Junior Ensemble AUDITIONS

Youngest Age - Any child wishing to audition must have turned 9 and be in year 4 before 01/11/24. If children have not turned 9 by 1/11/24, they are too young to audition.
Oldest Age - Children must be be no older than 16 and in year 11 throughout the whole panto run. If young people are in year 12, they are too old to audition.

Scotland:

Youngest Age - Any child wishing to audition must have turned 9 and be in P5 before 01/11/24. If children have not turned 9 by 1/11/24 they are too young to audition.
Oldest Age - Children must be no older than 16 and in S4 throughout the whole panto run. If a young person is older than this or in a higher school year, they are too old to audition.

what to prepare before the audition day

With the exception of John and Michael auditions for Peter Pan, please be aware that our junior ensemble auditions are for dance only. We will not be auditioning for acting or singing. Young people are taught a dance routine on the day, so they do not need to prepare anything in advance.

Please visit the web page of the venue you/ your child is interested in auditioning for by clicking on the link in the list above or click here to visit our panto season overview page. There, once uploaded, you will find a copy of the application form. Please complete the application form and bring it along with you on the day. You do not need to register or submit the form in advance.

Each pantomime will also have its own document containing more details about how the audition day will run, what to bring, what to wear etc along with information regarding the rehearsals and run. Click here to visit our pantomime season overview page - please be aware these documents may not be uploaded until a few days before the audition itself as the information can sometimes change. Dates of audition days can also change so please check back regularly.

As well as the info above, the information document will also cover the age restrictions for each production - please don’t bring your child if they don’t have an allocated adult to care for them or they are younger or older than the age restrictions because the first thing we do is to check every form and meet every responsible adult before we allocate audition numbers and welcome young people into the audition day. Unfortunately we will turn away any child who is not the correct age or who does not have an adult with them. Please note that a responsible adult must stay with each young person on the audition day as we do not have chaperones on the day and therefore cannot take responsibility for them. This is not an audition where you can drop your child off and come back and pick your child up later in the day.

Please check the audition dates listed above regularly. Audition dates have been known to change due to the availability of key staff members, or the venue needing to swap a show booking or change its availability.

the audition day itself

On the audition day, please make sure young people wear age-appropriate clothing, shoes suitable for dancing in, and bring a bottle of water with them (please no fizzy drinks). There will also be an element of waiting for different groups to be called in to audition so young people might want to bring something to keep themselves occupied during those times.

Audition days can be quite long, so bring some healthy snacks - bananas or granola bars are good for energy. For those who get a recall into the second session of the day, it will be a long day of dancing and performing. This means they will also need to have a suitable slow energy release lunch/ meal such as a sandwich, jacket potato or pasta to give them enough energy for the second round - meals such as fast food or soft drinks aren’t slow release and often give a quick energy or sugar kick rather than the slow energy release required for a long afternoon of dancing.

There is a video at the bottom of this page which walks through one of our previous audition days to show you how it works or you can click here to watch it.

Again, please note that a responsible adult must stay with each young person on the audition day as we do not have chaperones on the day and therefore cannot take responsibility for them. This is not an audition where you can drop your child off and come back and pick your child up later in the day.

Finding out more through our podcast

Imagine Theatre has a podcast called ‘Just Imagine’ and we have done two episodes dedicated to the childrens audition days which you may find useful to listen to before attending.

The first is Episode 54 - All About the Junior Ensemble. In this epsiode, our host Martin Ballard gets three different perspectives of Junior Ensembles in panto. Firstly he talks to Sarah O’Gleby who has gone on from the Junior Ensemble in Leicester to perform and choreograph on the West End and Broadway. He then talks to Holly and Alexia, who each performed in 6 pantomime Junior Ensembles, and who are now commencing their professional training. Finally he also talks to Bethany Pearson, Head of Children’s licensing at Imagine Theatre to find out more about how performance licenses are obtained and what happens if you’re successful in obtaining a place, but before you turn up for rehearsals. Click here to listen on Spotify or Click here to listen on Apple Podcasts.

We also recorded Episode 33 from the De Montfort Hall, Leicester Junior Ensemble auditions on 10th July 2022. If you are interested in auditioning, why don’t you take a listen to find out more about how the audition day works from behind the scenes - the process is the same for ALL of our audition days so its worth taking a listen. It also talks through the licensing process so if you/ your child is successful in gaining a place, it will help explain how that all works too. Click here to listen on Spotify or Click here to listen on apple podcasts.

What if my child gets into the pantomime?

Rehearsals take place during the fortnight BEFORE the show opens, including the weekend a fortnight prior to the opening date of the production.

Dependant upon the scale of the production, there may be two, three or even four teams sharing the performances, meaning those who are successful will be called in very regularly, but will not be expected to do every performance. However, young people must be available for the ENTIRE period of rehearsals and performances, and no absence is permitted for any reason, including holidays, festivals, dance shows etc. Please do not bring your child along to audition if you know that they are unable to be available for the entire period - it only means that we will have to remove them from the show and replace them with a reserve which can be utterly heart-breaking for them. There are also day time rehearsals and schools performances, which mean the successful young people need to be educationally able to miss some school.

Young people who are successful in obtaining a place in the production will find out at the end of the audition day. Please be aware that we only hold one casting day per venue due to this and are not able to offer alternative audition days to those who unfortunately can’t attend on the day.

Rehearsal and performance schedules are given out on the audition day to those who are successful, and you will be contacted shortly afterwards by a member of the Imagine team to start the work needed to obtain their performance license. We also license all of our reserves just in case they are called in. It does take quite a bit of paperwork to obtain the relevant licenses for a child to perform. Whilst Imagine will do the majority of this work, there will still be some support and help required from the designated adult responsible for the successful young person.

What if my child is put into the reserve team?

As well as the main teams, we also cast a team of ‘reserves’ for each venue, who will be called if any young person from the main team has to drop out for any reason.

Reserves do not attend rehearsals unless they are called in to replace someone in one of the main teams. We have known reserves to be called in from any point post audition day, up to 5 days into rehearsals. We’ve known productions where the entire reserve team has been used, and others where no reserve at all has been called. It is impossible to predict. We do not normally call in any reserves post the middle of the first week of rehearsals. We license all of our reserves just in case they are called in - as it can be short notice and after the start of rehearsals - so all license paperwork will need to be completed.

If my child gets into the show, Can I work on the production?

Yes! If you have a chaperone license or are willing to get one, you are welcome to apply to us! We provide chaperoning services for rehearsals and performances for those who get into the show. This means we are always looking for chaperones to join our team - if you are interested in this please apply by sending your CV and relevant information to admin@imaginetheatre.co.uk

Please note that all dates are subject to change so keep a regular eye on our website.

Ever wanted to be part of one of our panto Junior Ensembles, but not sure what the audition entails?

If you’re looking to audition for our 2024 season, watch the video below to find out more:

Please see our privacy policy for how we handle data received at these auditions.

CHAPERONES

We are always looking for licensed chaperones to work with our children for future seasons. Please apply by sending your CV and relevant information to admin@imaginetheatre.co.uk.

Children & Chaperones

Junior Ensemble & Chaperones