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. :)