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

I'm Back Part #!

Hey...

Soo...I'm just gonna start writing. Everytime I try to do this I get discouraged or caught up doing something else. Since I'm trying to work on doing one activity at a time, I'll give this a try. I'll break this up into parts...here's part 1

In short, I've been busy.

Since that low point I was having last month things picked up quite a bit. At the end of October, I was feeling pretty low. I had a couple of commercial auditions that I hoped for (especially one where I had to be a Postal Worker...um...my parents are retired Postal Workers that offered me some "method" advice and got me a uniform). I was called back but not cast. I learned quickly that the commercial business is extremely subjective and the bottom line is: "you never know what they are looking for." For instance, last week I had a commercial audition for Sears as an "Elf" (Y'all should've seen my outfit...it's was super cute if I must say so myself).

My agent called me the day before and emailed me the sides. In less than 24 hours I put together an "elf" outfit with some leggings, boots, green sweater and red knit shirt...ANNND...the best part was that I put my hair in two pigtails. I got to the audition, the damn director didn't even want the sides I practiced and afterward he gave everyone notes except for me...which can mean 1 of 2 things: 1) I was PERFECT...or 2) I was NOT what he was looking for. Needless to say, it meant the latter. Thus...I've learned that in the commercial audition game, it's most important to have a good audition experience and learn from it. I may get picked, I may not, but I have to stay out there.

R. Marie:)