I need some advice for an upcoming audition. My daughter has a major conflict the night of an audition (the days have just been changed). They told me it is detrimental that she be there, but if there is no way she can come, I can send in her resume/headshot and they will let me know if they want to see her further (I assume for the callback). She has a great resume that I would hope would allow for a callback. But what I am wondering is if that will hurt her by not being at the initial audition which will have 2 hours of singing/dancing and she won't be able to show her skills and make first impressions the first day. I assume there will be 200-300 kids auditioning that night, so I am not sure how much time they will get in front of the actual production team anyway, but they still would be working for 2 hours with music directors/choreographers and then at least some time in front of the production team. Do you think the initial impressions at the first audition weigh enough that she wouldn't have a chance by not going?

I think the short answer is there's no way to know. The next shortest answer is yes, it could absolutely have a negative result, to miss the audition -- it is easier for a casting team to cut someone that they have not seen and grown to like. But I think it can also depend on the resume. We've just gone through the Matilda process and I know some kids from the west coast skipped some auditions and were moved ahead to the next round anyway, which I have to assume was based on the strong credits on their resumes. I would say if you really want it, try to get there. If you can't get there, there's no point in speculating, just sent the resume and hope for the best.

Wait, did they say it was 'detrimental' for her to not make the audition? That might be a clue because you used the word incorrectly in your sentence. I am just wondering if perhaps you misunderstood their statement, or it was a simple typo.