If you've ever been unemployed for any great stretch of time, then you know the worst part about looking for a new job is going on that great interview where everything seems to fit together, and then never hearing back from the job. Ever.
And if you have a friend who is an actor, and you've complained about this to them, you've probably gotten a knowing smirk and a nod. Because trust me, we understand how that feels. I've been going on auditions for almost four years and I can count on one hand the number of times I've been contacted when I didn't get the part.
It's not the fault of the auditioners, of course. Too many people audition or submit for each role for there to be time to call every single person not being cast. And these people don't have assistants, they're doing everything themselves. I know if I'd just spent 9 hours sitting in a plastic folding chair for two days straight watching two hundred bitches murder the Spoon River Anthology in a small windowless room, the girls not being cast would be lucky not to be getting kicked in the teeth for wasting my time.
That being said, I pride myself on being very good at keeping my eye on the ball. I don't come out of every audition waiting on pins and needles to hear that I got the part. I don't sit at home on a Friday night waiting for the phone to ring, I make sure I'm out at the club the very next night, mackin' it to the honeys.
But every once in a while I'll lose my shit a little bit. Some audition will come along and before you know it I'm imagining myself married to it, with a house on Long Island and a bunch of little babies running around the pool deck with those big foam noodle things. Such was the case last week, with an audition and callback that I thought went very well.
So well in fact, that when I went in for the callback, the director smiled, said "Hey sweetie, great to see you again," and told me that my read was excellent. Needless to say, I walked out and immediately called my boyfriend to tell him I thought it was in the bag. All that was left to do was put my feet up and wait for the phone to ring.
The next day I still hadn't heard anything, but I didn't worry. After all, I don't know how late into Thursday night callbacks had gone, they might be waiting a day or two to start letting people know. But I had thoroughly convinced myself that I would be getting a call, so I tried to get on with my life.
Unfortunately that meant checking my email obsessively every ten minutes.
By Sunday night, every good thing I'd done at the audition was forgotten and I'd convinced myself I was utterly wrong for the part. I was too young, and too mature. My read was too sentimental, but didn't get to an emotional enough place. My eyes were too blue, but not blue enough.
Monday morning I realized I'm an idiot. If I got it, it's because I got it. And if I didn't it's because of any number of other reasons that have nothing to do with me.
It is now Tuesday. A week from the initial audition. So now, I'm taking a deep breath, and letting it go. I'm moving on to the next thing, and keeping my eye on the ball.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
My Mother Should Be My Press Agent
She found this video on YouTube, which is from a promotional shoot for a movie called "Evil Things," which is about 5 college students who disappear during a weekend vacation.
For the shoot we were asked to create a character associated with one of the missing students and improvise for a minute or so.
This is what I did:
For the shoot we were asked to create a character associated with one of the missing students and improvise for a minute or so.
This is what I did:
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Huck Finn and The Five Boons
Saturday I filmed my scene for "Huck Finn and the Five Boons," an upcoming film from AstroLab Films.
Here's what AstroLab has to say about the film:
"This year, on the centennial of Twain's death, a new version of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published replacing the word 'nigger' with 'slave,' just the latest step in the book's turbulent history. As one of the ten most censored books of the twentieth century, Huck Finn has endured it all. Huck Finn and the Five Boons combines Mark Twain's most treasured character with one of his most fantastical short stories, coincident with the centennial of the author's death and the publication of his long-suppressed autobiography. Huck Finn and Mark Twain himself must confront what it means to lose control of their narrative and their lives as they experience the audience's interest, love, anger, and even apathy."
Of all the film work I've been doing lately, this one was by far the most intriguing script, and definitely the most professional set. The shoot was extremely long (counting travel time, almost 18 hours) but I had so much fun I hardly even noticed.
I can't wait to see the finished project, and will continue to post updates on the project as they become available. In the meantime, they are looking for donors, so visit their website if you would like to help!
Here's what AstroLab has to say about the film:
"This year, on the centennial of Twain's death, a new version of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published replacing the word 'nigger' with 'slave,' just the latest step in the book's turbulent history. As one of the ten most censored books of the twentieth century, Huck Finn has endured it all. Huck Finn and the Five Boons combines Mark Twain's most treasured character with one of his most fantastical short stories, coincident with the centennial of the author's death and the publication of his long-suppressed autobiography. Huck Finn and Mark Twain himself must confront what it means to lose control of their narrative and their lives as they experience the audience's interest, love, anger, and even apathy."
Of all the film work I've been doing lately, this one was by far the most intriguing script, and definitely the most professional set. The shoot was extremely long (counting travel time, almost 18 hours) but I had so much fun I hardly even noticed.
I can't wait to see the finished project, and will continue to post updates on the project as they become available. In the meantime, they are looking for donors, so visit their website if you would like to help!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Work: A Play
The above is one of the video segments from Work: A Play, which just wrapped up its fist weekend, and has three more performances coming up this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm.
And we've gotten some pretty good reviews as well:
"Poignant and hilarious... a fun show with lots of strange characters and lots of action... Get down there and check this one out." -NYTheatre.com
"A fantastically talented cast... fun stuff... if you're in a job that feels 'Powerpointless,' escape the fluorescent lights and retreat into the comforting darkness of UNDER St. Marks." - Show Business Weekly
So don't miss you last three chances to come and see this awesome show! You can get tickets right here!And visit No Tea Productions for more information!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Theatre is my religion...
My third show with No Tea Productions, "Work: A Play" opens up on April 28th, and so the Sunday before Opening Night is our Tech Rehearsal.
For those of you who do not know what a Tech Rehearsal is, see below. If you already do, you may scroll down:
10:00 am Sunday Morning
You arrive at the theatre in which you will be doing your show. Often, this is the first time you will be in that theatre, as opposed to a rehearsal studio.
You have coffee and possibly donuts with the other members of your cast, and talk about how tired you are.
10:30am-11:00am
You get into your costume, and do your hair, and spend the next few minutes ooh-ing and ah-ing at everybody's funny costumes.
11:00am-2:00pm
You start to "Tech" the show. Meaning, you begin to run the scenes with lighting, sound, and any other technical elements. For the meat of the scenes, where the lighting doesn't change or there are no sound of lighting effects, you skip the dialogue.
In Tech, you take a backseat to the technical elements of the show. You spend a lot of time standing around, talking in hushed tones while your director and stage manager talk to the designers, and try to fix the lighting. Then they tell you to stand slightly to the left, or to the right, to get the brightest light on your face.
2:00pm
Lunch
3:00pm-8:00pm
You keep doing the same thing until eventually you've gotten through the whole show. And then, hopefully you have enough time to run the show with lighting and sound.
8:00pm (or perhaps later if things have not gone well)
You emerge, blinking into the night, remembering that at one point, the sun had been out, but your lunch break seems like a pretty distant memory. You gather your junk, and head straight to the bar.
10:00pm
Tequila.
1:00am
Sleep.
In a show like Work, with video segments covering most of the transitions between scenes, Tech is no doubt going to be a huge flaming ball of complications and short tempers.
I love Tech. You come out of it like you've been in a fox-hole with the people in your show.
THEATRE PEOPLE WHO ALREADY KNOW OF THE RIGORS OF TECH, YOU MAY SKIP TO HERE!
So obviously, the Sunday before we open is our Tech rehearsal. It's in two weeks, on April 24th. I work lunch shifts on Sundays, but I got my rehearsal schedule in all good time, so I set about getting someone to switch a shift with me and cover the 24th. There's only one problem:
That's Easter Sunday.
Find me someone who will be willing to work at Angelo's* on Easter Sunday when they don't have to, and I'll show you someone who doesn't know what day of the week Easter Sunday is, but is probably going to try and get out of it as soon as they figure it out. They do those Italian Easter breads for the tables with the Easter Egg in the middle. It's cute for about five seconds, until whatever kids sitting at the table get a hold of it and pry the egg out, smashing it all over the table cloth.
The entire restaurant smells like egg.
Which kind of smells like farts.
Teching on Easter doesn't bother me. I'm not a religious person, and honestly the show means more to me than the holiday. I'm just worried I won't be able to find coverage, and will have to miss the first half of tech.
Someday, someday, someday I will not have to work in a restaurant.
In the meantime, though: Egg Bread.
*This is not the actual name of the restaurant I work in. But this is the internet, and I don't want anyone reading where I work and showing up at my job to stab me in the face.
For those of you who do not know what a Tech Rehearsal is, see below. If you already do, you may scroll down:
10:00 am Sunday Morning
You arrive at the theatre in which you will be doing your show. Often, this is the first time you will be in that theatre, as opposed to a rehearsal studio.
You have coffee and possibly donuts with the other members of your cast, and talk about how tired you are.
10:30am-11:00am
You get into your costume, and do your hair, and spend the next few minutes ooh-ing and ah-ing at everybody's funny costumes.
11:00am-2:00pm
You start to "Tech" the show. Meaning, you begin to run the scenes with lighting, sound, and any other technical elements. For the meat of the scenes, where the lighting doesn't change or there are no sound of lighting effects, you skip the dialogue.
In Tech, you take a backseat to the technical elements of the show. You spend a lot of time standing around, talking in hushed tones while your director and stage manager talk to the designers, and try to fix the lighting. Then they tell you to stand slightly to the left, or to the right, to get the brightest light on your face.
2:00pm
Lunch
3:00pm-8:00pm
You keep doing the same thing until eventually you've gotten through the whole show. And then, hopefully you have enough time to run the show with lighting and sound.
8:00pm (or perhaps later if things have not gone well)
You emerge, blinking into the night, remembering that at one point, the sun had been out, but your lunch break seems like a pretty distant memory. You gather your junk, and head straight to the bar.
10:00pm
Tequila.
1:00am
Sleep.
In a show like Work, with video segments covering most of the transitions between scenes, Tech is no doubt going to be a huge flaming ball of complications and short tempers.
I love Tech. You come out of it like you've been in a fox-hole with the people in your show.
THEATRE PEOPLE WHO ALREADY KNOW OF THE RIGORS OF TECH, YOU MAY SKIP TO HERE!
So obviously, the Sunday before we open is our Tech rehearsal. It's in two weeks, on April 24th. I work lunch shifts on Sundays, but I got my rehearsal schedule in all good time, so I set about getting someone to switch a shift with me and cover the 24th. There's only one problem:
That's Easter Sunday.
Find me someone who will be willing to work at Angelo's* on Easter Sunday when they don't have to, and I'll show you someone who doesn't know what day of the week Easter Sunday is, but is probably going to try and get out of it as soon as they figure it out. They do those Italian Easter breads for the tables with the Easter Egg in the middle. It's cute for about five seconds, until whatever kids sitting at the table get a hold of it and pry the egg out, smashing it all over the table cloth.
The entire restaurant smells like egg.
Which kind of smells like farts.
Teching on Easter doesn't bother me. I'm not a religious person, and honestly the show means more to me than the holiday. I'm just worried I won't be able to find coverage, and will have to miss the first half of tech.
Someday, someday, someday I will not have to work in a restaurant.
In the meantime, though: Egg Bread.
*This is not the actual name of the restaurant I work in. But this is the internet, and I don't want anyone reading where I work and showing up at my job to stab me in the face.
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