Stay Ready? Be Ready? I'm Back part #2

Ok, so Ms. MoNique has a phrase she uses...I'm probably gonna mess it up but: "If you STAY ready you will always BE ready." ( Yeah, that's not waht she said but ok.) Yesterday I learned the importance of staying ready and being open and flexible despite whatever happens.

Some great blessings have come my way.

Last week, I was called by a certain Non-Equity but really excellent theater company in Chicago to audition for a Musical. What?!? OK. Although I don't do muscials often, I keep getting called in for musical parts here and there because I wrote down on my resume I sing alto. 'Cause I do. BUT...I'm not equipped with professional training (outside of my fab mother) and a book. So this weekend, I learned two "rock/pop" songs, got sheet music, practiced them. I was all ready to go until around 2:30 today I got a call from one of my Stepp School teachers who is ALSO an artistic director of another excellent Non-Equity theater company. He asked me to come and CRASH callbacks for this play. What a phenomenal thing to happen...and a great complement for me. But I was faced with a dillemma... Two auditions, one night. AAAAH! The second audition I was not prepared for, there was no way I could be prepared.

So I went to the first audition and the accompanist and I were out of sync when I sang my damn song...I didn't start right or something or he played something he wasn't supposed to play. Either way I kept singing and they said I did a nice job. AAAH! My first full musical theater audition...a great learning experience. So...went to the next audition and I was given three different sides and this was basically more like a "cold read." The other people had time to review the other sides and make choices and work on them, but I did my best. I went in and read for two parts and the director said I made a nice adjustments to his direction. But I KNOW I couldv'e done way BETTER if I was more prepared. But how could I be? So this was a lesson in being ready to face any challenge. I could have a huge audition any day, and I HAVE to be ready to attack it and give it my all, even if things fall apart, even if I have no clue what's happening in a play...gotta be ready to go!

Next audition (that I know of...is December 1st). I will be READY!
R. Marie