A saga of the actor's roller-coaster ride:
January 2014 - traveled to Berkeley, CA to attend the TBA (Theatre Bay Area) General auditions - an opportunity to perform 2 monologs within 3 minutes for approx 40 Bay Area theatres...saves me the cost of auditioning for each one separately.
April - get a call, based on my TBA audition, from Arabian Shakespeare Festival in Santa Clara, CA to audition for their production of "Othello". Audition is May 10.
Purchase a same day RT ticket to San Jose (the airport is only minutes from the theatre), and get a great deal on Alaska. Still means a day of paid parking at the airport, and taxi fare to the theatre (discover free VTA shuttle for the return trip!)
Prepare for audition by re-reading the play a couple of times, choosing a different monolog to perform that will steer them towards thinking of me for Iago (thank you to my actor friends that helped with that!). Also read a collection of essays about Iago edited by Harold Bloom, and some other assorted web reading about the character.
Decide to keep my Van Dyke (beard/mustache) that I had for Don John since it is a more "villain" look, but will darken the grey to look younger :-)
Get called back for Iago!!! to be held May 17
Snag - on May 17 I have committed to work a bartending shift, the busiest catering day of the year so far - finding someone to cover looks unlikely.....my bosses are supportive, but can't release me from my commitment...I AM able to get them to switch me to a later shift. This means that, by getting the director to see me first in their day (at 9:40) and grabbing a cab back to the airport, I can catch an 11:20 plane thru Portland that would get me back to Seattle in time for my bartending gig. So I buy the plane tix, using Frequent Flyer Miles since the real dollar cost is prohibitive.
At the last minute, my bosses decide they aren't comfortable with the possibility of my flight being late or cancelled and replace me on the bartending gig. With the removal of that deadline, I try to change my return flight to a later plane but am told that it will cost $125. There is a Same Day Change that costs only $25, but the rules state that my change would have to mirror the original flight exactly, and there are no other via-Portland flights....ugh
So, on the philosophy of "You get more if you ask for it", I arrive at the airport early for my trip to San Jose and speak with a live person, face-to-face. I am charming and non-confrontational and, after she explains why it should cost me $125 to make the change, she calls her supervisor over and they make the change to a direct flight later in the day and charge me only the $25 Same Day fee!!!! I love Alaska Airlines!! Not being rushed at the call back makes a huge difference, at least to my state of mind.
So - back to the week between audition and call back.....I prepare every day by re-reading the script (again); going over the 3 scenes I will be reading at the call back (and 'going over' includes getting familiar with the language, making choices as to what I am trying to get from the other characters, rehearsing in my living room); listening to the Laurence Olivier version on vinyl; and watching 3 different video productions to jump-start my approach to Iago; plus re-reading a few of the Iago essays that seem most relevant to my concept.
At the call-back (again with darkened Van Dyke), I joke with the director, perform the scenes, take direction and perform them again (hopefully incorporating the adjustments), play with the artistic director's dog and chat up his wife afterwards, mention my brother's connections to Abu Dhabi since the theatre has toured there, and make my way leisurely back to the airport, with a brief stop at the Santa Clara Farmer's Market for a delicious fresh peach.
Now - I just have to wait to hear if it is 'yea' or 'nay' but knowing I have done all I could on my end.
UPDATE: and after all that, I was not cast...they went with an actor about half my age and with whom the director has worked before - sigh
January 2014 - traveled to Berkeley, CA to attend the TBA (Theatre Bay Area) General auditions - an opportunity to perform 2 monologs within 3 minutes for approx 40 Bay Area theatres...saves me the cost of auditioning for each one separately.
April - get a call, based on my TBA audition, from Arabian Shakespeare Festival in Santa Clara, CA to audition for their production of "Othello". Audition is May 10.
Purchase a same day RT ticket to San Jose (the airport is only minutes from the theatre), and get a great deal on Alaska. Still means a day of paid parking at the airport, and taxi fare to the theatre (discover free VTA shuttle for the return trip!)
Prepare for audition by re-reading the play a couple of times, choosing a different monolog to perform that will steer them towards thinking of me for Iago (thank you to my actor friends that helped with that!). Also read a collection of essays about Iago edited by Harold Bloom, and some other assorted web reading about the character.
Decide to keep my Van Dyke (beard/mustache) that I had for Don John since it is a more "villain" look, but will darken the grey to look younger :-)
Get called back for Iago!!! to be held May 17
Snag - on May 17 I have committed to work a bartending shift, the busiest catering day of the year so far - finding someone to cover looks unlikely.....my bosses are supportive, but can't release me from my commitment...I AM able to get them to switch me to a later shift. This means that, by getting the director to see me first in their day (at 9:40) and grabbing a cab back to the airport, I can catch an 11:20 plane thru Portland that would get me back to Seattle in time for my bartending gig. So I buy the plane tix, using Frequent Flyer Miles since the real dollar cost is prohibitive.
At the last minute, my bosses decide they aren't comfortable with the possibility of my flight being late or cancelled and replace me on the bartending gig. With the removal of that deadline, I try to change my return flight to a later plane but am told that it will cost $125. There is a Same Day Change that costs only $25, but the rules state that my change would have to mirror the original flight exactly, and there are no other via-Portland flights....ugh
So, on the philosophy of "You get more if you ask for it", I arrive at the airport early for my trip to San Jose and speak with a live person, face-to-face. I am charming and non-confrontational and, after she explains why it should cost me $125 to make the change, she calls her supervisor over and they make the change to a direct flight later in the day and charge me only the $25 Same Day fee!!!! I love Alaska Airlines!! Not being rushed at the call back makes a huge difference, at least to my state of mind.
So - back to the week between audition and call back.....I prepare every day by re-reading the script (again); going over the 3 scenes I will be reading at the call back (and 'going over' includes getting familiar with the language, making choices as to what I am trying to get from the other characters, rehearsing in my living room); listening to the Laurence Olivier version on vinyl; and watching 3 different video productions to jump-start my approach to Iago; plus re-reading a few of the Iago essays that seem most relevant to my concept.
At the call-back (again with darkened Van Dyke), I joke with the director, perform the scenes, take direction and perform them again (hopefully incorporating the adjustments), play with the artistic director's dog and chat up his wife afterwards, mention my brother's connections to Abu Dhabi since the theatre has toured there, and make my way leisurely back to the airport, with a brief stop at the Santa Clara Farmer's Market for a delicious fresh peach.
Now - I just have to wait to hear if it is 'yea' or 'nay' but knowing I have done all I could on my end.
UPDATE: and after all that, I was not cast...they went with an actor about half my age and with whom the director has worked before - sigh