You know how there always seems to be that one person who for absolutely no rational reason at all you just can't stand? Maybe there is a reason but it's certainly not a valid one and not one you'd ever admit to other than maybe your mother or your closest friend.
Last year, when I went to the UPTA's in Tennessee, I found that very person. And saw her face there over and over and over again. Isn't that always the way? The people you want to see you never will but the people you don't want to? Oh look out, because there they are peering over your shoulder looking at your computer screen.
There is always someone better, someone prettier, more talented, taller, tanner, trimmer than you are and amusingly, there always will be. Our auditions were clumped together in groups of, I think about 10. So as you were waiting your turn you could see and hear those in your group and those in the group before you. I, as Fate would have it, had 3, yes THREE adorable gay men go before me and then, no joke, 2 blondes went after me. Best audition lineup EVER. But in the group before ours was this girl who must have been an extra on the Hills because she was SO beautiful and then when I heard her sing, it was like, wow. Talk about a triple threat, this girl had the beauty, the bod and the belt. The bitch. And then later on, when everyone was checking the callback lists from all the companies, wandering from sheet to sheet, just hoping to see your number, I had a whopping total of 4 callbacks and there she was, her piece of paper overflowing with the names of different companies. I couldn't resist and asked how many she had: 45. FORTY-FIVE. Ugh. She even got called back by Dollywood, which I really really wanted (don't ask me why) which apparently was a "really fun callback." And then, waiting in between the jazz and the tap combos for the dance callbacks where I totally felt like I was living the "God I hope I get it" Chorus Line song, there was little Miss Triple Threat. Only this time, this time she was practicing the tap routine and she was....awful. I mean, awkwardly awful. There was another girl trying to help her but they both looked lost and then she stopped dancing and started crying. I couldn't believe it. I mean, the tap routine had seemed a little complicated but I felt I had it down and so I walked over and asked her if she needed help and we went over it. And she was really grateful. And then she started talking about how stressed she was because a lot of her callbacks were conflicting with each other and she was having to choose which ones to go to because she couldn't make it to all of them. She had been running around all day and was so exhausted and frustrated. And my four, simple, spaced out callbacks were starting to not look so terrible. The best moment though, was when I saw her again, later ( I told you, when you don't want to, they are ALWAYS there) and she was looking for a certain audition room, I'd just happened to leave in the next building, so I pointed her in the right direction. She smiled and thanked me and said, "you're always saving me, I don't know what I'd do without you." It's funny, isn't it?
Auditions can be pretty horrifying things. Most sane people hate them because it's like putting yourself out there willingly on the chopping block. But I, secretly, love them and take pleasure knowing that for those few minutes, I have the potential to give an impression of myself to another they hadn't seen or thought of before. And that's exciting. Because be it film or stage or little Portland theatre, it all starts with some breakout role. And you'll never get that role if you don't show up to that audition, no matter how many little triple threat bad tappers there are.
No comments:
Post a Comment