That’s exactly the look my D goes for in auditions. She’s looking at it as a job interview. The dressier, conservative look seems to work so far. College auditions are a little ways off, of course.
Even (or maybe especially) taking in account my slight confusion regarding the apparent faux-pas of wearing character shoes :), I find the advice given by VoiceTeacher and TheaterHiringCo, as well as discussion that followed, invaluable. Great community!
I thought it was great advice and emailed it to my S who is doing NETC this weekend. (There was no real chance of his wearing character shoes or screlting, but I thought the bits about personal interaction were really helpful.)
A bit OT, but I find the apparent trend toward ever-thinner princesses sad. I was recently noticing that several current Broadway darlings seem quite underweight. Maybe it’s always been that way? I personally prefer curvier beauties, but then again I’m a mom. 
I guess one could as easily say “don’t sing Gaston if you look like Seymour.”
Funny you should mention the thin topic. It is such an issue for my daughter because she is just absolutely naturally very thin. She is tall and willowy by nature. She eats well and dances for exercise, but she is definitely not a dieter. Yet she gets a lot of snarky comments about her thin frame and sometimes feels there is almost a backlash from society for being naturally thin. Thankfully she sings like an ingenue because she looks like an ingenue so it hasn’t been a negative from that standpoint, but while it seems silly she gets a little annoyed by the seeming negativity toward her size 2 shape. With her height and size she is always being encouraged to consider modeling, but she doesn’t have time for that because she is so engrossed in the MT path. I’m pretty curvy myself so I too like to see the curvy girls getting roles, but don’t discount the thin girls either. They may just be born that way like my D!
I don’t think anyone is discounting the thin girls…in fact they are the ones getting the roles. It would be nice if the blind casting included size, shape, and color…most of casting notices want thin or “fit” girls.
There was a long thread last fall on Audition Update about a girl who was size 6 and made to feel like a “big girl” at dance calls. It sucks, and it’s not healthy for anyone, but it’s out there. .
@sopranomtmom - My concern isn’t in any sense directed toward naturally thin beauties, but only toward auditors, directors (or even audiences) who automatically rule out larger women from Princess roles. I’m guessing Audra isn’t size 2, but she can play my Cinderella any time. 
I think very thin women have long enjoyed an edge in dance and film (“adds 10 pounds”), but maybe as the boundaries between Broadway and TV/film have increasingly blurred that is creeping into live theatre as well. Although our D is of average build, I still remember how I internally bristled hearing one program head say “The only person in my program who gets to be fat is me” (his program fell 10 notches on my list that day) and another said “we used to be known as the Chubby Program but we’ve fixed that”.
Diversity rocks!
A friend told me a story where her size 6 daughter was at a summer stock audition recently and was told “we love your voice, but you won’t fit any of the chorus costumes”
@toowonderful - I wonder if they meant the costumes would be too large, too small, too long or too short… hah! Seriously, though, isn’t size 6 fairly average for young female actors?
They said all costumes were size 0-4. Crazy- sounded like the something from “the devil wears prada”
And btw- my D is a 6!
@toowonderful - Well then, I guess our size 6 girls will just have to be the stars instead of chorus when they work there… hah!
Amen MomCares!
I guess I can live with that!!
My daughter is a size 6 too!
Well it seems those are the type of ridiculous comments that drive so many young women to eating disorders which is just terrible. I often wish my daughter had a little more meat on her bones but as I said, it’s just the way she is built. I do wish as a society we wouldn’t focus so much on women’s body shape, but I guess it goes with the territory in the entertainment business which is too bad.
We stayed away from programs that emphasized weight, like @MomCares and her D did. It didn’t matter what type of reputation the program has in the theatre world; if we found out that they have weigh-ins or if comments were made like the ones MomCares heard, it was immediately struck from D’s list. Even though my D has a small build and would pass the ridiculous, archaic weigh-ins, it is not worth the risk of an eating disorder. (And, my D has a perfectionist type A personality, as I would guess most of our theatre kids do, which puts her at a greater risk for eating disorders.)
A few years ago, my D was in a production which is based on true stories about eating disorders. They had regular weekend and weeknight performances and they toured schools and organizations for about a year. During the rehearsal phase, the cast worked with health professionals of a center for eating disorders, and after performances, the cast and health professionals had talk backs with the audience. It was incredibly powerful to witness the true stories played out onstage, the talks afterwards, and the lives that were positively affected by this production. So, besides knowing a couple people with eating disorders and how difficult a struggle it is for them, this experience really emphasized to me how careful we need to be.
I know that fitness is important in the theatre/acting field, and that’s fine and great because performers need stamina and to be able to dance/move well no matter what their body type. It’s the obsessive drive towards thinness that worries me. There are positive ways towards fitness. Weigh ins and attitudes shown through comments like the ones mentioned are only destructive.
“Some people are naturally thin. Great. Lovely. Some people are naturally big. Great. Lovely. Just be fit and healthy (mentally and physically) no matter what your body type!” That’s the message I want the program D attends to believe and express. And, I hope that whatever theatres she works with will have that same mentality. If not, hopefully she can look back at the healthy views of people she trusted/trusts growing up in theatre and at her college program and be able to let harmful comments and beliefs roll off her.