I went in to the final callback of Anything Goes, my 4th audition of that week, a complete mix of emotions. On one hand I had a great audition for them the week before. On the other hand, I had blown my Chaplin singing callback the previous day, which had completely shaken my singing confidence. At the final callback there were twenty-three girls left, only 4 of them tall, and I was the only one of color. Couldn't get much better odds since there are only 2 tall dancer girl tracks in the show.
We were all led into the room and led through a review of the two combinations we had learned previously. Plus, we learned a short graboff tap break that we would need to do one at a time for Kathleen and the rest of the creatives. We had to wait a bit after the review for the creative team to get here, but once they arrived we started right away. I was in the first group to dance because I had another audition to get to.
I danced the first combination which went well and eventually also danced the 2nd tap combination. I nailed all the sounds on my graboff break and once all the girls danced it was time to sing. Because I had to leave so quickly I was the first girl to sing too! No time to get myself together, but on the other hand no time to start getting in my head either. I sang my song, "Oh Diogenes", for them and Kathleen Marshall told me it was an "awesome audition song". Thats some good feedback! I was expecting to have to sing my second soprano song, but Kathleen looked over at the music director who shook his head no and she said that was all they needed to see. I was a little thrown off by this, but he had been in the room the week before so maybe he didn't need to hear me sing it again? There wasn't much time to dwell on it anyways, because I was running off to audition for Into The Woods!
After waiting almost two weeks, I just found out today that I booked it!
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 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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
Just a twenty something aspiring dancer trying to make it in NYC. I'm always googling to see if anyone has talked about the audition I plan on going to next and since I never find anything I figure I'll help someone else out by writing about my own experiences.
