Despite living in Florida, I don’t know very many people my age that love Disney as much as I do, or want to work there either. I’m very lucky in the sense that my old vocal coach worked for Disney for quite some time, which made her the perfect person to interview for my second project. A brief explanation of my research proposal is, I am trying to figure out how sources online such as blogs and vlogs can prepare me for auditioning and working for Disney. While these pieces of information aren’t presented in the form of academic journals, they come from people that have gone through the grueling process, and have ended up on the other side of the fourth wall put on by Disney entertainers. Since my vocal teacher is on a vacation at the moment, I emailed her a set of questions, hoping that she would see it, and be kind enough to answer. I was relieved to see an email back from her within two days. My former vocal coach, Julie Smith, worked for Disney starting in 1982. She worked in multiple Disney parks around the world, and was cast in a “singer, dancer, and movement” role. Of course, back in 1982, there were no YouTube videos or Tumblr blogs discussing people’s experiences when it came to auditioning for the mouse. Even though Julie never had those vlogs and blogs to help her, I thought it would be interesting to see how she prepared without them, and what her experience was like auditioning. The first question I asked her was: “Before auditioning for Disney, did you seek advice from others, or watch videos that talked about what auditioning might be like?” As mentioned before, Julie didn’t have videos to reference at all, but she did have word of mouth. She was in her theatre class in school when she found out about the audition from her friends that were passing around a note with the date and time for the audition on it. She had full support from her friends who were also attending the audition, and got to discuss with them what they should expect when they go to try out. She explained to me, that her main motivation for the job, was that she could be doing what she loved, in a place that she loved as well. The fact that she was getting paid for all of this, was just the icing on the cake, which is very similar to the way I feel about why I want to work for Disney. She worked with her theatre teacher to put together a book of audition songs, practice her improv skills, and to work a little on her dance techniques that would be perfect in Disney parks and performances. Her teacher became the equivalent of online sources for her, and that is how she prepared for her audition. Once the time finally came to try out for Disney, she felt very comfortable with her material, and what she could bring to the company. There were many rounds that she had to get through in order to be hired, with each round knocking about 50-100 girls out of the competition each time, but she finally made it through. Julie said all she had to do, was remember what she had practiced and learned, and the joyous smile that is needed to work for Disney just came naturally to her. She felt that at the time, she didn’t need advice from others online, and if she had the option of going back in time, and being able to watch some videos before her audition, she wouldn’t. She found everything she needed in her friends and teacher, and she was offered “one of the best jobs [she has] had to date.” She was honored to be chosen by Disney, and she still passes on her words of wisdom and advice to her students, or anyone that is interested in auditioning for Disney. Whether she helps you face-to-face, over video, or even through an email, she is a great source for my project, and a wonderful person to interview to see what it was like back in her Disney days.
