Sunday, February 28, 2010

A very good Saturday




  If you're looking for the short-short version, I made it to New York and the audition went very, very well. If you want a more detailed account, read on.
  Friday's storm in New York pretty much shut down the airports, and about 1500 flights were cancelled, along with mine. After juggling a few phone calls, I was able to book a seat on a sold-out Amtrak train that evening. I got into Penn Station at about 10:45 and walked a few blocks to my hotel room. Conditions in Manhattan weren't nearly as bad as I expected.
After hooking up with some Starbucks breakfast, I spent the morning in my hotel room rehearsing my monologues and warming up my voice. About thirty minutes before the audition, I walked over to Pearl Studios and headed up to the twelfth floor. Right after I sat down, they told me they were running early and asked if I was ready to go in. I said "Absolutely," and stepped into the room.
  It was your typical studio space. Hardwood floor, high ceiling, one mirror wall. There were two gentleman reviewing applicants, one of whom was a faculty member from LAMDA. Being a dialect freak, I was a little entranced by his English accent and missed a bit of what he said.
  There was a brief interview, then they asked me what I was going to perform for them. Then, it was time.
  I ran my Shakespeare piece first, and I was immediately awed by how good the resonance in the room was. My voice came out, full, rich, and ringing. I hit every line just how I wanted to. Then I switched gears (and put on my NY accent) for a monologue from Frankie & Johnny. Again, I hit it just how I had rehearsed.
  After I had finished that, it was time to sing. This was the thing I considered to be my weak area, and the only part of the process I was dreading a bit. Again, the room helped me here, and my voice came out smooth, and full. I didn't miss any notes, and I didn't have any breath issues. I couldn't have done it better at this point in my experience.
  They seemed to really like everything. The instructor from LAMDA gave me a different set of circumstances to work into the Shakespeare piece and had me run it again, obviously to see how I could take direction. I gave him quite a different version, and I think he liked it, because we discussed it afterward for a good few minutes. I got some good feedback from them, and they explained that callbacks were in London and how much school would cost, etc. I got the impression that I had done well, and I felt really good about it all.
  A few minutes later, I met a friend of mine on 8th avenue and we had lunch. I felt such relief that I wanted to just collapse. We spent the rest of the afternoon just catching up and walking around the theatre district. Then, I caught a cab to LaGuardia and flew back to DC.
  After that, I had a really nice evening out. I was pretty tired, and not much good for conversation, but hopefully she'll forgive me for that.
  Got to bed at about 2:30. Today, I have to catch up on everything I haven't been able to do for the last 48 hours, and it's a lot. Kinda wish I could just stop for a few minutes and do nothing. Meh, that'd just be boring.


2 comments:

  1. i'm glad your audition went well...was that kendra you saw?

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  2. No, it was actually a friend of mine that I met on the Easter Island trip last year. I didn't see Kendra this time.

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