@actormommy … Last year was my S first time auditioning for summer stock theatre and did we both learn a lot. He auditioned for OTA, MTWA, CLO, Wichita, NETC, various others theatres and was scheduled for Strawhat but canceled after booking a an 11 week contract, somewhere else.
First off, a lot of travel in an already busy MT life, so balancing school and these weekend trips are exhausting.
To answer your question, about job offers, they will come directly from the theatre companies and will come in at various times. I assume this is a very intricate process, since they have to hire leads and chorus and with equity theatres they normally cast their leads from their NYC EPA casting call. Some Theatre companies will only want the individual for specific shows and some will want to hire for their entire season (which means you must be castable for all shows). My S prepared ahead of time and new what shows each theatre was casting for, so if he received a callback he was a little more prepared.
Since my S auditioned for OTA in January last year (which is very early in the season), he received job offers first from them. The theatre companies will give you a deadline to respond and should allow you to review a contract, that should include what will be paid, housing, meals, etc. My S turned down the OTA job offers, due to still wanting to complete his audition season and wanting an Equity contract theater, this was a gamble/risk, but he was willing to do so.
While he was still auditioning if he was given offers from other theatre that he felt he may consider, he asked for an extension to get back with them with his decision (Some theatres will grant the extra time and some could not). Eventually he accepted an 11 week contract with an equity theatre and was able to negotiate more pay and free travel… to my surprise, he wasn’t afraid to ask for this and to our surprise they agreed. So keep that in mind that some theaters have room to negotiate.
So to answer your question about your S taking the first offer or waiting, obviously it is up the individual. I think more importantly the individual needs to know what they want from there Summer Stock theatre experience, for my S it was working for an Equity Theatre and obtaining equity points and being paid. To others it may be a certain theatre or a location.
First time audition for your professional career can be a little daunting, but use it as a stepping platform and that your S is gaining valuable insight for his future as a performer. Most importantly … HAVE FUN with it!!!
Hope this helped 