I went to an equity chorus call earlier in the week for Aspects of Love. I walked in and asked if they were going to be seeing non-equity people and the monitors said "They are going to try to see everyone." I put my name on the list and waited in a room full of girls who were overly made up and obnoxious. I just sat there and people watched for two hours and met a nice girl named Desiree that has auditioned about 150 times for things. I found that very interesting.
After the third round of Equity auditions the monitors asked for the non-equity headshots and resumes. Then the other monitor said the directors will be "typing you" to decide who they want to see. Needless to say I wasn't the type they were looking for so I was sent home. I was almost relieved because I wasn't ready. I guess I'll never truly be ready for an audition but I digress.
On Thursday 7-7-11 I woke up for work super early and headed to Cranky's. Here's the deal, I knew there was an open call audition for Godspell all week long. Somehow, once again, I really tried to talk myself out of auditioning. As I was getting ready I was going through all these scenarios on how to get out of going to the audition. I put on my work clothes and didn't bring anything nice to change into for the audition and I almost didn't bring my music binder with my headshot and resume because I just thought I wouldn't make it to the audition. I also didn't have a pop/contemporary song to sing that I felt comfortable with so I really wasn't planning on going to the audition.
My mind was all over the place at work. I kept thinking should I do it? What if I don't do it? How long is the line gonna be? Will I have to wait for hours? Will I even be seen? Is my headshot too outdated? Does my resume look okay? What song will I sing? Will I make it in time? I can't audition because I don't have anything good to change into! I can't audition because I'm so not prepared! It was so nerve racking to think about those things all day long. After some convincing by Clare and the what if question I would have to answer to later I decided to go.
I got off work at 3:45ish and the call ended at 5:00. If I hurried I had time to go look for a cute outfit or at least some accessories so I would look presentable for the audition. I got off the subway at Bryant Park and sat down for a few minutes so I could figure out where the audition was. All of a sudden I heard a very friendly girl says "I like your hair." I looked up and smiled and saw that she had curly hair too so I responded with a laugh and "I like your hair too." Then we started talking and we ended up talking for 20 minutes because we had a lot in common. They were on a mssion trip with her church from Houston so we were sharing mission trip stories. It was a lovely conversation and a nice distraction. So nice that I thought it was going to save me from going to the audition but then I thought that was silly and decided to head toward the audition I didn't have time to go get jewelry or a cute outfit but once I got there I realized it was no big deal.
At first I couldn't find the audition because I got lost in a crowd that was waiting for "The Book of Mormon" lottery. Then I saw a group of people accross the street but they all looked like teeny boppers and I thought for sure that couldn't be it. Well, yep, it sure was. I felt old but looked nicer than most of the people in line because my bra straps weren't hanging out and my jeans weren't too tight and I didn't have a skirt on that didn't cover my butt and you get the idea. However, I could tell this was going to be an interesting audition. I made it to the line at about 4:58 and I asked the person manning the line if it was too late and she said "no but the cut off point is right before those trees so there is no guarantee that you'll be seen but you'll never know if you don't stay" Of course, I stayed I had already tried to talk myself out of it more than once but I was already in line. I wasn't leaving now. I had chosen to sing Seasons of Love from Rent but I just pulled that out of nowhere because I've never sung it before in my life except maybe the shower or my car but never in front of anyone.
So I'm freaking out as I'm waiting because I hate auditions. I need to learn how to do some positive self talk right before I go into an audition because all I ever think about is "Oh my gosh I'm gonna suck cause I hate this so much" I'll work on that.
Every few minutes the line monitors announce to all of us standing in line that we will only sing 8 bars of our song and everyone will have a chance to audition. We were also informed that the church space the producers were using was only available till 6:00, after that we were going to have to walk across the street to audition. I'm trying to go over the song in my head from memory and pick the best part of the song I know and then it's my turn to walk across the street. Once we walked across the street we were in a tiny space and I could hear all the people going before me. They were belting out their songs with fierceness and I was once again freaking out. I'm not a belter, never have been, never will be so I was like OMG I can't do this....(see, I really need to have some good positive thinking before I audition)
 |
| The audition room for Godspell |
I felt like I was at an American Idol audition. We had to sing our 8 bars of music a capella and that's just crazy. We also had to walk in and just start singing. When it was my turn I walked in, started singing, messed up the words AND changed keys a few times. My 10 seconds in front of the producer sucked and I sort of giggled on my way out because I knew it was an awful audition. However, I do have to say I'm glad I did it because now I know what to expect and I can just chock this one up to experience. I will be doing a few more auditions before I leave so I have made sure to practice so I will be a little bit more prepared.
Love,The Broadway auditioner, Miss Gulley in Manhattan
Crystal,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you went for it! You should be VERY proud of yourself!