{Editor’s Note: The Bygone Baritone is last week’s guest poster Ryan who has officially joined the blog!}
Bless me, readers, for I have sinned…It’s been…umm…a while since my last confession.
Normally, I would do this at a Church. However, last time I decided to go to actual Confession, it abruptly ended when the man sitting in the dark cubicle next to me asked if I had any “sexual sins to confess” (I wish that was a joke). So, instead of praying that the heavy breathing on the other side of the screen is a result of respiratory problems induced by too many years of inhaling incense, I bring my sins to you lovely people…and, I promise, this confession will be FAR more interesting than any discussion about my sex life…(or lack there of.)
Now, I’d like to think I’m a pretty decent guy. I hold doors open, I recycle (sometimes), and I try to be nice to people (whether that last one is because of a strong moral compass or a desperate need for approval is yet to be determined…). However, there is one Deadly Sin that rears its ugly head time and time again as I wait for the second coming of Richard Rodgers, and that is…ENVY.
Today’s Flashback Friday is about the do’s and don’t’s of auditioning. Brought to us thanks to The British Dancer!
“Imagine you attended an EPA in the city. Regardless of how well your personal audition went, is there not some part of you that wishes you could have seen what everyone else did in the room? Do we not ponder over whether we should have introduced our song, whether we could have chosen a better outfit, spent longer with the accompanist or stood closer to the table?
I always jump at the opportunity to sit behind the casting table, whether it be as a legitimate casting associate or just as company for the artistic director. There is so much you can learn from watching what is essentially, the competition….both good and bad! As auditionees, we plan our whole day/ week around preparing, traveling and waiting for audition slots and yet we have such a short amount of time to make an impression in the room.” Click here for the Do’s and Don’t’s!
Nykemah Warren (15, South Bronx) 9mm America cast member.
I have a pretty awesome job…in fact, it’s the career I’ve wanted to have since I was a kid (besides being the pink Power Ranger). I make theatre. To be more specific, I make political theatre. When I was in college, I was told I’d never have a real career in making political theatre because there is “no money in it” and I should consider something more practical. Revolution seems like the only practical choice, so despite everything, here I am.
Someone’s always watching. In some cases, that can mean the difference between getting rehired and getting black listed. It is this fact that by happenstance, landed me a series of fortuitous jobs in a row…without any auditioning, networking, or even trying.
Some years ago I did my director friend a favor and joined a production last-minute when he needed actors. When I say last-minute, I mean we put the entire show together in a mere week or two. I’ve played the piano since I was four and though I usually refuse to even look at anything other than Chopin, occasionally I find myself picking out the notes of my audition/callback songs when I need a bit of help learning them. Luckily for this show, with no time to dedicate to breaking down harmonies and perfecting rhythms, if someone needed help with their song, I could easily pick out their music.
So where is this going? The director was thankful for my help and recast me in another show? The manager of the theatre saw I was a team player and asked me to come audition again? Slightly more unlikely. Someone is always watching, and fortunately for me, one of those unlikely spectators, though just another ensemble member in that production, happened to also direct shows all over town.
In my first two roles of 2013, I have had a cumulative six lines, totaling 25 words. All of these came in the show I am doing now, a production of “Frost/Nixon” in which I am in the ensemble. In the earlier show, a Samuel Beckett piece, I stood on stage, motionless, with my back to the audience for 30 minutes.
These have been interesting experiences, and have been a bit of a respite for memorization as I prepare for larger roles in upcoming shows. I try to get something out of every role I attain, and these roles have been no different.
Standing silent, without even being able to see the audience or the other actors on stage, totally still, was not the most exciting work, but I found I enjoyed it. It became almost meditative, as I found a spot on the curtain I was facing to focus on, and as the actors — angels debating the fate of my character, frozen in time — repeated the same lines each show. It took on a level of ritual. It also helped me get some sense of my body and the patience I can find in it. I am a nervous and fidgety person, so this was helpful.
With all my forays into stage management, house management, writing and wardrobe crew, it’s been a long while since I’ve been the one up onstage. So I’m kicking off 2013 with TWO shows and it’s almost time for the show!
At the beginning of September, I auditioned for my school’s mainstage shows—the big productions, Chicago, The Piano Lesson, Stop the World I Want to Get Off!, Dance Ensemble and The Diary of Anne Frank. And amazingly, I was cast—I’m a clown in Stop the World, I Want to Get Off! The director noticed during the audition that my special skills included tarot reading and was intrigued. For those unfamiliar with the musical, the show is set in a circus and the director decided that a circus needs entertainers. He created a group of performers, henceforth known as the Universal Life Circus Troupe, whose mission is to entertain the audience, like with tarot reading. We had a meeting at the end of last semester to discuss the show’s concept and we were given the task of spending the break between then and when we returned to school focused on creating our characters.
One year while I was at his Princeton home preparing his return, Mrs. Einstein, who was then still living, asked me to stay for lunch. During the course of the meal, the professor turned to me and with his inimitable chuckle said: “The hardest thing in the world to understand is income taxes.” I replied: “There is one thing more difficult, and that is your theory of relativity.” “Oh, no,” he replied, ”that is easy.” To which Mrs. Einstein commented, “Yes, for you.”
LEO MATTERSDORF New York City
This year is the first year I have had to tackle my taxes on my own. In previous years, my parents have helped me get everything together. Depending on the amount of work I had during the year, I would sometimes opt to go to an accountant to make sure everything was in order. This year, I’m on my own. I went in to the Actors Equity building and signed up for VITA. I have my appointment this month. I’m assuming most of the bloggers and readers of this blog already know how to do their taxes, but just in case there are any first timers out there like me, here are some of the tips I know I will be keeping in mind next year:
After having my son I was looking for a new survival job. Though to be honest I hate that term! I don’t want to survive – I want to thrive. Day jobs literally feed you and give you income to invest in yourself and your career – as Dallas Travers says “the first step to winning an Oscar is having food in your fridge!”
I’d been a bartender between acting gigs for years but wanted to do something new. I was offered some Indie film production gigs but the long hours/low pay didn’t make financial sense considering I’d now need to pay a babysitter. I was aiming to work on weekends when my husband could stay with my son and I’d avoid losing money.
The Redheaded Actress
The Granted Actor
The Enterprising Actor
The Political Theatre Maker
The Passionate Performer
The Crazy Theatre Artist
The Tattooed Theatre Student
The Chicago Actor
The Expat Stage Manager
The Perceptive Stage Manager
The Wandering Actress
The Resourceful Lighting Designer
The Everything Actor
The Solo Show Queen
Unconventional Stage Manager
The Green Room 