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