The Audition

This Sunday, 3pm ET, noon here, the documentary The Audition is being shown all over the country by the Live at the Met! folks. I definitely plan to see it. If it's being shown in your city (100s will show it), maybe you want to see it, too.

...looks at the intense pressures young opera singers face as they struggle to succeed in one of the most difficult professions in the performing arts. The feature-length documentary takes you behind the scenes at the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions, where each year thousands of hopefuls compete for a cash prize, the chance to sing on the Met stage–and the opportunity to launch a major operatic career. The film covers the dramatic week leading up to the finals of the 2007 auditions, focusing on three very different tenor contestants: Michael Fabiano, a fiery 22-year-old grappling with his inner demons; Alek Shrader, a 25-year-old with movie-star looks who attempts to sing nine high Cs in the fiendishly difficult aria that made Pavarotti a star; and Ryan Smith, who at the age of 30, and with little formal training, is pursuing his dream of an operatic career.

The Audition is both a suspenseful competition narrative and a revealing backstage look at what it takes to make it as an opera singer.