The Web site for Worlds Away Musical allows users to submit auditions electronically via the Web. Visitors download the sheet music for a part right on the Web site. The sheet music is in Acrobat Reader format, which allows the user to print the music locally on their own computer. Participants prepare a song and then submit it to the e-audition. (The instructions and Entry Form are on the Web site as well.) Once submitted, the audition is reviewed by Worlds Away and then converted and posted to the Web site. Visitors vote for their favorites (tracking software limits the number of times someone can vote). The top five vote-getters will be invited to a live audition later this year, with the top person receiving an expense-paid trip.

"The goal of the e-audition is quite serious," says Mary Goulet, the producer/writer of the musical. "We are hoping to reach serious musical talent that we might not otherwise attract. Normally you have to wait until a musical is almost completed and ready to stage before you can do any publicity like this. I wanted to use the Internet to reach the widest possible audience right from the beginning of development."

The Washington Post in a story than ran April 11, 2002 said: "Anyone anywhere can try out, and everyone has an equal shot at stepping into a starring role if their online audition draws enough clicks of the mouse." Read the full story.

TechTV felt that "the most beneficial aspect of the e-audition was that it allows users to audition from anywhere with access to the Internet. Talent does not have to travel to New York or Los Angeles at great expense." TechTV site.

Laura Harley, President of Design Interactive, said "the benefit was not just that it eliminated travel, but that it invited participation for all visitors, anyone, whether professional or amateur. The e-Audition serves multiple functions for the producer and the visitor. One of the main goals of a Web site is to bring people in and engage them, get them interested and invested in coming back. E-audition does that. It makes visitors a part of the show in a real and unique way."

An important concern for Worlds Away was the simplicity of the interface. Because musicians and creative people are not always technically savvy, the E-Audition had to be simple in concept and easy to in execute. Mary Goulet said that, "Design Interactive has really helped me achieve my goal with the e-audition. It is very simple to understand and use."

"So far as we know, no other musical productions are reaching professional talent or potential audiences this way," said Laura Harley, President of Design Interactive. "This is a very exciting innovation."

From the Press Release dated April 18, 2002
© Design Interactive LLC 2002