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

We want YOU!

All right, playwrights. I know you're out there. I might just start naming names...maybe. Maybe I'll just tag you on the book of face. We still need your submissions here at Monologue Mania! We will TAPE our rehearsals! We will put a voice to your story! Submit at monologuemania@gmail.com. Do it. :)

Anyhoo-I've got an audition tonight. I'm using the Cow poem again in a more edited and concise version (because that's the process my friends: find, edit, perform, tweak, edit again, and test), and I'm singing (because this audition is for a musical!). I'm not going to reveal what I'm singing quite yet, but I'll give you hints: Its a newer rock musical, its by a man with only one name (because he is as cool, if not cooler, than other one-name wonders-ie. Prince), and the musical is about his life. Can you guess the musical?

I'll tell you the answer in my audition update, but otherwise, get thee to an iTunes store and download this music (if you've guessed what it is yet). IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND. Well, I loved it anyway.

Happy Monday!

The Results Are In!!

Alright, I want to send a hearty thank you to the 10 or so people who voted.

There was a definite winner for our poll-An Awesome New Play.

Alas, if only I knew some playwrights that could submit some awesome new works for us to play with...WAIT A MINUTE! I know many of you write (and write well) so don't be shy.

Playwrights are the most important people in theatre-without them, there would be no story. And without a story--there'd be no point to doing theatre. Who wants to stare at a blank stage with actors staring blankly back at you. Not me, no sir.

So come one, come all. CALLING ALL PLAYWRIGHTS!!
If you'd like for us to use your work in an upcoming audition, or just to workshop it, please email us a PDF document to monologuemania@gmail.com. We can give you feedback on our experiences with your work, we'll even video our rehearsal readings. Isn't that just what you're looking for? A way to hear your beautiful new work??!!?!

Happy Writing!

We Suck.

Let's just call it like it is. We suck at updating this blog.

Speaking from my end, I know I toy with your hearts. I promise you update after update and then no update comes. I tell you I'm working on things, but keep you in the dark. Well, I'm turning on a light because here's what happened to me.

I got cast in a show.

First, let me just say...about damn time! Second, let me apologize (again) for not sending more updates. I'm trying to figure out how to manage my schedule between working a full time job, a part time job and rehearsing a show. Quite frankly, at the end of the day, the only thing I want to do is read a book or watch TV.

This show has been especially challenging because not only do we sing the entire show, but we're also using puppets. And having never done any puppetry before, I'm learning a whole new skill. For instance, did you know puppets breathe? I sure didn't.

So, although I know our relationship is hanging on by a thread, stay with us! Even if we don't blog about it, we are definitely still working toward our goal of 50 monologues found, cut, memorized and blocked by Memorial Day 2011.

And a great big thanks to everyone who voted in our poll! Looks like we're going to be on the hunt for some awesome new plays. (I actually have one in mind already, I'm just waiting for it to be published)

Also, if you're in the Chicagoland area and want to see my show, Blue Nativity, visit Quest Theatre Ensemble's webpage for more info. Info on the show should be up this weekend.

Thanks all for sticking with us.

With gratitude -
Kristi

A Poll

Hello friends,

In the spirit of election day fast approaching, I thought we should take a new spin on the content of the blog. After all, we're writing for you in addition to documenting our trials and errors for ourselves.

I want to know where you want us to look for the month of November. Have you heard of a great play? Have YOU written something brilliant we could test for you? Got a great article to edit, a TV show to record, a dream that was amazing and you wrote it all down on a pad of paper next to your bed? We want to hear about it!!

Please, fill out the poll below (it will be open until Nov. 8), and post a comment to elaborate on your choice. Part of being a non-lazy, procrastinating actor is to have support that gives us a swift kick in the you-know-what. Don't worry about not knowing our "type" or what kind of material any given audition would call for. Just tell us what you like.

Because we like you. And we hope you like us. :)

What material do you think we should work on next?


Please comment below to elaborate (we'd love titles, links, etc. but we will decide what is appropriate and what is spam. Don't you dare, spammers. I mean it.) or email us at monologuemania2011@gmail.com.

You're awesome. Believe it, and have a safe, happy Halloween.

-Whit

M.I.A.

No, not the singer.

Sorry I have been absent from this blog for so long! I have been sick-o. I'm just now starting to get over something I came down with about 2 weeks ago. It started small and thenknocked. me. out.

I just wanted to let you all know I'm still alive and that I'll be back next week with a fabulous update!

In the meantime, enjoy your Halloween weekend! I am going as Mother Nature. What about you?

--Kristi

You want me to read for who?

I learned something at my audition last night.

I need to stop typecasting myself.

type·cast

 [tahyp-kast, -kahst]

–verb (used with object), -cast, -cast·ing. Theater .

1. to cast (a performer) in a role that requires characteristics of physique, manner, personality, etc., similar to those possessed by the performer.

2. to cast (a performer) repeatedly in a kind of role closely patterned after that of the actor's previous successes.

3. to stereotype: He realizes now he's been typecast as an executive errand boy.

At my callback, they asked me to read for the “dumb blonde” character. I have never in my life been called back for the dumb blonde, Valley girl, head cheerleader character. Ever. They didn’t tell me who I was being called back for in advance and when I found out, I was so shocked I basically blew the audition.

But why was I shocked?

Just because I’ve never been cast or asked to audition for that type of role before doesn’t mean I can’t do it. Shouldn’t an actor be able to play all types of roles? Why am I pigeonholing myself?

I’m noticing that I’m choosing the same types of monologues too. They all tend to be kind of quirky or funny; characters that I usually get cast as and identify with.

At my first audition, those directors saw something in me that told them I could be right for this character. I should take that as a compliment. They saw abilities in me that I don’t see in myself and had confidence that I could perform in that role. (Too bad I blew it…) Funnily enough, I've actually been told by more than one person recently that I have a look and a personality that could go either way; ingenue or character.

I think the problem is that when you are in high school and college, you tend to get typecast as one role. Mostly because directors need someone who can fill that part and they have a limited pool to choose from. So you don't always get to flex your acting muscles and work outside the box. The trouble starts when you break out into the real acting world and all of a sudden discover (like me) that if you only audition for a certain role or with material that leans toward a certain type, you have seriously limited the amount of opportunities that you are going to have.

So what do I do about this?

Well first, I need a little self confidence boost. I am a strong, smart, well rounded, capable actor. As long as I can tell the story, I can play the role. (Maybe I'll start saying this to myself in the mirror every day. Jessica, anyone?)

Second I’m resolving to pick more monologues that are out of my comfort zone. Let’s say the next 3 monologues I chose must be against "type" for me.'

But……

……hold me to that, would ya?

*thanks www.dictionary.com for the definition of "typecast"!

PS: While the video blog was fun times, don't get spoiled! Do you think free time grows on trees?

Ode to KK

Hello readers!

Boy, Kristi is the champ of bloggity blogs, is she not? Video blogging. Who knew?

Kristi pretty much summed it up: KK (Karen Kohlhaas) is blowing our little minds. I am seriously sticking post-its all over the book. Unlike Kristi, I got it from the library, and folks there don't take to kindly to highlighting and underlining in their books. I've decided I will be buying this after all.

I keep reading and realizing that I've been leaving out key parts of the audition process, namely the part that I love the most when I direct or act in a production: blocking. I'm taking notes on a few other things, but this is the kicker. She suggests you work within a 6' box-not the entire stage. In the past I've had no problem staying in the box, well, because I don't move. At all. Note taken, KK. I will reform!

Onward-my dear friend Taylor works for a local publication here. She described an essay she published about the trials, discomfort, and embarrassment of couple's yoga (I had never heard of such a thing...). Apparently, the article is hilarious, and I can't wait to splice it into something I can use. Talk about a lovely monologue to break out that better blocking!

I'm trying hard to listen to everything, read everything as though it could work on stage. I'm hoping that even though my next audition probably won't be until January, I'll be continuing to push myself not to slack through active listening/reading. Can't hurt right?

Have a great week!

-Whit

Face Time

This was supposed to be posted last week, but I had technical difficulties. Better late than never!

"You ARE still blogging, right?"

Someone asked me this yesterday and I felt compelled to respond.

Yes, we ARE still blogging!

I think blogging about the process of finding and learning 50 monologues in a year's time is a tough one. There's a lot of repetition in this process, none of which makes for interesting reading after the first time you write about it.

Also, I don't have internet at home, so to update the blog I have to type out the post at home, save it on a flash drive, then bring it into work and post it. Or I have to go to the library with the slow-as-molasses internet and post. Ahh the life of a poor actor...

To be honest, I haven't been doing that much with this project for the past few weeks. I...well....let's just call a spade, a spade. I've been lazy. That's right. You heard me. The project all about not being a lazy actor has been inhibited by, let's say it together, "A lazy actor!"

Instead of making excuses (the fall TV season is back, creativity is not inspired by a long and boring work day, I think I have adult ADD....) I'm just going to promise to get better.

I started reading KK's book over the weekend and I love it. I will definitely be writing about my initial reactions and this fantastic quote that has made me happy we are doing this project.

I am going to commit myself to posting at least once a week. I won't commit myself to a day just yet, (because of the no internet at home thing), but you will get an update from me faithfully once a week! I promise!

Consider this post a fire being lit under my ass.

Onward!
-Kristi

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

Really?

I'm back-I made it through my husband's driving through the Appalachian Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains, I survived hiking to 3 different waterfalls, and I almost made it up Chimney Rock-but dang that "rock" is a freakin' CLIFF. A FREAKING HIGH CLIFF. After hiking all day, I don't do a 26-story cliff. Sorry nature, you're beautiful, but you also make me hyperventilate sometimes.

And through all the mountain driving, my hope to read the whole way was dashed by...well...the inability to read comfortably. We'll leave it at that.

But, BUT, dear readers, I watched some movies. And those movies had, what I'm hoping, are some excellent chunks of text. And I can't help but think: "Really?"

Ok, now I'm totally guilty of watching auditions or hearing about other's experiences and cringing uncomfortably about people performing monologues from a movie. I've seen good presentations, don't get me wrong, but I feel like movies are easy to imitate. Text, and text alone, really makes you *work* for your interpretation. Watch a movie too much, love a performance so much and you could be re-enacting...not performing. Well...at least that's what I'm afraid of.

Seriously-I'm an imitator. I have been since I was a child. My mother bought me a pair of tap shoes at a garage sale when I was 4 or 5, and she asked me if I wanted to take classes. My response: "No. I know how to do it," as I continued to make crazy clicks and watch my reflection in the dishwasher. Why? Because I watched the Lawrence Welk Show (come on, young people, thinking PBS, think variety show, too many sequins, and BIG hair), and I thought I knew how to tap. I don't think this imitation skill is always a bad thing (that's how I pick up on dialects easily), but...

In any case, the movie. My favorite: A Coen Brother's flick-"The Hudsucker Proxy" (1994) There's a GREAT female character (Amy Archer) played by Jennifer Jason Lee. She has a great speech, and luckily, she plays the role in a very stereotypical-1950s-I'm-Katherine-Hepburn kind of way that would be easy *not* to imitate-to make a bit more believable, more grounded. I'll be investigating. :)

On to a busy week-have a great one!

Whitney

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

Kristi's 1st Month In Review

Greetings!

It's taken me almost a month to write my Month In Review. Sad. I need to get better!

For me, this month has been all about reading. I've been reading books, newspapers, magazines, online articles, pretty much whatever I can get my hands on. I didn't set out to start looking for monologues in unusual places, but that's how it worked out. I've also been getting stuff from friends, (shoutout to Heidi who has thrown all kinds of stuff at me! I love it!) which is amazing and I really hope to use some of it to create some new pieces.

I've had lots of auditions in the past month and I've basically used 3 monologues. I've talked about all three on the blog, but I'll give a little run down of how I'm feeling about them. I'm not sure if any of them will make the final 50, but they are staying in my binder o' monologues to be worked on.

Here we go...

Calm - Adam Gwon
This is the very first piece I talked about on the blog. If you recall, this is the song I was turning into a monologue. It's a hard process, turning a song into a monologue. I set it down a couple weeks ago and haven't picked it up since. I don't want to abandon it all together, but it's been difficult to make it sound natural.

I think that this piece also requires more character work than I've had time to put into it. As I mentioned in one my previous blogs, I started out basically playing "crazy" which is a terrible character choice and gets you nowhere. When I worked on it a little bit more, I discovered more things about her personality and who she is, but nothing really clicked and felt right. It would definitely help if I could see the show and get some idea of the given circumstances, but all I've got to go on right now is what's in the song.

Current verdict: Staying in the binder but...might not make the 50.

Love After Love - Derek Walcott

This is the poem I found, *ahem*, in the front of the book The Time Traveler's Wife. I love this poem. It speaks directly to my heart. It is so relevant for everything I am feeling at this point in my life and I am just completely enamored with it.

What I've discovered I like about doing a poem as your audition piece is that you can totally create the world surrounding the words. There are no given circumstances (usually), there is no character background to consider, there are essentially no rules. If you want to repeat a section, you can repeat section. If you want to play it one way at today's audition and then do a 180 for tomorrow's audition, you can. In a typical monologue, you can make changes to the performance, but you are limited by the things I've mentioned previously (given circumstances, character background, etc).

Too bad I can't do poems for every audition. I could definitely rock that.

Current Verdict: Love it. Definitely going to keep playing and using it for auditions. Will probably make the top 50.

A Passion Play by Pippin Parker

When I first read this 10 minute play, I really really really liked it. I read it again about a week or so later and I still really really really liked it. That being said, I'm struggling to really really really like the monologue I've been using.

I think I need to check out the book that this play came in from the library again and make a copy of it. I have some questions and some things that aren't clicking that I think would be solved by rereading the play and having it handy for reference. I think once I do that, I'll have more a grasp on the piece and things will start to fall into place.

Current Verdict: Definite potential for making the top 50.





There's the first month of Monologue Mania in review. Next month's review will not be nearly as long because....well I haven't been working on much new material. I guess I've still got two weeks left though....better get cracking!

Thanks to all of you for your continued support and encouragement! Please leave us comments! We love comments! You don't have to be a follower of the blog or have a Google account. (Although we encourage you become a follower and get our updates!)

Until next time!
-Kristi

Laugh It Off...

So here's an audition story for you.....

Yesterday was rather rainy in the morning. When I arrived at the theatre for my audition, I went straight to the nearest mirror to fix my hair and check on my make up.

Earlier this week, I cut my hand on the front gate of my apartment building and I had put on a fresh bandaid yesterday before I left. As they called my name and I stepped into the theatre, I noticed the bandaid on my hand was missing. I quickly checked my shirt and pants to make sure it wasn't sticking on them. The bandaid was MIA. "Oh well," I thought, "it's wet and rainy outside and it was a Dollar Tree bandaid. What did you expect?" The audition went okay; not perfect, but not horrible.

Afterward, I went across the street to grab some coffee for my bus ride home. As I ordered, the barista says to me, "Umm....you have something in your hair." I reach up and sure enough, there was my Dollar Tree Disney Princesses bandaid, stuck in my hair.

Whoops...

I went through my entire audition with a hot pink Little Mermaid bandaid stuck in my hair. Classy. I can only hope that the women I was auditioning for thought it was a barrette!

-Kristi

PS: I'm in the process of writing a "Month In Review". Look for it soon!

I'm alive...barely...I promise

Hello readers-

I swear I haven't abandoned poor Kristi. Its been a whirlwind of activity in my life, and I'm seeing a slowdown here just in a bit (I go on vacation!!!! HOORAY!) where hopefully, you'll hear much more from the Eastern-end of the Midwestern pair.

The Farm Animal themed audition package went well. I think the pieces were strong (they might end up in the final 50)...but my nerves, alack, alack, alack...were not. As my supervisor says, "Pieces are more effective when there is focused energy, not sideways."

Let me tell you: I felt sideways, backways, upways, downways, allways during that audition. Ah well. There are 3 shows, three separate callbacks. As of now, I'm 0 for 1. We'll see about the others.

I wasn't planning on many more auditions until this spring, but I'm going to spread out a bit- see what I can find in the way of smaller theatres, maybe some things at the university near me. I LOVE a good independent project, and I can't wait to see what my city is hiding.

My next attempt will be looking at what I've missed-the good man's monologue that can be transformed, the monologue from the plays we all studied in school but were too afraid to (over)use, monologues made from chunks of a conversation, heck, monologues within the pages of a newspaper. I've also been listening to quite a few books on CD while driving too and from work, and I just recently finished "The Penelopiad" by Margaret Atwood. Boy, if she can't write a wonderfully decent 1st person story, I don't know who can. And her stories are good. Darn, good.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend everyone, and enjoy the fall weather...atleast for today. :)

All Best-

Whitney

Audition Update

Helloo there!

It was a busy weekend for me here in Chicago. Two auditions and plenty of errands to run. Here's a rundown of how it went.

Audition #1:

I wouldn't exactly call this a train wreck but.....well it wasn't my strongest. I don't think I fully understood what they were looking for in terms of monologues, so I didn't give them what they wanted. My Shakespeare went fine. It was the second piece that was maybe not so good.

They were looking for something really physical. Not a dance really, but something that incorporated lots of movement. Aaanndd...that's not what they got from me. I definitely went out of my comfort zone of, "park it and bark it" but I didn't quite incorporate as much of the physical element they were asking for.

Oh well! I would love to be a part of the Sarah Ruhl play, but it just wasn't not meant to be.

Audition #2:

I felt stronger about this audition. I did the Walcott poem "Love After Love" as well as a monologue from a played called A Passion Play

Individually, I think both monologues went well. I performed "Love After Love" in a different style than I did the day before, which was fun and I liked it a lot better. The monologue from A Passion Play was decent, although the lines were not 100% perfect and that always adds a hint of hesitation when you're not sure of what you're saying.

Together, I don't really know if I like these two monologues as a package. The common theme bonding them together is passion. Passion for a person in the poem and passion for a place and for life in the second piece. Still I'm not sure that they are contrasting enough. I think they have the potential to work well together, but I just don't know. I've got another audition coming up in a few weeks and I'm going to keep tweaking to see if I can get them to play nicely together.

In other news, we're approaching the 1 month mark! Hard to believe we've been doing this for a month already! I'll be writing a month recap, so stay tuned for that!

-Kristi

Whew...

Got through that one. Audition, I mean. I felt good about the choices, but even with the PBJ I could not help but shake with anxiety.

I'm not kidding.

Ever since I can remember, I shake like a leaf at every audition. Not shows, not teaching, not any other public speaking-just auditions. But I did the best I could.

I'm not like Kristi-this is my last audition for a bit, but the monologue hunt with continue!!

Power to the people (and other fellow shaking leaves).

-Whit

It's Raining Men

And by "men" I mean "auditions".

Before I get too much further into this entry let's give it up for Whit, who successfully compared the audition process to a PB &J sandwich. Hear hear!

So, remember when I said it's audition season in Chicago? The winds of the season blew in full force this weekend aren't leaving any time soon.

Here in the Windy City, auditions come in waves. (apparently I like weather/nature related analogies) In the fall, we usually have a whole bunch of Season General auditions. This basically means the theatre company is testing the talent waters. You usually are not auditioning for a specific show, but rather giving them an idea of what you can do. If they find you appropriate for one of their upcoming shows, they call you back to audition a second time, but it might not be until March......even though you auditioned in September....it messes with your head, I gotta be honest. BUT, it's quite thrilling to get that call in March that someone saw you audition in September and remembered you. I'll take it!

I have TWO auditions this weekend. One Saturday and on Sunday. Both require two monologues, which means a total of four monologues! Ahh, PANIC!

Sidebar: I have a rather difficult to pronounce last name and when I was in high school, someone gave me the nickname "She's-In-A-Panic", which sounds similar to my last name if you say it really fast. That nickname was well earned. I panicked prematurely then and I still do now.

Once I got over myself, I realized that I really only have to do 3 monologues. (3 because the first audition requires a Shakespeare, which isn't appropriate for the second audition) Here's the direct instructions I've been given for Audition #1:

Choose Thine Own Adventure based on the works of Willy S -
"Please prepare a 1-2 minute Shakespeare piece you love. Don't worry about gender, age, race, comic vs dramatic, etc. Your love for the lines you choose is most important."

Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl
"Please prepare a brief poem (2 minutes max). Margaret Atwood or e.e. cummings are good examples of poems to look at in terms of style. Using this poem as a base, create a fully realized world for it. Through the language and physicality we should have a strong sense of what is happening. What kind of character are you? To whom are you speaking? What is the situation and where is this moment taking place? The specificity is not meant to intimidate but to allow absolute creative freedom, creativity and artistry. Your imagination is appreciated and celebrated by the Filament artistic team!"

I'll be busting out that old chestnut from Hamlet, "I have of late, but wherefore I know not..." because I love it. I love the speech, I love the meaning behind the speech and I relate 110% percent to what he's feeling at that moment in time.

For the second piece, I think I'm going to work on a poem called Love After Love by Dereck Walcott. (I read it the beginning of the book The Time Traveler's Wife, but shh...no one needs to know that) It is speaking about healing after a break up, but I think the actual words are more universal. I think his words are really about healing in general. Healing after a time of being so despondent, you feel you can't get any lower.

So there's my audition package for the first audition. Down in the dumps with Hamlet, then rising from the ashes with Walcott.

I will use the Walcott poem again for Audition #2 and I'm still trying to find something else that I think compliments it. This company was not nearly as specific about what they are looking for, so I'm on my own.

I have to be honest, I have a lot of work ahead of me this week. Especially to get the poem to reflect what Audition #1 is asking for. I'm pretty excited about it though. I've read Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice and several of her other plays. She's one of my favorite playwrights, so I hope I make a good showing. I would love a chance to do some of her work.

Off I go!

-Kristi

Farm PBJ

Let's hear it for Kristi and her great audition!! HOORAY!

Well, my audition is now a solid 5 days away, and I think I've found my two pieces. (ok, you can pick your jaw off the floor now). Now the process stands in the copy, cut, paste...re-copy, re-cut, re-paste stage. My favorite stage. Well, this stage is a close second to the stage where I'm walking off of *the* stage, finally finished with the darn audition. We'll get there.

Now, you may recall I was looking for classical and contemporary pieces.  Well, I took a leap and went to Classical Spanish plays-not to dear old Willy-and a wackadoo poem entitled "Cow".  Where does the farm theme come in, you ask? Well, the classical is Lope de Vega, and the play is Fuente Ovejuna (also know as "The Fountain Where Sheep Drink"). Get it? Cows. Sheep. Eh? Eh?!

Oh what connections actors find to justify the "perfect" audition package. Heh.

Its a tricky one, this "audition package". I almost think finding one monologue "with considerable range" is easier than finding two monologues. Why? That's a good question.

I think a solid audition package is like the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich. (Bear with me now.)

Now you've got two pieces of bread (this is like your time slot: 90 seconds, 2 minutes, etc.). You search for the best peanut butter and the best jelly to make the perfect sandwich (your assignment: two monologues *or* one monologue and a song for instance), to make the perfect audition package (delicious and nutritious!).

But what do I find at times?

That I've found the best peanut butter. I put that on one slice. Then I go to the pantry and find, gasp, the best crunchy peanut butter! Its good, just as good as the smooth, but different...right? But put it on the other slice of bread and all you have is a PBPB sandwich. Unfortunately, the sandwich is "just so" without that compliment zing of the jelly. There's no variance, no excitement-and the audience definitely stops listening to the same tone of voice, the same objective after about, oh, 1 minute. Not even that sometimes.

When finding an audition package, you *must* look for two pieces that can stand alone, but can also stand together without mushing into one long one-noted speech. Show the audience that you can be the antagonist and the protagonist, that you can embolden them and make them sick, that you can make them laugh and cry.

Make the best PBJ sandwich you can muster! Even if it does smell like barn.

On to editing,

-Whit

Positivity

I had a great audition this morning.

Nothing puts me in a good mood like having a smooth audition. I did not have to do a monologue, but I did have to sing. I felt I sang well and I was asked by the auditor to sing the song a second time, with some direction he gave me.

I love getting constructive criticism in auditions. It really helps to hear people's impressions of what you are doing and what they feel you can improve on. I wish there was more time in auditions for people to give feedback. Everyone would get so much better at auditioning if this was the case.

On the monologue front, I haven't done much this week. I just sort of dropped the ball. But I have to get back on the wagon because it's audition season in Chicago!

More on that later...


-Kristi

Trial and Error

I’m sure you’ve all been waiting with bated breath to find out how my audition went. (And if you haven’t, you should probably pretend. Actors are fragile. We need a lot of ego boosting)


It went about as well as I was expecting it to. As I mentioned before, I’m not feeling 100% comfortable with this monologue yet, but I wanted to try it out to see where it needed work. I didn’t get much of a reaction at all from the auditors, so I’m not actually sure what to fix performance wise. Allow me to rant for a second.

I’ve auditioned for this Theatre Company (which shall remain nameless) a few times since living in Chicago. They are a company with an ensemble, which means most of their casting comes from within their group. However, they are committed to holding open auditions once or twice a year to see what’s new in the talent pool. I think that is a great opportunity for people like me. BUT.

Whenever they hold these auditions, they are always running waaaayyyy behind. My audition was at 4:15. I didn’t get seen until 4:50. That is unacceptable to me. Also, there are often people who walk in and get seen right away, without having a pre-booked slot. These are not Equity auditions. They are not adhering to any sort of Equity rules. It’s a dog eat dog world when you’re Non-Eq and I don’t care if you know X, Y or Z at the Theatre Company. I say you have to wait.

Finally, the auditors always seem bored. Like they are just holding these auditions because someone back in the 70’s put these auditions in their mission statement so now they have to do it because it’s like this “law” but it doesn’t really matter because we’re just going to cast from our ensemble anyway. At least pretend you want to see me perform. Like I said, actors are fragile.


Dog. Eat. Dog.


Back to the monologue.


After I performed it, I felt a little down that I didn’t get the reaction I had hoped for. As I began to digest what I had performed, I think it’s because of the character choice I made. Simply put, I played “crazy”. WTF Kristi? That’s a TERRIBLE character choice!

Deb is not simply “crazy”. She’s stressed out. Overworked and under paid. Over qualified for what she’s currently doing, but not qualified enough to do what she wants to be doing. She’s going to grad school to get her degree and make herself qualified, but she’s dealing with a professor who is making that more than difficult. She’s living in a tiny apartment, with too many roommates, spending every penny just trying to get by and struggling to stay afloat. (Deb and I have a lot in common.)

She wants a sympathizer. In the course of this speech, she wants to appeal to your soft side. She wants you understand that she’s doing the best that she can, but her best isn’t good enough. She wants you to give her a solution. She’s begging you for a solution.

Ahh, much better character choice, Kristi.

So that’s where I am. I will continue to refine the actual lines and work on Deb as a character. I might put this one aside for a week or so and concentrate on a new one. Sometimes coming back to something with fresh eyes is just what you need.



-Kristi

So little time...

I'm afraid to say that here I am again, preparing for an audition that was 3 weeks away, but magically has drawn nearer! And I can feel that pattern: wait, search, panic, second guess, wait, and freak starting to set in--but I'm determined NOT to let that happen this time.

This upcoming audition requires one classical and one contemporary monologue, and the hunt begins tomorrow. I have a few classic pieces prepared (one Shakespeare, one not) but neither seems appropriate (either too long or comedic-I need a dramatic). And as far as contemporary goes-well, I just have to say that I'm really tired of women's monologues (the ones in monologue books especially) being centered around the superficial or the overly dramatic (and depressing for that matter). I mean really, where is the solid storytelling? Those that really grip your heart and emphasize the character's goals instead of fabricated emotions. But that's our mission, right?

But for this I'll be looking towards a fantastic poetry book called Staying Alive. 

And I may also be delving in the realm of male roles. Just because I'm curious about what pieces women pass up solely because its not a "women's monologue."

More later-

Whit

It's Really Hard, Ya Know?*

I'm at a bit of a sticking point with this monologue right now. As I stated below, I'm turning a song into a monologue. This has it's challenges. Like the fact that the whole piece rhymes. Or that it's 3+ minutes long.

The first step for me was to write the entire thing out word for word, as if it were a monologue. Right away, I had problems because I couldn't figure out where to put the punctuation. "Calm" is what is known as a patter song. Think of it as a stream of consciousness song. The character is speaking (singing) whatever comes to her mind, as it comes up. It's sort of like one giant run on sentence. I finally gave up on the punctuation and decided that once I had the entire piece written out, I would speak it out loud to see where the natural commas and periods fell.

As I started to speak it out loud, I realized that it doesn't sound entirely natural. As a song it works because it's supported by the music and the rhyme scheme, but as a spoken piece it doesn't work. This was where I realized I was going to have to cut some lines and that made me sad. I've known all along that lines were going to have to be cut (after all, the piece is over 3 minutes), but I didn't want to let go. I think the entire thing is so hilariously written that I was very hesitant to give up lines.

When I began speaking the piece out loud, I started to realize the jokes were sounding repetitive. Once again, in song form it works, but not so much in spoken word. This was helpful because I was able to cut jokes that I found less funny and rearrange some things that I thought would land better in other places.

Here's where we get to the sticking point.

When I graduated from college (Hope College class of Aught 7! Go Dutch!), the theatre professors presented each one of us with a book that they had all signed. I received a book by Uta Hagen, a famous acting teacher. In her book, she briefly addresses the subject of auditioning. One of the things she stresses is that monologues need to be learned word for word. No paraphrasing or making up lines.

This is something I learned early on in my theatre career. In the beginning, I was taught that it was for all of the people working backstage. If you say a line wrong or make up a line, the light board operator might not know when to change the lights, or the sound operator might not press "play" at the right moment. As I got older, I realized that memorizing word for word was important for the crew but it was also a sign of respect for the playwright. There is a reason he wrote those  words and to make things up or paraphrase is a great sign of disrespect. I have a HUGE amount of respect for authors, playwrights, lyricists, etc., who are able to write exactly what I'm feeling, when I am unable to express it.

The problem with "Calm" is that I keep paraphrasing! Not only do I keep paraphrasing, I keep adding in or substituting lines that I've already decided to cut.

I think that this is because the speech doesn't feel natural to me. But it's not supposed to feel natural to me. It's the character, Deb, who is saying it, not Kristi. The words are totally natural for Deb.

I need to figure out who Deb is. I need to do some character work. I've only seen bits of the musical that this song comes from, so I think I'm going to need to do some more research. I've already checked to see if it's playing anywhere near me, but unfortunately it's not. It's a rather obscure musical, so I wasn't really expecting much.

I'm going to use this monologue for an audition tomorrow, but I know it won't be as spectacular as I want it to be. However, I want to see what happens when I use it for an audition. Where I get laughs, what nerves do the performance and how I feel when I'm performing it.

I'll keep you posted....

-Kristi

*This is an actual line from the monologue. And one that's really resonating with me right now. :)

My Journey Begins Tonight

I've been kicking around the idea for a monologue for some time, but it's a little HOT in my apartment, which makes concentrating kind of difficult. However, my building in Chicago has a lovely courtyard and portico out front, which I'll be taking full advantage of tonight. Cross your fingers for a nice breeze....

The monologue is coming from a song called "Calm" by Adam Gwon. For those of you not familiar with his work, check out this YouTube video of my friend Kate. Kate and I met in the spring of 2006 when I was living in New York City and she's hilariously funny.

The song is a great one and a perfect story with a beginning, middle and end. The problem is, it's not that suitable for auditions. Generally in a musical audition, you sing 16 or 32 bars of something. There's not a good cut of that length from this song. But, I love it......

So what do I do?

"Turn it into a monologue!" shouted the chorus of blog readers. You catch on fast.

It's definitely going to take some editing. After all, it is a song and songs are rhyme-y. That sounds a little silly in most non-musical audition situations. It's also a touch long, so I may have to cut a little bit. Overall, I think it going to be a great character piece when it's finished.

My other goal for the week is to explore more of Karen Kohlhaas's (whom I'll probably refer to as KK from this point on) website. I eventually want to order her books, but payday is not until Friday. :)

Away we go!

-Kristi

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!

And so it begins...

With any new story, there calls for some exposition.

Kristi and I met at Hope College in 2004, both as theatre majors. After braving 3 years now in the real world of theatre, music, and all things performing arts, we have both been lucky enough to land jobs and roles in our field...but not without a hefty serving of anxiety, procrastination, self-doubt, and a load of "Thank you" (AKA. Thanks, but no thanks.). After all, for every "yes", there are 1000 "no"s. Right?

After lamenting together about how difficult it was, not only to find solid audition pieces, but to really *own* them and feel confident about them, we decided to start a challenge of sorts. A challenge that will hopefully make future auditions (ours and yours) less stressful, allowing our talents (not our nerves) to stand out. I'll let Kristi post about how the idea was born later.

So what is this challenge we speak of, you ask? Here are the major bullet points:

-Find 50 solid audition pieces. We may find more and post them, but overall we'll weed out the best ones for a final list. After all, you need failures to recognize success (thank you, John Tammi!)

-These 50 audition pieces will *not* all be from plays. In fact, we're challenging ourselves to find monologues in poetry, journaling, news articles, songs, conversations, blogs, spoken word, etc., etc., etc.

-The final 50 must be found and edited/cut by Memorial Day 2011 (May 30). That leaves 295 days from today. Sounds doable...we hope.

-After the project is finished, we may attempt to publish the 50. Or perform them in a town near you. Or keep finding more. Who knows-suggestions are welcome!

We also want to encourage you to submit your favorite pieces and/or your *original* work. Submissions may be made to monologuemania@gmail.com. We'll review it, and if we post your submission, we'll give you credit, we promise! Just make sure to site the author or the original work and where it came from (song, play, etc.)

And in the spirit of theatre family, we want you to feel free to use what we find as well. Just please, remember to slate with the appropriate author and source during your audition. Its only proper.

Have a great time reading, and let the Mania begin!!

-Whit