My Universal Studios Japan 2019 Audition Experience

Today, I got out of bed at around 5.45am and started getting ready for the event I had been so eagerly awaiting since May – my Universal Studios Japan 2020 Audition. I was going for the soprano part of the Frog Choir, an acapella quartet that performs in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

The nerves of the previous night, that kept me up later than intended seemed to have magically melted away – I trusted in my preparation and resolved to do the best I could! Keeping calm would be my top priority, as well as smiling and standing confidently.

At about 9.15am, I arrive at Patrick Studios where I bumped into our lovely choir scout not long after. Slowly, the other seven Frog Choir candidates appeared.

After the male actors headed into the audition room, the Froggies (as one of the staff members called us) headed into the waiting room to fill in some forms and get our pictures taken. After warming up there, we were directed to the outside of the audition room and nervously awaited our signal. A stern-looking lady with dark hair called for us to go in – my group was first!

Fun fact: 29 is my birth date, so I felt extremely lucky!

As soon as we stepped into the room, we were taken aside by one of the panel members. He told us to stand around the single microphone and we ran through the songs a few times to check the audio track. As he was moving the speakers around, I had a good look at the panellists. There were eight of them.

And then it was time for the real thing. Standing tall (I think I did, at least), we each introduced ourselves to the camera ("Hi, I'm Sarah and I'm number 1290" etc.) and started our song. It started off well, and I genuinely felt good – I admit I was rather stiff, but each panel member smiled genuinely when I made eye contact with them. It was a funny feeling, trying to sing on key whilst giving a huge smile.

It was smooth sailing nearly all the way, but toward the end, we started to lose the tempo. However, we finished together and awaited our next instructions. The panel member who had directed us at the start thanked us and asked us to move to the side while we were individually auditioned.

And surprise – I was the first one to be put through the gauntlet (that makes it sound worse than it was)! It seemed a little more intimidating, with no one to my left to glance at to ease the awkwardness. Nonetheless, I reminded myself of my painstaking preparations, introduced myself and launched into the song. I think I was still stiff during the performance, but I would later find out from the choir scout, who was listening intently from outside the door, that I had sung better than I had in the rehearsals (phew!).

When I had finished my froggy piece, it was my turn to observe. I gave our alto singer (watch as I struggle to find ways of describing my newfound friends without using their names) a high-five as a tag-in, which the judges all chuckled at, and took my place against the wall next to the boys.

When we had all sung the song, the boys were dismissed, and my alto friend and I remained back to deliver our Frog Choir Master monologues. Again, I went first. It went off without any major issues, in my opinion – I took my choir scout's advice and made my movements large enough for a crowd at a theme park and projected my voice. When it got to the Japanese part, I sailed through – thank goodness! However, I wasn't expecting to have to conduct an actual version of the song mentioned in the script. I took it in stride anyway and conducted it as best as I could (those nights learning how to conduct a choir from YouTube tutorials paid off)!

The panel thanked us cheerily and we left the room. After about five minutes, Jaci came out and handed me a laminated sheet with all the monologues. She told us that the panel wanted to see me perform the Slytherin Monologue and I happily accepted. That practice had paid off indeed! As the second group was called in, the tenor of my group and I looked over the Gryffindor Monologue, during which I taught him some Japanese pronunciation ("Tsue o agete!"). The alto of my group was a Slytherin and helped me out with getting the Slytherin vibe for my monologue as well!

After what seemed like the shortest ten minutes, the second group came out (guys first, then the girls). A few minutes after the second group had finished, I was called in once again to deliver my final monologue. The staff member gave me a little pep talk, during which he asked me if I knew of Harry Potter ("UM OF COURSE?!") to which I enthusiastically nodded, adding that I was a proud Gryffindor. "I can tell!" he grinned, before telling me to give them the sassiest attitude I could as a Slytherin prefect.

I took a deep breath and… DISASTER. I mucked up the first couple words and nearly panicked – "Can I start again?". The ever-supportive panel agreed, and I took another deep breath before delivering the monologue. This time, I pulled it off confidently, giving the judges my best "I told you so" attitude and pronouncing the Japanese accurately. The casting team thanked me wholeheartedly and I left the room knowing that I had done my best. The rest of the Froggies congratulated me on a job well done as I stepped outside.

We chatted nervously on the sofa while waiting for the verdict. Finally, a lady emerged from the room with our resumes and headshots (with my massive face on the bottom of the pile ☻). She said that usually only two or three of us would be called back after this point, but proceeded to call out five numbers, the first being mine ("1290")!

I couldn't believe my ears! Joining me was my fellow soprano, the tenor from my group and both basses. However, I was rather disappointed for the other Froggies since they were such nice and talented people. We successful members were then told to wait for a bit.

The next thing I knew, we were headed into the dance room next door. I was slightly caught off guard, so I didn't get a chance to change my shoes, but it was no big deal.

The routine itself was simple, but being me, I was slow to grasp it. The first four beats were freestyle, then the right step, left step and jump out with arms crossed. Arms straight to the sides, and turn, then land to the left with our arms out. The next step was the sassy finger wiggle and then the two pumping hops to the right, one to the left and another one to the right. Finally, there was a right disco point, which we dragged down to the lower left and a head snap to the front (these verbal steps make sense to me but must look like a load of lunacy to you).

We only got to run through it about three times, but I tried my best nonetheless and kept smiling. In a room full of dancers, I felt like a sore thumb. It was a fun experience though – everyone was so supportive and kind! After this practice session was completed, they folded the doors all the way back and we stepped back into the original audition room. We were told that we would be performing in pairs (to which I internally freaked the heck out), and my soprano friend and one of the male actors went up first. They were actually brilliant, and I was very intimidated, frankly speaking. Next were both Froggy basses, and they remembered all the steps flawlessly. Finally, it was my tenor friend's and my turn – arguably two of the least choreographically-inclined people in the group.

I gave it my all on the freestyle bit but then almost immediately proceeded to forget every subsequent step. I glanced over at my tenor friend, trying to conceal the panic blooming on my face – to my absolute surprise, he too had completely forgotten the steps, but was absolutely jamming out like he had meant to the whole time. Instantly, courage came back to me and I grinned as I tried to make it look like, "Yes, I meant to look like a flailing idiot because some Gryffindors are a mess". I owe that legend a huge one for saving my ass out there – that guy is a natural performer, I'm telling you! The panel said nothing about our mistakes but cheerfully thanked us again.

We were then ushered out of the room to fill in some more forms – measurement forms this time! We were definitely through to the final consideration list at this point, and they had to make sure that in the best-case scenario that we were hired, they would have costumes that fit us. A laminated sheet with more details about when we would hear back, housing and tattoos and such were given to us to study before the interview. After filling in the back of the form ("Do you have tattoos?", "Are you scared of heights?" etc.), I had my head shot, full body shot and side profiles shot – the guy taking the photo left me standing facing the wall for a solid ten seconds, and the other assistant felt bad and came over to tell me I had been abandoned XD. I thoroughly regretted uttering the words "it's the naughty corner" as soon as they left my mouth because he gave an awkward laugh (I'm so sorry, WHY AM I LIKE THIS).

Anyway, after the pictures were taken, my measurements were taken in the corner by a lady.

After all that was done, we sat together in the waiting room and continued to chat and study the laminated paper given to us. My bass friend and I were two of the more studious ones, testing each other on the content as we waited. Information learned included:

· Contracts last for 9 to 13 months

· Results announced late November to early January

· Contracts commence late January to late February

· Frog Choir members have a five-day working week

· Frog Choir members also have two consecutive five-day breaks as decided by the Stage Director

Our tenor was the first to be called in, and then my soprano and bass friends. After those two were back, my other bass friend headed in. When the three of them had finished, they decided to wait with me until I headed into the interview to leave – I really appreciated this because I would've started to get more and more nervous if I was waiting alone. Those guys are really great people!

Finally, I was called by a nice Japanese lady who was a dance director at USJ, and we headed to the couches in the far corner of the studio. She recorded the interview for future reference. It went off without a hitch – I told her about me in three sentences ("I study aviation", "I love Harry Potter" and "I recently went to Japan to visit USJ"), my previous experience (school musical) and my background in Japanese. She was super friendly and encouraging and told me about how she had to wake up at 2am in the mornings for rehearsals, which finished at about 6 to 7am. I also told her that Osaka was my favourite city, and we compared it to the bustling life of Tokyo. The director also talked about how performing the same show so frequently could get repetitive, so performers should think about how each show may be the first new guests have experienced and give it their all. I agreed and said that I really felt that energy and excitement when I watched the live shows in the park and wanted to be a part of someone else's' experience in a similar way, an answer which she seemed to be pleasantly surprised by. She nearly forgot to give me the business card that was meant to be given to all successful auditionees, so I timidly prompted her, to which she seemed both a little flustered and grateful.

And before I knew it, the interview had ended, the long audition day with it. As I passed the other nervous auditionees waiting their turn outside the audition room, I felt a warm feeling in my chest – I had set out to do my best and leave this experience with no regrets, and for once in a long time, I felt like I had achieved a huge milestone. Even if I don't get a spot in next year's cast, I'm extremely grateful to be able to say that I gave this audition my absolute best shot and came away without any regrets.

And now we wait until late November! Wish me luck!

またね~

Sarah

P.S. If anyone is interested, you can pre-register to get notified when next year's USJ auditions go live here!