# How to Audition for a National Tour (Equity and Non-Equity)

> How tour casting differs from a sit-down production: whether the tour is union, how replacement calls and video submissions work, why you prepare for a show that already exists, how to show you can cover, and how to prove you'd last a year on the road.

- URL: https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-audition-for-a-national-tour
- Published: 2026-10-31
- Last updated: 2026-10-31

The notice says the title you grew up singing, and next to it, one word: Tour. Eight shows a week, a different city every week or two, a year of your life on a bus and in hotel rooms. You want it badly, and you have no idea whether this audition is any different from the one you did last month for a regional house.

It is different, in a few ways that matter. A tour is usually casting into a show that already exists, with set choreography, set keys, and a company that needs people who can cover. It is also hiring someone to live with for months, so the people behind the table are watching more than your sixteen bars.

The short version: find out first whether the tour is on a union contract, because that decides how you get in the room. Read the breakdown like a job description, since it tells you the show's sound, the heights, and who covers whom. Prepare to fit the production as it was built, while still looking like a person, not a copy. Say yes to being seen as a swing or cover. And from the moment you walk in, behave like someone the company would be glad to share a bus with.

## Find out what kind of tour it is

A national tour can be an Equity show or a non-union one, and the same title can be either. Before you prepare a note, check Equity's [Shows on Tour](https://actorsequity.org/resources/Tours) page. It lists tours running on Equity's Touring Agreement in one group and known non-union tours in the US in another, under a heading that tells members there's no union contract.

The page also warns that some productions tour under other Equity agreements, so a title missing from the union list isn't automatically non-union. If you're unsure, read the casting notice: Equity notices like the ones below name the contract the show runs on. Equity also keeps a [Do Not Work](https://actorsequity.org/resources/DoNotWork) page of producers that members are barred from working for on non-Equity productions, which is worth a look before any offer.

Why it matters for an audition: it changes who books a slot, what you can expect if you're cast, and what you're signing up for. Under the [Touring Agreement](https://www.actorsequity.org/resources/contracts/Touring), which Equity created in 2023 by consolidating its separate tour contracts, the employer provides housing and per diem for members working away from home, and the minimum salary rises once the show recoups. The published agreement ran to September 7, 2026, so check the current terms with Equity.

A non-union tour sets its own terms, which you'll see in the notice and then in the contract. Our guide to [Equity vs. non-Equity theater](https://www.offbook.com/blog/equity-vs-non-equity-theater) walks through the questions to ask before you say yes.

## How tour casting finds people

Tours of Broadway titles are usually cast through established New York casting offices; the two calls below were run by C12 Casting and ARC. That means the doors in are familiar ones: Equity Principal Auditions and Equity Chorus Calls, agent submissions, open calls for non-union tours, and recorded submissions.

A lot of tour casting is replacement casting. The [2025 EPA notice for the *& Juliet* tour](https://www.broadwayworld.com/equity-audition/JULIET--Tour--Roar-on-Tour-LLC-2025-48158) was for "possible future replacements for roles in the Touring production." The show was already running. Casting was building a list of people who could step into specific roles when actors left, which is why tours keep holding calls long after opening night.

Some calls cover more than one company at once. The [*Lion King* EPA set for November 18, 2026](https://playbill.com/job/the-lion-king-broadway-tour-nyc-epa-11-18-26/fa83675b-4949-412b-afc3-245db317aeed) is a single call for both the Broadway and touring productions. One room, two companies.

If you're an Equity member, know the order of things. Equity's [audition appointment procedures](https://actorsequity.org/docs/librariesprovider2/resource-documents/casting-call/equity-auditions-appointment-procedures.pdf?sfvrsn=6b6c8b0e_1) note that many agreements bar casting from seeing agent-submitted actors or holding callbacks until the required Equity auditions are done. So the EPA isn't a formality you skip if you have an agent. It's often the first door that opens. Our guide to [what an EPA is](https://www.offbook.com/blog/what-is-an-equity-principal-audition) covers sign-up and the day itself.

Tours also cast by video. When Lissa deGuzman was cast as a swing on the *Aladdin* tour, [Playbill reported](https://playbill.com/article/swing-siblings-how-lissa-and-mathew-deguzman-came-to-cover-the-full-ensemble-of-aladdins-national-tour) she was seen by video because she was performing in another show in Connecticut at the time. Working actors get booked while working, so if a tour asks for a recording, treat it with the care of an in-person call.

## Can non-Equity actors audition for a national tour?

Yes, two ways. The direct one is a non-union tour, which holds its own open calls and submissions and casts actors who aren't Equity members. Tours in general cast in several cities, not just New York: Rob Richardson, writing for [StageAgent](https://stageagent.com/blog/the-national-tour-an-actors-beginning-guide), names New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Orlando among them.

The second is showing up at an Equity call and waiting. Under Equity's procedures, non-Equity actors can't book appointments at required Equity auditions. A theater that wants to see them keeps a separate non-Equity waiting list, and those actors are seen only if no Equity actors are waiting. Some days that means a slot in the afternoon; some days it means nothing.

If you go that route, bring everything you'd bring to a booked slot, have your song ready at a moment's notice, and keep the day open. Our guide to the [Equity Chorus Call](https://www.offbook.com/blog/equity-chorus-call-tips) covers how chorus calls run on the day.

## Prepare for a show that already exists

A new musical is looking for what you'll make of a role. A touring company of a long-running hit is usually looking for someone who fits a role that's already made. The costumes are built, the keys are set, the choreography is set, and the actor who leaves in March has a track someone has to pick up exactly.

Casting director Tara Rubin put the balance well in a [Playbill interview](https://playbill.com/article/booking-it-casting-director-tara-rubin-on-auditioning-for-long-running-shows-first-impressions-callback-pitfalls-and-more-com-324322). On long-running shows, she said, casting looks for actors who can portray the characters as they were originally conceived. But in the same breath: "we aren't looking to replicate or duplicate." The music and the text are fixed. You are the part that isn't.

So learn the show, then forget the cast album. Know the score and the story well enough that you could play the role in this production, and don't do an impression of the actor who originated it. Sing the material the way it's written, and let your own reading of the character show in the acting.

### Read the breakdown like a job description

A tour breakdown tells you more than a role's age range. The *& Juliet* notice listed the vocal range for every role, asked for a short pop song cut, and added, "Please, no musical theatre." The *Lion King* notice asked for a brief R&B or rock song, told singers not to sing music from the show, gave height ranges for some roles, and said every actor should be physically limber.

Those lines are the job. If a role needs a sustained belt at a certain note, pick a cut that shows that note early and cleanly. If the notice asks for a style, sing in that style, and don't sing from the show when it says not to. A clean book of cuts in several styles helps here; see our guide to [building a musical theater audition book](https://www.offbook.com/blog/musical-theater-audition-book) and to [cutting 16 bars](https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-cut-16-bars-for-an-audition).

Also look for the cover notes. In the *Lion King* breakdown, the actor playing Ed also covers Timon and Zazu. That one line tells you casting wants someone who can carry three characters, so a callback may test whether you can.

## Show them you can cover

A tour has to keep the show running in every city. Swings and understudies are how it does that, and the numbers can be large. Mo Brady [wrote in Playbill](https://playbill.com/article/5-essential-facts-about-broadway-swings) that a male swing on the first national tour of *Kinky Boots* covered 17 tracks. Brady adds a wrinkle specific to the road: tours are hard for swings because the show adapts to a new space in each city. So spacing you learned in one theater can change in the next.

Playbill's Michael Gioia reported that on the *Aladdin* tour, Lissa deGuzman covered seven female ensemble tracks and understudied Jasmine, while her brother Mathew covered 11 male tracks.

If a notice or a casting associate asks whether you're open to being seen as a swing or cover, the useful answer is usually yes. It's a real job, and often one of the hardest in the building. In the room, show the qualities that job needs: you pick up choreography quickly, you take an adjustment and keep it, and you don't lose your place when something changes.

That last one is where callbacks are won or lost. Rubin's warning about callbacks applies doubly on tour: "Some actors change what they did in the first audition too much." Keep what got you called back, and make the change they ask for. She was taught that the only answer to a note is "Thank you," and she wants actors as memorized as possible while holding their pages. Our guide on [preparing for a callback](https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-prepare-for-a-callback) goes step by step.

### Get the sides into your body fast

A tour callback may hand you sides from the show, sometimes for more than one role, with little time to learn them. That's where a scene partner who's always available helps. With Offbook, you upload the sides, choose your role, and realistic voices read every other character, then wait while you say your line and play the next cue when you finish. The video shows the whole thing, from a PDF to a first run.

Video: [Upload a script and rehearse](https://www.offbook.com/learn/upload-and-rehearse) (1:03)

When you can get through the scene, hide your lines and run it again, so you're testing memory rather than reading. If you're covering two roles, run each one as its own pass with the other role read to you. Offbook can also swap your lines for first-letter cues, a good middle step between reading and fully off book. Our free [run lines tool](https://www.offbook.com/tools/run-lines-online) lets you practice the rhythm of cue and answer on classic scenes first.

## Show them you'd last a year on the road

A tour hires a person, not just a voice. You'll share buses, dressing rooms, and often hotel floors with the same company for months, and on a non-union tour, Richardson notes, you should expect a roommate. He shared a room with two castmates on a non-Equity *Show Boat* tour. One difficult person can make a long tour hard on everyone.

So the audition starts in the hallway. Be on time, be kind to the monitor, the reader, and the pianist, and be easy to work with when the call runs late. None of it is about being bland. It's about showing the patience you'll need in a hotel lobby at 6 a.m. in a city you can't name.

Know what life on that tour looks like before you go in, because a good answer to "Can you do this?" is a specific one. Carissa Fiorillo told [Actor Aesthetic](https://actoraesthetic.com/blog/tour) her first non-Equity bus-and-truck tour meant one-night stands and little sleep. On an Equity production-contract tour, she said, the rule is a sit-down in each city of at least two weeks. Different tours, different lives.

Richardson also warns to learn the role and the duties before you accept. A job may turn out to be ensemble when you wanted a lead, or a children's tour where you also work as assistant stage manager and drive the van. He writes that some performers have quit in rehearsal once they found out what they'd been hired to do. Ask now, not in week two. Our guide to [per diem for actors](https://www.offbook.com/blog/what-is-per-diem-for-actors) lists what to check in a touring offer.

## Decide what a tour is worth to you

Touring actors generally earn less than Broadway companies unless the show is a blockbuster, [Playbill's Robert Simonson wrote](https://playbill.com/article/ask-playbillcom-a-question-about-an-actors-decision-between-broadway-and-the-road-com-203505), but actor Zachary James told him expenses on the road are minimal, so a tour can be a chance to save. James also said producers often call actors who already know a role to fill in on tour, and the same piece reports that Kyle Barisich's run as Raoul on the road got him considered for the Broadway company, though he still had to audition.

Weigh it honestly: the months you can't audition at home, the roles you'll learn, the people you'll meet, the credit on your resume. Then keep track of every tour call you go to and who was in the room, because the same casting offices will see you again. Our free [audition tracker](https://www.offbook.com/tools/audition-tracker) keeps that log for you.

## Your tour audition checklist

1. Check Equity's Shows on Tour page to see whether the tour is on a union contract.
2. Read the whole notice, including the contract, the role breakdown, and any cover notes.
3. Choose a cut in the style the notice asks for that shows the range the role needs early.
4. Make sure your song is not from the show if the notice says so.
5. Know the show's story and score well, without copying the original performer.
6. Bring your headshot and resume stapled together, your sheet music, and your Equity card if you have one, as the *& Juliet* notice asked.
7. If you're non-Equity at a union call, plan to wait and keep the whole day free.
8. Decide in advance whether you'll say yes to being seen as a swing or cover (usually you should).
9. At the callback, keep what worked, take every note with "Thank you," and be as memorized as you can, with the pages in your hand.
10. Before you accept, ask about the role, the duties, housing, per diem, and how long the tour runs.

## Questions actors ask

### Do I need an agent to audition for a national tour?

No. Equity members can book EPA slots themselves, and non-union tours hold open calls and accept submissions. An agent can get you seen in more rooms, but many Equity agreements make casting see members at the required auditions before agent-submitted actors.

### Should I sing from the show at a tour audition?

Only if the notice asks for it. The *Lion King* call said not to, and both calls in this guide asked for a style instead, such as pop or R&B. When the notice is silent, a song in the style of the show that shows the role's range is a safe choice.

### What if they ask me to come back for a different role?

Go, and prepare it as seriously as the role you wanted. Tours need actors who can cover, and casting often sees you for whatever the company needs next. A callback for a smaller role or a swing is still a callback.

### Can I submit for a tour if I don't live in New York?

Often, yes. Tours cast in several cities, and some see actors by video, as the *Aladdin* tour did. If a notice asks for a recording, make the recording to the notice's exact instructions, with a clean sound and a simple frame, and send it on time.