We are so pleased to return to the historic Boulder Theater for our 2024 LTYM show on May 4th, and auditions are officially open!
We will follow the same audition process from the past two seasons with a preliminary round of written submissions, and the second round will take place in person in Broomfield in March.
Interested in auditioning? Here’s what you need to know!
- The first round of auditions will be an email submission of your written piece, and the second round of auditions will take place in person in Broomfield.
- Send us an email at ltymboulder @ gmail.com with the word Audition in the subject. You can share a Google doc with us at that address, embed your piece into the body of the email, or attach a Word doc.
- Your piece should be approximately 5 minutes when read aloud. This is roughly 600-1100 words, but will vary widely depending on content and speaking style. PLEASE PRACTICE BEFORE AUDITIONING, time yourself, and edit appropriately to achieve the desired time.
- The deadline to email your audition piece is February 14th; we will email everyone by February 19th to let you know if you’ve moved on to the second round.
- For those who are invited to the in-person audition round, you will sign up online for an audition date and 15-minute time slot.
- In-person auditions will take place on Saturday, March 2nd during the day, and the evening of Tuesday, March 5th. You will have your choice of these days/times when we email you the online sign up form.
- Those who are cast must be able to commit to two evening rehearsals–April 1st and April 23rd--as well as the afternoon/evening of the show on May 4th.
Here are a few more things to keep in mind before auditioning:
- The central theme of the story must be motherhood. We always aim for a diverse mix of stories—we look for funny essays, poignant essays, and everything in between. We welcome all stories of motherhood from all people and celebrate diversity in our cast.
- You DO NOT have to be a mother (or even a woman!) to audition.
- You do not have to have your piece memorized. In fact, we prefer it if you do not, as this show is a series of live readings (not performances).
- You do not have to consider yourself a writer or have experience as a stage performer– we welcome all levels of experience with writing and speaking.
- We recommend you check out videos of past shows, including Boulder’s 2013-2016 shows, which you may find here.
- Previously published work may be accepted as long as you have full rights to read it at this event.
For those of you who think there is no way that YOU have a story to share, we want to remind you:
If you have a mother, know a mother, or are a mother, you have a story to tell about motherhood.
Your story may be the one that touches someone in the audience who needed to hear it. Your story is unique. Your story is needed.
Our personal essay workshop is now available as a self-paced virtual class!
Interested in auditioning, but feel like you need more guidance? We’ve got you!
We’ve taken our November personal essay workshop virtual with a self-paced option! You can watch the video recording of the lessons at your own pace and follow along with the slides: purchase includes a video and digital slideshow.
This $45 workshop covers:
- The necessary ingredients of a personal essay
- Brainstorming session for choosing your topic and distilling ideas
- Understand how to make connections with your readers
- Unlock the secret of creating scenes in your stories
- Figure out what your story is really about
- Truly make your writing stand out in a crowd
- Guidance from two established writers in the field who have been published in major publications (from The Washington Post to Cosmopolitan)
By the end of this self-paced workshop, you’ll have a personal essay that you may choose to publish on your own blog, website, or Substack, pitch to a publication, or use for a Listen To Your Mother (or other!) audition.
More information here, and don’t hesitate to reach out with further questions at ltymboulder @ gmail.com.
LTYM is truly a celebration of not just motherhood and storytelling, but of community and connection, and we cannot wait to witness the quilt of stories and incredible storytellers that come with this year’s auditions.
Please feel free to email us with questions at ltymboulder @ gmail.com, and in the meantime, mark your calendars for May 4th! We’ll let you know when tickets are officially on sale!
Warmly,
Stephanie & Megan, your LTYM Boulder producers
