And it begins again…
4:30- alarm goes off, snooze it until 4:45, finally get up and begin getting ready
5:30- leave the house (why does it have to still be dark out???)
6:15- Arrive for audition, there’s already a line … I sign in as #21, time to sit outside on the street on the hard pavement with all the other crazy actors and wait for the building to open
While waiting I write this blog, read the paper, do my make-up, sit and think about how much it stinks to have to be sitting outside especially since I'm starting to get chilly
7:30- Building finally opens, we are let in to the 'holding room' where we will all primp, listen to our ipods, talk with friends, stretch, and sit around and wait for our 2 minute audition slot. I also am able to do some work during this time thanks to the audition studio having free wi-fi.
9:30 – Official audition monitor arrives and because this particular theatre company does not honor “unofficial sign-up sheets” (the pieces of paper we sign up on at 6am when the audition monitors are still at home sleeping) it is up to the actors to assemble ourselves in order. If there was not a list, all 250 actors crammed into a rehearsal studio would be hitting, kicking, and biting to get to the official sign up sheet first. One brave soul, a girl who had arrived at 5:45am that morning, decides to take it upon herself to read the unofficial list so that everyone can get in line to then sign up on the official list in the correct order. If you are at all confused, you are not alone. The whole audition process here takes a long time to figure out. Can you imagine what its like the first couple of auditions you go to where you see that sign-up starts at 9:30, audition starts at 10:00, so naturally you arrive a little before 9:30 only to realize you are number 230 on the list.
After mass chaos and confusion the room has been assembled into a giant line of 250 actors all carrying giant bags and quietly humming to themselves to warm up their voices. I sign up on the official list and return to my seat to get changed into my dress and heels and go over the sides (script) for the audition.
10:35 – my name is called to go and line up in the hall
10:45 – my audition: sing 16 bars then read one page of sides from “Junie B. Jones”
10:50 – say goodbye and break a leg to my friends and rush to change out of my dress
11:00- step outside in a rush to my next commitment only to realize there is a torrential downpour occurring and I didn’t bring an umbrella and I’m in flip flops! I make it one block dragging my suitcase and holding my cardigan over my head and spot one of the street vendors who magically appear selling umbrellas as soon as the first rain drop falls. I have never had to buy one of these street umbrellas, but I realize it is raining really hard, I still have quite a ways to walk, and I’m on my way to a film shoot and wet hair is not going to look too good. (If you are thinking right now that I’m from Seattle and a little rain should not bother me, let me ask you if you’ve ever been in a rainstorm so hard you can barely see in front of you AND you have to walk half a mile! Its one thing to have to go from inside to the shelter of a car in a rainstorm, its another to walk half a mile – not to mention all the puddles that instantly form in the streets!)
11:15 – I finally arrive at my destination completely soaked from the knees down, at least my hair is semi dry, just damp from the humidity and my sweat. I’m happy to report that the umbrella did make it in one piece … for $3 I didn’t have the highest hopes, but it did its job.
11:20 – arrive on set dragging a puddle of rain behind me and my suitcase. Wardrobe person tells me to take a minute and dry off and then to start showing him the outfits I brought for the shoot. A little background: this is a shoot for a webisode (tv show that is only online) that a small production company is making. I’m not getting paid but I need it for my resume and reel, plus its fun!
12:00- finally dressed for the shoot and have gotten my hair down, now just sitting around for my scene
12:30 – Filming: I am playing a casting assistant who is bored at auditions … kinda fun to pretend to be on the other side of the table for a change!
2:30 – Done filming, pack my suitcase back up and head off to my next adventure (at least it has stopped raining by now)
3:00 – Sit at a café in Union Square and talk to my mom on the phone and do some work for my internet job
4:00 – Voice Lesson: my teacher has been gone for the last 6 weeks so it feels good to get back into training, especially since I feel like I learned a lot the past few weeks using my different songs for auditions.
5:00 - Head home for the day - FINALLY!
6:00 – Get home, take Zoka outside, and make some dinner
7:30 – Do more work for my internet job, attempt to start unpacking from the day, take a shower, etc.
11:00 – Finally get into bed … I feel like if I stay up another minute I will fall over … luckily I can set my alarm for much later the following morning…
All I could think of while reading this post was THE LAST FIVE YEARS.
ReplyDeleteI'm up every morning at six,
And standing in line with 200 girls
Who are younger and thinner than me.
Who have already been to the gym.
I'm standing five hours in line.
And watching the girls
Just coming and going
In dresses that look just like this,
Till my number is finally called.
When I get in the room,
There's a table of men...
(Always men! Usually gay.)
...who've been sitting like I have
And listening all day
To 200 girls belting as high as they can.
I am a good person.
I'm an attractive person.
I am a talented person.
Grant me grace.
Break a leg, gorgeous. Broadway won't know what hit 'em. ;-)