Audition: Cold reading of a very short side (single paragraph) for the role of a doctor in an industrial video (about malpractice)
Director: Kim ?
Location: ADM PRODUCTIONS, 40 SEAVIEW BLVD, PORT WASHINGTON, NY. 11050
Date: Monday, November 9th, 2004, 1PM.
This was my first audition for paid work: 2 days @ $300.00/day (minus 10% booking fee to Desiree, the casting agent).
Positives
A professional actors motto is: Be Prepared. Be Available.
As I'm semi-unemployed at the moment, I could take advantage of this opportunity in the middle of a workday. So, first positive -- I was simply available, and I got there early.
I had a great conversation with the taxi driver from the L.I.R.R. station to the studio: he's a guy that has come out of retirement as an independent manager for singers. He worked with major labels in the late 60's & 70's, and 80's, signing and managing artists. He recently felt the urge to work again, and was auditioning various singers who he thought were good -- but then he was instroduced to a young woman, and during an interview in a Starbucks, and she started to sight-read a sheet of music and sing (i.e., cold reading for singers) . . . and she blew him away. He didn't need to hear a recording of her voice. He knew she "was it."
As he drove (so caught up in the story that he was actually driving me to the wrong location), he continued:
you know, it was an epiphany. I've been in the music business for 50 years, and if I've finally learned one thing, it's this: I've listened to a lot of singers, and I always listened for quality of voice, technique, etc., but when I heard this girl, I realized, for the first time, that "talent," what one really has to offer -- comes from the heart. That's where she's really singing from, and that's what it is -- first and last -- finally, all about.
He was telling me a story about what happened to him -- he was also telling me what I needed to do today.
(P. S. Another advantage of leaving early -- when we arrived, I asked if he was sure that this was the place, and he realized it wasn't. I'm always so shy about asking questions, and I didn't want to suggest he had made a mistake, but I'm glad I paid attention to my suspicions and asked, and it turned out we were only a couple of block away from ADM).
Negatives & Solutions
He was telling me exactly what I need to do today, and -- he was telling me because I still need to learn how to do it, how to simply trust what I have to offer.
I made a mistake of making a choice that a "real" doctor would be restrained and in control, would not show much emotion (i.e. right away, I knew what to do -- and I rejected it). My big mistake was auditioning my stereotyped idea of a doctor rather than just respond intuitively, honestly, without thinking (too much). The result was just what I was aiming for: I "held back" and give a nice restrained audition. It wasn't bad -- but it wasn't good enough, and (more importantly), it wasn't as good as it could have been. More deeply, more simply, I was playing it safe, afraid of being "too big" or "too much."
Also, I didn't use all available information. For example, my character, in the scene, is walking with another doctor, taking to him. While it was just a paragraph from that scene, I should have imagined another doctor right next to me, and directed my comments towards "him." That would have helped me communicate and focus what I needed to communicate.
And what did I need to communicate? Kim, the director, told me: "you're bothered, concerned that this kid isn't getting better, and you're not sure why." Now, exactly how to use this type of direction will be the topic of my next entry, but because I was "acting" my idea of the character, I wasn't able to make full use of this direction.
(My intuitive response was to show more concern, perhaps even growing alarm and fear).
Finally, I didn't simply take-it-off the page. I still have trouble doing this effectively in an audition, but I'm worse off if I forget to do that -- and I forgot to do that because I forgot my little audition notebook that has notes reminding me about what to do before I go into an audition.
So, I still need to learn how to approach the entire audition experience, right down to making sure I've got everything, and I mean everything, together before I head out the door.
