Fifth/Sixth/Seventh Audition 2004: Early fall, Mahattan & Brooklyn

Ok, it was a serious audition week -- 4 in total. The 3rd audition (at Ripley-Grier Studios (!nice!), 520 Eighth Avenue, near Penn Station) was Florida Studio Theatre's auditions for Metamorphosis. It was so large that they immediately typed, by look, all the non-equity actors, and I didn't make the first cut, but it was a beautiful pure blue-sky fall New York City Tuesday, and I just spent more time in it).

NOTE: the type-casting: it all reminded me of troops going into battle, not knowing who -- just by chance -- was going to go onto the next phase, and who was going to die right then and there. I was in the latter group . . . I was disappointed to be let go, but I just told myself . . .'it wasn't your time.'

Audition: Cold reading of a short side (single page) for films and commercials
Director: ID Films, idfilms.net
Location: Shelter Studios, 939 8th Avenue
Date: Sunday, October 10th, 2004, 4-8PM.

This was my first on-camera audition, and I won't try to pretend that I knew what I was doing -- and that's fine. I simply don't yet have the funds to take a film/TV audition class that works out, presumably, all the technicalities/logistics of working in front of a camera. I, again, simply wanted some first hand experience, and I got it . . .

Positives

None -- but I enjoyed it nevertheless, and more critically, I learned (at least we'll see if I learned) a couple of valuable lessons.

Negatives

1st) This was a HUGH open call for paid jobs: I got there on time, but it was still almost too late. I signed in as #198 (!?).
Solution: next time -- arrive thirty to forty five minutes early.

2nd) Classic mistake again. I failed to take control of the audition, of my time there. Specifically:

I rushed it -- way rushed it. They handed me the sides and said "whenever you're ready". I heard "GO!," and immediately started. BIG mistake. Never, ever, EVER do this again.
Solution: even if they say "GO!" (which they didn't), always ask for a a minute to read through the side. There were so many people, and they were so overwhelmed, that I impulsively decided to help them by moving my audition along. No more Mr. Goddamn Nice Guy. ALWAYS TAKE MY TIME! Any audition scheduling problems are their problems, not mine.

The rule is: They are not there to help me -- I am there to help them, and I didn't do that. Taking the reasonable time I need helps them (& me).

Audition: 1 minute monologue for Warren Leight's Side Man
Monologue: Andrew's final monologue from Paul Rudnick's play I Hate Hamlet.
Director: ?
Location: Gallery Players, 199 14th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn
Date: Monday, October 11th, 2004, 7-9PM.

It's beginning to sink in just how much these auditions are really just like performances, opening night performances. I'm now starting to prepare for them the way I prepared for performances in Brooklyn and Manhattan this summer.

Positives

I was very prepared, and I relaxed and concentrated on mentally rehearsing the monologue. And it's just like performance. My new manta is:

I don't give a shit about getting this part.
I give a shit about taking risks and surprising myself with my monologue, with the performance.

Always work towards something deeper, more specific, and seamless.

(Minor) Negatives

Sometimes it's hard to "be" where I want to "be" emotionally at the top of the monologue -- sometimes I'm there, sometimes not.

I'm not sure if this is the result of inexperience/lack of technique or if it is the result of the operation of some biological-psychological "state" variable that I have little control over. I think both may be true, with more weight on the 'lack of technique' part of the equation: It's never the case that I'm "nowhere" emotionally. It's just that I'm not where I "imagined," "anticipated," "hoped" I would be -- but so what? Again, that's trying to re-created moments that occurred in past rehearsals, and I can't count on that.

When I thought about it, I realized that there always is "something" there for me at the top, so the rule is: if I can't "be" where I want to "be" at the start, simply "be" where I am, connect with that. It is critical to connect with something, so just use what's given to me. Oh, yeah ... and don't think, don't EVER think.

P.S. When they said a "1 minute monologue," they meant a "1 minute monologue," i.e., I was immediately cut off about 2/3rds into the monologue, but I think, despite the surprise, I did exit gracefully and in good humor. And -- I'll have to time it -- but I think can get Andrew's monologue down to a minute.

Audition: Fornetti Productions, Student Film Project, Brooklyn College.
Director: ?
Location: Field Building, Brooklyn College
Date: Wednesday, October 13th, 2004, high noon.

The audition consisted of "warm-reading" sides from a script. There were only a few lines of dialogue, but the director wanted them memorized, and it was no problem to do that (I had a couple of days prep time).

Positives

Simply, and as imaginatively as possible, I tried to bring myself to what few lines I had. I just made stuff up that felt right. One thing that I noticed was that the dialogue was very simple but always structured in 2-3 short lines, so I tried to give them each different empathsis, a different 'style', and I even interacted with my partner and the space differently on each line.

Negatives

After the first take -- I got direction.
( I'm not sure if this should go in the negative or positive part of my analysis, but as it is something I do need to work on, I'll leave it here).

Now, I wasn't great, but I did manage not to panic. I've encountered this before, and I think there's two parts to the problem:

Solution:
1) If I panic, I can't listen. When given direction -- DON'T THINK, just listen, listen all the way through, as carefully as I can.
2) While I'm listening -- and this is really just like "moments" in performance -- as I'm listening (just like to my partner on stage), DON'T THINK, just let any feelings, images, impulses come to the fore, and then . . . just act on them. I don't think there is much to think about here -- when given direction, just let it hit me "non-cognitively," hit me emotionally, in my body. Just let it activate whatever it's going to active in me, and don't think too much about it. It's just like performance.

P.S. I don't think this character, as concieved by the director/writer, was exactly my "type," i.e., mean-spirited and enjoying it. That may have made taking the direction more difficult.