So, last night was my 3rd audition of the new year. I have to admit I have not been going after the auditions as hard core yet this year because there is an audition coming up in early February for a show I REALLY want to do, and I do not want to be unavailable for it! Right attitude to have, or wrong? I really don't know, but if I do not really try for CITY OF ANGELS I will be very mad at myself.
Anyhoo, last night I drove to Beverly for the Beverly Hills University Club production of OLIVER! BHUC is an interesting group because they only put on one show per year and that show is a scholarship fundraiser. Great Cause, so out I went to audition!
The notes said to prepare a short piece and sing it acapella. Ok. I decided that since it was OLIVER! I would do "As Long As He Needs Me." Why? Well, because I love to sing ballads and, for me, ballads are easier to sing acapella. So, I worked on it as much of yesterday as I could (I had a migraine) and then drove off to find the church the audition was in. And of course I drove past it =)!
Anyway, I get in and I am the 2nd person there. What the heck! I was on time...not early, not late, but right on time and I was only the 2nd person there! Sorry, I'm not used to being that low a number. After filling out all of the paperwork and getting a picture taken, I went into the main room...where the entire panel of producers, the production staff and all the other auditionees. I don't like auditioning in front of everyone else who is auditioning! For whatever reason, it makes me more nervous.
But then, in walks Auntie Mame. *gulp* Here's the thing, and maybe it is just a me thing, but I don't like singing in front of people who I KNOW are great singers. Maybe it is because I do not feel like I am that great a singer, but it increases my nerves. And Auntie Mame is pretty darn awesome and I have a lot of respect for her...it would almost be like asking me to sing in front of one of the Dramatic Duo. Even though they are my friends, my nerves would kick into overdrive because I want to impress them. Thankfully, I got to sing first, so I didn't have to be intimidated by hearing her sing the EXACT SAME SONG!
Anyway, I got up and sang and tried not to look at Auntie because it would just make me MORE nervous and tried to put all of the emotion I was feeling and that the lyrics expressed. Then time to sit and listen to everyone else sing! Granted, there were only about 8 other people there, so it went pretty fast.
Then, time to read!! Yea, cold readings!! (hahahahahahahahahahaha) For once, I did not put down a role I was interested in. I mean, c'mon. I am a six foot female who looks like she would put the smackdown on any guy who tried to hit her. Seriously, unless Bill Sykes is BIG, who would believe I would get kicked around by him??? And yet, they had me read for Nancy! =) First side was when Nancy gets strong armed by "the boys" to go get Oliver. Not many lines, and of course I got tongue tied. BUT I did my best and tried to find the fear and determination Nancy would have to NOT do that. 2nd side was a bit more fun. It was of the tiny bit of dialogue between Fagin, Dodger and Nancy between "Fine Life" and "I'd Do Anything." That one, I let the big, brassy personality out (I hope) and had fun with it. The important thing is...I had fun with it!
As we were leaving Auntie Mame told me that I did a good job and I should be proud of my audition (I am) and to remember that "an actor's job is to audition and today we did our job." I did my job today and it was fun! Thank you Auntie Mame for being so supportive, even though you intimidated the HECK outta me!
12 January 2010
2010 Audition #2
I am a little late in writing this entry because I needed some time to decompress after Sunday night's audition for Disney LIVE!/Feld Entertainment.
I left early to make sure that I was at Lou Conte Dance by the 6pm sign-in time. there was NO WAY I was going to be late for this audition and even being 30 minutes early, I was not the first one there!
The sign in process was "typical Disney." Shoes off to get measured (6'0"), hand in headshot/resume/character picture, receive number, get a picture taken on the computer, fill out paperwork. Then wait while everyone goes through the process, say "hello" to people I recognize from Orlando and people I know from Chicago.
Then...time to go into the room. The first part of the routine was very -- Cinderellabration, the second part was Snow Queen, 8 counts of specific animation over 4 specific characters, 8 count pirate dance section and 16 counts character farewell. The music was from the first Pirates movie. Rumor has it that the new show will be Pirates, Princesses and Villains....
Well, I had it during rehearsal, I went into the hall and kept practicing until my group of 4 was called in. Princess part went about as well as a 6'/non-girly girl could make it. I literally was just channeling the court dancers in Cinderellabration and hope it came through. The 8 count "military" switch went and then my feet got messed up going into the Villain section. I tried not to show that I messed up and worked hard to keep my face and arms intense...and then I lost a little bit of balance and still tried to keep my intensity. The Mickey/Minnie/Louie/Stitch section went and the pirate section was fun and for my 16 count free form goodbyes my body instantly went into "Goofy". 2nd time was still not great and some of the mistakes I mentioned making might have been made in the second attempt and not the first and for the final animation I did Snow Queen.
As expected, I was NOT asked to do the second routine (nothing has changed from color coding) and I was mad at myself, so I stuck around to cheer on my friends. And after watching the second routine all I am going to say is that I am GLAD I wasn't asked to stay! I need about 5 years of serious dance training to be good enough for that routine!! Hopefully the dancing is not the main thing they look for when casting the shows.
When this started I was not sure if I really wanted to do this because I would have to put the auditions for musicals and "legit" theatre on hold. But the gypsy in me jumped up and said "YOU WANT THIS!!!" You want to travel and you can find ways to work with your voice teacher and it is not over, it is just more performance experience and a way to see the world!! Yea, so I got mad at myself.
I don't know if it is over yet or if there is still hope. The new show starts rehearsal in March and there is a *small* chance they might use me in one of the existing show (not counting on that though due to the height thing). My audition is good for a year.
In the meantime, I am going to take dance lessons and keep on keeping on with my voice.
I left early to make sure that I was at Lou Conte Dance by the 6pm sign-in time. there was NO WAY I was going to be late for this audition and even being 30 minutes early, I was not the first one there!
The sign in process was "typical Disney." Shoes off to get measured (6'0"), hand in headshot/resume/character picture, receive number, get a picture taken on the computer, fill out paperwork. Then wait while everyone goes through the process, say "hello" to people I recognize from Orlando and people I know from Chicago.
Then...time to go into the room. The first part of the routine was very -- Cinderellabration, the second part was Snow Queen, 8 counts of specific animation over 4 specific characters, 8 count pirate dance section and 16 counts character farewell. The music was from the first Pirates movie. Rumor has it that the new show will be Pirates, Princesses and Villains....
Well, I had it during rehearsal, I went into the hall and kept practicing until my group of 4 was called in. Princess part went about as well as a 6'/non-girly girl could make it. I literally was just channeling the court dancers in Cinderellabration and hope it came through. The 8 count "military" switch went and then my feet got messed up going into the Villain section. I tried not to show that I messed up and worked hard to keep my face and arms intense...and then I lost a little bit of balance and still tried to keep my intensity. The Mickey/Minnie/Louie/Stitch section went and the pirate section was fun and for my 16 count free form goodbyes my body instantly went into "Goofy". 2nd time was still not great and some of the mistakes I mentioned making might have been made in the second attempt and not the first and for the final animation I did Snow Queen.
As expected, I was NOT asked to do the second routine (nothing has changed from color coding) and I was mad at myself, so I stuck around to cheer on my friends. And after watching the second routine all I am going to say is that I am GLAD I wasn't asked to stay! I need about 5 years of serious dance training to be good enough for that routine!! Hopefully the dancing is not the main thing they look for when casting the shows.
When this started I was not sure if I really wanted to do this because I would have to put the auditions for musicals and "legit" theatre on hold. But the gypsy in me jumped up and said "YOU WANT THIS!!!" You want to travel and you can find ways to work with your voice teacher and it is not over, it is just more performance experience and a way to see the world!! Yea, so I got mad at myself.
I don't know if it is over yet or if there is still hope. The new show starts rehearsal in March and there is a *small* chance they might use me in one of the existing show (not counting on that though due to the height thing). My audition is good for a year.
In the meantime, I am going to take dance lessons and keep on keeping on with my voice.
08 January 2010
Get In Shape Girl!
Ah, the new year. Every year brings new resolutions and this year is no different. Every year I resolve I am going to lose weight and get in shape, and most years I start off, see a little bit of a change and then fizz out due to lack of interest, lack of money or my motivation saying "goodbye."
This year, I decided to do things a little differently. My friend "Psylocke" (you should know by now I don't use real names on here) is an independent Beachbody Coach and consultant. Beachbody makes and sells a WIDE variety of workout videos. After talking with her, hearing her success story and realizing that this is something I can do this winter inside my apartment where it is WARM (I'll walk/jog/whatever outside when the weather warms up), I decided to give it a try. After looking through the programs, I decided to purchase the basic Yoga Booty Ballet package.
Trust me, I thought long and hard on what I was going to spend my limited funds on. But my fitness goals are to target my trouble spots (butt, thighs) while improving my flexibilty. Many of the other programs looked like they were there to "puhmp you uhp" and I don't want that. I just want to tone and lengthen and gain back some of the flexibility I've lost. I also didn't want to turn into my mother with a million and one reasons not to exercise that all boil down to one thing -- laziness.
So, Monday I went over to Psylocke's, got weighed and measured and started my program. My diet is already PRETTY good and limited, so I'm not focusing on that right now, but I am turning down the 2nd soda I want some days and doing my best to avoid the candy bars at the gas station.
It will be awhile until I know the results, but I know I have Psylocke behind me, the videos staring me in the face every day, and the Team Beachbody website where I log in everytime I work out to log what I did, how long and register to win $$!!
Now to get back into my size 8 jeans!
This year, I decided to do things a little differently. My friend "Psylocke" (you should know by now I don't use real names on here) is an independent Beachbody Coach and consultant. Beachbody makes and sells a WIDE variety of workout videos. After talking with her, hearing her success story and realizing that this is something I can do this winter inside my apartment where it is WARM (I'll walk/jog/whatever outside when the weather warms up), I decided to give it a try. After looking through the programs, I decided to purchase the basic Yoga Booty Ballet package.
Trust me, I thought long and hard on what I was going to spend my limited funds on. But my fitness goals are to target my trouble spots (butt, thighs) while improving my flexibilty. Many of the other programs looked like they were there to "puhmp you uhp" and I don't want that. I just want to tone and lengthen and gain back some of the flexibility I've lost. I also didn't want to turn into my mother with a million and one reasons not to exercise that all boil down to one thing -- laziness.
So, Monday I went over to Psylocke's, got weighed and measured and started my program. My diet is already PRETTY good and limited, so I'm not focusing on that right now, but I am turning down the 2nd soda I want some days and doing my best to avoid the candy bars at the gas station.
It will be awhile until I know the results, but I know I have Psylocke behind me, the videos staring me in the face every day, and the Team Beachbody website where I log in everytime I work out to log what I did, how long and register to win $$!!
Now to get back into my size 8 jeans!
07 January 2010
Blowing the Dust Off
Hi All!
It's been awhile. Miss me?
Much has happened in the time I have been away. I was offered parts in MAME and OLIVER (ensemble in both) and took MAME because it seemed like the happier show for the holidays. I must admit, I think I made the right decision, because the friends I got from that show made me not want to flee Chicago like I had been wanting to before then. The cast and crew were amazing and it was such a fun run that was over waaay too soon.
On the job front, well, I'm still looking. I am keeping my fingers crossed that something good will come, but I am also working to get applications and resumes out there.
Finally, back to the audition grind. I am thinking that if it took me 21 auditions to land my first role, it should HOPEFULLY not take as long the second time around. I have to keep reminding myself that I am relatively new at this so it is going to take time. Also, that I do not look like a lot of other theatre girls out there, so I'm not going to others ideas of what roles should look like and that I have to prove that they CAN look like me! In the meantime I have to focus on my voice lessons, my Piven class and putting the time and energy into this desire that it deserves. Practicing on my own was never my strong suit, but it is time to make it a habit.
I have had one audition in the new year, for Oak Lawn Park District. I was the only person on the first night NOT asked to stay and read, so that pretty much tells you how that audition went. I think poor song choice played a factor. But it is only audition #1!!! =)
Lastly, I had a great holiday season. I got to see my family, meet my cousin's little ones and connect with some of the older little ones again. Spent some time with Historic Stitcher and her rugrat, who is now my "nephew." Got to see THE ADDAMS FAMILY here in Chicago with her and an old college friend and his wife.
Here is to 2010! My goal is to be in 3 shows and to have a line in AT LEAST one of them! =)
It's been awhile. Miss me?
Much has happened in the time I have been away. I was offered parts in MAME and OLIVER (ensemble in both) and took MAME because it seemed like the happier show for the holidays. I must admit, I think I made the right decision, because the friends I got from that show made me not want to flee Chicago like I had been wanting to before then. The cast and crew were amazing and it was such a fun run that was over waaay too soon.
On the job front, well, I'm still looking. I am keeping my fingers crossed that something good will come, but I am also working to get applications and resumes out there.
Finally, back to the audition grind. I am thinking that if it took me 21 auditions to land my first role, it should HOPEFULLY not take as long the second time around. I have to keep reminding myself that I am relatively new at this so it is going to take time. Also, that I do not look like a lot of other theatre girls out there, so I'm not going to others ideas of what roles should look like and that I have to prove that they CAN look like me! In the meantime I have to focus on my voice lessons, my Piven class and putting the time and energy into this desire that it deserves. Practicing on my own was never my strong suit, but it is time to make it a habit.
I have had one audition in the new year, for Oak Lawn Park District. I was the only person on the first night NOT asked to stay and read, so that pretty much tells you how that audition went. I think poor song choice played a factor. But it is only audition #1!!! =)
Lastly, I had a great holiday season. I got to see my family, meet my cousin's little ones and connect with some of the older little ones again. Spent some time with Historic Stitcher and her rugrat, who is now my "nephew." Got to see THE ADDAMS FAMILY here in Chicago with her and an old college friend and his wife.
Here is to 2010! My goal is to be in 3 shows and to have a line in AT LEAST one of them! =)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)