# What to Bring to an Audition: A Checklist for Every Kind of Call > Headshot, resume, sides, and the things nobody tells you to pack. A practical audition bag for plays, musicals, dance calls, open calls, and college auditions, with why each item matters and what to leave at home. - URL: https://www.offbook.com/blog/what-to-bring-to-an-audition - Published: 2026-10-26 - Last updated: 2026-10-26 It's the night before. Your bag is open on the bed and you're staring into it. Headshot, yes. Resume, somewhere. Is that the right version? Do you need shoes? What if they ask you to sing and you only brought a monologue? Most audition stress isn't about the acting. It's about the ten small things that can go wrong before you open your mouth: a resume that won't stay attached, sheet music that falls off the piano, a phone that dies during a four-hour wait. Every one of them is fixable the night before. The short version: read the audition notice first and pack exactly what it asks for. Then build a core kit you carry to every in-person audition: headshots and resumes, your sides or material, a pencil, water, and a charger. Add a music binder for a musical, the right shoes for anything with movement, and food and patience for an open call. Keep the bag small enough to tuck by the door or leave in the holding room. ## Start with the notice, not a list Every checklist, including this one, comes second. The audition notice or the email from the casting office is the real list, and it can overrule the usual advice. Read it twice and pack to it. Here's an example of how much it varies. Some guides tell you to staple your resume to the back of your headshot. But Colorado Mesa University's theater department, in its [audition requirements](https://www.coloradomesa.edu/theatre/audition-requirements-actingdirecting.html), asks applicants to bring one hard copy of each and says plainly not to staple or bind them. The same page asks for two contrasting, memorized monologues, not exceeding three minutes combined. Colorado Mesa also has you attach your resume to the online application as a PDF, asks for the paper copy on the day, and says the materials will not be returned. When a notice gives a time limit, time your pieces at home. Our [free monologue timer](https://www.offbook.com/tools/monologue-timer) makes that quick. If the notice is silent on something, it's fine to email and ask. A short, polite question before the day is far better than a guess on the day. ## The core kit for any in-person audition These go in the bag every time, whatever the role or the room. Think of them as the things that are cheap to carry and expensive to forget. - Headshots and resumes, more than you think you need, in a folder so they stay flat and clean. - Your material: sides you were sent, your monologue on paper for the hallway, even if it's memorized, and anything else the notice asked for. - A pencil, for marking sides or writing down a note from the room. - A bottle of water. - A phone charger or battery pack. - A snack that won't leave you sluggish. - The address, the time, and the name of the person or company you're seeing, written down somewhere other than your phone. ### Headshots and resumes Unless a notice says otherwise, a common format is a headshot and resume attached back to back. Jenna Pastuszek's [BroadwayWorld guide to musical auditions](https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/How-to-Prepare-for-a-Musical-Theatre-Audition-20261010) lists them as stapled, back to back, trimmed to 8x10, and suggests bringing a few extra. Trimming matters: a resume on letter paper sticks out past an 8x10 photo, and it looks careless in a stack. Bring spares because things change in the hallway. A second panel appears, a callback gets scheduled on the spot, or a director wants one for their files. Check that every copy has your current phone number and email. If your resume needs work, our [free acting resume builder](https://www.offbook.com/tools/acting-resume-builder) lays it out in the standard format. Some school auditions accept a clear, recent photo instead of a professional headshot. Colorado Mesa's requirements, for instance, accept a senior photo or any clear portrait. Our [headshot guide](https://www.offbook.com/blog/acting-headshots-guide) covers when it's worth paying for professional ones. ## For a musical: the binder A musical audition adds the item most likely to go wrong: your sheet music. As Pastuszek puts it, the pianist will sight-read your music. Your job is to make that easy. Kerry Hishon, writing for Theatrefolk, a drama-teacher resource company, says in her [guide to audition songs](https://theatrefolk.com/blog/creating-your-audition-toolkit-songs) that the audition binder should be a one-inch binder. She adds that the sheet music should be double-sided for easy page turning, and clean, with no rips or folds. Pastuszek gives the same one-inch, double-sided advice, and says to print double-sided or tape your pages together. - Put the music in a binder, never as loose pages that can slide off the piano. - Mark clearly where the pianist starts and where they stop, so a cut is obvious at a glance. - Make sure the copy is in the key you sing it in. - Keep your audition songs at the front, so you aren't flipping while the panel waits. - Bring a headshot and resume separately; don't make the panel pull one out of your binder. When you walk in, go to the accompanist first. Show them where you start and stop, and give them the tempo quietly, by tapping or singing a bar. Then take your spot. Our guide to [cutting 16 bars](https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-cut-16-bars-for-an-audition) walks through marking a cut, and the [audition book guide](https://www.offbook.com/blog/musical-theater-audition-book) covers what goes in the binder beyond tomorrow's song. ## For a dance call or anything with movement Even at a straight-play audition, you may be asked to move. In a [BroadwayWorld list of audition-backpack items](https://www.broadwayworld.com/industry/article/10-Things-Every-Actor-Needs-In-Their-Audition-Backpack-20220405), Carian Lynée Parker includes comfortable clothes for last-minute choreography or movement, and jazz or character shoes, noting that even actors who aren't dancers may be asked to move. For a musical, Pastuszek's list says to bring the right dance shoes, whether that's heels, sneakers, or both. If the notice mentions a dance call, pack clothes you can move in fully, and practice in the shoes at home first. Audition day is a bad day to discover a new blister. Add hair ties and pins if your hair could fall in your face. Parker's list includes hair supplies, and she says you will use them. For what you'll be wearing when you walk in, our guide to [what to wear to an audition](https://www.offbook.com/blog/what-to-wear-to-an-audition) has the details. ## For a play or a reading audition If you've been sent sides, bring them printed, even if you've learned them. You may be asked to read a different scene, or to read with the script in hand. A pencil lets you mark a redirect the moment you get it. Parker also suggests bringing a full copy of the script when you have one, so you can talk about your take on a scene if the casting team asks. You won't always need it. But if a director asks why your character says something, it helps to have read the whole play. The best preparation for a reading audition isn't in the bag, though. It's knowing the scene well enough to look up from the page. Our guide to [breaking down audition sides](https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-break-down-audition-sides) covers what to work out before you go. ## For an open call or an EPA: pack for a long wait Open calls and Equity principal auditions can mean hours of waiting, especially for non-Equity actors, and that changes what you pack. Maggie Bera, who runs the site Actor Aesthetic, explains in her [guide to EPAs](https://www.actoraesthetic.com/blog/equity-principal-audition-for-newbies) that the monitor arrives an hour before the audition to sign people in, and that there's never a guarantee non-Equity actors will be seen. She suggests non-Equity actors arrive a few hours early to sign an unofficial list. Bera's advice for the audition itself is to keep it under two minutes and to always bring a headshot and resume. If you're an Equity Membership Candidate, she notes that you must show your own EMC card, signed in ink, to the monitor to be signed up on the EMC list. - A charger or battery pack. Parker notes it's especially useful during long waits. - Real food, not just a snack, and more water than you'd usually carry. - A layer you can take off: hallways and holding rooms swing between hot and cold. - Something quiet to do that isn't your material, so you don't over-rehearse. - Your union card if you have one. Our guide to [open call auditions](https://www.offbook.com/blog/open-call-audition) covers the waiting game in more detail. ## What to leave at home Some things cause more trouble in the room than they solve. Leave props at home unless the notice asks for one; mime it instead. Skip costumes. A hint of the character in your clothes is fine; a full outfit pulls attention from your work. Don't bring anything you'd have to manage while you perform: a big bag you set down in the middle of the floor, a coffee cup, a phone that isn't on silent. Put the phone on silent before you walk into the building, not at the door of the room. And leave behind the last-minute new material. If it isn't ready the night before, it won't be ready in the hallway. Bring what you've prepared, and trust it. ## The night before: pack, then run it once Pack the bag the night before and put it by the door. Lay out the clothes and shoes next to it. Print your sides and an extra headshot if you're short. That's the whole job for the bag. Then run your material once, and stop. For sides, Offbook can read in for you: upload the sides, pick your role, and realistic voices read the other parts. Offbook listens while you say your lines and plays the next cue when you finish. Rehearse on your laptop with the full script on a big screen, and listen to your scenes on your phone anywhere, including on the way in. If you're auditioning a lot, keep a record of what you performed for each one and how it went. Parker's list includes an audition journal for exactly this. Our free [audition tracker](https://www.offbook.com/tools/audition-tracker) does the same job, so the next time you see that casting office you know what they've already seen. ## Questions actors ask ### Do I need a headshot and resume at every audition? For in-person auditions, bring them unless the notice says not to. Some school auditions accept a clear portrait instead of a professional headshot, so check the notice. For self-tapes and online submissions, they're usually uploaded instead, so check how the casting team wants to receive them. ### Should I staple my resume to my headshot? The usual practice is to attach them back to back, with the resume trimmed to the photo's 8x10 size. But some auditions, especially college programs, ask for them loose. If the notice says not to staple, don't. ### How many headshots should I bring? More than the notice implies. One for each person on the panel you know about, plus a few spares for a callback or an extra panel member, is a sensible habit. They're cheap to carry and awkward to be without. ### What do I bring to a musical audition? Everything in the core kit, plus your music in a one-inch binder with double-sided pages and clearly marked cuts, and shoes you can dance in. Bring your headshot and resume separately from the binder so you can hand them over without opening it. ### Can I bring my script into the audition room? For a reading audition, yes: holding your sides is normal, even if you know them. For a monologue, expect to perform it memorized (Colorado Mesa, for example, requires it), so bring it on paper for the hallway and leave it in your bag when you walk in.