February 2005 Archives

Audition: Cold reading sides for Getting Out.
Director: Nina Pinchin.
Location: Vital Theatre Space, W. 42nd St., 3rd fl, NYC

. . . Notice everything around me, in this perfect moment, it's exactly what I need . . .

In 1983, the University of Miami Hurricanes suffered an egregious loss against their archrival, the Florida Gators, 28-3, one in a long line of losses for the team. In fact, during the '70s, the university had all but decided to drop their football program. The team was hardly swimming in self-confidence.

The loss was all the more painful because they had just completed a grueling training period w/three intense practice sessions a day under extreme pressure from their coach, Schnellenberger. Fearing the worse from Schnellenberger, and more than ready to lower their expectations, Schnellenberger instead exuded optimism and pushed for even tougher training, because he believed in his team.

Rather than present just a pep talk, he & his staff presented the team with cold hard evidence that they could win, i.e., they used film of the game to show how much talent and potential the team had, reminded them of the tough tests they mastered in practice. Positive expectations slowly transformed into experience: the team went from praying they would win, to hoping to they would win, to knowing that they could win, to expecting to win.

That year the Hurricanes beat Nebraska, the top seeded team, in a nail-bitingly close 31-30 win to capture the National Orange Bowl Championship. It proved Miami could win w/out superior talent in every position. The egregious loss against the Gators started a winning tradition in Miami that continues to this day.

The Vital Theatre Space, just off Times Square. It was one of the best theatres yet that I've auditioned in, and upon arrival, seeing the clean professional waiting room, the well-groomed, experienced, calm confident actors, I immediately felt completely out of place, very far from the way off-Off Broadway venues I've been traditionally trying to break into, and those have been hard enough! Scared -- for a few minutes I serious contemplated turning around and going home. But no --I wouldn't let myself. I signed in, I found a place to sit, and I began to try and relax and concentrate.

Positives

This perfect moment . . . I connected with my scene partner, and about 30% of the time, I took her in, I let her responses "hit" me, and then I looked down, breathed in, and then responded without anticipating, without thinking . . . this perfect circle, this perfect moment . . .

Negatives

70% of the time I rushed to pick up my lines, forgot to breathe, and I didn't give myself a chance to take her in and let myself respond.

Insights

What I found fascinating about the cold-reading was about 2/3rds of the way through, I finally started doing what I've been trying to train myself to do: take-it-off-the-page. And it worked like magic -- the difference was like night and day. Before, the reading was mechanical, uneventful -- but then, somehow, I let myself connect, and immediately my scene partner reacted, the energy stepped up, and I could feel the auditors lean forward. It was just a few lines, but it was enough to tell me what I need to do, to lead me where I need to go:

I've somehow got to get more practice in cold readings, learning to just let things happen. I believe I have enough a theatrical sense that I can heighten and make things interesting, but w/out that foundation of true unanticipated response . . . it's too hard, and you really can't carry it off: the moment devolves into 'indicating' and 'acting.' Somehow, I have to find a person or group to practice with -- just a few hours a week I believe would do a world of good. I'm burning to do this, but . . . how?

Some guidelines

1. Before a cold-reading audition, simply practice taking it taking-it-off-the-page and remember to breathe!
2. Before starting, remind myself to connect -- take my time -- right off the bat, to take-it-off-the-page, and to breathe!

I recieved this the other day from Amy @ The Dusty Shelf:

Thank you once again for the Hamlet articles you have provided. They have been tremendously popular. The Polonius article in particular receives hits via google and other search engines every day. My favorite was a hit from Sweden from the google: “what was Polonius thinking?” Please keep in touch with me and Anna. We welcome any suggestions you have for future issues of The Dusty Shelf.

Amy

. . . and never, please never, let me forget this.

Audition: Cold reading sides for a 'dark comedy,' Driving While Black & Other Felonious Funk.
Director: Ron Beverly.
Location: The Venue at St. James, Harlem.

The audition was in Harlem, near where I used to live, Hamilton Heights, an area definitely on the upswing. I've never seen such rapid city changes -- in fact, it's hard to imagine another city where neighborhoods change so quickly, noticeably, surprisingly, distinctively, within a span of only a few years . . . amazing -- it is a city aptly named: New York City

Positives

The side was a monologue, about a paragraph, with long sentences. I took my time, broke it up, and I connected with about half of it, and I gave it a very nice ending (i.e., a planned nice ending).

Negatives

The side was a monologue, about a paragraph, with long sentences -- that I found difficult to parse and chuck, and I didn't connect with about half of it, and when I looked down, I stumbled, momentary lost a couple of times.

Insights

OK -- it's far too easy to get rusty. Some points:

1. Theatricality. I've been trying to bring more of this in, but still afraid of overacting. This issue is actually starting to rise to the top of priorities in terms of what I want to accomplish. It's too much to go into here, but I believe I'm starting to push past where I've been with these cold readings, and 'planning' an ending, that I thought worked well, is sign I'm starting to tackle this issue: bringing in theatricality w/out indicating, w/out sacrificing where my instincts and impulses want to go -- it's the marriage of craft and real experience/risk that I'm struggling with. It's fun -- damn fun -- if I get it. The compliment I usually get (and I think they're sincere) is that I gave a 'nice' reading, but it lack dynamism and range. Becoming more theatrical and, as always, not holding back, is the path to what I want.
2. When sides have long sentences, before I'm called, spend time with them -- don't try to 'act' them or 'think' about them, just kind of memorize them. In fact, just get the lay of the land, hard to describe here, but I want to almost memorize without trying to do that and without trying to 'plan' or 'imagine' what will happen when I'm up there. The problem here is the damn mechanics of cold-reading . . . I'm still having technical difficulties with remembering to breath, getting distracted by having to look down and pick the words, rushing, etc. All of these are obstacles to connecting with the text.
3. Next time, right at the top -- SLOW DOWN!!!!!! -- since going too slow is what I'm afraid of, do exactly that right off the top. This will give me a chance to connect right away instead of half way through it.

      When I'm connected with the text, the pace takes care of itself. When I'm rushing, I'm NOT connecting -- I'm doing exactly that: rushing.

This week, the second article on 'Hamlet,' Polonius and Hamlet: Night and Day, came out in the literary e-zine, The Dusty Shelf:

This article I hope will be of interest to actors, and I hope it gives some insight into one of Shakespeare's more interesting creations: Polonius.

. . . A New Series of Career Development Workshops for Actors

Just west of that city block long neo-gothic work of crisscrossing iron girders (the Port Authority Bus Terminal of New York City), The DRAMA BOOK SHOP on W. 40th street, has started holding monthly workshops on the various aspects of the business of acting: $20-$30 for two hours -- perfect: inexpensive and just enough that I can easily absorb in an area I find dauntingly large/overwhelming.

Today was: Effective Pictures and Resumes:
Panel:
Casting Director, Andrea Shane, Shane/Goldstein Casting
Agent, David Krasner, Bloc NYC
Photographer, Jared Slater, J & J Photography
Make-Up Artist, Jeanne Slater, J & J Photography
Resume Consultant, Annie Chadwick, Up-To-Date Theatricals

A career consultant, casting director, agent, and representatives of photographic services specializing in, or exclusively devoted to, headshots, comprised the informal panel. Very interesting -- it's all part of something one can't really know enough about.

Some role definitions:

Agents - (the first order sellers) represent and recommend actors to...
Casting Directors - (the second order sellers) who decide if an actors is right for a role based on their resume and headshot (and agent recommendations). They are the audition "gatekeepers," scheduling actors in auditions for...
Directors and Producers - (the buyers). They hire the actor (pay the casting director for their service), and the agent gets 10%.
Actors - products/commodities.

Some observations -- Resumes:

1. Assume a person looking at the resume will only give it 30-40secs.
2. Therefore, put the most memorable/impressive performance credits right at the top, shows and roles likely known to the person (agent, casting director, director)
3. Training - best/most interesting/impressive training only : performance credits take precedence.
4. Special skills - anything and everything interesting and potentially useful: surprising number of casting decisions in TV and film are made from the "special skills" section, e.g., one casting director was hired for an action game project where all the computer animated characters would be based on motion capturing actors in various scenes and scenarios. They needed anyone with military training, and so this casting director pulled up all her files w/anyone said they had military training, and all where hired for this very high profile, well paid professional job.

Idea: Summarize/highlight the most important/impressive credentials right at the top of the resume. This should be in an area of focus (e.g., theatre, or film), perhaps followed by a secondary area of focus, followed by training, i.e., a "mini-"resume right at the top.

In sum: the resume should reflect 1) who I am, 2) what I do best, 3) what I'd like to be doing . . .

. . . This above all: to thine ownself be true (Polonius, 1.3, Hamlet).

Some observations -- Headshots:

The headshot artists had a lot to say, but they kept coming home and hammering away at the following points:

1. Find and interview photographers with whom I feel very comfortable.
2. Bring in lots of outfits, 4-6 changes, but everything should be personal, clothes that mean something to me. Personalize everything.
3. Know myself, know my "type." This is what I want to project. This is the basis of casting.
4. Don't' go cheap. Be prepared for a session in the range of $400-$500, but only every few years.

Next Month (March): Mailings & Contacts

Ah, it was great to be out in the glittering city on a mild winter night.

I went to see Walter's one-act, Well-Laid Desert, part of Riant Theatre's 10th annual Strawberry One-Act Festival tonight, a very well-received one-act where the characters discover that truth is the antidote to the panic and fear that threatens to tear apart their lives and friendships -- a surprisingly sensitive play by a guy who's also a very talented actor. It's great that through his theatrical experience he's been able to absorb enough of the "form" that he can now start to write. Playwrighting is the heart of it all as far as I'm concerned -- I've no idea how playwrights work, but that is the other side of all of this, a fascinating, beautiful, process

And, as always, I was fascinated by watching the actors work -- I find this almost always surprisingly informative and instructive.

Some observations:

One actor in the one of the plays was quite good along the dimension of believability: moment-by-moment, he was simply believable. One thing that really seemed to be driving this was how well he listened and reacted to the other characters without trying to do anything more than that, really. Layered on top of that, of course, was a simplicity about what he wanted -- in each scene, he was clear about what he wanted. Finally, there was also a "Craft" or "Theatricality" about his work, i.e., he seemed to know how to use the space, seemed aware of the "technical" demands of his performance. Hard to put a finger on this, but I think this definitely comes with experience, gaining a sense of the theatrical up there, a sense of what works for the audience (or for the camera in film).

Only about 10% of the time could I sense him decoupling from the scene, I think, in order to "act" a pre-conceived idea of either what he wanted to happen or what he thought should happen. It's fascinating to watch this when it happens. I don't quite know the cause and effect: we suddenly stop reacting to what's going around us and then feel pressure to "act" what "should" be happening, or we just can't let go of the desire to make something happen at some point, and as a consequence, decouple from what's going around around us. I think both are true: deciding to direct oneself in the middle of a performance or panicking because (for whatever reason) we decouple from the moment -- and the panic is the worse. So like the characters in Well-Laid Desert, I guess the thing to do is just NOT let yourself give into the panic, i.e., take a moment or two to reconnect with what's going at that moment: pay attention to something -- anything -- that's going on in the scene, and then you find your way back.

This was also a dynamic I saw between two other actors who started a scene quite far apart. They seemed to be "acting" more than, or at the expense of, "reacting" to each other. You can just sense when people, in life/on stage, are not listening. However, when he got up and sat down next to her, it got much more interesting to watch, I think, because they started to listen and react more.

Fascinating.

Amy from The Dusty Shelf contacted me with a question about the article I submitted for the February release, and she passed along that Chasing Shakespeare, Finding Hamlet was one of the most frequently viewed articles in their January series.

Also, someone on a blog enjoyed the article and recommended it.

Perfectly pleasent news for an early Monday cold February morning . . .

The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on . . .

               - Prospero, "The Tempest"

I did not know Nicole duFresne, a young artist/actress of such promise and talent, but it hit me hard nonetheless. It doesn't seem possible that these things happen -- but such things do happen . . .

People complain about their careers, their relationships, their lives, forgetting the magic that is all around them, and I'm no different. Lately it's been too easy for me to become negative, about what I want, about my future. But I think I simply forgot that everyday is a chance to change things. I am able to do it: I can get up and on my feet, work, plan, take risks. I simply forgot that I can choose to face and embrace the challenges of my life.

I am so sorry, Nicole, that you no longer can do what I am so luckly to be able to do.

Grief (for a young woman that I never knew) and wonder (at the life I have): never let me forget how luckly I am or lose sight of what I have, and the magic that always surrounds me . . .