January 2004 Archives

Audition: Cold reading sides from David Ives's All In The Timing, 1/28/2004
Director: unknown.
Location: Hamilton Hall, Columbia University.

Positive

I may have discovered my “type.” What worked best was the material itself – it seemed to lend itself to these shy, confused, hopeful, bewildered guys I seem to easily find within myself (or I more clearly see a part of myself in them).

Insights

Idea for working on serious pieces: ridiculous-ifize them – find the humor, or just shift into my ‘crazy’ state. This may help to reveal some important, deep truths and insights into the heart of the character/moment.

New Principle: It is easier to KEEP someone’s attention then it is to GET someone’s attention, and the practical applications of this principle in cold reading/monologues are:

1. First, as always, simply takes the lines off the page.
2. Usually there is a strong, interesting start in a monologue/scene – figure out a way to emphasis this, maybe rehearse the first one or two lines (I should have time for that), just to start strong. If I can do this, the rest of the cold reading should go better than it otherwise might.

Negatives

Still going too fast when “taking it off the page,” i.e., slow down. Did not, at times, give myself a chance to connect with text.

Possible Solution

Before each audition when I think there will be cold reading, review Guskin’s (“How to Stop Acting”) advice on p. 27- 30 . . . and PRACTICE this the day before and the day of the audition. In fact, get in the habit of practicing this method of cold reading 3-4/week, 10-15 minutes a day . . . small things daily applied can have BIG payoffs.

Audition: King Crown Players, Columbia University, monologue: HAMLET, How all occasions do inform against me. 1/22/2004 7PM.
Director: unknown.
Location: Hamilton Hall, Columbia University.

Positives
- I rehearsed the monologue with the assumption of limited space which forced me to be still – being still helps a great deal to pinpoint weakness in a monologue. Before I die, I AM going to nail this monologue!
- Arrived before the audition time so that I did not have to wait.
- A quarter of the way through the monologue, I did forget a line, but I fudged it and didn’t let myself get distracted by it . . . besides, was about to get distracted by something else . . .

Negatives
- Initial setup in the audition: I placed a center chair for Hamlet, and for the other person, I placed an empty chair off to my right – way off to my right, so far right that I was in three quarter view of the auditioners: I don’t think they could see much of face. Worse, after I started, I became aware of my mistake, but was too ‘embarrassed’ to stop and fix the problem, so I soldiered on, distracted.