Walking in Memphis!

So the other day I mentioned attending an EPA and leaving to go to another audition in between.  Well, that in between audition just happened to be the equity chorus call for Memphis the musical!  The 1st national tour will be going out in the fall and while I'm not sure if I'll be ready to go back on tour just yet, I figured there would be no harm in going in and getting seen.


After leaving the Ogunquit audition, I arrived at Memphis around 10:45.  The awesome thing with having my equity card is that I was able to walk right in to the monitor and grab a number!  I was only #49 at that and they were doing groups of twenty-five, so I knew I would be in the second group.  I took some time to change and warm up and before I knew it, I was going in to the audition.


The combination was taught to us by someone who is still currently in the show running on Broadway.  It was a fun little combination called radio, where we were supposed to pretend we were bad, misbehaving teenagers.  It had an odd little penche step in it repeatedly, along with a short stomp combination!  This being my first audition in over six months words can't express how nervous I was to 1. now be in a room with all equity dancers and 2. to have to pick up, remember, and perform a combination so quickly!  After learning the combination, they told our group to leave and go practice it outside, while the first group went back in to do it three at a time.


We all filed back out into the holding room and began to practice.  Its always amusing and good to have time to practice a combination before having to do it for the casting crew, but at the same time you don't want to tire yourself out or get messed up watching everyone else do it.  So I practiced it a few times, and then focused on stretching, considering they had stated that when we kick our knee should be by our ear and they didn't care how it got there! LOL


After a very short time, we went in to perform the combo.  It was fun and went fairly well, I just had one minor mistake at the very end of the combo.  But I don't really think it mattered.  Unfortunately I will never know because they didn't make a cut!  Well they did, but they didn't announce it.  Instead the casting director told us that they were going to be seriously casting for the tour in April and there was only one Broadway spot opening up in May.  So we wouldn't be hearing from them for a while even if we did make the grade.  Booo!  Another anticlimactic audition, but it was good to dip my foot back in the audition pool.  Only two more months before I'm unemployed again!

Equity Principle Auditions??

So I've been on tour for the past six months, but more on that later.  Yesterday I had a day off and decided to come to the city to give a go at auditioning for the first time in 2011.  After landing at Laguardia and stopping by my apartment to get my things together, I headed out on a rainy day to try to make it to two auditions.  The first audition was an Equity Principle Audition (EPA) for Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine.  They are doing Legally Blonde and some other musicals for the summer, but I am obviously interested in being Pilar!  It was my first time going to a principle call, and I got there around 10:15 for a call that started at 10am.

Let me explain a little about EPAs.  Usually an EPA call will run about 8hrs during a day and that 8hrs is broken into 20 min slots with five or so people able to sing during that 20mins.  However getting a time slot is on a first come first serve basis the day of.  So many people arrive an hour or so ahead of time to make sure they are able to actually get a time slot.  Once all the time slots are filled, any other equity members who want to audition must sign up on the alternate list and wait around all day to see if anyone doesn't make their time slot.

Now, considering I couldn't make it there early because I just got in town, there was no way I was getting a time slot. So I waited in line to be number 18 on the alternate list.  Then left to go to another audition with plans to come back.  After the other audition finished I came back to Chelsea to find that they had were only on alternate #3!!  Sigh, I'm obviously going to be waiting around all day.  Finally at 3:30 after sitting around for 3 hrs, the monitor was able to get me in to sing.  Yes sing, the bane of my existence but crucial if I want to ever move out of the ensemble.

I had prepared to sing Fairytale by Sara Bareilles because it was poppy and has a cute story, but its a little low for the range they asked, but after having a couple of people hear me sing that song and the other song I was thinking of, I decided on Fairytale.  I go into the room, explain my song to the accompanist and introduce myself to the casting folk.  They ask me if I dance and I tell them I'm a dancer then sing my song,   The song itself went well, but my acting was atrocious, lol, one more thing to work on...  Anyways, they casting director then asked if I had a pop song to sing.  A what? I'm pretty sure I just sang a pop song.  But then he explained further that he wanted to hear a 50s/60s pop song.  Crap.  Of course I don't have one, so he says thats ok and thanks me for my time.  Booooo!

I'm really annoyed because I had specifically been trying to think of a 50s pop song to add to my book for awhile.  Now its top of my priority list.