Performer Stuff is launching a new podcast “In the Holding Room”. The podcast, hosted by Christiaan Abbott, features industry insiders and Broadway professionals to help you crush your next audition! New episodes will drop on Performer Stuff every Wednesday.

In this episode of In the Holding Room, we are joined by performer, David Silvestre for the “Performer Spotlight” segment. Amongst other notable performances, David has been seen at The Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 42nd Street and The Pirates of Penzance. He appeared on the Toronto stage in the productions of Kinky Boots. He understudied Ramin Karimaloo as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables and is currently in (although the show is on hiatus) Come From Away.

Our “Professor’s Corner” segment features composer, conductor, musical director extraordinaire, Sean Michael Flowers, back again talking about why you should write letters to your heroes.

“Thank you 5” segment this week, I will be talking about the improv games you should be playing to better prepare yourself for your auditions.

Episode Summary

David walks us through some of his auditions including the one for Les Misérables where Cameron Mackintosh calls Boublil and Schonberg into the room to hear him sing. Sean drops value bombs as to why cultivating your network is incredibly important and what things to look out for when first starting out, as well as tips to find mentors to help you grow. I also discuss one of my passions, which is Improv, and the games that will help you better connect with your material, so you have a well-thought-out monologue and song performance for your auditions.

Quotable quotes from this Episode

“Don’t limit yourself, especially at an audition”

“Anything that makes my time in front of the piano less and in front of the casting director more.”

“Oh good! Now I’m going to sing Bring Him Home for Cameron Mackintosh, no biggie”

“You never know who you are standing next to because they could go on to be stars!”

“You must have the audacity to believe the impossible is possible”

Click on the video below to listen to “In the Holding Room” Episode 3

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