*If just reading this series for the first time, make sure to start at Monday September 8th.*
7:30 – alarm goes off, time to get ready for another day
9:00 – leave the house
9:10 – just miss the subway – begins an entire day of horrible subway luck…
10:15 – arrive at the studio for webisode filming again
10:30 – filming begins, but today I’m just an extra pretending to be reading the paper at an audition so I literally just sit and really read the paper doing the entire shoot
11:20 – done filming for the day (short and sweet this time)!
11:30 – Stop by Staples to buy … staples! Although I’m disappointed to find that the smallest box I can buy still weighs quite a bit when I consider having to carry it in my bag the rest of the day.
12:05 – Arrive at audition for The Flea Theatre (best off-off broadway theatre), happy to see the wait shouldn’t be too long. While sitting and waiting I read the info sheet about what I’m auditioning for (to be in their resident acting company) and find out that over 1,000 actors audition for this every year! Wow! So as usual the odds are ridiculous … oh well every audition is good practice!
12:30 – Finally called in to the theatre to audition. Perform my contemporary monologue (get a few little laughs) then perform my Shakespeare monologue from Othello. During the Shakespeare monologue I can see the artistic director nodding along … not sure if it’s a “she’s doing good nod” or he just knows the monologue really well and is thinking it along with me in his head. I finish and say thank you, it feels weird now to me to do an audition where I don’t have to sing!
1:00 – Get to a Starbucks in mid-town and sit down for a few hours to do some work for my internet job.
3:15 – Begin touching up my make-up while still sitting in Starbucks ( I never would have done this in Seattle but in New York you don’t have much of a choice). I then use the Starbucks bathroom to change back into my audition clothes and fix my hair.
3:45 – Arrive at Central Casting office and wait in the hall with the other non-union folk waiting for the 4:00 registration time
4:00 – Taken into the Central Casting office with about 20 other people. Let me explain a little bit about Central Casting: it is a casting office that cast background actors/extras for tv shows such as Law and Order, Fringe, Gossip Girl, as well as various films being shot in NYC. Once you register with them you are put into their database and once they have a role that you fit they call you up and see if you are available for the shoot date. At the registration they go over the details of how casting works, get our info for payment (non-union rate is $85/day – up to 10 hours), and take our picture.
5:00 – All done registering … head to the subway to go home.
5:10 – My bad luck subway day continues as I just miss a train. The express train comes and I hop on it hoping to catch the local train I just missed. Now I have a few options when going home, I could stay on the express train and transfer to the R train which will get me home as well but then I have to walk up hill. I decide to get off the express and wait for the F train, which I usually prefer, because it is rush hour so the trains come frequently. BAD IDEA! Waiting on the platform for the F train when an A train arrives … I figure the A must be running on the F line and I can transfer in Brooklyn back to the F. Get off the A in Brooklyn and notice the platform for the F is more crowded than I’ve ever seen it! (Also note it had been cold out early so after my audition I just put on jeans and a turtleneck … another BAD IDEA!) Even though the weather outside has cooled down, the subway station is still an oven! As I wait way too long for the F to come (15 minutes!) I’m getting hotter and more frustrated with every minute. The train finally arrives to an overpacked platform at rush hour and some people actually start clapping and cheering. I know its going to be a fight to get on … the train stops and everyone madly rushes the doors, I have no control and am literally pushed onto the train with the mob. I’m happy to at least have gotten in but now … oh crap … no air conditioning!!! Not only is the subway car jam packed and swelteringly hot, but it smells like severe b.o.! I stick my nose on my arm and pray that the ride goes quickly!
6:15 – Finally get off the train and take in a nice fresh breath of air!
6:30 – Take Zoka to the park and debate if I want to go to another audition that is 5 stops south of me in Brooklyn
7:15 – Convince myself I should go to the audition and so start getting my stuff ready
8:00 – Arrive at audition for a community theatre production of “Joseph … Technicolor Dreamcoat”. Find out there is a dance audition in addition to singing (why didn’t they put that in the audition notice?!?) Sign in and told it shouldn’t be too long of a wait and after I sing they may ask me to stay and dance.
8:15 – Sing (16 bars) and am asked to go learn the dance combination (good thing I brought my character shoes)
8:30 – Learn the dance combo – an easy 4 counts of 8 and then wait to perform it for the artistic staff
8:45 – Perform dance combo in group of three other girls
9:00 – All done at audition, head back to the subway
9:10 – Just miss the subway … again …!
10:00 – Finally back home. Do some more work and get ready for bed.
12:30 – Nighty Night!
Judging by your Facebook status, the Joseph audition paid off. Congrats! Seriously, though, just reading your "week in the life" posts make me tired. So many auditions...!
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