Auditions and Thanksgiving

"Acting is a sport. On stage you must be ready to move like a tennis player on his toes. Your concentration must be keen, your reflexes sharp; your body and mind are in top gear, the chase is on. Acting is energy. In the theatre people pay to see energy." - Clive Swift

What a week its been! Monday and Tuesday, I was heavily occupied with auditions for my school's production for West Side Story. As a techie who has never 'gone into the light' as an actress while in college, this was a very big step for me. As a person who rarely speaks up in front of people, can't dance, and never ever ever sings in front of people, my mere presence at auditions was downright monumental. I was one of sixty-six people there to audition, all of us feeding off one another's energy and nervousness. The open auditions meant there were a lot of non-theater people there; twenty-something people from the theater department showed up that I saw.

Once everyone filled out contact information sheets and signed a contract, we split in half with one group learning a small amount of coraeography ten people at a time and the rest giving cold reading in groups of two or three. I started with the cold reading where I was teamed with two other girls and read as Rosalia. After that, I waited nervously for my turn to dance and eventually went into the workshop theater with nine other people.

The coreographer showed us some "simple" coreography for the song 'Cool.' Of the ten people in that room, I was the only one who didn't get it. I just stood there at times, trying to figure out what I needed to do to get to the next position. The fact that the coreography was stylized a lot like the movie didn't help. After that lovely little failure, I drove home with my tail between my legs, constantly reminding myself that at least I had tried and telling myself that no matter how badly I'd screwed up, I would go to the next evening's auditions. If nothing else, this would prove to the director and to me that I could do what was required for the audition.

The next night, Tuesday, was much easier since it was the singing audition. I may not be able to dance, but I can sing and I like to think I can act. My song was from Avenue Q. If I say so myself, I nailed that portion of the audition. Everyone has had to wait through Thanksgiving break since results won't be posted until Monday. Now I'm not sure which way I want things to go: whether I want a role on-stage or not.

Over Thanksgiving break, I went to my Dad's family reunion with my dad, step-mom, and two year old half-sister. It was a lot of fun. I've also received a new car: an '86 Mustang Capri. It's not the prettiest with its cancer gray color, but I'm slowly getting used to it and really enjoying it. Wednesday, I have an exam in Spanish and a final in Tech. All in all, it'll be a fun week.