The in-between is almost over.
I just got cast in "Almost, Maine" at the Rubicon!
I'm at a point in my career when I almost always get offered roles without auditioning. But this is one I knew I would have to pull up my big boy pants and go and get. I am working with Steph again, which is the greatest! We really do make each other better working together. But there are times when Steph subtly lets me know that there may not be a role for me in one of her projects. And early on, she was laying it on pretty thick. She told me that the playwright thinks the play should be done with a cast of 30 year olds. And I am not that. But I have loved this play since two of my friends from Grad School read a scene from it when they were trying to find a showcase scene. I have been dying to do it for more than a decade. It's a really beautiful play. Magical! And it's all about relationships and some of the scenes are lovely and uplifting and some are really sad. But they all contain some sort of magical moment. It hits all my buttons for things that I love. So, I was undaunted by Steph's hints that maybe this one wasn't for me. I cleared my schedule. I only took on little side projects that wouldn't interfere with the schedule for this and I set out to win my place in this play. And just to be clear, Steph is always right when a play is not for me. I'm always super jealous when she does a show without me (and Vice Versa). But inevitably her shows are always cast beautifully. But this time, I knew that I belonged in this one. It speaks to me on a level that very few people know I have. I am addicted to Rom-coms. And I spend all my reading time with fantasy novels. This is right in that sweet spot. Plus, I feel like I'm a pretty versatile performer and this play requires actors to play multiple characters.
And it was really fun to pursue a role with this much intensity. It's nice to walk into a room and know you're completely prepared, and have that competitive spirit coursing in your veins. I'm a pretty good auditioner. I would say that I'm really good at it, but auditioning is like gambling in that you remember the bad beats way more than the wins. And every actor can rattle off their worst audition stories far more easily than any thing else in their careers.
Auditioning is a weird animal. It's sort of acting. But it's also like the Hunger Games. It requires strategy and nerve. I know many people who have given up acting because they just couldn't take auditioning any more. Rejection sucks. Especially getting rejected for the thing you love the most and believe is the core of who you are. I'm still tormented by a terrible callback I had at the Boston Court for Jessica Kubzansky when I first moved back to LA from Alabama. I totally conflated a note to be louder with angrier and literally blew it. Then and there. And I knew it. And I couldn't recover. And there are others, so many others. My first round of Grad School auditions were a shit show. I've said the wrong thing in the room. So many bad beats. But there have been some really great successes too. I recently wrote about auditioning for the wonderful Chris Gilbert (may he rest in peace) for Picasso at the Lapin Agile in what was maybe the best time I've ever had in an audition room, and who cast me without needing a callback. (This is the actor's dream scenario...we all dream of being so good in the room, that some ASM goes out and tells the other actors to just go home, the role is cast...I mean, that didn't happen...but ALMOST).
So, for the first time in my life, I embraced my youthful look, and even helped it along by dying my beard (which is the only part of me that's grey). I worked on the sides. And I reached out to Steph and asked if she needed a reader for the auditions. Wow was that ever a day. I think every actor in LA turned up. And there are a lot of great actors in LA. And I read with all of them for 8 straight hours. Giving them the stage, but also giving a really great read of every part opposite them, to both raise their audition and prove that I could play every role in this play. Including the women. I crushed all my auditions as Gayle. (Good luck, whoever in my cast plays that in getting my flawless performance out of Steph's head). And I knew that she was on board by the end of that day. I had hoped that I would get an offer, but I still had to go and win it for the Artistic directors. And I was so well studied by the time the callbacks happened that I could just be in the moment with the actors I read with. And yesterday, I got the offer! So, this will go into the win column. And I'm so excited. And the cast is going to be great!
I've been around a long time, and I have worked with all but one of them. (We are going with a cast of 6. 3 men, 3 women). And I am going to work my ass off! It's been almost 7 months since I've had a real process. (I've done a one act, and some readings, and Friday I'm doing a dinner murder mystery things. And I've been on a livestream of a tabletop game a few times, but haven't really been in a room doing the work). I'm very excited! It's going to be so good! Come see it!
I just got cast in "Almost, Maine" at the Rubicon!
I'm at a point in my career when I almost always get offered roles without auditioning. But this is one I knew I would have to pull up my big boy pants and go and get. I am working with Steph again, which is the greatest! We really do make each other better working together. But there are times when Steph subtly lets me know that there may not be a role for me in one of her projects. And early on, she was laying it on pretty thick. She told me that the playwright thinks the play should be done with a cast of 30 year olds. And I am not that. But I have loved this play since two of my friends from Grad School read a scene from it when they were trying to find a showcase scene. I have been dying to do it for more than a decade. It's a really beautiful play. Magical! And it's all about relationships and some of the scenes are lovely and uplifting and some are really sad. But they all contain some sort of magical moment. It hits all my buttons for things that I love. So, I was undaunted by Steph's hints that maybe this one wasn't for me. I cleared my schedule. I only took on little side projects that wouldn't interfere with the schedule for this and I set out to win my place in this play. And just to be clear, Steph is always right when a play is not for me. I'm always super jealous when she does a show without me (and Vice Versa). But inevitably her shows are always cast beautifully. But this time, I knew that I belonged in this one. It speaks to me on a level that very few people know I have. I am addicted to Rom-coms. And I spend all my reading time with fantasy novels. This is right in that sweet spot. Plus, I feel like I'm a pretty versatile performer and this play requires actors to play multiple characters.
And it was really fun to pursue a role with this much intensity. It's nice to walk into a room and know you're completely prepared, and have that competitive spirit coursing in your veins. I'm a pretty good auditioner. I would say that I'm really good at it, but auditioning is like gambling in that you remember the bad beats way more than the wins. And every actor can rattle off their worst audition stories far more easily than any thing else in their careers.
Auditioning is a weird animal. It's sort of acting. But it's also like the Hunger Games. It requires strategy and nerve. I know many people who have given up acting because they just couldn't take auditioning any more. Rejection sucks. Especially getting rejected for the thing you love the most and believe is the core of who you are. I'm still tormented by a terrible callback I had at the Boston Court for Jessica Kubzansky when I first moved back to LA from Alabama. I totally conflated a note to be louder with angrier and literally blew it. Then and there. And I knew it. And I couldn't recover. And there are others, so many others. My first round of Grad School auditions were a shit show. I've said the wrong thing in the room. So many bad beats. But there have been some really great successes too. I recently wrote about auditioning for the wonderful Chris Gilbert (may he rest in peace) for Picasso at the Lapin Agile in what was maybe the best time I've ever had in an audition room, and who cast me without needing a callback. (This is the actor's dream scenario...we all dream of being so good in the room, that some ASM goes out and tells the other actors to just go home, the role is cast...I mean, that didn't happen...but ALMOST).
So, for the first time in my life, I embraced my youthful look, and even helped it along by dying my beard (which is the only part of me that's grey). I worked on the sides. And I reached out to Steph and asked if she needed a reader for the auditions. Wow was that ever a day. I think every actor in LA turned up. And there are a lot of great actors in LA. And I read with all of them for 8 straight hours. Giving them the stage, but also giving a really great read of every part opposite them, to both raise their audition and prove that I could play every role in this play. Including the women. I crushed all my auditions as Gayle. (Good luck, whoever in my cast plays that in getting my flawless performance out of Steph's head). And I knew that she was on board by the end of that day. I had hoped that I would get an offer, but I still had to go and win it for the Artistic directors. And I was so well studied by the time the callbacks happened that I could just be in the moment with the actors I read with. And yesterday, I got the offer! So, this will go into the win column. And I'm so excited. And the cast is going to be great!
I've been around a long time, and I have worked with all but one of them. (We are going with a cast of 6. 3 men, 3 women). And I am going to work my ass off! It's been almost 7 months since I've had a real process. (I've done a one act, and some readings, and Friday I'm doing a dinner murder mystery things. And I've been on a livestream of a tabletop game a few times, but haven't really been in a room doing the work). I'm very excited! It's going to be so good! Come see it!
Comments
Post a Comment