you’re like, but now, you have to do that through a self-tape or a virtual audition on a platform such as Zoom or Skype.

It’s so important to make sure that you know exactly how you can smash any self-tape or virtual audition opportunity that comes your way, so here’s some advice on how to approach any opportunity that comes your way.

Know your piece

 It goes without saying, that the most important part of any audition process is knowing the role, and the character that you’re auditioning for, and if you’re doing this virtually, you need to make sure that your interpretation of the character really shines through in your audition.

The casting directors will not give out the part based on who has the best home studio, the greatest lighting, or the clearest camera. They are looking for which actor will be able to bring the role to life, so make sure that this is the first thing you make perfect! So don’t stress about the technical elements, just make sure that you are fully comfortable and confident in the performance that you are going to give!

Doing the basics right

 Now although the casting director won’t be judging you on your technical expertise, it is important to do the basics right.

Should you be self-taping for a role, make sure that when you’re filming, your face and your eyes and well lit, because if the casting team can’t make out your face or the emotions you’re feeling, they won’t be seeing the best performance you can give.

Make sure that for self-tapes you film your tape HORIZONTALLY!!! This is one of the biggest pet peeves for casting directors. You need to remember that they will normally be watching your self-tape audition on a widescreen computer or laptop, so if you film it vertically, the image they see on their screen will not look good at all.

For both self-tapes and virtual auditions, you will also need to think of your appearance, just like how you would in a normal audition. Now of course they won’t be looking for who has the best costume wardrobe at home, but make sure that you look presentable, and if there are any small pieces of costumes or props that you can use at home to help you bring the character to life, by all means do!

Treat it like any other audition!

It’s a strange situation not being able to audition face to face anymore, but what’s really important, is that you don’t change as an actor or performer when your opportunity comes your way! Don’t feel as though because you’re auditioning on a webcam that you need to change your performance to compensate. The casting team will know and fully appreciate that this form of auditioning is much harder and will take this into account.

You just need to make sure that you have done what you need to do as an actor to show your interpretation of the character and the piece!

And finally, as is the case with all other auditions, make sure that you have fun with it! Being able to be creative and do what you love is the reason why we do this, make sure that you don’t put yourself under any pressure for any audition, because that’s not what it’s about!

See every opportunity and audition as a chance to showcase you and your talents, and once that audition is over, you forget about it and move on, ready to enjoy the next opportunity that comes your way!

 

At the age of 8 I attended a dance school with my friend. I got onto their agency and ended up landing the lead in a West End show ‘Whistle Down the Wind’ at the age of 9. I played this role right up until I was 12. It was the most incredible experience and I fell in love with every aspect of it. From then, I knew, that the West End was where I wanted to be.

Growing up, you don’t really get told what the industry is like. The lessons are learned along the way and you get to understand that the journey to every job can be one that challenges you both mentally and physically. Education does not prepare you for this, it is something you have to learn yourself. Always keeping your focus and staying positive no matter what!

At the start of 2020, ahead of Covid, I had the opportunity to star in the new West End hit musical ‘The Prince Of Egypt’ The journey to get here was certainly not easy! It took me 12 years since graduating from college. With an incredible amount of tours under my belt and landing roles in some of the most iconic musicals in the world, I created memories that I will never forget!

These tours were my university degree. I got to work with some of the most wonderful creatives and share the stage with some immensely talented artists. Working with great people, pushes you to be the best you can be. Whilst I have my ability, you learn and improve from watching, listing and working with others.

When I started Make Believe in 2004 at the age of 15 years old, I did so with the vision to make performing arts accessible to everyone. I am proud to have you a part of our new online platform Make Believe+.

I set this up to provide young people like you with the chance to improve your skills, learn from others and dance with thousands.

Make Believe+ will enable you to follow your dreams by learning from the best in the industry. Stretching your imagination along the way and creating moments that you will never forget.

As a new member of Make Believe+ you will see overtime just how much the platform will evolve. From blogs to live lessons and private tuition to video tutorials.

You are now part of the future, part of something extraordinary and part of the one-stop-shop to master your talent all in one place.

Hello! My name is Megan and I work as Television Producer. A Television Producer is someone who works behind the scenes, as part of a bigger team, to make the programmes you love to watch.

One programme I have worked on recently is Junior Bake Off. As part of the Casting team, I met and auditioned hundreds of children over the phone and by Zoom, to find the best young bakers in the country.

Below is my advice for anyone auditioning for a TV programme, as well as some practical tips.

1. Be Yourself
Being you is your power. There is no one else in the world who is like you and that is very cool! Lots of children (and adults!) think that we are looking for a certain type of person, but this is not true – we just want to see and hear people being themselves. There are no right or wrong answers, so don’t worry about saying the wrong thing because if you are being yourself, you can’t go wrong.

Practical tip: Before your audition, write down 3 things that you find interesting and 3 things you find boring. Ask the person interviewing you, if you can tell them.

Hi, I am writing this to give you a feel for the commercial casting experience. Our daughter, Poppy is 9 and has been involved in the agency for approximately 3 years now. She has worked on various commercials and we have been to countless auditions and casting appointments.

The commercial casting experience is daunting the first time. Often you find yourself in a room that is overfilled with parents and children, sometimes all looking very similar to yours and other times, a complete mix. You’ll find yourself second guessing what they may be looking for. Some will be leaving as you arrive and others arriving constantly, like a conveyor belt. It’s easy to worry and wonder ‘what chance do we have?’. This is let and parcel though and you will quickly become acclimatised to this.

The first time you go to a casting, it’s easy for your child to feel nervous, in fact, I think it is probably more us feeling nervous for our child. It is really important that you prepare your child and explain that they are there for the experience and that there are lots of children being considered. Explain that they are talented to be on an agencies books and that part of the casting process is often looking for specific traits or mannerisms and that there is really no failing at this. It’s very important to manage their expectations, as there will be more no’s than yes’s.

Poppy sometimes gets nervous even now leading up to an audition, or doesn’t like what she has been asked to do on a self tape audition. With careful conversations though, she usually understands why she has been asked to do it and gets on with it.

When you have your first bit of success, which could be after 1 or 20 auditions, it’s a great feeling. However, they usually have a process where they will pencil your child. This is when they have selected a few possible options. Often this will be because they need to match other cast members to the children or that the directors may have not quite decided on the final direction of the story. It is fantastic to be pencilled as it means they liked your child, but it’s one of the hardest parts. The waiting to find out when you know they like them is tough. Having seen a fair share of pencils that haven’t lead to anything, I can tell you that it gets easier to deal with and you just need to be honest with your child and keep their feet on the ground. When they get rejected, it’s Important to reiterate that it is because of a look or a matched family member etc. Remind them that to be pencilled is a success in itself.

I joined Make Believe when I was 15 years old. I’m 20 now and I can still say it’s been an amazing experience.

Admittedly, I’ve always been a ‘drama queen’ since I was young. I was constantly performing wherever I went; a shop, school, bedtime – you name it! However, I never had the confidence to take it further and join acting groups, until my mum met a Make Believe ambassador whilst out on a shopping trip. My parents paid for the classes and next thing I knew, I was performing 3 hours a week at Make Believe, Woking.

I loved every second I spent there. My confidence grew, I made incredible friends and bonded with the teachers. A talent scout came in to the school one evening and as I was heading out the door, she handed me a contract and told me she’d love to represent me. I was in shock! It was an incredible feeling and I’m so grateful I was given that opportunity.

A month later, I was in the head quarters getting head shots, meeting the team and discussing auditions. I knew I was beginning an exciting adventure.

Auditions at first were exciting but very scary. However, as time went on I learned how to be professional and calm the nerves; my Drama A-level course and Make Believe contributed to this. I’d meet wonderful casting directors and lovely actors. I soon learned to take rejection on the chin and look forward to the next opportunity.