Midwest Theatre auditions are over.
*GIGANTIC SIGH OF RELIEF*
Seriously, I was putting a lot of pressure on myself. I think a big part of that stems from a surge of wanderlust that struck me right around Halloween and has only gotten swifter and swifter as the months go on. Although Chicago is lovely in the summer (free concerts from the likes of Mumford and Sons and She & Him? Yes, please!) I would like to be elsewhere this year. As I mentioned before, Midwest is bascially a cattle call audition for many summer and year-round theatres, so it was my golden opportunity and I hope you'll allow me this moment of ego...
I nailed it.
My song never sounded better and my monologue was right on track. I LOVE it when you can walk away from an audition and know that, even you don't get called back for anything, you still did the best job you could do and you had fun while doing it.
One of the things I think makes Midwest so great is that you are on an actual stage. Back in the day (and even as recently as the 70's) that was how all auditions were conducted. These days, you are usually in a tiny room somewhere and "overacting" is a serious concern. But not at Midwest. You are on a stage, with house lights out and stage lights up. You can't see the people you're auditioning for (which I love) and you get the added benefit of being on the set of whatever show is currently running in that theatre. All of this helps your audition. A lot. What better way to audition for a theatre job than on a stage? If it was up to me, all auditions would be conducted this way.
I ended up with 4 callbacks (although one of the theatres was not actually attending the callbacks, so I don't count them) Funnily enough, I got a call back from the summer theatre at my alma mater, Hope Summer Repertory Theatre. For various reasons, I was never available during the summers while I was in college, so I never had a chance to work with them.The other two theatres were Tibbets Summer Playhouse in MI and Missoula Children's Theatre in Montana. Most of them start the hiring process sometime in March, so fingers crossed I'll hear something soon.
Don't think my auditions are over though. Next week is my audition for GreatWorks Theatre Company (a children's company) as well as Remy Bumppo (a pro company here in Chicago). The following week is the national tour of Mama Mia, Mason Street Warehouse (in Michigan) and the Marriott Theatre (again in the Chicagoland area)
WHEW. Life is busy, friends.
I hope you all have a wonderful Oscar weekend! King's Speech is my vote for Best Picture!
With love and gratitude -
Kristi
Showing posts with label Inspiration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Inspiration. Show all posts
Friday, February 25, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Short and Sweet
Hi everyone! Happy 1/11/11! Wouldn't it be cool if you were turning 11 years old today? It'd be like a golden birthday, only better.
I have a video in the works that I will be sharing with you hopefully in the next day or two. I'm introducing the first two worksheets that Whitney mentioned in her last post, so stay tuned for that!
Today, I wanted to share a note about what I call short and sweet monologues. (I talk about this some in the video, but I wanted to elaborate here)
It seems to me the standard audition is one monologue, under 2 minutes. This is pretty basic for most non-musical audition situations, but I've noticed lately a lot of companies have been asking for something under 1 minute.
To a non-actor, 1 minute might seem like forever, but it's really a very short amount of time. There's not a whole lot you can do with 1 minute. Take a paragraph out of your favorite book and read it out loud. It probably takes you roughly a minute to read it at normal speed. See how fast it went by? Now try to pack something of substance in those 60 seconds.
Part of this project has been to look for monologues in non-traditional places and a great place to go for short and sweet monologues is television shows. I know, I know, it seems weird, but think about it. TV writers have 45 minutes to tell an entire story. So any monologue they write has to get to the point and get there quick.
The current monologue I'm working on is from Grey's Anatomy (my fave show :)). The show is in it's seventh season. My monologue is from season 5. If you chose to do a monologue from a currently running TV show, it's probably a good idea to go one or two seasons back. One of the problems you run into doing a monologue from television is that your auditors may have preconceived notions about what this character is supposed to look and sound like. After all, someone is already playing this character in front of millions of people weekly. If you chose a past season, most likely no one but the hard-core fans will remember that speech. Also, since characters tend to change from season to season, there's a good chance that your character in season 5 is not the same character in season 7.
I always stayed away from doing TV monologues in auditions because I was embarrassed to say, "My name is Kristi and I'll be doing a monologue from *insert TV show here*" However, my friend Brandon, a fellow actor, gave me a great tip recently. He uses a monologue from a popular TV show quite frequently and when he does, he states the title of the episode not the title of the TV show. If they ask, you can certainly tell them what TV show it's from, but by telling them the title of the episode, you hopefully keep them from passing immediate judgement.
I mentioned above that the auditors might have preconceived ideas about who this character is, but it can't be denied that you do as well. I watch Grey's every week and have been living with this character for 2 years, so I certainly have an idea about how she should be played. However, I'm doing everything I can to rid myself of those brain worms*. I only watched the episode once and that was so I could get the story. I got the text of the piece off the internet, but I couldn't quite remember the context, so I watched the episode exclusively for that. During the scene in which my monologue occurs, I didn't pay any attention to the acting, only to the text of the piece to make sure I had it written down correctly. After all, the internet isn't always right. ...
Once I had done that, I put the DVDs away and I won't pull them out again until after I have finalized my version of this piece. In the video to come, you'll see that I've done some of my KK homework and I'll be finishing the rest this week. It's so incredibly helpful and I can't wait to share with you how I feel her homework has impacted my audition. We know it's done well for Whitney! She got cast in a great show!
Have a great day everyone and don't miss my next video, coming soon!
With gratitude-
Kristi
*Does anyone remember that Private Practice/Grey's cross-over episode when Addison's brother had parasites in his brain?! Intense.
I have a video in the works that I will be sharing with you hopefully in the next day or two. I'm introducing the first two worksheets that Whitney mentioned in her last post, so stay tuned for that!
Today, I wanted to share a note about what I call short and sweet monologues. (I talk about this some in the video, but I wanted to elaborate here)
It seems to me the standard audition is one monologue, under 2 minutes. This is pretty basic for most non-musical audition situations, but I've noticed lately a lot of companies have been asking for something under 1 minute.
To a non-actor, 1 minute might seem like forever, but it's really a very short amount of time. There's not a whole lot you can do with 1 minute. Take a paragraph out of your favorite book and read it out loud. It probably takes you roughly a minute to read it at normal speed. See how fast it went by? Now try to pack something of substance in those 60 seconds.
Part of this project has been to look for monologues in non-traditional places and a great place to go for short and sweet monologues is television shows. I know, I know, it seems weird, but think about it. TV writers have 45 minutes to tell an entire story. So any monologue they write has to get to the point and get there quick.
The current monologue I'm working on is from Grey's Anatomy (my fave show :)). The show is in it's seventh season. My monologue is from season 5. If you chose to do a monologue from a currently running TV show, it's probably a good idea to go one or two seasons back. One of the problems you run into doing a monologue from television is that your auditors may have preconceived notions about what this character is supposed to look and sound like. After all, someone is already playing this character in front of millions of people weekly. If you chose a past season, most likely no one but the hard-core fans will remember that speech. Also, since characters tend to change from season to season, there's a good chance that your character in season 5 is not the same character in season 7.
I always stayed away from doing TV monologues in auditions because I was embarrassed to say, "My name is Kristi and I'll be doing a monologue from *insert TV show here*" However, my friend Brandon, a fellow actor, gave me a great tip recently. He uses a monologue from a popular TV show quite frequently and when he does, he states the title of the episode not the title of the TV show. If they ask, you can certainly tell them what TV show it's from, but by telling them the title of the episode, you hopefully keep them from passing immediate judgement.
I mentioned above that the auditors might have preconceived ideas about who this character is, but it can't be denied that you do as well. I watch Grey's every week and have been living with this character for 2 years, so I certainly have an idea about how she should be played. However, I'm doing everything I can to rid myself of those brain worms*. I only watched the episode once and that was so I could get the story. I got the text of the piece off the internet, but I couldn't quite remember the context, so I watched the episode exclusively for that. During the scene in which my monologue occurs, I didn't pay any attention to the acting, only to the text of the piece to make sure I had it written down correctly. After all, the internet isn't always right. ...
Once I had done that, I put the DVDs away and I won't pull them out again until after I have finalized my version of this piece. In the video to come, you'll see that I've done some of my KK homework and I'll be finishing the rest this week. It's so incredibly helpful and I can't wait to share with you how I feel her homework has impacted my audition. We know it's done well for Whitney! She got cast in a great show!
Have a great day everyone and don't miss my next video, coming soon!
With gratitude-
Kristi
*Does anyone remember that Private Practice/Grey's cross-over episode when Addison's brother had parasites in his brain?! Intense.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
A Quick Update
Hi all!
I've been slightly absent from the blog recently, but I'm taking a break amidst the Thanksgiving festivities to pop in and say hello! Rehearsal is keeping me super busy, but our show open next Saturday and I'll have much more time to shift my focus back to the blog.
I've recently been given some suggestions for new monologues, so I'm really excited to look them up and tackle them when I get back to Chicago. That said, I echo Whitney's post below...
We want YOU, playwrights!
Don't hide behind that computer screen because I know you're out there! We went to college with some talented folks AND I've met some talented folks since moving to Chicago, so...send us your stuff!
Speaking from the heart, new material is my favorite material to perform. One of the monologues I've been doing since I moved to Chicago was something I wrote and it's always gotten a good reception. Casting directors get tired of hearing the same monologues over and over and I get tired of doing them. It's great to have some "standards" in your repertoire, but the new work or the in-development work is the work that gets an actor remembered. And more than once I've had a casting director ask me what the monologue was from and write down the title and author. So they're not just paying attention to the actors. They are paying attention to the material too!
Okay. Enough begging. Time for some coffee, some breakfast and a shower. My family and I have a busy day of museum going and I've got Christmas gifts to finish later.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend and make sure not to get lost in the hustle and bustle of the next 4 weeks. Take some time to enjoy a warm cup of cocoa by the light of the Christmas tree. (Or the lights decorating your windows if you live in an studio and have no room for Christmas tree, like me. :) )
With gratitude,
Kristi
I've been slightly absent from the blog recently, but I'm taking a break amidst the Thanksgiving festivities to pop in and say hello! Rehearsal is keeping me super busy, but our show open next Saturday and I'll have much more time to shift my focus back to the blog.
I've recently been given some suggestions for new monologues, so I'm really excited to look them up and tackle them when I get back to Chicago. That said, I echo Whitney's post below...
We want YOU, playwrights!
Don't hide behind that computer screen because I know you're out there! We went to college with some talented folks AND I've met some talented folks since moving to Chicago, so...send us your stuff!
Speaking from the heart, new material is my favorite material to perform. One of the monologues I've been doing since I moved to Chicago was something I wrote and it's always gotten a good reception. Casting directors get tired of hearing the same monologues over and over and I get tired of doing them. It's great to have some "standards" in your repertoire, but the new work or the in-development work is the work that gets an actor remembered. And more than once I've had a casting director ask me what the monologue was from and write down the title and author. So they're not just paying attention to the actors. They are paying attention to the material too!
Okay. Enough begging. Time for some coffee, some breakfast and a shower. My family and I have a busy day of museum going and I've got Christmas gifts to finish later.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend and make sure not to get lost in the hustle and bustle of the next 4 weeks. Take some time to enjoy a warm cup of cocoa by the light of the Christmas tree. (Or the lights decorating your windows if you live in an studio and have no room for Christmas tree, like me. :) )
With gratitude,
Kristi
Monday, October 11, 2010
Face Time
This was supposed to be posted last week, but I had technical difficulties. Better late than never!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
New Material
Whitney is back, fall is here (officially at 11:09pm EST today) and I'm about to dive into to some new material!
Over the weekend, I decided that I want to move away from non-traditional monologues for a while. The impetus for this came from a list I found while cleaning out my file box.
In most college theatre programs, you are required to take some sort of theatre history. Both Whitney and I were fortunate to have the marvelous John Tammi as a professor for both Western and American theatre history. He gave us all sorts of resources for both of these classes, but the list I found was one we recieved in American theatre history. It is a list of great American plays (many of which won awards, many of which did not) from the early 1900s to the present. A good many of these plays were marked, "If you haven't read this, do it now!".
Well I did not read them them (I was a senior and college was busy!) but fret not, gentle blog readers. JT's advice did not go amiss. I'm doing it now! I've got a date with the Chicago Public Library tonight and I'll be traveling back to my homestate of Michigan tomorrow. Classic plays make for great commuter train/2 hour car trip reading.
Stay tuned because I also recieved KK's book (remember her?) yesterday and I'm already convinced that it's going to be an excellent resource. I'll be back with more about the book soon!
--Kristi
Over the weekend, I decided that I want to move away from non-traditional monologues for a while. The impetus for this came from a list I found while cleaning out my file box.
In most college theatre programs, you are required to take some sort of theatre history. Both Whitney and I were fortunate to have the marvelous John Tammi as a professor for both Western and American theatre history. He gave us all sorts of resources for both of these classes, but the list I found was one we recieved in American theatre history. It is a list of great American plays (many of which won awards, many of which did not) from the early 1900s to the present. A good many of these plays were marked, "If you haven't read this, do it now!".
Well I did not read them them (I was a senior and college was busy!) but fret not, gentle blog readers. JT's advice did not go amiss. I'm doing it now! I've got a date with the Chicago Public Library tonight and I'll be traveling back to my homestate of Michigan tomorrow. Classic plays make for great commuter train/2 hour car trip reading.
Stay tuned because I also recieved KK's book (remember her?) yesterday and I'm already convinced that it's going to be an excellent resource. I'll be back with more about the book soon!
--Kristi
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Good Timing, R&H Theatricals
Just wanted to clue you all in on something exciting I read today. (Well, exciting for me at least. :) )
In case you weren't aware, getting a Broadway or Off-Broadway musical recorded is not an easy thing. Most of the major recording labels don't like to take the chance, as approximately 85% of the population doesn't rush out to buy new cast albums. A while back, two Broadway singers, Sherie Renee Scott and her husband Kurt Deutsch, started Sh-K-Boom Records; a recording label that would make original cast records of shows.
As their label expanded to include actor solo cds, recordings of live entertainment (like 1 person shows) and the various pop record, they then created the Ghostlight Records division, which is solely dedicated to the preservation of traditional musical theatre.
If you've stuck with me this long, I appreciate it because I am now going to tell you why this is relevant to our project.
In my Month In Review post, I wrote about the song "Calm" and how it just wasn't clicking for me. Part of the reason for this is because I've never been able to see a performance (other than snippets on YouTube). Well, thanks to Ghostlight Records, a cast recording of the Off-Broadway production of Ordinary Day is coming out!
*gigantic sigh of relief*
I really did not want to abandon this monologue because I think it is just too good. And this cast recording will allow me to hear other songs from the show and get a better idea of what goes on. There will probably also be some liner notes that give a basic plot, so I have more to go off of.
Also exciting, R&H Theatricals will be accepting applications for professional productions. So everyone cross your fingers that a production comes to the Chicagoland area.
See, you all thought this monologue project was going to be no big deal, didn't you? It's complicated, ya'll!
Here's a link to the article from Playbill.com, in case you're interested.
-Kristi
In case you weren't aware, getting a Broadway or Off-Broadway musical recorded is not an easy thing. Most of the major recording labels don't like to take the chance, as approximately 85% of the population doesn't rush out to buy new cast albums. A while back, two Broadway singers, Sherie Renee Scott and her husband Kurt Deutsch, started Sh-K-Boom Records; a recording label that would make original cast records of shows.
As their label expanded to include actor solo cds, recordings of live entertainment (like 1 person shows) and the various pop record, they then created the Ghostlight Records division, which is solely dedicated to the preservation of traditional musical theatre.
If you've stuck with me this long, I appreciate it because I am now going to tell you why this is relevant to our project.
In my Month In Review post, I wrote about the song "Calm" and how it just wasn't clicking for me. Part of the reason for this is because I've never been able to see a performance (other than snippets on YouTube). Well, thanks to Ghostlight Records, a cast recording of the Off-Broadway production of Ordinary Day is coming out!
*gigantic sigh of relief*
I really did not want to abandon this monologue because I think it is just too good. And this cast recording will allow me to hear other songs from the show and get a better idea of what goes on. There will probably also be some liner notes that give a basic plot, so I have more to go off of.
Also exciting, R&H Theatricals will be accepting applications for professional productions. So everyone cross your fingers that a production comes to the Chicagoland area.
See, you all thought this monologue project was going to be no big deal, didn't you? It's complicated, ya'll!
Here's a link to the article from Playbill.com, in case you're interested.
-Kristi
Sunday, August 8, 2010
And so it begins - Part 2
Hello all! Kristi here. You've heard the basic story from Whitney, so now I'll expand on that.
I have always had trouble with monologues. I think it's the stigma surrounding them. They are bascially your calling card as an actor. You get one 90 second shot in an audition to show what you can do. That's a lot of pressure.
My common practice for monologues is as follows:
-Read a play
-Discover a monologue from said play
-Make a copy of said monologue
-File in a folder labeled "Monologues"
-Two days before an audition, dig through "Monologues" folder in a panic looking for something to use.
.......
As you can tell, this is not the best way to handle a monologue audition.
A few years ago, in one of the aforementioned "panics", I typed "women's monologues" into a Google search to see what came up. Of course, most of what came up junk. But then I stumbled across this gem. It's not a list of monologues, but rather an article about using monologues for an audition.
I'll let you read the article for specifics, but the gist is this. A professor from the Atlantic Acting School in New York City challenged her students to learn 20 monologues. Analyzed, edited, memorized, blocked; the full boat. At the end of the year, if they could come to her and do the 20 monologues back to back, she would buy them dinner. I thought this sounded like a great challenge. Now flash forward three years and I finally get to do it!
College is great for learning the craft of acting and starting to discover who are you as an actor. However, college can't really prepare you for the "real world" of theatre. In the real world, no one is telling you to read plays, no one makes you go see theatre and you are responsible for directing yourself through the audition process. You find (at least I do) that you become kind of lazy, which leads to panicked auditions and material you feel less than passionate about.
I'm excited to work on this project with Whitney. I think if either one of us were attempting to do it alone, we would fail miserably. Having someone hold you accountable is the best way to get things done!
The next 295 days (why does that sound shorter than it actually is?) will be full of ups and downs and we'll share them with you here. Please feel free to comment on anything we write, email us suggestions and send good thoughts our way.
Being a lazy actor ends today!
I have always had trouble with monologues. I think it's the stigma surrounding them. They are bascially your calling card as an actor. You get one 90 second shot in an audition to show what you can do. That's a lot of pressure.
My common practice for monologues is as follows:
-Read a play
-Discover a monologue from said play
-Make a copy of said monologue
-File in a folder labeled "Monologues"
-Two days before an audition, dig through "Monologues" folder in a panic looking for something to use.
.......
As you can tell, this is not the best way to handle a monologue audition.
A few years ago, in one of the aforementioned "panics", I typed "women's monologues" into a Google search to see what came up. Of course, most of what came up junk. But then I stumbled across this gem. It's not a list of monologues, but rather an article about using monologues for an audition.
I'll let you read the article for specifics, but the gist is this. A professor from the Atlantic Acting School in New York City challenged her students to learn 20 monologues. Analyzed, edited, memorized, blocked; the full boat. At the end of the year, if they could come to her and do the 20 monologues back to back, she would buy them dinner. I thought this sounded like a great challenge. Now flash forward three years and I finally get to do it!
College is great for learning the craft of acting and starting to discover who are you as an actor. However, college can't really prepare you for the "real world" of theatre. In the real world, no one is telling you to read plays, no one makes you go see theatre and you are responsible for directing yourself through the audition process. You find (at least I do) that you become kind of lazy, which leads to panicked auditions and material you feel less than passionate about.
I'm excited to work on this project with Whitney. I think if either one of us were attempting to do it alone, we would fail miserably. Having someone hold you accountable is the best way to get things done!
The next 295 days (why does that sound shorter than it actually is?) will be full of ups and downs and we'll share them with you here. Please feel free to comment on anything we write, email us suggestions and send good thoughts our way.
Being a lazy actor ends today!
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