2nd Adution 2005: a good start.

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.