In the Audition Room? Me?

I've always wanted to be in an audition room on the other side of the table. And even though I've been acting for 20 or so years, I never have, save the one time I directed a play my senior year of high school, and all the auditioners were my friends. So I was ecstatic when my bffaeae Erin asked me to help out with auditions for the reincarnation of "T.A.B." I'm not sure if I'm reading with people or not, but I know that seeing an audition from the other side is so valuable to an actor. Since I'm in the spirit of giving, I'll share my thoughts on the experience sometime tomorrow (and no, I won't name names or comment on specific auditions). I'm considering this a free acting class more than anything. How did the ancient actors learn their craft? Mimcry and imitation. How can you be an actor if you can't observe how other people inhabit their bodies and the world? Isn't that kind of the whole point? To get inside someone else's head, to leave your own, is a special kind of bliss I would guess only happens in the most rare and sublime of cases.

In other news, I find when I'm in crisis I desperately find work to do. Anything to keep my mind working...otherwise it shuts down and I turn into a poopy kind of person.

Speaking of, I had an audition Monday that freakin rocked. I worked hard on the material and it paid off as I was told I was called back while still in the room. What a great feeling and a great experience. So that callback is in a few days and they gave me lots of new material to peruse, which I love. Nothing makes me happier than a bunch of sides to go through and a full script to read. I love words. I love plays. I love reading them out loud, much to the chagrin of my neighbors.

So what have I learned this week, friends? When love fails you, go to work. When work fails you, give love another shot. But NOT A Shot of Love With Tila Tequila. I think mentioning Tila Tequila will give my blog 3000 more hits today than normal. Here's hoping.

Busy! As a bee!

What a fortuitous weekend! Saturday was spent with the fine folks of Pink! in New Jersey basically staying in character all day and taking many fun photos/videos for promotional/recreational purposes. Oh those girls are funny. They are all such spectacular improvisers I couldn't help but applaud after each unscripted interview was filmed.


Plus the website is up and running (plug plug plug): http://www.pinktheplay.com/ with a handy synopsis and soon, some of the videos we shot. It was such a great time to get out of the city and its unbearable heat and do some actin' in the woods.





Then Sunday Henry V went up in Prospect Park and I was astounded at the response we received. Joggers, bikers, and families literally stopped in their tracks to listen. Kids who I assume had no idea what was going on were pointing, eyes wide, at us prancing around on the pagoda. And as cynical as I get about Shakespeare in the Park being so cliche and lame and doesn't inspire people to keep his words alive....I kind of ate dirt metaphorically and actually, because I die and then fall on the dirt.





That's another thing. Why couldn't the English lackeys die near strategically placed towels? Death disables your ability to keep the ants out of your ear! And then as they sing the sad song and we slowly walk offstage, I feel a mosquito get me in the thigh. And now I have a baseball-sized swollen monstrosity where he drank my blood. But as they say, the show must (itchily) go on. So yes, two more chances to see (for free) Henry V in the Prospect Park Music Pagoda: Sundays August 30 and September 6, 4:30pm. B or Q to Prospect Park. If you're just coming to see me, here's a fair warning that the Boy has very few lines, but a spectacular death scene. If you want to wait for Pink! be my guest. That would be September 10-20.





Did you notice I only have 3 days in which I am not performing for three weeks?! Wahoo.





As far as personal life...Baxter got groomed and looks ever so darling:

See?! I love my pup!

Had a lovely birthday dinner for an old friend last night at Alta, where the tapas flow freely and my taste buds go, "alsdgajdgjhgsdjkfgdsjcmmmmmm". It was good.





Alright, more to come, as always.

Stress/Going Crazy

As my profession requires, I have many vocations going on at once. On any given day, I may be at my temp job, which I've grown strangely attatched to. Or maybe I'm babysitting, shuttling nearly always delightful Manhattan children around and baking cardboard frozen pizzas. Or maybe I'm doing an odd job, either from the temp agency or through some lovely contacts I've made recently who are actually paying me to goof around in the name of Cirque du Soleil. Or maybe, just maybe, you can find me in midtown acting my giant butt off for whomever cares to listen. Sometimes I'm even gifted with a rehearsal process and a performance! Whoda thunk? Kinda the whole point of me being here.

Now don't take this in any way as a complaint. Being busy with ANYTHING is very beneficial to my well-being, as I go a little insane when I have nothing to do. In fact, I look back on weeks such as the one I've just had with a sense of pride and accomplishment, with just a tinge of fatigue. Since last Friday, I worked 4 full days temping, worked on 2 shoots as an extra (1 paid), attended 3 auditions (2 film, 1 theatre), mailed a very very big agent, participated in a reading as Doll Tearsheet in Henry IV Part II (fingers crossed I get cast as that role is dy-no-mite!), AND found some time in there to eat, meet my friends for some much-needed drinkies, make weekend plans, schedule my coming weeks, and cuddle with my boyfriend and my pup on the couch.

It is hard to keep it all straight sometimes. I've double booked myself and had the special mortification of canceling an audition (this happened once and I've been actively trying not to do it ever ever again). But like I said, this is what's required of someone in my position. I learned quickly to not expect anyone to help you in this business--help and career partnerships are earned and cultivated, they don't materialize because they're so desperately needed. If there is a day, even a Saturday or Sunday, where I'm not doing anything about my career and try to relax, I kind of get a twisty worried feeling inside that maybe I don't deserve a day off yet. So that's why tomorrow, a day set aside for a trip upstate to tour my friend's hometown and go to a freaking carnival of all things, I still slipped in an audition in the morning. Sure, I could say, "sorry I'm planning a trip that day and can't make it", but the what ifs would eat me alive, and I wouldn't enjoy the time off anyway. Will this ever change? Will I ever be able to watch a bunch of TV in mah pj's with a big ol tub of ice cream without a care in the world?

I hope so.

I also hope I'll be in 1000 movies and plays that keep me on my feet 24/7 till I die at a comfortably old age.

This post was written, I think, to clear my head before I go home, walk Baxter, grill some burgers, and then watch "The Others" with all the lights off and the rain pounding a determined rhythm on my walls and windows. Sleeping in tomorrow will be a treat. Till next time, consider me de-stressed!