Thank you. NEXT!

Imagine you’re currently looking for a job. Now, imagine your luck (and resumé) land you a coveted face-to-face interview; not with just one company you want to work with, but with 60. At the same time.

That’s right. At the same time.

Here’s the catch: You have two minutes to make an impression and rise above the other 200 people also interviewing for the job. There will be no questions, conversations, personality tests or references. Just you, talking or singing on a bare stage until your time runs out.

Still interested? Welcome to the Unified Auditions!

The Unifieds are one of the services the Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts (ACPA) offers to its member organizations and the arts community of Atlanta. On March 30 and 31, actors from across the United States will audition for the top theater companies in the Southeast, most of which are based in Atlanta. Each actor must perform a comedic and dramatic monologue, or do a monologue and sing 16 bars of a song.

Now, before you start imagining ruthless directors lurking in a darkened theater, gleefully cutting off hopeful and nervous actors before they even begin, it’s important to understand that the auditors must give the actor his or her full two minutes. Once they use those 120 seconds, the actor will be cut off, no matter how good or bad they are.

When ACPA suggested holding the first unified audition in 2000, Peter Hardy, artistic director for Essential Theatre Company, says, “[It] sounded like a fairly good idea, [but I] didn’t know if it would last or not.” At that first group audition, 48 theater companies attended and 358 actors applied. This year, 60 companies will see 225 actors. The decrease in actors is not due to diminished demand, rather to increased qualifications. To secure an audition time, actors must meet minimum requirements, which include having professional theater, not just college or high school, credits.

“[The Unifieds] provide a rare opportunity for artistic members of the theater community to come together and see new talent,” says Jennifer Lyons-Bauer, chief operating officer for Horizon Theater.

Brooke Collins, Georgia Shakespeare Festival’s company manager adds, “Though we hold our own general auditions, we do make it a practice to try to cast locally. Also, the Unifieds are good timing for our callbacks for the fall show.”

The Unifieds is not only a one-stop shop for casting directors, it’s also the fastest way an actor can get their name out there and their talent acknowledged. For this reason it’s become a must for actors new to Atlanta, fresh out of college or making a comeback. For many veteran actors, however, the Unifieds also have become a ritual rite of passage. Edith Ivey, whose prestigious professional career spans 50 years (she’s currently appearing as “Mrs. Maple” in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), hasn’t missed one.

“It is an absolute priority for me each year, and I am very grateful we have it in Atlanta,” she says. “You never know who will refer you at a later date [not just] in theater, but also in film.”

Encore Atlanta wishes all the Unified actors a fabulous audition. May your two minutes remain in eternity and not feel like an eternity … to anyone.

Break a leg!

Suehyla El-Attar is an actress and playwright living in Atlanta. Through March 8, she will be appearing in Synchronicity’s production of Looking For the Pony and in their next production, 1:23, from April 17-May 17.