Anything Goes National Tour pt. 2

In January I went to the open call for the national tour of Anything Goes.  If you'd like to read about it please go here.   Four months later, I had the opportunity to go back in for another round of auditions for the tour.  Which is just an example of how unpredictable the casting of shows can be.  You never know if you've been cut or they are just waiting until later to call you in.

The audition started out with the jazz combination we learned in January from the song "Blow Gabriel Blow" and then a cut was made.  I was kept and then we put our tap shoes on to learn a tap combination!  Yay!  Of course the combination was from the shows title number "Anything Goes".  It was a classic style tap number, only 64 counts long and the difficulty was not too bad.  The combination consisted primarily of back essences, grab offs, buck triple time steps and cramp rolls. I'm apologize if you don't know the tap vocabulary.  After learning it as a large group we began to do it three at a time.  I nailed the combination and the grab offs they made each person do alone.  After everyone danced they made another cut and those of us that were left now had to sing.

I actually debuted a new song at this audition called "Oh Diogenes".  It is a classic Rodgers and Hart song and perfectly suited to audition for this type of show.  It is a little longer of a song, at 32 bars, than the usual 16-bar cut I sing most of the time.  The song went pretty well and I was asked to sing a second contrasting song.  I chose to sing "Simple Little Things" which is starting to become my go to second/soprano song.  After I got done singing everyone behind the table looked happy and generally entertained which was nice.  A few days later I received an appointment for final callbacks the following week!

*Unrelated Thought*

Thus far in my auditioning I've noticed three different faces people generally have behind the table.

1. The person who smiles no matter what.  They will keep smiling even if you sing off key, crash and burn with the accompanist, etc.  Of course that can lead them to look a little like a crazy person sometimes. LOL

2.  The person who gives you the dead stare no matter what.  You could be Idina Menzel in the audition room and they will just stare at you like they have heard it all before.  No smiling ever.

3.  The person who actually seems to be reacting to what you are singing.  They are along for the ride with you.  They might not actually be smiling but they are into it.

Obviously, my personal preference is to sing for person #3, followed by #1, and lastly #2.  Person #2 has a tendency to unsettle me when I'm singing, which can make me nervous and thus mess up my audition.

*Unrelated Thought End*

Amazing Grace @ Goodspeed Auditions

Goodspeed Opera House is putting on a new musical called Amazing Grace, which is about the song's author, John Newton.  The audition notice specifically said that they were looking for performer's who played instruments; which meant almost everyone decided NOT to go the the call.  I wasn't going to go either, but then decided that I since I do technically know how to play the violin I should give it a try.  When I arrived at the call there was barely anyone there.  I came exactly on time and was put in the first group!  Thats how few people were there.  I had to hurry and get dressed so I could go into the room.

The choreographer of the show is Benoit-Swan Pouffer the artistic director of Cedar Lake Ballet and while he wasn't there that day his assistant was to teach us the combination.  Hello, contemporary concert dance! It was a combination of contemporary and African dance, fun to do, but pretty sure I looked like a nut!  We danced the combination in groups of three and after each group went they asked if anyone wanted to tumble.  After I danced in my small group I volunteered to tumble.  I swear this winter I have tumbled at almost every audition, its insane.  Anyways, I was kept after the first cut and had some down time while the non-equity girls went into the room to dance.

During the wait, I rented a room so I could warm up and practice my song.  I have started doing this recently at auditions and it really helps!  I decided to sing Come Down From the Tree from Once On This Island and prepared about a 32 bar cut despite the fact they had asked for 16 bars.  When it was time for me to go in and sing the accompanist told me my cut was too long!  Whaaaat??!  So he suggested we start from a different location, which I agreed to do, but wasn't exactly thrilled that I had been caught!  Lesson learned.  The song went awesome!  Yes I used the word awesome because its the first time I felt like that after singing at an audition.  The casting director then asked me if I could bring in an instrument if they called me back and I agreed.

A couple of weeks later I got a callback for the show.  We came in to dance again and I realized that I was in a room filled with former Alvin Ailey & Philadanco company members.  I had to wonder why I was there, but I stuck it out and learned the combintion.  By the time we were finished learning the combination we were all exhausted and sweaty and then we learned that the choreographer wouldn't be coming in!  Instead he watched the auditions on Skype!  Very interesting this new fangled technology.  We danced two at a time and then a few of us were asked to read sides, sides are small parts of the script actors get to perform at auditions.  When I went in to read, I was awkward and terrible, but it was my first time doing sides at an audition!  The director thanked me and I knew I had just taken myself out of the running for the job.  Learning something new everyday.

Annie the Musical Auditions

Annie the musical is coming back to Broadway in the Fall of 2012.  They have already started having auditions for it and I originally went in to the Equity Chorus Call (ECC) for dancers last month.  I unfortunately did not get to the audition in time to hear my name called from "the list" so I was given some ridiculously high number like 157!  Which meant I would be waiting around FOREVER!  Now, luckily for me being equity means that as long as I get to an audition on time I will be seen, but having such a high number does have its downsides.

1.  I have to wait around for hours, because they only take in 30 people or so at a time, and each group takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

2.  Just like any other job the people in casting can get bored after watching people audition all day and may stop paying attention.

But apparently these are risks I'm willing to take, since I can't seem to get there on time!

After waiting around for a couple of hours, I finally get to go into the room.  The choreographer of the show Andy Blankenbuehler is there with his assistant and he is teaching the combination himself!  He has previously done: In The Heights, 9 to 5, and Bring It On the Musical and I have never auditioned for him before so I was pretty excited.  We learned a quick combination from the section NYC in the musical.  It was very stylized and had some intricate footwork to it; which took me and everyone else in the room a little time to get.

After learning it, we went in small groups for casting which each group having to dance twice.  After my group went the first time Andy asked me if I could dance the combo "smaller."  I gave it a go and saw my headshot go into the "yes" pile! Yes I watch But then, there was no cut! We were all excused and confused because the previous groups were asked to do a quick tap combo after the first cut.  Welp, they ran out of time and thats what happens when you come late and go in the last group!!

Fast forward to a few weeks later, I was asked to come in and sing at Telsey.  I sang "Where Am I Going" from Sweet Charity and it went horribly.  Just not my best job at all.  I was pretty upset about it, but I learned some things from my Big Fish experience, so I didn't give up on getting seen for this show and we will see what happens!

Big Fish Comes to Broadway

Ever since I saw this notice in Playbill I've been excited about this new show Susan Stroman is doing.  Primarily for the fact that if she cast me once, I have a better shot at being cast again!  Well two weeks ago was the audition for the latest workshop of Big Fish.  If you don't know, it takes years for new musicals to get produced.  Usually the creative teams spends a very long time just writing the book and music, then they will have readings of the show, next workshops, and then an out of town tryout.  IF all of that goes well then the show, if it has enough funding, gets to go to Broadway.  Its a very long and arduous process to say the least.  So this most recent audition was not for Broadway, but for a workshop; however, often times the cast gets to stick around and be on Broadway.  Therefore, being in a workshop is a good way to become an original company member of a new Broadway show.

Whew, after all that explanation lets talk about the audition!  First off, Stro likes her tall girls so the call was only for girls 5'6-5'10". however she actually doesn't mind if you are above that height requirement  This is always nice because it means the audition won't be nearly as crowded as they usually are.  Still, 90 equity girls showed up to audition that day.  I got to the audition in time to hear my name called on the list, and I was going to be in the first group.  The audition started with a tap combination in which we were supposed to be USO girls.  As we learned the choreography it was really cute, but hard AND it was the combination that would NEVER end!  I could feel my brain fighting itself to prevent a freak out.  There were so many points when I thought we had finished, we would take it from the top and get to "the end" only to have the asst. choreographer say "and the next step.." Ahhh!  It was quite honestly the longest tap combo I have ever learned in an audition! sixteen counts of eight to be exact

After finally learning the combination it is time to do it in groups of three.  I was number four so I was in the 2nd group to go.  When combos are long and difficult going in the beginning can be a risk.  My group started the combination but the downfall of tapping in a group is if one person gets off it can bring down everyone and that's what happened.  At some point things went awry and, though I personally didn't mess up, the taps became unclear and off the beat at some point.  We got it back together and finished fine, but I immediately had a bad feeling.  After all had danced my bad feeling was confirmed.  I was cut!  In the first round!  I  gagged! (mortified) After spending an hour and fifteen minutes in the room it was a major let down to not go on.  They didn't keep many of the girls in my audition group maybe 7-10 out of the thirst, but darnit I felt like I should be in that group!  After that round they did ballet and sang afterwards. *sadface*

P.S. I don't usually make a big fuss about getting cut at auditions.  I believe it is best to have a laissez faire attitude about it all, so that you don't take rejection personally.  I failed after this audition.  I was a little too personally invested, so shoot me.

Anything Goes!

After the Flashdance failure, I headed uptown to the chorus call for Anything Goes.  The musical, currently on Broadway starring Sutton Foster, is going on tour in the fall of 2012.  Now, I'm not sure if I'm even remotely interested in going on tour again, but there is always a voice in my head saying "beggars can't be choosers" so I went anyways.  I made it to the call in time to hear my name called from the list and was given number twenty-five.  Which just so happens to be my lucky number!  Once again there were 80+ equity women there and they refused to see any non-equity dancers.  Since we were in a smaller studio than earlier that day, I was in the second group and had to sit and wait.  The wait wasn't bad though and I was soon headed into the audition room.

Once inside the room, there are a couple of things I always try to do.  First, obviously, is to stand in the front or at least somewhere I can see whoever is teaching the combination.  Second, I always try to determine who all the non-auditioning people are in the room.  A lot of times you can figure out how serious they are about hiring people just by seeing who's in the room.  If you have the casting director, music director, and choreographer all in the room, then they are probably trying to cast a show quickly.  However, if you walk in and its the assistant dance captain and a random assistant from casting you know they are either: a) in the very beginning of looking and there are many rounds of auditions left or b) they are not looking for anyone at all.  The later usually happens at required calls.

Anyways,  I get into the room and go stand in the front.  The dance captain (d.c) and someone from casting are there but no one else.  Oh well.  We begin to learn a combination the "angels" in the show do during "Blow, Gabriel, Blow".  It was a sultry combination complete with hip thrusts and fan kicks.  While not difficult, we were told multiple times by the d.c. not to make the hip thrusts "vulgar" and that the combination was all about focus.  I love stuff like that, so I had a good time.  We performed it four at a time and I was in the very first group of dancers to go.  After I finished I noticed they were separating headshots into separate piles to make a cut, but after everyone had danced they just thanked us and told us we were done! Booo!  No cuts, only one dance combo, and no singing!  Who knows when they are planning to get serious about casting.  I feel good about my performance though so we will just have to see what happens next.


For your viewing pleasure:

What a Feeling! Flashdance Comes to Broadway

Yes ladies and gentleman, you read that right.  The movie Flashdance has been made into a musical and will soon be making its debut on a Broadway stage near you.  The musical already had a debut in London (see here) and is making the big puddle jump over to the USA.  It is choreographed by Sergio Trujillo the wonderful choreographer of Memphis, so I was excited to go audition and see what he planned on doing with the show.  Getting back on the audition scene was a little bit of a shock to the system, there were just sooo many girls there.  They refused to see any non-equity dancers and the even closed the call to equity girls promptly at 10am.

I signed up on the chorus call list at the Actor's Equity building before hand, and made it to the audition in time to here the list called *see note if you need further explanation* I was number twenty-six and made it into the first group of dancers to be seen.  When we get into the room Sergio wasn't there but two of his assistants were.  They began teaching us a contemporary ballet combination!  What a surprise!   The combo was not at all what I was expecting for Flashdance and I immediately had to lose my shoes because it was so slippery in there.  The routine was fairly short and was a mixture of ballet, body rolls, and off the leg kicks to the side.  So much fun, but a little hard for me to do since I am NO concert dancer.

After we all learned the combo we went in groups of five  and I was in the last group to perform.  We did the combination twice and it went fine, but I had a hop on my double pirouette which is never good and felt a little awkward all around.  They made a cut and I was not asked to stay, boo!  They kept a lot of shorter girls, but there were a few taller girls in the mix.  I know that afterwards they did a second combination which was a mix of hip-hop and jazz and that no one sang that day.  While I was bummed not to continue on I am excited about what Sergio Trujillo is going to do with the show.  It looks awesome so far!


*side note: For every equity chorus call, both singers and dancers, there is a list that is put up at the Actor's Equity building about a week before the audition.  Anyone who wants to audition can sign up on the list.  Then 30 minutes before the start of every audition the names on the list are read and those people are given numbers in the order in which they are called.  Anyone who does not sign up on the list, must wait until all the names have been read and then they will get a number.  Signing up gets you a lower number and better odds at being in the first group, thus less waiting around time.  But you must get there in time to hear the list read or you miss your spot and have to wait until the end like everyone else.

Called back for Broadway!

At the end of my previous post, I was hoping to get a callback for Chicago.  I should tell you, now that it is all said and done with, that what really happened at the end of the audition was that the casting director told me they were going to call me back in the following week to sing and dance again.  I hate to jinx myself so didn't want to mention it beforehand.   Anyways, the following week I was invited back in for a replacement call for Chicago.  We were supposed to sing and dance in the morning and then possibly be available to sing and dance later that day for Walter Bobbie!  I was super duper pumped!

The callback happened Friday morning, which also happened to be the first night of previews for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular (RCCS), so I had a lot going on that day!  I decided to wear the same black unitard I had worn to the previous audition, but this time I wore my hair out and put a red lip on.  I arrived to the audition in the morning and there were about 25 girls there.  I recognized several of them either from previous auditions or other broadway shows they had done.  This was seriously the big leagues!

We went into the room to dance first and were taught the same combination I had learned previously except it had one small eight count change and they added on a little more to the end.  We all got a little more into the details with the dance captain and got a chance to go over it several times.  Then we did it in groups of three.  They didn't make a cut then, but asked us all to go over and sing for the musical director.  We ended up having to wait awhile because the boys weren't done singing just yet.  Finally, after sitting around for a minute, it was my turn to go in and sing.  I sang Come Down from the Tree for just the musical director and Duncan Stewart , the head of the casting office.  It didn't go as well as I wanted it to, when does it ever, so I wasn't feeling all that confident afterwards.  The musical director was also giving me the evil eye the entire time I sang which didn't do much to help me feel any better.

After all of that they asked us to wait around so that they could make a cut.  Those who made the cut would perform for Walter Bobbie.  They also stated that they had somewhat changed what they were looking for and there were only 2 slots available at this time.  For both men and women!  Anyways, cuts were made and, true to my intuition, I didn't make it.  Boo!  They kept about 5 girls out of the 25, none of whom were tall.  I have to tell myself stuff like that to deal with the rejection better.  I went about my merry way to have a burger and then make my debut as a Rockette!  So honestly I can't really say it was a bad day and plus, its all about the small victories.  Today I'm getting called back for Broadway and tomorrow, I'm booking the gig!  One step at a time, one step at a time.

Chicago!

I love the musical Chicago.  In fact, I would dare to say that it is my favorite dance musical.  Not sure if I can give it favorite musical status, especially after just seeing Follies, but it is THE musical that I want to be in on Broadway.  That being said you would think that I would have been in to audition for it a million times in the past three years.  However, getting to the audition has never worked out until this past week.  I noticed that there was an upcoming chorus call for the show and knew they were actively looking for replacements, but the audition time was at the same time as rehearsal for Radio City.  So I emailed the casting department and asked if I could come to the boys call earlier in the day and they agreed!

I have never gone to a boys call before, and even though I was equity I still had to wait to be seen with the non-equity boys.  Boo to the waiting, but I was just happy to get seen.  I also wasn't the only girl there, in the end there were four girls who came to the call.  Glancing around I got a chance to do my usual audition outfit survey and there was a unanimous decision to wear all black amongst those auditioning.  Some of the girls had chosen two piece outfits, but I myself went with a black unitard.  I was also too lazy to wear a red lip or put my hair down.  Don't judge.

Anyways, the non-equity group of boys and all four girls finally got into the room as one big group .  There were probably around fifty people all trying to learn the combination at once so it was a bit crowded.  The combination was taught by the current dance captain of the show and was a little bit from the overture of the show, but primarily consisted of the number All That Jazz.  He taught the combination very quickly, stating that he needed to see how fast we would be able to pick the movement up.  We were given a chance to practice it once in smaller groups, then it was time to audition.  The boys went in groups of three and the girls went last, as a group of four.  I had a great time doing the combo and didn't make any mistakes.  They made a cut and I was given a chance to sing.

I sang a new song at the audition, Don Juan from Smokey Joe's Cafe and then the casting director asked me if I had something else a little more soprano like.  Much to my dismay the accompanist was flipping through my book of music and selected the song for me!  That is like audition nightmare central!  Luckily he picked Come Down from the Tree from Once on this Island, which I have been working on in class.  I sang the song and then casting told me that I should sing that song next time I come in as it is more what the musical director was looking for.  Who knew that Chicago didn't want to hear you belt!?  I love feedback at auditions because that means they are actually interested in you/think you have potential.  So here's to hoping I hear from them soon!

Its A Jolly Holiday with Mary!

 A few weeks ago, I went back to the Mary Poppins audition for the first time in almost two years.  The last time I went in I made several cuts, so I have been dying to go back in for it, but the timing has never worked out, until now.  This particular call was for the national tour.  (Do I really want to go on tour again so soon?  I don't know but I really like the show and it could be a way into the Broadway company) I made it to the call in time to hear my name called on the equity list (yay for finally being 30min early) but was still in the second group of girls to go into the room.  The call almost always starts out in tap shoes and this day was no different.  They tend to teach the same thing at these auditions so the more times you go back the more you know the combination.  Luckily for me I had been keeping the tap combination in my head, so I remembered it and was able to perform it well.  Then they made a cut, and I was kept.


After they went through the rest of the girls, they did see non-equity ladies, we were brought back into the room and taught a second combination.  This combination takes place when the statues in the park come to life (Jolly Holiday).  We had to pretend to break out of our stone poses and then go into a dance that was one part jazz and the other part ballet.  It was really cute, but not the combination I learned at the previous audition which was Supercal.  I learned the combo, and really focused on a couple of small details that were giving me trouble.  We all danced for the casting folk again and I managed to get through it without any mistakes!  At that point I can see that they are making piles for a cut, but instead of announcing it to us they just tell us they will call if they want to hear us sing.

A few days later I get a call to go in and sing for the music team of Mary Poppins.  Hooray!  I added Happy Working Song to my book last summer with Poppins specifically in mind, so  I knew what song I wanted to sing right away.  I had a week to prepare and then I headed over to Ripley Grier.  I got there slightly before my call time of 11am, only to find that they were running early! So no sooner than I had arrived I had to go into the room and sing!  The song went well, the people at the table looked generally pleased and I was told that I did a great job, but I haven't heard back from them.

Sidenote:  I know that some people were called back to read sides the following day and I also know that some people received offers for the tour, some leaving this September and others for the tour in 2012.  I'm also pretty sure that casting isn't finished yet for 2012 so hears to hoping I still have a shot with them!

The New York Musical Theater Festival

A couple of weeks ago I was in rehearsal for a small gig I was doing.  Rehearsal was supposed to run from 10-6, but we got out early around 4pm.  So I hustled my butt down to Pearl Studios to audition for the New York Musical Theater Festival (NYMF).  NYMF is a fairly new event in New York City that gives a lot of budding writers/composers/directors/etc. a chance to put up their new musicals in the city.  Now this year was the very first year that they held an ECC (equity chorus call) for dancers, and after going to the audition I can see why.


I arrived just barely on time; given that I had to rush from rehearsal to the audition.  I checked in with the monitor, changed my clothes, and was attempting to make myself look decent, when someone from the casting office walks into the room and tells us that they will be seeing us all at the same time.  Whaaaaaaat???!?  Yes, they were going to shove all the equity AND non-equity girls into the audition room at once.  Great, its always fun to learn a combination when you are standing in a room so full you feel like cattle in the pen before slaughter.  Oh well.  We headed into the room and it was PACKED and not only was it packed but the sweet woman teaching the combination must have been about 4'11" so no one can see!


She introduced herself and explained to us that the combination she was about to teach is a mishmash of a lot of different styles of dance.  You see, the room was filled with people from ALL the different NYMF shows in need of dancers.  Each show of course had different needs and rather than teach several different combinations, they saved time by making one crazy schizophrenic combo that had in it: sexy jazz, tap, hip-hop, and a little acting.  It was nuts.  After all of us sardines learned the combination we did it in groups and they made a cut.  I was asked to stay and sing, but was super confused because they didn't tell you what musical called you back.  Which meant I had no clue what type of song to sing!  I went with my standard "Waiting for Life" and that was it.

Then two weeks later I got a callback for the NYMF show Central Avenue Breakdown!  They were looking for a "a whisky-voiced jazz alto" for a featured ensemble roll.  If that doesn't sound like me then what does?  I was told to bring a jazz/R&B song and to prepare an excerpt of music from the show.  When I arrived at the call today, there was a mixture of both dancers and singers their, which was only setting us up for a long audition especially when we started late.  The dancers had to wait while the singers did their movement combination and then approx. 15 of us went in to learn the combination.  The combo was a super fun, low to the ground number.  Borrowing a lot from the 40s, with basic Lindy steps and the sugarfoot, it also had a high kick and tons of opportunities to show your personality.  We all learned the combination, did it four at a time, then were told to go back to the holding room and wait for our turn to sing.

After waiting for a while, I finally requested to be put at the head of the line because I had to go see a show later on that evening.  I walked into the room and sang A Sunday Kind of Love.  It went very well, but they didn't ask me to sing the music from the show.  However, the director/choreographer told me that I had a great audition today and thats all I can really ask for.

Carrie the Musical

I'm so behind on blogging about auditions!  July has been a crazy month of auditions, class, and odd little projects.  But, the inspiration for last weeks post came from the equity chorus call for Carrie the Musical.  This 80s musical went down in history as a colossal flop, but is currently being reworked for an off broadway revival.  There are pretty much no youtube clips to go off of, so I had no idea what to expect at this chorus call. 

Now, this audition happened THREE weeks ago, so forgive me if the details are a little fuzzy.  It was a lovely 10am audition, which for most people might seem like a perfectly reasonable time for an audition, but I HATE morning auditions.  My life doesn't have a set schedule which means I usually wake up at 10am.  Forcing me awake a full 2 hrs earlier (and I still cut it close) so that I can get dressed cute, warm up my voice, and get to an audition at 9:30am is just torture.   As I roled into the audition at about 9:45 of course there were already a bunch of girls there. 


I always find it interesting to people watch while I wait to go into the audition room.  The responsible people were warming up and stretching (yeah..not me), others were busy gabbing away with friends (shyly raises hand), some were out trying to catch a glance into the audition room to see the combination, and the rest were keeping to themselves (me when I started this whole audition game).  There were people are wearing leotards and dance shoes, some are completely 80s, and everyone in between.  I myself had chosen to wear a pair of capris, a tank, and my favorite purple converse.  Trying to look  youthful, without dressing for the part.  See previous entry.


After waiting for about an hour, its my turn to go into the room.  The choreographer, Matt Williams takes some time to explain the musical to us and we then begin to learn the choreography.  Whoa!  First the combination is from the scene where all the teens are at the dance and Carrie unleashes havoc on everyone.  So there was a lot of acting like you had just seen the most horrific event of your life and also a move where we got to pretend we were levitating! Second, have you seen this clip from the Fresh Prince of Belair?

Ok, so it wasn't THAT bad, but still.  The choreographer basically taught us the ENTIRE combination, which had several changes of direction, and even included skipping in one take.  Then after he had gone through it said "Does anyone have any questions?"  I swear I've never seen so many hands shoot up so fast.  So after clarifying all the walking patterns, counts, and directional changes, it was time for the judging tables to come out.  I had a few small mistakes when it came to timing but other than that it wasn't too bad; however, sometimes you can just tell you're not being watched.  You glance over at the table and you never see any eyes on you.  Its a disheartening realization to have in the middle of a combination, but there is really nothing you can do about it.  After finishing the combo, I waited to be cut, and that was it.


P.S. Yes I just REALLY wanted to have that clip from the Fresh Prince in there.  I loved the original Aunt Viv!

Superfly the Musical

A few weeks ago, I had a particularly rough week of auditions.  Following the Fame and Chaplin auditions, I auditioned for the workshop of Superfly the Musical.  The new musical is set to show life in 1970's Harlem using music from the era and is directed and choreographed by the legendary Bill T. Jones, choreographer for Fela! The audition was held at the Alvin Ailey studios (my old stomping grounds), which was an unusual setting for a musical audition in the first place and an indicator of things to come.

First they split the audition by having the "Harlem Beauties" come in the morning and the "Priest's Girlfriend/Caucasion Streetwalkers" come in the afternoon.  Yes, they really did split the audition along those lines.  I arrived in the morning, being the Harlem Beauty that I am (sorry couldn't help myself)  and got a chance to catch up with some of the kids from Ailey which was really nice.  The girls at the audition ran the entire spectrum.  There were girls from The Ailey School there, girls from the Alvin Ailey company (!) and then girls that I usually see at musical theatre auditions.  Given the population I was extremely curious what I was in for.

The equity girls were called into the room and greeted by the fabulous Bill T. Jones himself.  He was extremely kind and ridiculously fit!  He started the audition by having us learn two phrases, as we repeated the phrases again and again, he would lead in the front and then switch one of the phrases and we were to learn it and repeat.  It was actually really difficult because while you were dancing you were expected to be watching and learning at the same time, then to dance it right after.  We were all struggling!  I thought that that was probably the first cut, but it wasn't.  It was the warm up!  He then, had us all walk through the center of the room at the same time.  We were to just keep walking and going through the center of the room.  So that he could see how we moved.  Then finally we learned a combo.  It was very much modern dance, had no counts, and though the music was in eights we were not to dance with the music!


Sigh, I hate being out of place at auditions.  It rarely happens to me, but when it does the feeling is discouraging.  Now this was not like the wicked combo, where I was having a hard time getting the movement in my body.  I learned the combo fine, but the timing was just not something I could adjust to.  My body needs counts!  So we did the combination once and Bill T. Jones goes around making cuts by shaking hands and telling people thanks for coming one by one, and he doesn't eliminate me! Whew.  But the girls that he does cut, he asks if they would like to sing on the spot in front of everyone while doing some movement across the floor... um what?  I'm not even sure if that's OK with equity?  These poor girls after being cut then have to sing their songs in front of us all, while making up their own dance.  Yikes!  We then do the combination again in groups and this time I'm given the boot along with others, but he didn't ask us to sing and I probably would have declined anyways. What an experience!

Becoming Chaplin Audition

After finishing with the Northern Stage audition I hopped on the train to head to another audition for a workshop for the new musical Becoming Chaplin.  The Northern Stage audition had started at 9:30 and Becoming Chaplin was scheduled to start at 10.  So heading downtown at 10:30 I was in a bit of a hurry to make sure I got there in time to be seen.  Lucky for me when I arrived the first group of equity girls was still in the room and I was only #65!  Again, where is everyone!?


Now, originally the monitor, the person who runs the audition room, told me I would have to go with the non-equity girls because I had arrived so late.  But I quickly filled out my card and changed, just in case he tried to switch things up on me and surprise! that's exactly what he did.  As the second group was heading in he told me that I could go in with them.  So I rushed to put my shoes on and was the last person to get into the room.

Now, if you've ever seen a Charlie Chaplin film you know it has a lot of physical comedy in it.  So at the audition choreographer, Warren Carlyle tried to recreate this.  The first third of the combination was counted in sevens and sixes and was filled with acting, we were basically trying to portray someone waking up and stretching.  Then the combination broke into a little soft shoe number! Fun.  However, at the end it got very difficult.  The combination finished with a million chaine turns into a triple pirouette, into twelve fouettes, finished with a double pirouette and drop to a split! Seriously.....is this real life?

Now the combination was super long, but I managed to keep my brain on long enough to pick it up. Plus, I was in the very last group to audition so I had plenty of time to run through it in my head.  Watching 30 plus girls go before you is always helpful, but it also made me realize just how impossible that turn combination was.  You simply can't turn that much on a wood floor, with rubber soles, IN HEELS!!!  Luckily for me I have been too lazy to get my shoes rubbered so I had suede on my LaDucas.  Anyways, when it was finally my turn, I had a lot of fun with the acting and then when we got to the turn combination, I managed to get through the entire thing without stopping.  By the end I wasn't spotting and the entire room was just spinning by in a blur.  I'm also sure that they were the ugliest, most turned in, hiked up shoulder fouettes ever seen in an audition room.  But I dropped to my split and was finished!  Hooray!

Then choreographer told us that we could all be excused, but once in the hallway my name and one other girls name were called back into the room to dance some more!  But when we got in there he explained to us that we didn't need to dance again, that he simply wanted to let us know they would be calling us at some point to come in and sing again!  Awesome.

Where is Everyone???

I think once about two years ago I talked about going against the grain and heading to a smaller audition on a day when there is a bigger call going on at the same time.  Well yesterday that is exactly what I did.  Northern Stage Theatre is a smaller equity house in Vermont that was holding a call for the musical Annie.  As a child I always dreamed of being Annie but given that I probably couldn't pull off the red hair, it was a dream never to come true.  (My mom and dad weren't Will and Jada..shout out to Willow!)  But I headed over to audition for it as an adult on the same day that auditions for a new upcoming musical called Becoming Chaplin was coming out.


Now, I expected fewer dancers to be there, but I walked in and there were only six equity girls there! Six!  And when all was said and done only twelve non-equity girls showed up!  So we all got to go in as one rather small group and learned a combination to the number "I Think I'm Gonna Like it Here".  The combination was very ballet influenced and right up my alley!  Nothing makes you feel more joyous in an audition than being in your comfort zone, let me tell you.  So I got to have a lot of fun, which is not always the case. 

We get to go three at a time for the casting folk and I am in the 2nd group of three since there were only six equity girls total.  I had a lot of fun and felt good about my performance and I could tell that a cut was being made, but they never announced it to us.   Instead they had all eighteen of us come back and sing.  I sang a fairly traditional song entitled A Little Bit in Love from the musical Wonderful Town, which went OK, but I pretty much decided at that moment that I cannot wait another week without taking my tush to voice lessons.  After singing that was it! We were all free to go and I headed down to that other audition for Becoming Chaplin.  Two auditions in one day? You bet, but more on that later!

Minor Redemption @ Rocky Horror

After my championship performance at Wicked the week before, I decided to sign up to audition for the Rocky Horror Picture show this past Thursday Jun, 2.  A brief aside, you have the opportunity as an equity member to sign up for chorus calls a week in advance.  That way if you do it early enough you can guarantee you'll be seen in the first group and usually get the most time to learn the combination.  The only catch is that you have to be at the audition 30 min ahead of time or else you lose your spot and have to sign up in the order in which you arrived.  Of course although I signed up ahead of time, I missed my name being called from this list.  So to the end of the line I went.  Lucky for me there was barely anyone there, so I was still only #35.

I assumed I was in the second group.  So I went to go change.  If you've ever seen Rocky Horror, you know that they wear some crazy little outfit.  Emphasis on little!  I don't have anything to crazy, so I tried my best to look cute and then went to the holding room to wait for about 45 min until it was time to go in.  The combination was something I can only describe as odd.  It was all about the drama, actings, and the character you could get into.. and it was quick.  There was this one really quick hand part, that no one seemed to be catching onto.  I've included a clip from the movie of the song we danced to for your enjoyment:

We performed the combination six at a time, and lucky for me by the time my name was called I had pretty much figured out the one section I was struggling with.  They then made a cut and I was asked to stay and sing.  Hooray! My good friend who was also asked to stay and sing had this great idea that we should rent a room to warm up in for the second part of the audition.   What an awesome concept!  Just a quick 15min to warm up and hear yourself sing your 16 bars really helps you feel prepared.  Especially this time when I was singing a song I had not yet done at an audition.
Anyways, they maybe kept a third of the girls to sing.  We lined up and one at a time went in to sing.  I sang this:

And that was it.  I think that it went pretty well.  But nerves always make you sound a little different than you do when you are not in the audition room.  But honestly I have no complaints.  Haven't heard from them, but don't much care as I really just needed a chance to prove my brain had not turned to much and to debut my new 60s/70s pop song!

Callbacks for Memphis

In March I wrote about attending the equity chorus call for the national tour of Memphis.  Well, in the middle of April I received an email from Telsey casting to come in for a call back! Hooray!  After a long harrowing ordeal to get to NYC, I arrived an hour late for my appointment and had to go in the next group.


Unlike some other equity callbacks, this call still had a ton of people, and the first group took a very long time in the audition room.  However, once they were done the later group of girls, and there must have still been 50 of us, went into the room to learn the combination.  The combo turned out to be the same combination learned at the chorus call, with a few differences.  Mainly that there were two different variations that you had to learn and then based on how you were lined up you did one or the other.  A bit much to have to remember in an audition situation.  But we learned them and then went five at a time.  They then made a cut, and I was kept.


For the second combination all the girls were brought back into the room and told to put our heels on.  The asst. choreographer, Edgar Godineaux, then taught us a second combination which was very fun!  It was a cute combo, which I can only describe as being in the style of a Motown doo-wop singer.  It was a little longer, but despite being exhausted I managed to pick it up.  When it came time for my audition, I gave it all I had at the time, didn't mess up, and thought I did pretty good.


Unfortunately when it came time to move on to the next thing, about nine of us girls, were called over by the casting director and told that "It wasn't a bad thing, they were just considering us for another track, and that they didn't need to hear us sing today"  Booooo, there were still about 50 girls left so I was a little disappointed not to sing.  At the time, I wasn't sure if I had just been cut or if they really were considering me for another track in the show.  But as of last week, offers went out for the tour, so I guess it was a cut.  Its all for the best though, but I sure do love that musical!  Maybe next time!

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!

One last time for Stro

Last week my voice teacher Mr. David Sabella-Mills gave me a homework assignment.  Like he was a regular h.s. teacher David told me to go out and sing my audition song (Waiting for Life to Begin) at one of the open mics around the city before I went to my final callback.  After a failed trip downtown on Monday night, I finally got up the courage to actually sing at Don't Tell Mama's a piano bar in midtown.  unfortunately it took about four drinks for me to get the job done, which meant it was a little hard to get up on Thursday morning.

Thus, I arrived at my 10am audition at 9:45! Of course they were running behind like last time, so I get some credit for not being all out crazy.  Anyways, I walk into the holding room and there are still 14 girls there!  Umm, what happened?  Did they not eliminate anyone the last call back?  Surprisingly enough there were 4 girls there who had never auditioned before!  How? What?  I have to find a way to get on THAT list.

At about 10:30, they call us into the room and review the tap and ballet combinations from before.  No surprises here, except that the pace is very fast.  After the review we head back out into the holding room, and the boys have arrived.   They head into the room to review and us girls wait for Ms. Stroman to arrive.  After quite possibly the longest 30 minutes ever, Ms Stroman arrives and the audition begins.

We start with tap, reviewing the combination once.  Then Stro (as she will henceforth be referred to) gets up in the front and tells us we will be going two at a time.  I get to be in the second group to go.  That may not seem good, but at the other two auditions I was the very last girl to go and THAT is nerve wracking.   Anyways, I do tap combo well, as does everyone else.  At this point everyone knows it so there is no one that isn't good.  Ballet goes pretty much the same.  Stro was so nice, calling all of us out two at a time herself, and telling each group "nice job ladies".  After everyone was done we went out to wait to sing.

The boys went into the room, auditioned, and came out, and now it was singing time!  I had worked on all the corrections that the casting director had requested, performed in front of the public at the open-mic.  All that was left was to do it when it counts.  I go into the room to sing, and there must have been six people, plus the piano player there.  I reviewed the song with him and there was nothing left to do but sing my little heart and try not to be scared.  It went as well as I thought it could and after I was done, Stro said "you had really good audition today"!  Amazing.

Thats it, after three auditions over the course of a week and a half, it was over and all I had to do was wait.










 Oh and today, June 18, 2010,  Tara Rubin Casting called...and I got the JOB!!!!!  The National Tour of Young Frankenstein ensemble and my equity-card!!!

Young Frankenstein cont.

Tuesday morning, was the morning of the callback for Young Frankenstein.  It was set to begin at 10am and me being my early-arriving self got there at 9:30.  There were several new faces that were not there yesterday and only a few people I recognized from the day before.  Apparently, getting called back from a chorus call gets you into the "Invited Dance Call" which is what other people are just invited to in the first place.

The audition starts out with tap again, only this time its the combination all the equity girls learned yesterday.  I practically run to the front of the room, because I know I'm going to need to be able to see if I want to get this right, but it really didn't matter because the assistant choreographer kept making everyone switch around so we all got a chance to see.  He started teaching the combination and it was fast and a little complicated.  One girl left the audition before he even finished teaching it!

Have you ever studied for an exam and then when you sat down to take it realized it was nothing like you had planned?  You studied straight facts, and suddenly its an essay test?  That's what this was like, but just like when sitting in a surprisingly difficult exam, you have a choice.  Either give up and sit there staring off into space until its over or try to get it together and make sense of what you're looking at.  I literally felt my brain turn on and forced myself to take it all in.  Luckily they let us go over it a couple of times before we had to do it three at a time and I made the cut!

Next we did the same ballet combination from the previous day, so my brain got a break.  They didn't make a cut at this point since there were 13 people left (yes I counted!) .  It was time to sing again,  after doing such an awful job the day before I wanted to practice a bit before I went in but there was no where to do it.  Every time I tried to practice a lovely employee from the studio would tell me not to. Ugh.  I had planned on singing A Little Bit in Love again, but when I got in the room.  I asked the casting director and choreographer what they wanted and they said whatever I was most comfortable with so I completely switched gears and sang Waiting for Life to Begin from Once on This Island.

Surprisingly, the casting director told me how much better this song was than yesterday's!  She also took the time to give me feedback on my performance.  It was the first time anyone had every taken the time to do this and I was extremely grateful.  Still upon leaving I let all hope go out the window.  Its better as a performer to just know you didn't get it when you leave an audition so that its a surprise when you do rather than a disappointment when you don't.

Yet somehow, the next day, I look at my phone and there's a missed call from Tara Rubin casting!  I've been called back again!  This time, the call back is for next week and Susan Stroman is going to be there!  The woman has one FIVE TONYS!! She directed and choreographed The Producers!   This is really quite the opportunity and I'm really excited.  I don't know how many spots there are on the tour..I've heard two females and I don't know how many girls will be there next week.  But this whole experience has been awesome! Wish me luck!

P.S. Please listen to LaChanze sing Waiting for Life to Begin and KNOW that I SOUND NOTHING LIKE THAT.  She sings it a whole step higher than me and she's an icon...that is all.

OMG OMG You Guys!

So Monday was the chorus call for the tour of Legally Blonde the Musical. As a side note, can I just say how much I love this show?! It seems crazy, but considering my favorite movie is Clueless, at least I'm consistent. Anyways, the call was at 10am and I arrived at 9:15 with my ideal outfit (a teal blue tank top and short white skirt), hair down, ready to look as cute, preppy, and cheerleadery as possible. Again, it was packed, my goodness I think more girls are moving to New York everyday. The musical had reserved two rooms at the audition center just to hold people and you still had to tip-toe around to avoid stepping on people.

As I walked onto the scene I notice this huge line coming out into the hallway and I'm wondering what the heck is this for? It turns out that this was the line for non-eq girls to sign the non-eq list. Now, I have never stood in line before to sign the list and was truly perplexed as to how this was going on. It turns out:(long explanation coming) When some non-equity girls arrive at the audition the equity monitor and the official sign-up list weren't there yet, so the girls found a piece of paper and made a non-official sign up list. When the equity monitor arrived, she honored the unofficial list but she made the girls re-sign themselves up. However, some girls had left planning to come back later and were unable to reclaim there spot.

As I got up to the list I noticed that there were names missing..i.e. 63 and 65 had a name by them but not 64. Whoever the original #64 is, I'd like to apologize but you snooze you loose, I put my name right on into that spot and went to find a spot to sit.

The wait was long as usual, at least three hours, and I was still in the second group of non-equity ladies to go. I was so excited to get in there because they had a live drummer to go with the pianist. As we enter they have a lady from Telsey casting and the asst. choreographer greeting us. They both tell us how cute we all look and then we get down to business. We begin learning the number that Elle performs as her substitute admissions essay to Harvard (just the first 30 sec). Its supposed to be sharp, with a little hip-hop feel at times and was really fun! It was only 4:8 counts long and we learned it quickly, did it in a few times in smaller groups and then it was time to do it five at a time.

As each group goes, I notice that the asst. choreographer is writing stuff on people's headshots but he is not separating them into piles. Its my turn to go and I'm having so much fun! Yay cheerleading, how I miss you! I did a clean cute routine and tried to see what the guy would do with my headshot. I think he put a dot on it....what the heck does that mean when I saw him writing words on everyone elses? It didn't matter anyways, because as the last group finishes performing, they informs us that they aren't going to be keeping anyone to sing or to dance again, because they aren't really looking for anyone at the moment but they will be keeping our headshots on file...Booooo to the whackness! Talk about anti-climatic and considering I want to be in this show I was even sadder. Sigh, this is the chorus call scene.