How many monologues should I have ready to go?

Question

It seems that every theatre wants something different, so I'm trying to get myself prepared for auditions next year. What do I need?

Contemporary Comedic: 1 minute, 1 1/2 minutes, 2 minutes
Contemporary Dramatic: 1 minute, 1 1/2 minutes, 2 minutes
Classical Comedic: 1 minute, 1 1/2 minutes, 2 minutes
Classical Dramatic: 1 minute, 1 1/2 minutes, 2 minutes

Am I missing anything? Should I prepare some shorter pieces?

I want to have some solid well-rehearsed monologues under my belt, so I'm not scrambling to find something that fits the audition at the last minute.

tonalc1 - I absolutely agree with you about having musical selections ready to go... that could definitely be it's own topic.

Answer 1

To start off with I would pick a 90 second monologue in each of those 4 categories. That should be able to get you through most audition situations. I've done those big auditions where you only get 90 seconds and honestly, I'm not a fan of trying to squeeze 2 contrasting monolgoues in there. There's just not enough time.
It's always nice to have a Shakespeare handy, so I would either make that one of your classical pieces or use it to supplement.

Answer 2

You might want to have some even shorter pieces. In some audition situations, you might have just 90 seconds. If you want to do one monologue and one song, or two contrasting monologues, in that time, you'll need pieces that run between 30 and 45 seconds.

It's always good to have a few extra monologues ready for your callbacks (especially if you're auditioning for Shakespeare companies). Sometimes the people who call you back will ask to see your original audition pieces again, but sometimes they'll want to see what else you've got.

Answer 3

That sounds like a great tool box of monologues.

You might also include some musical pieces of varying lengths.