Always Auditioning

I spend most of my money for this business. In many ways, I do not or barely make enough back that covers all of those expenses. I don’t think people realize the costs of being a performer. It’s not just paying for headshots and resume copies. Using a computer costs money - either you own one or you have to pay for the time to use one. Having a website is becoming the standard along with business cards. … and there are postcards as well - for the common follow-up after an audition or to give an update to a theatre. You have to market yourself to the best of your ability and it costs money. There are many performers who don’t market themselves. That works for them and they do work … but they know they could work even more if they promoted themselves. It’s true. I wanted to quickly blog about this to bring up this particular journey of expenses any performer will undoubtedly experience if they go for their dreams full force.

This is something that does happen sometimes. We are all human. … but in my opinion, there are two different kinds of intentions: on purpose … or not. I am not a fan of the breaking that happens on purpose. I am not on stage looking to cause the next laugh or something to laugh at. I am there to do my job. If I break, I evaluate what happened and come up with a solution to hold myself together if it comes up again. I don’t look for the next thing. I am not bored. I am doing a show. I am doing my job. I apologize if this offends anyone. I have friends who do this and I love them very much. It doesn’t mean I agree with their choice. Each person has a right to his or her own opinion/fun. I understand, but it doesn’t mean that I respect, agree, or like it.

Below is a video I found on youtube where a talented performer breaks on stage. It works in his show, but in a musical … not so much:

Missing an audition is not a good thing. i understand that we can always come up with a good reason to miss an audition. Anytime I miss an audition, I evaluate what made me miss it and make sure I do not have the same conflict again.
Because of “conflicts” over the years, I didn’t attend a single open call for “Fiddler on the Roof” until this year - 2009. Sad, right? No, it is more than sad - it is detrimental to my freakin career. It is my job to be at those auditions.
I am writing this now because I will be heading back to New York soon and I want to take full advantage of my opportunities out there. I want to show up to the right calls and kick some ass. I want to have my choice of jobs from all the hard work I have and continue to put into as an artist. I am always in class and growing every day. It is a true blessing.
So, no excuses. My butt needs to get out there when I have the chance.
Auditions will be slow this summer - as they always are. With that in mind, there are usually less people going to auditions at that time because they put all their energy in their survivor jobs. It is good and important to have an income. I want an income - through performing.
If I don’t go to auditions, they will keep happening and other people will get the jobs. Period. I can’t expect the world to stop for me just because I don’t have my crap together.

I was so thrilled to see the stars who were in this concert on PBS last night. Menzel looked absolutely fabulous in her all - black first act outfit and in the second act, she wore this fabulous dress I wanted to steal. The voices were beautiful, no doubt. Adam looked hot as usual, so that was nice to drool over for a bit. The dancers had great technique and it was fun to see how they utilized the dancers for this concert.
I learned that “Chess” is not a great musical. The music may have some great moments, but it gets quickly monotonous because the story line is not interesting. In my opinion, the show was just about people competing in the high ranks of chess. There was drama behind the scenes, but I didn’t catch on because I kept spacing out. I wasn’t doing it on purpose. I just was not captivated by anything in particular that would keep me drawn in for the 2 - 3 hour saga. Yes, I do not know the complete run time of the show because I was not able to finish watching it. It was boring, sorry.
I do think it is important to be exposed to a lot of shows especially since I am in the business, but dude, this one couldn’t keep me awake. Once again, sorry.

I know, I know, it is about time that I wrote something about this unexpected piece of talent. I love how she has a look that automatically fills everyone with doubt. She opens her mouth and sings with this indescribable star quality. I am grateful to this woman. She has become someone who has opened doors for others. It is possible to turn heads even if you do not have the right look. People may judge books by the cover, but they can change their minds as well. Susan has turned heads 180 degrees. I do hope she continues to have a successful career in theatre. She could even tour with her own, one-woman show. People would go. Heck, I would go. Even though she did not win a competition, she is someone to be remembered and I could only hope to see on the stage many times in the future.

Not too long ago, I had revealed that I learned of the “Oz, The Musical” tour closing sooner than planned. Well, I finally found out the dirt. The show itself was a beautiful show. It had the talent and commitment of the actors. The cast loved what they were doing. The show was doing very well in the first leg of the tour. The economy was not having a bad effect on the shows success.
The producers, however, just didn’t have a clue on what they were doing. It was as though they thought, “Hey, we have money. Why don’t we put up a show?” They were throwing money all over the place and eventually funds began to run out. To try to fix things, they cut the tour in two halves to get their funds in order. When the tour went back up, they could no longer to have any union performers … and eventually did not have enough money to keep the show running altogether. So sad and frustrating. Now that the cast is out of work, they are still waiting to get paid for their last two weeks of work! How terrible!
… talk about the wrong way to put up … and end a show …

“High School Musical!” was whispered amongst some kids at the Aquatic Center today when the majority of the cast arrived on a day off. We didn’t all hear it, but it was said and I loved it.
I thought it was funny how the entire cast was thrilled when there was 20 minutes of adult swim. All the kids had to evacuate the pool. All the screaming ended and we could actually hear the song “Tears In Heaven” playing as we did random hand stands, laps, and floating in the pool.
This trip was specifically great for me because I got to have some extra time with other people in the cast. Good people.
And the aquatic center? It was fabulous! Who knew that such cool place would be in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin?

I got to visit some old friends from the fabulous Festival 56 today. This is a summer theatre that is the place to work. With this theatre group, I got to be an artist to the fullest. I got to explore roles I had always dreamed of exploring and I felt I grew to an entirely higher level in a single summer. I would not trade that experience for the world. If you are wondering, yes, I did audition to work with them again this summer. I was not what they were looking for. That’s okay. It’s the nature of the business. This company will always have my 100% support.
I have so many great memories from one place. Last year, when I had the honor of working with them, I made some videos of my experience. It doesn’t show much to the outsider, but they make me smile when I watch them. Enjoy!

We had a seriously killer audience today. I am not talking about an audience who only applaused. They were with us the entire time and it was simply amazing. I loved the entire show despite the fact that I was tired. A fellow cast member said, “I wish all our audience could be like this.” I couldn’t agree with her more. It was a great contradiction to last nights audience. They were judging us the entire time. In the big finale, I saw their cruel looks on their faces as they picked me apart in my performance. It was especially harsh in the number “We’re all in this Together.” I was throwing out my smiles and could feel the people laughing at me. It was really unfortunate.

… but today, totally the opposite. I cannot show enough gratitude to the kind reaction of the audience today. Thank you.

I am reading this book right now and I absolutely love it. The writer is an agent herself. I was tentative on reading this book because I assumed it would just be an agent speaking in this air of arrogance and putting down performers. I was wrong. I feel it is highly informative and beautifully honest. It is a must read for any performer who may or may not be looking for an agent. In general, it is always good to know how things are run. I have read other books on agents, but so far, I find this one to be the most informative. At the moment, in my career, I feel more than ready for an agent. I am happy about the credits on my resume and they prove I am ready to be seen on the next level. My talent has improved (and is still improving) every day. I feel confident and ready. It feels good to feel like this.

Below is a video of a woman asking some agent (I don’t know; who has not written the book) some interesting questions:

I just heard news that the nonunion national tour of “Oz, The Musical” closed on Wednesday. I know this because a person I know who was on that tour, let me know that it closed. I do not all the details on this but I am completely saddened. I don’t like hearing of shows closing earlier than expected. Right now, I want to hear about shows surviving. To me, that is what it’s all about.
I must give a small, inside story I was told from someone who ditched the initial audition. It was for the dancer call - and apparently, it was all over the place. This dancer figured that if the production company could not run a smooth rehearsal, how would the tour itself go. So, the person left. I think it was a good choice. I would not want to risk it myself. I have been one nonunion tour with a terrible company. It was a huge nightmare. Everyday, I felt like I was reminded that I was nonunion. That’s how awful we were treated. I felt like a robot when I had to set my alarm for 5am every morning to get on the bus to do a show that evening. Every day. The cast was thrilled when we got to leave at 8am one day. It was pretty sad.
I am eager to learn about the reasons for this show closing. Regardless of whether or not the cast was treated well, I am sad to hear it closed and put great performers out of work.

If you didn’t see the Tonys, I am going to make you see this performance from “Hair,” darn it! They were absolutely amazing (the cast) as they took the stage and performed their signature song. I could feel their electrifying energy and was desperate to join them. As my friend says, “I wish I could have just been there.” I agree. Though they were magnifying in their performance, I quickly understood how much better it would be to go see their show.

Here is their performance schedule:

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

Tues: 7pm
Wed: 2pm & 8pm
Thurs-Fri: 8pm
Sat: 2pm & 8pm
Sun: 3pm

Go! Even if you have to travel from Pennsylvania, go! Don’t go see a Disney show, see hair and get moved to live your life to the fullest. You will get that from this show. Freakin go!!!!

The tech stuff was all over the place in the show. What the heck was going on? In the clip of the opening to the Tonys, I could hear someone warming up or something during the show. It was very clear that it was not supposed to be happening because it was one girls voice and there were only men on stage.

… and Bret Michaels. The poor dude walked right into the drop. There is a part of me that wants to think it may have been his mistake because he is not a theatre performer. He is a great stage performer, but … from my experience, when a lift is supposed to go down, it goes down. It doesn’t matter who you are - you have to be in the right place. Otherwise, the set or a prop will hit you - especially if everything is timed out to the T.

Going back to the sound - throughout the entire Tonys, it was a mess. What was going on with the sound? This is absolutely unacceptable during the Tonys. Sorry to be so harsh, but the Tonys is a huge thing. It’s really disappointing to see it run like a low-budget performance.

Dude, I feel so bad for this woman. She is such an inspirational force on the stage. In her performance in the Tonys, I found myself in such awe of her. She was in it to win it and I believed every second she was on the stage. So powerful! (I feel it very important to acknowledge the powerful men who were in the brief performance with her - Amazing!). Well, I was not surprised to see her win the Tony. She blows me away. All the nominees are amazing performers - so please do not misunderstand. I just wasn’t surprised when she one. I had a feeling. Then she went up there and was … off. I don’t know how frantic I would be after winning a Tony, but man, that girl was in it. I felt like she was readying herself for a production of “Evita.” But you know what, she was getting a huge honor and completely taking it in. She was in the moment. … but it was hard not to laugh.

Seriously. Finding a monologue is hard enough in the first place. Many people resort to monologue books. I have learned and have shared in the past that the best way to find a monologue takes a lot of time. You have to read plays. Not every play is going to be right for you and there is always a risk that the monologues you are drawn to using are already popular. Research, research, research! That is what I have been doing and I have benefited as an actress simultaneously because I am expanding my knowledge of what is out there.
Yesterday, I was working diligently on memorizing a new piece. Other people showed interest in using my monologue. Now, I do not have ownership of this monologue. Anyone could use it … but I am not going to give it away to people. Heck no! I am not being selfish. I do a lot of homework to find just one monologue. … and then for a random person to not lift a finger and simply take two seconds to use the gold I found. NO!
Do your own homework. Get your monologue on your own. Period.