Workshop

Was looking at my calendar earlier today and realized I had an audition workshop tonight, had thought it was on a Wednesday.  Missed choir again, we have a concert coming up, too.  It was for musical theatre, but since I'm just starting out, I figured any advice I could get would be useful.  And it's not completely out of the question: I'm not going to be a principle, but I could be in the ensemble.  I do need more voice lessons, and dance, but...

Anyway, the advice was generally helpful.  (Casting Director and Music Director) First impressions matter, from when you step out of your car through the actual audition to the time you get back into your car, assume people are watching.  It's not just about the actual audition: how you carry yourself, how you treat other people matters.  Professionalism (which is true in a job interview as well.)  Walking on and off the stage for the audition.  Choice of material: know it backward and forward, be able to make adjustments (that the auditors can see), choosing appropriate material for showcasing you, and also as related to what the season is you are auditioning for.  Sell them a ticket with your audition.  Give it your best.  Be prepared.  Never stop training: voice, singing, dancing, movement, acting.  Audition as much as you can.  Give your best shot to whatever it is you are asked to do: sometimes they are looking for who you are and how you take direction, work with others.  In callbacks, it's yours to lose.

I need to look into this "book" thing.  The Casting Director gave us a copy of his notes, including all the types of music/songs you should have.  Is it the whole song in the book, or just the 16-bar section?  They also showed us copies of what to do and not do in head shots and resumes.  (And yes, it's okay to call them if you haven't heard back either yes or no, to let the casting director know you are still interested.)  It's also okay to invite them to your shows.  Even if they don't come (they get asked to see a lot of shows) it puts you on their radar.  And they might come.

A lot of these workshops are free.  I feel like it's generous on their part, but from their perspective, they want us to succeed.  They like doing these because it's not a secret, the more people that know these things before auditions, the better.  It pulls everybody up.

Finally returned my library book, and was wandering around looking to see if they had a copy of "the Second Sex," (referenced in one of my monologues/plays, need to read it), they didn't, but picked up a book called "The Culture of Fear" by Barry Glassner about how we are afraid of the wrong things, while avoiding fixing the things we could change that could ameliorate a lot of the problems in the first place.  We tend to focus on the wrong end of the dog.  Good read so far.  Reading it on the bus rides.

About that missing bird

Oh, apparently robins flock together (for safety) and migrate. It seems strange for them to leave now, however, as there seems to be plenty of food, and the weather has been good. And I know we have some during the winter, though, maybe they migrate here from somewhere further north. One site I looked at mentioned that the migrational pattern of American Robins is a mystery. (And the ones that don't migrate, have first choice of breeding territory.)

Free item(s) today: chai (the real stuff, not from a bottle) crisp grapes, brownie bites.

Went to an audition panel after work. There were four panelists from theatres around town, mostly casting directors (ACT, Seattle Rep, Book-It, and Seattle Shakespeare Co.) They talked about the casting process, resumes, general things about auditions, how to choose work and prepare that for a general audition, among other things (it's okay to introduce yourself, let them know what you are doing; they are on your side even if you don't get cast, etc.) Really helpful. So on that input, I am going to sign up for the TPS auditions, even if I only get to the pre-auditions. So, need to start saving up for head-shots (about $285.) I guess that's actually not too bad, camera actors have to get them a lot more often than stage actors, you have to actually look like the picture when you go out for auditions/jobs. (Some stage actors look nothing at all like their head shots; they are refreshingly less intimidating in person.)  Also, need to start reading a lot more plays. And I don't think I'll do a classical monologue. On the way home, I also decided I need to start doing the physical training again: my center of gravity has creeped up toward my chest again, and I feel like I have an aversion to my feet fully contacting the ground. I've been making a lot of excuses, time for that to stop.

I'd been looking for a group of people to work with, and now (fingers crossed) I have two: a clown group and a text group. Both of them only meet 1x/month, but it's something to stay in practice, to read more plays, work on monologues, work on physical impulses, and to stay in contact with people, build a community.

And lastly, the woman I sat next to had seen our show, she said she enjoyed it, enjoyed our scene, particularly the clothing removal (it was funny.) It was really nice to having someone I've never met before tell me that. It's good to know all the work is actually communicating to someone, even if it's just to make them laugh. I think it's why we do it, and it makes it more worthwhile to sacrifice (time, money, sanity) this year.