The Final Callback Curse

There are sometimes those days where you actually feel really good about your audition. You pretty much killed the open call. You aced the callback. You got the sides down and practiced the song you were given to the point where you had become the character. Plus, most importantly, they seemed to REALLY like you. So much so, that you commuted back multiple times to dance and sing and read and harmonize and be generally awesome again and again.

Now, there are many sources that offer tips and advice on audition techniques that would probably say that you should forget about your audition as soon as it’s over. But come on…..we’re only human. Isn’t a glimmer of hope better than no hope at all? If you’re anything like me, I have practically filled my daydreams with everything from how I would play the part to what I would wear on the first day of rehearsals. I’ve virtually invited all my Facebook friends, written my Playbill biography and decided where to put the credit on my resume. I’ve imagined the moment I get my script and planned Starbucks dates before rehearsals to highlight all my lines and research my character.

The problem is that as soon as it comes to the casting director dialing those numbers to give you an offer, you are pushed into another pile of ‘no’s’. I officially have what I like to call, ‘The Final Callback Curse,’ (getting down to the very end and not getting the job).

For a start, it would be nice to know if we haven’t got the part so that we may continue on with our super busy lives without:
a) refreshing our email account every 5 minutes to see if we have an offer
b) wondering if it’s them telling us we booked it whenever we get a call from an unknown number. Broadway could be calling.
c) searching auditionupdate.com to see if anyone else got an offer yet….and getting that sinking feeling when they have.

We have been told to understand that there are a lot of factors that go into final casting and a lot of them are not to do with talent, blah…blah…blah… I guess I am just feeling overdue a big, fat ‘YES’.