17 days later and I think the recent up swell of auditions is dying down a little. I have mixed feelings about it. Part of me is glad I don’t have to wake up at 7 in the morning, and the other part needs to keep going and be seen.
Since the last update I had only 2 days off, thankfully, and was auditioning like a mad man. My top was four in a day (which is nothing compared to the 6 or 7 others can go through).
The only big highlight is not going to the invited Annie audition, but crashing it on the second day when I was at the studio auditioning for something else and noticed the line. I thought why the hell not. The same assistant from Wedding Singer was there and remembered me. I told her how I could not make it and wondered if I could be seen. She had just turned away another guy. She pulled me over and said she would ask because she and the agent thought I was really talented and wanted the director to see me. She came back with a yes since I was invited back. The women in the room were confused.
What? I can be Annie or Molly.
So I went in and sang She Loves Me. They laughed and told me immediately to come back at 10:40 the next morning to audition for Martin Charnin, at which point my testicles turned into ovaries. I was cautioned to sing TO him as he loves that. So I went back the next morning, sang again, they laughed and that was it. I am not sure what track I would even fit into in that show, but it was great getting to audition and being treated so nicely. The agent and his assistant are, bar none, the NICEST and most generous people I have auditioned for up here. Just great people. I don’t mind being rejected by them at all.
I went to the Strawhat auditions which ended up being a colossal waste of time. I was in the last slot on the last day and by that point half the companies had gone home. I got five callbacks including one from Dave Clemmons casting (he scares me, but I do admire him. I have auditioned for him five times for different things over the last 4 years starting with BTP). And by this point in the season they are looking for fillers as they had auditions earlier. But every chance to audition is a good thing.
My first NY performance in I Know You went well. I had fun. It was short and sweet. I got a great reference for an acting class from my scene partner as well as an offer of a part in a play he is writing. You just never know who you will meet.
Voice lessons are going well as I keep hearing things I am not accustomed to (positively) and feel justified in knowing I have been doing the right things when I easily sail through the exercises and tests that usually take a year or two for students to master. I did know I was doing anything right before, but I guess my instincts were spot on. My biggest challenge: myself. By the third lesson the teach was telling me to stop over analyzing and to just understand how good I am. Sound familiar? He did also affirm what I know to be true in that I am not really going to get noticed until I fully get into shape. So I got back on track full-force.
Who knows what any of it will amount to since a lot of the biz is who you know.
In non-theatre news I finished my book last week and send out 7 queries. Got one quick rejection and am waiting on the others. I have a slew of agents to send out to, so I will be good for a while. In the meantime I started on the second book which will take about a year to finish as it deals with a year’s worth of observations. Sara, my kindred writing spirit, suggested I try to serialize it for a magazine, so I am looking into those options.
I am also researching TV/Movie possibilities, but until I lose all the weight, buff up, and get new headshots, I am kind of dead in the water. I should have focused more back home so I could have been ready to go when I got here, but I have learned that I just need to let things go and let fate control whatever it is that happens. I see no point in trying to predict or force anything to happen. I just need to meet people, be in the right place at the right time, and hope that the stars align just right when I go to an audition.
I went to a callback yesterday for TheatreWorks again, same show, different role. I sang, they laughed. I read both sides, they laughed. So they liked me, right? Sure. But you never know if that is a good thing. I always get self-conscious when I notice them reading my resume and then pointing things out to others at the table. I mean, it is a good sign that they are even interested in reading it, but I am never sure if it is a “Oh wow, look at this” point or a “Oh my god, can you believe this” point.
Just let it go.
Things were easier in FL where I just sat back complacently and enjoyed life and had no drive. Being up here has activated this rabid thirst and renewal in drams I had just let go of. Maybe it is also the looming 30th b-day next year that lends to this behavior. Who knows.
In somewhat shocking news, I now have TWO myspace pages. I know I know. I swore I never would, but I am realizing the networking power of that infernal site. I have one page for my theatrical alter ego and one for writer Fadi. Somedays I cannot keep track of who I am and what my name is. The other day at the bank I endorsed a check with my stage name and confused the hell out of the teller who probably thought I was a check thief.
I have my first rehearsal today for A New Brain. Excited about the show, although I wish I was one of the lead roles, but it is only 12 people so its ok. I gotta start somewhere. After that, who knows…