Always Auditioning

Life changing class.
The class is fantastically small, so we each get plenty of individual attention. I love the deep work each student gets to do! We had to create a scene and bring it to class.

What did I learn about this exercise? The importance action. In every scene, someone wants to get something, so we take an action. I have been told this before in the past, but never really understood it until now. Before I was told to come up with action words for each section of a monologue or a song. I never understood this and it totally left me confused.

Last night , it really made sense to me. Without action, nothing will happen. If I don’t make choices to get what I want, I will end up in front of the tv all day. Life is all about actions and making choices for myself for others or whatever. After I know my action, the emotions just come out more naturally. It’s so much easier that way!

I also learned how much easier it is if the action is more physical. If the scene doesn’t require physical action, that’s where those action words really help. Now I get it! This is so great!

I always like to apply my new acting lesson right away. So, I plan to get out my audition book and work on action words for each song. It will take time, but it is so worth it. It only makes my auditions stronger and helps me anytime I have to approach a new script. I really can’t wait to do this self-assigned homework!

Action is a very human thing. There is a reason for everything. There is a reason why we do everything. As an actor, it is my job to identify what I am doing to get what I want.
Conclusions from Tuesday’s Class
Action is key.

I highly recommend this movie to stage performers. i thought I was renting a romantic film and I was so wrong. The roomy is about how women finally got the right to perform on the stage. For those who don’t know, in the beginning, it was men who acted as women. It was against the law to have any female actors on stage. I may be slightly off on my facts; and for that I apologize. But I do know that there was a time when there were not any female actors.
In this movie, it begins by showing a star actor (who plays a female) in a performance and his female costumer watching him off stage; studying his every moment. For any actor, could you imagine being in the female’s shoes? For me, this would be torture. To have this huge and desperate desire to be on the stage and not have any chance to do it. That would break my heart and leave me without a soul.
Later in the movie, she goes for her first audition. She fails miserably. But what do you expect? If you are not allowed to get any formal training and you learn from watching in the wings, But man, even if I was terrible, I would have the greatest rush from finally getting to be on the stage.
Yeah. Watch this movie. It shows a great viewpoint of our history and you’ll love it.
And the end, the beautiful ending of this movie left me in tears. I swear, it captured a moment I long to experience on the stage. Watch it and you will know exactly what I’m talking about.

Yep! The audition is tomorrow. I think it is at Ripley Grier at 10am, but double check with backstage just in case. All I have to say about this audition - one thing above talent - it is about typing. They are casting for several shows in a single gig. You may be great for one of the roles, but if you don’t fit in all of what they are thinking, don’t take it personal. Working with Disney Cruise Line is a great gig because you make good money and you get to work for a major company with a great reputation. Disney. Having Disney on the resume is golden even if you were working at their theme park.
So, to ANYONE who is a performer, go. I think they even higher people in the union. There are not five million jobs right now and if you haven’t done it, go for it. It is work. It can be a hard schedule. You make like it or you may hate the experience. Personally, I was not fond of the experience, however, I grew so much from it and would not change my choice for the world. So, I really suggest that you go to this audition. The casting director is super-nice and no matter how many people are present, the audition is run very efficiently.
Break a leg!

I need to work on things for this career every day and I am having a hard time finding the time. I need a place in Manhattan to work. I do have these random points in the day where I have the time, however, I do not have the money to constantly pay for the rehearsal space. Yep, I don’t have the money. It sucks. I have so much work to do and I know exactly what I could and want to do in a paced manner. I need to work on my monologues. That’s one. I need to work on my voice and audition songs. That’s two. I also need to work on my acting exercises. That’s three. It would be great to fit in my yoga workout at the same time as well. My life is just starting to get busy, so I really have to schedule things. It’s quite insane. The list is long, but I know how to pace myself - I just don’t have a free place to get all of my work done. This is a problem that I am going to figure out and fix. Who do I know who can hook me up with a free rehearsal space? If you are reading this and know anyone - I am all ears! Moving to NY is an adjustment. I know this, but it doesn’t make anything easier. I’m almost at the point where all the daily and weekly things that need to get done, will get done. I just have to pace, plan, and remember to give myself time for rest. But first, I need to find freakin time to rehearse!

Dude, I just totally went in to audition for High School Musical and had such a blast. We did this hip hop choreography with high energy and I felt like it was put together for me because I loved dancing it so much. Then, I got to read for the role of Sharpay. I was not familiar with that part at all and had to do a lot of research and learn the song she sings with Ryan. So fun. I got to behave as this bitchy high school student. It’s so fun to be that kind of person especially when I was the totally geek receiving the bitchy end of it in Junior and part of High School.
Then, I got to sing their duet from the first movie. It was hilarious because I totally didn’t know the harmony. But before we sang, the casting director said that he was okay with me not knowing the harmony. I ended up dropping back down to the lower note when singing with this other guy who was going for Ryan. I was laughing so much inside and had this huge smile on my face. It just felt good to sing the song. It was a blast.
I’ve heard that people become fans of High School Musical after performing it. I think I understand why.

Patti Lupone stopped the show? I can’t believe it! I don’t ever want to get away with such bad behavior. Yes, the people taking photos during the show were totally wrong and probably learned their lesson during the whole thing, but Patti was just as wrong to stop the show. Who does she think she is? A major Broadway star?

Yes. If you are going to make a big decision like that - stopping the freakin show, you must have put yourself on a different level to think you are good enough and important enough to have that as a privilege. “The show must go on” didn’t come from no where. People follow that rule for the audience. They pay for a show and expect to see a show no matter what. To stop the show from photography? Yes, the photography is wrong and horribly distracting, but there is nothing that can be done. You have to get on the security about that later. It’s not your job. It’s someone else’s. You have to go through the right channels for the reason. “Rose’s Turn” is such a powerful moment in the show. I wouldn’t do that in a show or in an audition. You just don’t interrupt a performance. It ruins the journey.

But simultaneously, I think what she did was a blessing for all of us. She got them kicked out. Good. Good riddance. I know this next statement is contradicting, but G-d bless her. Thank G-d she said something. It’s about time someone said something.

There is nothing worse than forgetting or not showing up to a callback. I recently got called back for High School musical and I couldn’t, for the life of me, remember if it was Wed or Thurs. I should have written it down. I do know now that he said Thurs, but I had also written down that they had a general open call for dancers on Wed. Since I had not written down the Thurs callback, I went through this whole process of doubt. I had a voice lesson on Wed that would have conflicted with the callback, but luckily, it’s on Thursday. … or so I think. What does this mean? It means I am going to show up tomorrow at the time I was called back and possibly be turned away. I don’t think this will happen because he did say Thursday, but dude, what if I am wrong? This makes me look so unprofessional as a performer. I pray to G-d that I did not make a big mistake with not showing up today. I really didn’t want to miss my voice lesson. Not putting the voice lesson over it - I really do think my callback is on Thursday (tomorrow). I am going to learn from this and make sure that I write down my callback right away in the future.

I have been coughing. It’s from my nasal drip and it is a pain in my ass. My voice is still working, but it’s a little unpredictable after all of the coughing. That being said, I went in for the audition for The Fireside Dinner Theatre’s production of “High School Musical” today. I showed up early and signed up on the EMC list. It was not a packed call and I got to go in and sing! Hooray! Well, not so great. Right before I came in, I had a major coughing fit. Perfect. Great way to place my voice in a good spot. Not. I was going to sing “Dreamlover” with a bunch of my own licks. But when I started to sing, I could tell right away that my voice was unhappy. I made it through okay and had to make some changes on the spot so I didn’t choke. It sucked major balls. But then, I got a freakin callback. What? Really? I still can’t believe it. I think I was G-d awful …. but I somehow managed to get a callback. Fine. I’ll take it. He also said that I don’t like I could be in High School and I agreed. However, he wanted me to be at the dance audition in case the people who were right for the job didn’t have the talent he needed. Fine with me. I am grateful and happy to be called back, but I would still like to do that audition over again.
Isn’t it strange how things turn out?

Wow! These people are huge stars now. It is so interesting to watch this and see them before they got big. If I watched these videos and did not know they were now stars, I would not think much of their work. These are not powerful auditions. This is not to say that I do not enjoy their work or that I have not watched or own some of their movies. They just don’t stand out in these auditions. Crazy, right? And now, they are in these huge, box office movies making the big bucks. It just takes that one casting director to see the potential. It takes that one agent to see the possibilities and send you to that audition in the first place. Or sometimes, it takes you that one friend who knows someone who can get you into the audition. You hit the right spot for that casting director and you get in that movie. Lucky bastards.
I still have yet to have an agent. To perform in front of a casting director for Broadway who has not already cast the role I desire - that would be amazing. It comforts me to watch these auditions. It lets me know that everyone has to pound the pavement.
I hope to someday be in their shoes. To actually make it. If I believe it will happen, does it mean it will?

In my hunt for ANY place that offered free classes in exchange for my work, I came upon the Elizabeth Browning Acting Studio. What a find!

“Great acting is not acting - it is the ability to be fully human and express that humanity with truth, integrity, and personal freedom onstage and in front of the camera. You, the actor, will take a noble and profound journey on behalf of us all. When people go into a dark theatre and the lights go down, they hope against hope that you will express some truth about life. They want you to cry out their pain, fight their fight, express their deepest love, and dance their inner dance of celebration, giving voice to that which they may not have had the courage to voice themselves. And when the lights come up, we have all been changed in some way…something wonderful has happened. For us, as actors, it is an extraordinary opportunity to celebrate our journey as human beings… to own it, proclaim it, and express it fully. Sometimes that which is happening in our lives is of such magnitude and intense power that it can only be contained and expressed through art. You are the artist who will bring that expression to the rest of the world.

Our work has two tracks:

The first is to teach you how to fully serve any piece of material and how to step completely into the world of the play. Our technique allows you to explore every facet of the script and turn that life on paper into a fascinating human being on stage. It gives you concrete tools that will allow you to join your life to the life of the character so that your expression is free, spontaneous and authentic from moment to moment. We also offer shortcuts and immediate ways to make powerful choices in auditions and on the set when in-depth exploration and rehearsal is not possible.

The second is to offer exercises and techniques that will allow you, the actor, to constantly expand and open further to your own means of self expression so that your “instrument” is ready to play beautifully and freely any role that you choose.

Our work is based on Stanislavsky’s teachings, (as are The Method, Meisner, and many of the other great approaches to acting). Our program includes the philosophies of various schools of acting. We have integrated action-based acting with the emotion-based approach, creating a specific and concrete technique that brings it all together. This results in alive and passionate human beings onstage and in front of the camera playing with full intention to get what they need and succeed in their wildest dreams.

The Studio is like a gymnasium for actors. The work is individualized according to the level and need of each student. Some students come to the studio to create a solid and strong acting foundation on which they can build their careers. Others come after years of success in theatre, film, and television to fine-tune their work and audition skills, taking it to the next level of excellence. Wherever you are in your work or career when you arrive, you should walk away with a technique and new set of acting tools that will serve you in any circumstance; and a renewed sense of your own power and magnificence as an artist and creative human being.”

I already had a private lesson to give me a glimpse on what I will be learning on Tuesdays from 6-10pm. I am super-excited to experience my growth as an actor. Hooray for learning and growing!

Here is an interesting and random video of a girl proving that she can act.