All the world's a stage

2012-01-02T23:24:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for keeping up with me even if I haven't been keeping up here. So it's a new year and that means resolution time. My resolution is to update this blog regularly. I'm going to aim for once a week on Saturdays, but that may vary depending on when I see a show.

Hopefully I'll be able to add other reviews on not just plays viewed, but plays read, as well as monologue suggestions. I still haven't decided if I'm going to keep up with the weekly review on upcoming auditions, although I'd like to try. For now, just a regular update would suffice for me.

Here's to a great 2012! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and Happy New Year!

Film Extra: "Tear It Down"

2011-12-02T16:44:00.000-08:00

I recently had the pleasure of working as an extra in my friend, Marena's new movie, "Tear It Down." She put out the call that she needed some extras for a day of filming and I was more than happy to oblige.

Marena has decided to make her own movie after realizing that she was coming close to graduation and had no way to get her movie produced unless she did it herself. Marena reminds me of Felicia Day from "The Guild". Felicia Day realized that there weren't a lot of parts available to her and so she set about creating her own webseries. Marena realized that the chances of her script making to the SJSU summer movie production was slim and decided to do it on her own. Marena has written, produced and will star in her upcoming movie and I think that is amazing.

As far the day of shooting, I think it was a fairly typical day of what a person will experience on a low-budget, student film. You arrive when called and wait. You wait while the shots are set up, while the equipment is set up, and while the lighting is checked. Seriously peeps, bring a book or some device to entertain yourself on a film shoot. There is a lot of down time, and remember if your entertainment device is a smart phone turn it off during takes. Marena was generous and also brought us some snacks to munch on between takes. This was supposed to be a rather short shoot as it was only about a page of dialogue. However, due to it being an outdoor shoot things took a bit longer than expected. First off, we were filming outdoors in a public space-SJSU to be specific. That means lots of people walking about and in today's case lots of ground maintanence. There had been a huge wind storm the night before and the ground maitnanece was about clearing out all the branches and leaves that had fallen. Also, something that I don't think was taken into account, the shade. The area we were filming on had great sun until about 1pm and then the shade from the trees started to creep in. This lead to set up shot, talk about something for a bit and realize we lost the lighting because the sun moved. So start again. Also, I never realized the reflector was so bright. I'm curioius to see the final product and if you can see me trying not to cry as the sun pierces my eyeballs. Although, crying would've worked in this case since we were at a "poetry reading."

I have to say my favorite part of the day was when myself and the other extras were doing our background work and pretending to have a conversation about one of the readings we had just witnessed. Our conversations involved how Edgar Allen Poe and Emily Dickinson should've been star-crossed lovers in different time dimensions and that Slyvia Plath was thier love child. Very exetensial and ridiculous.

Even though the shoot ran later then expected and I had to leave a bit early, I had a great time. I can't wait to see the finished product.

The Uploaders

2011-09-30T01:13:00.000-07:00

The Uploaders is a funny vulgar, very NSFW web series developed by Jason Salazar. The premise: eight people decide they want to become famous by creating something spectacular to put on the web. What ensues is deviant hilarity as they each compete for the best idea.

All the talent, so far, is local and many are also theatre actors. Jason and his wife, Sharon run the production fairly raw style with a couple of cameras, extended mike, and some extra lights. They also do all their own editing and set up. I actually really love "homemade" movies. A friend writes and script and convinces other friends to spend a day filming said script. Nothing super fancy and a lot of fun.

I was luckily enough to work with Jason on a recent Uploaders video when he needed extras for an upcoming Halloween episode. I don't want to give anything away, but I will say I had so much fun in this entire experience. I haven't done any film before and have been anxious to get on any project and give it a try. It's pretty much what I expected. Director fills you in on what's happening in the scene, yells action and then cut. And then repeat scene again several times for different angles, etc. If not in a scene you just sort of hang out til it's time for you start and try to stay quiet. Despite it being drastically different from theatre where you rehearse for days and then get one shot a night to get it right, I really enjoyed the differences.

Catch up on The Uploaders series here and be sure to like them on Facebook so you stay up date of future filming and upcoming episodes.

Theatre Review: Eat the RUNT

2011-09-22T01:42:00.000-07:00

Photo courtesy of Renegade Theatre Experiment

So two weeks ago I decided to check out the Renegade Theatre Experiment's production of Eat the Runt. I actually remember reading the audition notice for this play and thinking to myself, wow memorizing an entire play and 8 different actor roles. That's amazing. I don't think it's for me though. I still consider myself a novice in acting and while the challenge sounds fantastic I just didn't think I'd be up to personally.

So now that I seen a live production, I have to say I have the greatest respect and admiration for all the actors in this production. Not only was it well executed, it was just impressive knowing that all the actors had to learn everything in the script.

In case you haven't picked up on it by now, Avery Crozier's concept for Eat the Runt was that up to 8 actors could play any of the roles regardless of gender or ethnic identity. The audience selects which actor they would like to see in which role allowing for over 40,000 casting combinations. What you get is a different show every time you see it.

RTE selection of the cast began with each of the actor's introducing themselves with a little quirky/funny sentence about themselves and then each of the character roles were described to us. RTE used an applause-o'meter like device to let the audience decide on who played what parts.

Our casting went as follows:
Mandy Armes - Jean
Robert Campbell - Merritt
Ben Ortega - New Merritt
Alexander Prather - Hollis
Vera Sloan - Chris
David Scott - Sidney
Valerie Valenzuela - Pinky
Katie Vroom - Royce

As much as I enjoyed the way we cast the show I would love to come back and see everyone in a different role.

Aside from the acting, which I thought was great. I also really liked the abstract set. The "art pieces" in the background work well for a play that's never the same thing twice.

Why you should go see it: How often do you get to cast a show as an audience member? This a great experiment in theatre that exceeds expectation. The plot is entertaining and the cast delivers. And if you didn't care for it the first time you can see it a second time and re-cast it.

Ballyhoo Update

2011-09-08T00:06:00.000-07:00

Well, guess what? I got a part! Lala, to be exact. I'm actually really excited about this role. I kind of fell in love with this character at the callbacks and am so happy to be given the part. Rehearsal starts in a couple of weeks and I'm trying to use this time to start some character development and start memorizing my lines.

I'm also thinking of signing up for TheatreWorks general auditions, but I really need to find new material now for it.

Callbacks and What I've Been Upto

2011-08-21T21:10:00.001-07:00

So let's do a re-cap on what I've been doing since April. I actually have a few back log posts in queue that I'm hoping to get to, but let's give a breakdown.

I worked with Teatro Vision from January through March, performing in their West Coast Premiere of "Bless Me, Ultima." It was a wonderful, amazing experience in which I met some awesome veteran Teatro Campensino actors and got in touch more with my heritage.

As Ultima came to an end I started working on my next show with Arclight, "Much Ado About Nothing." Really working with Arclight feels like coming home. This was the second year I worked with them and juggled Fanime at the same time. I had a great time back at San Pedro Square and playing around with my character, Verges.

As the month of May came to a close I began my work with The King's Company in their production of "Godspell Jr." I was upgraded from Ensemble member to Apostle within a few weeks and had a lot of fun working with this group's first ever performance.

I then spent the rest of my summer helping out Shady Shakespeare. I worked as summer camp counselor intern, teaching 8-11 year-olds theatre and "A Comedy of Two Errors" and then teaching 8 and 10 year-olds theatre and "Julius Caesar" (no, really), as well as giving Shady a hand with set build.

The summer is coming to a close and for the first time in seven months I don't have a show lined up. Which is kind of freaking me out, but brings me today. I had a callback today with Broadway West for "The Last Night of Ballyhoo." This callback was actually happenstance for me. A few weeks ago I was talking with the director Ballyhoo asking him how his planning was going. He then looked at me and asked if I was coming to his audition. I reminded him I had already been the company's general auditions almost a year ago and then he asked me to come to his callback. This is networking people! I was genuinely curious about how his production was going, not fishing for anything, but because we've worked together and auditioned together he knows what I'm capable of. I was genuinely surprised and flattered to be invited to his callback.

I think the surprise had more to do me not seeing myself in any role within Ballyhoo. I had read the wiki awhile back and all that really stuck out in my memory were all the characters are supposed to be Jewish. And while I think I certainly look ethnic, Jewish doesn't come to mind. However, once I was invited to the callback I began doing more research. And while everyone is supposed to be Jewish, after reading the play I really felt a connection with the character Lala. And I felt that since the play takes place in Atlanta, Georgia that the Southern accent would actually take away from any discomfort I felt about ethnicity.

So I went into the callback and actually had fun. My mentor is always telling me to relax and have fun. And seriously, it's some of the best advice I've ever been given. I always try to tell myself before any audition or callback that it's supposed to be fun. I'm getting a chance to use my imagination like when I was a child and hopefully will get paid for it. Either way, I had a great time at the callback. I was there for about 4 hours, but pretty much read for Lala the entire time. I read once for Sunny, but just didn't feel I had the right look for Sunny. Honestly, looking around at all the people who'd been called back I pretty much felt like I was either going to get Lala or nothing. Sunny is within my age range, but she's the "pretty" one. And really, I play quirky characters, which I think suits Lala. The other women roles available were out of my age range. The other young girl reading pretty much read for Sunny the entire time. I felt like we had a pretty good chemistry together and it was fun working with her. I have to say my favorite part of the audition was actually doing the scene with her about Lala and Sunny's big fight. It felt so intense; it was great. I saw a lot people I knew at this callback and that's feeling more like the norm these days. Actors I've either worked with at other companies or have seen perform at Broadway West. Another thing of note that I liked is the way the director makes his adjustments with actors. His favorite line is "Give me three words that describe your character." I like how it clicks in for actors easily to make the adjustments he's looking for.

I still have a few days of waiting before I find out whether I got the role or not, but even if it doesn't work out there's always another audition coming around. And I just remind myself the exposure doesn't hurt either.

YouthAware Audition

2011-03-11T23:33:00.000-08:00

I received notice through Bay Area Theatre Bums that YouthAware from N.C.T. was having an audition. I thought Anees, my current B.M.U. castmate, might be interested in this company/type of work and forwarded the email to her. I started thinking to myself that it wouldn't conflict with anything I would be doing and might be good practice for K.P. so I decided to audition too. But then I was cast in a show and had a massive brain fart and thought the schedules for my new show and YouthAware would conflict. So I cancelled my Y.A. audition. Anees still went and was cast. And then I realized that the schedules probably wouldn't conflict after all but by then it was too late, or so I thought. Later during the week I got another B.A.T.B. audition notice that Y.A. was still looking for actresses. So I resubmitted to audition and was able to get an appointment. Yay!

So today I tok the BART upto the City, after making sure there wasn’t going to be a tsunami, and made my way to N.C.T.’s space. I got ther a bit early and was lucky enough to be seen early. Sara, the program director, is so nice. She brought me into a small studio space and gave me some paperwork to fill out, a schedule and a cold read monologue. She explained she'd give me about 10 minutes to fill out the paperwork, look over the cold read, warm up, etc. And that I'd do my piece first and then the cold read monologue.

I chose to do a new piece from Jeanmarie Williams "Vanishing Marion" instead of the "Oleanna" piece I'd been working on. It's the other piece I've recently been considering for K.P. I wanted to give it a test drive of sorts. The new piece seemed to work very well. I might just switch pieces after all.

After presenting my monologue I then did their cold read monologue from their play "Secrets." N.C.T. is hiring for "Out of the Closet," but there isn't a good female monologue in it so they chose one from "Secrets." That monologue also went well I felt. After I was done with the monologues I sat down with Sara and she went over somethings about the company, the different touring shows, the how’s of the show, etc. I felt like it was going great until we started to talk about scheduling. The last couple of weeks of the tour N.C.T. will perform in the Central Valley. Unfortuantely that’s the same week as my tech for "Much Ado." I’d have to get from Central Valley to San Francisco back to San Jose by 7pm at the latest. Sara basically said I wouldn’t be rejected because of a difficulty in the scheduling but it did need to go into consideration. I understood. Sara did mention about keeping me on file for future projects, which is great.

I'm a bit sad. I really felt like I rocked the audition but my scheduling really might cost me the job. I did have fellow B.M.U. cast mates encourage me to email Sara with some suggestions on trying to make it work. I think I’m going to try that approach. I don’t really see how it could hurt my chances. As my cast mates said it would show I really do want to for their company. Keepin' some fingers crossed.

Kaiser Permanente Seminar

2011-03-07T23:37:00.000-08:00

I’m auditing for Kaiser Permanente's Education touring group at the end of the month. This is my seond time auditiong for them. I tried last year but didn’t get called back. Since I desperately want this job I’ve been preparing it since January. K.P. holds two seminars before auditions start to give a prospect an opportunity to learn more about the company, what’s expected, how the audition process works and gives them a chance to workshop a monologue and get feedback, as well as participate in a mock audition.

I decied to take BART. I hate driving and looking for parking. Unfotunately I didn’t plan well and made it just on time to my seminar appointment. The group was introduced to various program directors who led us through the informational part of the seminar, along with a power point presentation. After a Q&A session we were split into 4 groups to workshop our monologues. In my small group of 5 people only myself and one other girl, Calia, had fully prepared a monologue. I actually recognized her from last year’s K.P. audition. So we each went up and got great feedback from the group and the director, Keinya.

I had mainly been worried because I chose to do a piece off their example list instead of choosing a different piece. I was concerned that so many actors would be doing these pieces that I would not standout. My concern isn't unwarranted, but they did say it was OK for us to use the pieces off the examples list. I have spent quite a bit of time on this piece and don’t want to change it even though I find it really challenging. It’s from David Mamet’s "Oleanna." And I’ve been stuggling to make CAROL, who supposed to be in her 20s, appear younger as well as give the piece some range. Advice given was: pick a specific age, really figure out how that age would respond, don’t play the end of the monologue at the beginning. They also encouraged us to dress young for the actual audition. I had the chance to perform my piece twice. After we worked on our pieces a bit we did a mock audition. It was to give us an idea of what to expect for the auctal audition-which isn't much. You’re called on deck and get a couple of minutes in a quite room to center, ground, and rehearse. Then you’re called in the audition room. You introduce yourself and perform your piece in front of a panel and that’s it. As soon as I was done with the mock audition I got to go home.

I’m really glad I went. I appreciated the feedback and I felt that I would more easily be remembered from the other applicants because I had indiviaul time with the directors.

One of things that came up during the seminar is most people had to audition more than once. Some members auditioned as much as 2-3 times before being cast. Certainly what types they need to fill make a difference and unforutaly they don’t tell you what roles need to be filled. I also think I wasn’t called back last year because I just got it wrong. I picked the wrong monologue, performed it incorrectly and wore the wrong type of outfit. As my professor told me recently “do you research.” If a company or school has a special focus be sure to tailor your audition as such.

I also learned during the seminar that rehearsals for the program start in August, not September. This timing would actually be perfect if I'm cast. It would mean breaks in between shows, but I’m OK with that. And then I would be set for a whole year practically in performance. I really hope I get this job.

Callbacks for Arclight Rep: Much Ado About Nothing

2011-02-26T22:00:00.000-08:00

I felt very lucky to be invited to Arclight’s callbacks for "Much Ado About Nothing." I performed with them last year and was glad they felt confident enough in me to not make me audition again.

I had to squeeze my callback in between rehearsals. Luckily we get an hour lunch break in which I hoped would be enough time for them see me. Also luckily the callbacks were being held in the same building as my rehearsal.

As soon as I was free I booked it down the courtyard to the callback. There was a very sweet high school girl running as the stage manager for the callbacks. Elizabeth and David were watching the sides since David is going to be the director. And even though I was half an hour later then my time slot (which I did let them know about) they were also running behind. After checking in I was told they were out of sides for the scene I was supposed to cold read for. But then the stage manager realized that someone else hadn't shown up at all and suddenly I had my sides to work with.

I was asked to read both as Verges and Dogberry in Act 3, scene 5. I found my scene partners: Jim Johnson, who I worked with last year on "Taming of the Shrew" with, and Dee, who I'm pretty sure I auditioned with at Shady Shakes last year. Jim and Dee would also be reading for Dogberry, and Jim would as well read for Verges. We ran the scene a few times, each of us rotating in as different characters. When we felt comfortable with it we took a break and I talked/said hi to everyone I recognized/knew. I also “recognized” a few faces of people I’d seen at other auditions, and one gentleman I realized I had sat next to at the “Working” show. I also spoke briefly to a woman, Karina, who heard me talking about my upcoming K.P. audition. It turns out she also works for them. Small world people. I then went to talk to the stage manager about when I’d be seen. It turns out that when you were ready you were supposed to let her know so she could put your name on a list. No one told me and there were quite a few people ahead of me. I very politely asked if I could be bumped up on the list because I was under a time constraint. She nicely agreed. I did feel bad because by this time it was after 1 P.M. and some people who’d been there since 11A.M. still hadn’t been seen, but I was on a lunch break didn’t have all day. Also Dee was under a deadline, which I think helped get us in earlier as well.

At some point things were running so behind that David came out and apologized. Some actor’s seemed pretty peeved, border lined pissed at how late things were running. I wasn't annoyed because I was actually able to get my times bumped up and had already decided if they didn't have time to see me I was just going to leave when I had to. Honestly, if I had had the day free and spent hours waiting to been seen I wouldn't have been annoyed or surprised. This is same company that cast me sight unseen for Taming of the Shrew because they ran out of time to see me during both auditions and callbacks for that show. All in all, I actually like this company which is still in its start up stages. I just feel I have realistic expectation of how things are run.

Dee was seen first since she was playing as Dogberry in a different group. When she came out she basically said that we'd been playing Dogberry "wrong." David told her his concept for a female Dogberry which was to be more like Professor Trewlaney from "Harry Potter." Luckily I was familiar with the idea and started to make some adjustments. I was able to go in shortly after and we ran the scene with me playing Verges once and Dogberry once, switching in with Jim. David told me right away about how he envisioned a female Dogberry, confirming what Dee had said earlier. I asked him about his concept for this production and he told me it was taking place during the mission era of California. So Dogberry was supposed to very “earth mother/shamanistic” who’d maybe done a bit too much peyote. I gave it my best. When I switched to play Verges they asked Jim to play Dogberry as “Don Quixote” and Verges was his Sancho who tries to explain everything for Dogberry. I really like working with Jim. He’s hilarious. I thought we did pretty well.

David then asked me to look at Conrad in Act 1, scene 3 and a Dogberry monologue from Act 4, scene 2. I found my Don John scene partner and we ran it a few times and then I worked on my Dogberry monologue a bit, trying to channel Emma Thompson. And then I went back to the stage manager to let her know I was running out of time. She bumped me again, thankfully. I did my scene and was prepared to do the monologue but David said they’d seen enough. We thanked each other and I wished everyone I knew “good luck.” David also let me know when I left that there might be additional callbacks. I think they were concerned they weren't going to see everyone before the day ended. I booked it back to rehearsal and made it just on time.

Shady Shakespeare Update

2011-02-22T23:35:00.000-08:00

Shady has actually been very prompt at getting back to me, which I really appreciate. It really is very hard for me to paitently wait to see if I’ve been cast.

So I wasn’t picked up for Shady this year. Yes, I’m a bit disappointed but not devasted like last year. I felt that I had siginifcatly improved over last year and that just as important to me as being cast. I managed to get called back, which is huge for me right now. Tony says that CSSSA told him if you manage to get 1 out of 5 callbacks you’re doing well in the “biz.”

I would at some point like to email the directors for feedback. I could certainly use some helpful criticism.

So now with Shady out of the picture this means I still have a partial summer to fill up. During the Shady auditions I was invited, by a close friend, to perform in a production of "Godspell, Jr." I asked if they could wait until I heard back about Shady, not something I would normally do. Luckily they agreed. Since their production doesn't start until June, I have a gap between April and then. I am hoping to be cast in Arclight Rep's production of "Much Ado About Nothing" which would take care of that gap, and hopefully kick off August with Kaiser. That would be so ideal. Here's hoping.

Callbacks for Shady Shakespeare

2011-02-20T23:44:00.000-08:00

So after running a few errands this morning I finally settled in to watch my BBC version of Henry V. I spent a few miutes reading a Cliff Notes version of it as well as reading the Spark Notes. I managed to get through part way of Act 2, scene 3 before I ran out of time. I was also able to at least read the translation of the French scene between Katherine and Alice in Act 3, scene 4, and really hoped Larry (the director for Henry V) would be using a translation with French accents. I was mainly concerned with trying to figure out all the different characters in Henry V and which roles I'd most likely be asked to read for. As far as Midsummer went I was pretty sure I would be asked to read as a Mechanical and since I'm pretty familiar with the play I didn't waste my time trying to go over it (mostly because I was really crunched for time.) For Henry V I was aiming to read as either the Chorus (I already knew in advance this part was going to a woman), Alice, and possibly Hostess Quickly (although I thought this might be a stretch since I'm a bit young for the part).

Again I made sure to get the space early. I arrived while everyone had gone to lunch, except Larry. While I stretched I spent a bit of time catching up with him as well as discussing his plans for Henry V. He's decided he's going to keep the French, much to my dismay. Everyone started arriving not long after and we were all brought into the main room to given a briefing and sides. The AM crowd, which consisted of people reading for the Imaginary Invalid, was still finishing up. In the meanwhile, we were given our sides for Henry V to work on. My first piece was actually reading for Quickly in Act 2, scene 3. Luckily I had just seen this scene earlier and understood what was going on. I was paired with Tim (Nym), whom I've worked with before; Eric (Bardholph), whom I'm aquainted with from various Shady events; and Rich (Pistol), who I met for the first time today. As we ran the scene a couple of time I brought up whether we wanted to include actual kissing, as it's mentioned in the script. Ultimately, we decided yes. I'm actually ok with doing this for auditions provided everything is worked out in advance. I do not want someone sticking their tongue down my throat or groping me without having rehearsed it at least once. Luckily for me, Rick was a perfect gentleman.

After rehearsing a bit more we decided to take a break. I spent my downtime chatting with people I knew and introducing myself to a few new people. After some time we finally got in to do our scene. About a quarter through Quickly's speech Larry stopped me and gave me some adjustments. I can't say enough how much I appreciate this as an actress. I really hate going to a cold reading/callback, giving my interpretation and then being told "Ok, thanks." I'm always thinking, if my performance was way off from your interpretation tell me. Part of my job as an actress is being able to take direction. I have, on occasion, asked a director if they wanted me to try something different when I can see them making the "Hrm?" face. In this particular case I was told to make Quickly a bawdy, lusty wench not a member of the court. (My bad.) So I made an attempt to adjust. I can only hope I came through the second time around.

We were then told to hang out for a bit and then everyone would be called back in for more sides. After a few more minutes we all gathered around and were given sides for Midsummer. This time I would be reading as Snout in Act 1, scene 2. I actually was paired with lots of people I knew for this group. Since Snout only has one line, two if you're counting a unison line, I spent my time trying to connect with the other actors in the scene and just react to what was happening. I think we all worked really well together. When we went to perform they actually laughed, which I always consider a good sign. I was let go after my Midsummer reading.

And now is the waiting game. Overall, I was pretty please with the work I did. Could have done better? Always. Did I think I sucked/bombed it? Not at all. Having said that I don't have the highest expectations of getting cast. The competition was pretty cutthroat. They called back a lot of really good actors, most of which outweigh me in expereince and training. I'm hoping I'll hear back either way by the end of this week. In the meanwhile, I have scenes to work on for class, a Much Ado callback on Saturday, rehearsal, and my KP monologue to prep. I think I'll be able to keep myself busy enough this week.

Auditions for Week of 02/20/2011

2011-02-20T23:07:00.000-08:00

TheatreWorks

General Auds
Auds 3/21, 3/24 & 3/26-27 Prep 2 monologues or 1 monologue & 1 song, 3 minutes total. Calls taken between 2/18-3/8. Call 650-463-7171, Leslie Martinson for appt.

Northside Theatre Company
Enchanted April
Auds 2/21-22 6:30p-8:30p. Prep 2 2 min contemp contrasting monologues. Call 408-388-7820 for appt.

Novato Theatre Company
Picasso at the Lapin Agile

Auds 2/21 & 2/24 7p-9p. Cold reads. Call 707-763-6615 or email Jerrie Patterson for info.

Arclight Repertory Theatre
Much Ado About Nothing
Auds 2/21-22 7p-10p. Prep 1-2 min comedic Shakespearean mono and cold reads. Email HS/resume w/pref'd aud day to auditions@arclightrep.org.

Pleasanton Civic Arts Stage Company
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Auds 2/26 12p-5p. Call 415-865-4425 for appt.

Auditioning for Shady Shakespeare

2011-02-19T22:31:00.000-08:00

I had planned on auditioning for Shady about sometime last year and started reading up on Henry V (because I've never read it) and picking a new monologue for my second piece. But when Kaiser's Education Theatre Program came along I thought I wouldn't be able to fit Shady into my schedule, and then I later learned that it could theoretically work, but by that point I couldn't request any time off from Bless Me, Ultima rehearsals. Fast forward to this past week and a last minute rehearsal cancel, led me to think "Why the hell not?" Unfortunately I had stopped prepping for the Shady auditions months ago and now had to cram a new monologue and play prep in 2 days.

This year Shady will be producing The Imaginary Invalid, Henry V and A Midsummer Night's Dream. I can't do Invalid because I'm going to be out of town during the run of the show. I'm very familiar with Midsummer, it's one of my favorite pieces, so I wasn't worried about cramming in a review session. However, I knew pretty much nothing of Henry V. I decided I wouldn't worry about a major cram session for it until I knew I was going to be called back. So I just focused all my energy into learning a new monologue.

Shady asked for 2 contrasting Shakespearean monologues no more than 2 minutes each. I knew for sure I would be doing Mariana from Measure for Measure. I had debated on doing Julia from Two Gentlemen of Verona, but I honestly didn't think I could get down just the way I wanted in time. So instead I opted for the Courtesan from The Comedy of Errors. (Both speeches that I used are from the book Alternative Shakespeare Auditions for Women by Simon Dunmore.) I pretty much spent all of Friday trying to get the Courtesan speech down and working on characterization, but by the time my audition time slot rolled around I just didn't feel 100% confident in it.

To be honest, auditions just didn't go as well as I wanted. I managed to get to the space fairly early, and was even asked if I wanted to go early. I opted not to. I wanted to use what time I had to relax and work on my piece some more. Unfortunately I didn't take advantage of my time to really give myself a good physical and vocal warm-up. I was so busy trying to calm my nerves. I also tried distracting myself a bit by saying hi to a bunch of other auditioners I already knew. I rarely get to see these people outside of auditions, rehearsals and performances so it's kind of nice to catch up a bit.

The space was really echo-y. Even with the door to the room shut you could hear auditioners pieces down the hall. Including a woman who was a couple of people ahead of me doing the Julia piece I had contemplated. Glad I decided to go with the Courtesan. When it was finally time for me to go I actually relieved I knew everyone in the room. I like all these people and tried to make it feel like I was just talking to friends instead of auditioning. It helped, a bit. This also meant I didn't have to introduce myself, just let them know what pieces I'd be doing. I decided to do my Mariana speech first because it's my strongest. I had hoped it would help bolster my confidence and get me a bit more relaxed. I took my moment and a couple of breaths before launching into my first monologue. About a quarter of the way through my first piece I realized I was starting to go on autopilot a bit and just saying the words instead of actually trying to be in the moment. Luckily I found my focus again. Then came my second piece. Well...I didn't blow it, but I certainly didn't nail it either. Parts of lines just seem to disappear from my brain. I knew what my intention was so I just started saying things that sounded like the lines I wanted to say and I think transversed a few bits as well. Hey, at least I didn't freeze and just kept going. Since I was scrambling to get my lines correct I felt I lost a lot of the nuance and intention I had wanted to convey. My blurry recollection of the event tells me at least I didn't completely fuck things up. I finished up the piece, gave my thank yous, and then hung out in the hallway while I tried to stop my hands from shaking. I was pretty annoyed with myself and started in on the self-berating. However, my fiance and the rational part of my brain kept telling me that I had done ok. You can't keep beating yourself up over things you can no longer control, just focus on the next thing. In this case, waiting to hear about callbacks. We had been told we'd be notified either way later this evening. So I sat anxiously waiting by my phone and checking my email. Of course, it was until H4773r got his email that I shortly thereafter got mine. I got a callback! Since I'm pretty tired, I'm planning on going to bed early and then getting up early to start my Henry V prep.

Auditions for Week of 02/13/2011

2011-02-12T21:38:00.000-08:00

Notes about audition postings: This is just a quick overview of info I've received on Bay Area auditions. For detailed information please subscribe to Theatre Bay Area or bayareatheatrebums. Please do not email me for more information.

Marin Shakespeare Company
Macbeth, Complete History of America (abridged), and The Tempest
Auds 2/11 10a-3p (AEA) & 2/12-13 10a-4p (non-AEA & AEA). Prep 2 contrasting monologues, 3 minutes total. Call (415) 499-4488 for appt.

Pacific Repertory Theatre
Annie
Auds 2/12 10a-2p & 2/13 10a-12p. Prep 1 modern monologue & up to 2 upbeat songs (2 minutes each; 1 song from show & 1 not from show). Call 831-622-0700 x100 for appt.

Douglas Morrisson Theatre
Rodgers & Hart: A Celebration
Auds 2/12-13 11a. Prep 1 Rodgers & Hart song. Email Michael Ryken for appt.

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley
Passion Play
Auds 2/13-14 7p-9p. Prep 2 minute narrative monologue (any genre, must show emotional shift). Email Actors Ensemble of Berkeley for appt.

Arclight Repertory Theatre
Sparklight One Act Festival
Auds 2/15-16 7p-10p. Cold read & prep 1-2 minute contemp monologue. Email HS/resume & pref'd aud day to Arclight Rep for appt.

Tri-Valley Repertory Theatre
The Sound of Music
Auds 2/19 11a & 2/21 7:30p. Prep 16-32 bars, bring music. Email Tri-Valley Rep for info.

Shady Shakespeare Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night's Dream & Henry V
Auds 2/19 11a-5p. Prep 1 monologue. Email Shady Shakes for appt.

TheatreWorks

General Auds

Auds 3/21, 3/24 & 3/26-27 Prep 2 monologues or 1 monologue & 1 song, 3 minutes total. Calls taken between 2/18-3/8. Call 650-463-7171, Leslie Martinson for appt.

Review: SJ Rep's "The Dresser"

2011-02-09T15:00:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of SJ Rep

A touching drama about life, theatre and relationships during World War II. A small touring company is set to perform "King Lear" amidst a lead actor/theatre manager who is going senile and several bombings and air raid sirens. This play focuses heavily on Sir's relationship with his cast, especially his dresser, and his rapidly declining health.

This play is based on the real life story of Ronald Harwood, a dresser to Donald Wolfit, actor-manager in the 1930s. Dramaturg, Karen Altree Peimme, does a wonderful job of giving the history of this play in the playbill.

While this cast was a decent size, almost all of the acting falls upon Sir (Ken Ruta), Norman (James Carpenter) and Her Ladyship (Rachel Harker). It's quite some stamina for an actor to go nearly 3 hours performing with little to no breaks. Performances were outstanding all around. I think that Ruta did a great job as Sir by portraying a sincere fragility and confusion due to his condition. Carpenter was absolutely brilliant as Sir's caregiver and his heartbreaking situation in the end nearly had me in tears. Harker was wonderful as Sir's longtime lover and her expression of frustration with Sir in Act II was so genuine. Having been both a stage manager and pined after men who were clearly not interested in me romantically made it easy for me to fall in love with Madge (Lynne Soffer). Irene (Blythe Foster) as the ingenue was a perfectly cast. She did wonderfully as the fame hungry young actress, without being overly slutty. For some reason, Caperenter's portrayal of Norman really reminded me of Sheldon from the "Big Bang Theory". Perhaps it's that both characters have that same sort of knack for orderliness about things and objects. And while my SJSU boys didn't have a lot of stage time I still think they did a great job.


Courtesy of SJ Rep

I was incredibly impressed by the set design. I kept being distracted by the dressing room in the beginning. There was so much stuff crammed into one small room/set piece. I wished to be able to go down and explore it fully. And then when it's hauled offstage to reveal the rest of space, a magnificent replication of a backstage area, my jaw practically hit the floor. I loved the recreation. And I loved the use of space when the "actors" for "King Lear" played to an imaginary house at stage right. And the use of doubling the actual audience for the "King Lear" audience was great.

This is only my second time watching a show at the SJ Rep. Previously I had seen Lynn Redgrave perform in "The Bog of Cats" in 2001, so I didn't really remember much about the space. I honestly, as per usual, had no clue what this play was about or entailed. I just knew that some of my local theatre acquaintances were in this production. While I really enjoyed this show, it was...long. Very long. About the first 30 minutes or so it's just Norman and her Ladyship talking about Sir, what happened to him and his declining health. There isn't a lot of physical action or movement, although Norman does a great job of being so flamboyant and a wonderful storyteller I didn't feel too much like spacing out. I had gone as a chaperon for Leigh High School and I have to say this show just wasn't appropriate for the freshmen/sophomore level. There were even some junior high students there. I heard a lot of comments after wards about how boring it was and they just didn't "get it." Honestly, the language is verbose and the show lengthy. Perhaps, it's because I'm an actress/theatre person that this didn't really bother me. I was drawn in by the character's heartaches and really felt for them. I would certainly recommend this show to an adult audience. I really just don't think that younger audiences will have the patience to sit through or come away with really connecting with the characters.

Volunteering for Theatre Bay Area (TBA)

2011-02-07T20:07:00.000-08:00

I recently decided to volunteer for TBA's general auditions. Why didn't I audition, you may be asking yourself? (And even if you're not what I'm about to say will have some relevance to this post.) I had been told by peers and a mentor that I just wasn't ready. I have been out of the performance circle for a long while and my training has really gone down the drain. I was told to go out and get some more training and some more experience, as these auditions are pretty cutthroat. As I respect their opinions I've taken their criticism to heart and decided not to waste my time or money auditioning. But I did want to see what it was like. Having previously attended Southern TBA's I had figured this would be really different. It was...and wasn't. It was certainly a bigger venue, with a lot more people. And volunteering meant I was doing work, not just standing around freaking out over whether or not I'd nail my monologues. But overall the atmosphere was pretty much the same. I'm not quite sure how I expected it to be different....Digressing...back to the subject.

This year's TBA's were held at Berkeley Rep. I've never been there before (I know, it's sad) and therefore I wanted to make sure I arrived early. I agreed to volunteer for the last block of auditions on Monday. I didn't know at the time that Monday was reserved for AEA actors, which basically meant I didn't see a single person or theatre company representative of anyone I knew. It was time to make some new friends. I did introduce myself to an actor who was volunteering that I had seen perform recently. We chatted for a bit about what shows we were going to be working on and then had a great discussion on becoming Equity. I have to agree that when I was a junior in college and thought I would become an amazing actress for a living I was anxious to know how quickly I could become Equity. I now know becoming an Equity actor isn't always the best thing, especially in the Bay Area. Most theatres here can't afford Equity actors, so becoming one is a huge decision because you will lose out on a lot of opportunities. And as for the opportunities you think you might gain with an AEA status, well...that depends. In a discussion in my acting class with my professor, who is an artistic director and attended TBA's, we both saw the same thing. Actors, both Equity and non-, who had little to no experience/training that were auditioning. I had been given the advice that I was too green for this audition and should get some training before wasting my time and energy. And, I whole heartedly agree with this. It was discussed, during class, that the logic seems to be get your Equity status as soon as possible without taking any time to get training. So you have Equity actors that are still rough around the edges. I hope this trend doesn't continue.

Back to volunteering, I made sure to dress semi-casual, since I saw this as an opportunity to network. Although there were volunteers in jeans and tank tops. When I arrived I found Claire, TBA's auditions coordinator, who told me I could either wait in the lobby or go grab something to eat since orientation wouldn't be for another 45 minutes. I opted to wait in the lobby. I watched as volunteers gathered and chatted away, obviously most people there knew each other already. When the auditors took their lunch break we got our orientation, in which it was explained the different positions that were available and what we'd be doing, as well as how we'd get to switch positions later and how we'd have opportunities to watch the auditions. The main volunteer jobs are: covering backstage, in which you bring auditioners from the green room to the stage; timers, you make sure none of the auditioners go over their allotted time (in this case 3 minutes); concessions, there wasn't food to buy but if your an auditor or volunteer you get free snacks and drinks, you basically just make sure no one else eats the food that isn't supposed to; distributors/sorters, you get the incoming headshots/resumes and sort them and then distribute them to the auditors; and finally, leftover sorters, you take all the headshots/resumes that weren't used and make neat piles of them to be picked up by the auditioners after their audition is over. I decided to do leftover sorting, since it seemed the least complicated and then pretty much just stuck with. I did take some time out to watch auditions, but didn't end up switching jobs with anyone because it just wasn't needed.

When the auditions were over we spent time gathering up all the leftover headshots and resumes and sorting those as well. I honestly have no idea where TBA stores them, but they do. Actors please take note: pick up the leftovers. It's just an environmental waste otherwise. Aside from sorting the headshots alphabetically we were also asked to pick out ones that had "writing on them." Note to directors, if you make a note about an actor on their resume, keep them. They just get thrown otherwise.

Overall, this was a great experience. I spent a majority of my time looking at people's headshots and resumes. The headshots for good composition, lighting, what to wear, etc. You really can see the difference between amateur and professional, sad but true. Someday I'll afford professional. The resumes for formatting and what people included. Also, I walked away with some possible new monologue ideas.And it was great to network. I would definitely do it again if I'm not auditioning.

Auditions for Week of 01/23/2011-02/06/2011

2011-01-25T22:47:00.000-08:00

Notes about audition postings: This is just a quick overview of info I've received on Bay Area auditions. For detailed information please subscribe to Theatre Bay Area or bayareatheatrebums. Please do not email me for more information.

1 Hour Special Project
Needed male and female actors to imitate 70 year old body movements. Needs to be available from 1/23-30. Email H/S and resume to ram.fish@bluelibris.com.

Masquers Playhouse
The Marriage of Bette and Boo
Auds 1/23 2p & 1/24 7p. Email Peter Budinger & DC Scarpelli, dremile@tremendo.org for appt.

Sonoma Stage Works
Summer Theatre Festival: The Odd Couple & Treasure Island
Auds 1/22 & 1/29 1p-4p. Call 707-996-6003 for appt.

Role Players Ensemble Theatre
The Foreigner
Auds 1/24 6p-10p. Call 925-837-6560 or Email robitaylor@aol.com for appt.

Napa Valley College Repertory Theater
The People's Temple
Auds 1/24-25 7p. Call 707-256-7503 or Email jking@napavalley.edu for appt.

Crystal Springs Players
The Memory of Water
Auds 1/24 7p. No appt. necessary.

Napa Valley College Repertory Theater
Title TBD
Auds 1/26 6p-9p. Call 707-256-7503 or Email jking@napavalley.edu for appt.

New Conservatory Theatre Center
The Stops
Auds 1/26 7:30p-9p. Email H/S and resume to Jovan Olague, jovan@nctcsf.org for appt, put "THE STOPS Auditions" in the subject line.

New Conservatory Theatre Center
Waiting for Giovanni
Auds 1/27 6p-9p. Email H/S and resume to Jovan Olague, jovan@nctcsf.org for appt.

Dragon Productions Theatre Company
A Streetcar Named Desire
Auds 1/29 10a-2p. Email info@dragonproductions.net for appt.

Mountain Play Association
Hairspray
Auds 1/29 9a-12p for non-AEA & 1p for AEA. Call 415-383-1100 for appt.

Pacifica Spindrift Players
Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure
Auds 1/29 11a-3p & 1/30 1p-4p. Call Craig, 650-355-7355.

Sunnyvale Players
Cabaret
Auds 1/30-31 7p-9p. For info see Facebook page for info.

Solano College Theatre
The Wizard of Oz
Auds 1/31 & 2/1 6p-10p. Call 707-864-7000 x4518 for appt.

City College of San Francisco Theatre Arts Dept
Guys and Dolls
Auds 2/5 10a-1p & 2/6 10a-2p. Must register as student. Call 415-452-7279 for info.

Pear Avenue Theatre
Raisin in the Sun
Auds 2/5 11a-1:30p. Call 650-254-1148 or email aceastar@pacbell.net for appt.

2 Actresses Needed
For a video shoot 2/10-12 in Concord. Email davidpurzycki@gmail.com for info.

YouthAware Educational Theatre Program
Cootie Shots
Send H/S and resume to sara@nctcsf.org.

Prepping for Kaiser Permanente

2011-01-20T23:55:00.000-08:00

So I've recently learned that Kaiser Permanente will be having their auditions for their Educational Touring Program in late March. So I've sent off my audition request and have been approved (yay!). I now have 3 months-ish to get my "ish" together. ETP sends out a packet that includes a list of monologue samples. I've decided to do a piece from David Mamet's "Oleanna."

I've auditioned for ETP last year and wasn't called back. I'm hoping to put in some very hard work so that doesn't happen this year. Last year I also did "Oleanna," however I did a different monologue than the one recommended. This year I don't want to take any chances so I'm do the one off the recommended list. I am a little worried about this because I have to figure out how to stand out among all the other actors who'll probably use the same piece.

ETP also offers a seminar in early March. Again I didn't attend the seminar last year, I think I was too busy. This year I plan on going. They offer a chance to present your monologue and I don't want to miss any opportunity for feedback.

This is an organization I want in with for a few reasons. The obvious ones being the steady pay/work and benefits. But working with ETP is more than that for me. I have a degree in Psychology that I feel like I rarely use. I love performing. Why not combine the two with educational theatre? Could this be my calling? I don't know. But I would love an opportunity to find out.

As a note, I have a love/hate relationship with "Oleanna." I've used one particular piece (starts with, "You ask me here...") pretty much throughout college. I enjoy the piece and the play, but I really struggle with it. I've never nailed down a full character analysis of CAROL. The way Mamet writes with his ellipses really confuses my brain. What are these people trying to say to each other? What do they mean? Why can't they finish a thought? When are they being interrupted vs. trailing off? It's a struggle. Once I get my groundwork done, A.K.A. memorized, I'll start in on some real character analysis and then take the piece out to my coach. Hopefully I'll nail it this year.

Auditions for Week of 1/10/2011

2011-01-06T00:14:00.000-08:00

Notes about audition postings: This is just a quick overview of info I've received on Bay Area auditions. For detailed information please subscribe to Theatre Bay Area or bayareatheatrebums. Please do not email me for more information.

Marin Shakespeare Company
General auditions
Auds in February, accepting appointments now. AEA: Prep 2 contrasting monologues, 3 min max. Non-AEA: Prep 1 Shakespeare monologue. May also prep short singing, musical instrument or special skills demo. Email, info@marinShakespeare.org or phone 415-499-4488 for appt.

Sunnyvale Community Players
Annie
Auds immediately. Looking for actors ages 12-18. Email Myra
Diamond, myradiamond@comcast.net for appt.

City College of San Fancisco
The Importance of Being Earnest
Auds 1/14 & 1/21 5:30p-9p; 1/15 & 1/22 12p-2:30p. Prep 1-min monologue. Email John Wilk, jwilk@ccsf.edu for appt.

Los Gatos Shakespeare Festival
General auditions
Auds 1/15 11am-3pm and 1/16 3:30 -6pm. By appointment only. Prep 2 classical monologues. Bring H/S and resume. Call (408) 996-0635 for appt.

Coastal Repertory Theatre
Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?
Auds 1/15 11am-1pm. Cold readings, can perform monologue if wanted but not required.

Ross Valley Players
Quilters
Auds 1/15-1/16. Cold read & prep 1 musical number. Bring music w/full piano accomp in your key. Call or email Maureen, (415) 235-8800; omaureen@hotmail.com for appt.

Northside Theatre: "A Christmas Carol"

2010-12-25T21:47:00.000-08:00

When James initially asked me to stage manage/A.D. for him I was pretty nervous. I have previously only been an assistant stage manager, which I honestly feel doesn't fully prepare to become a stage manager-they're completely different jobs, and I had never been an A.D. But I have a temporary back up plan that if acting doesn't work out for me I could become a stage manager. So I was certainly looking forward to gaining some experience as well as doing some networking. I never try to pass up an opportunity to network.

I did know about a quarter of the cast already, although not well. So this was a great chance to get to know people better as well as to establish myself with a new company. I think I proved myself very well as a decent stage manager. Even though I don't think being an A.S.M. really prepares you I'm pretty observant and picked up a lot of useful tips from working with Shady's S.M., Chris Tani. He's currently attending Cal Arts to get his Master's in Stage Management, hardcore!

After a couple of weeks of busting through rehearsals I started to feel very comfortable with my role as a S.M. As far as working as an A.D., well, I certainly assisted the director in lots of various ways. I did not actually direct any scenes, but I was ok with that. From my understanding an A.D. does anything to actually directing to working as a S.M. But I will certainly take the A.D. title on this one, even without directing.

Overall this was a great show to work on. We didn't have any major problems until tech week, and even then we muddled through it very well. Once we made it through tech week, the rest was just getting down the timing of everything. I honestly felt really bad for the actors, the costumes were a nightmare to work with because clothing is so heavy and had a bunch of pieces to deal with for quick changes. Eventually we got the hang of it.

At Northside things run a bit differently then I'm used to. The stage manager actually becomes a backstage manager/house manager/costume assistant/whatever else is needed. I didn't get to sit a booth and say things like, "Light cue 1, go," which I was actually looking forward to doing. Instead the light and sound tech call the cues from the booth and the stage manager becomes a "back stage manager," which seemed to me an assistant stage manager job. I hit fog ques, helped actors with costume quick changes, kept track of/helped actors with props, and occasionally helped Tiny Tim with his makeup. During intermission I set a bunch of props on stage for Act II, called times, and acted as a psuedo house manager. It was definitely an interesting experience.

And of course, what's theatre without mishaps. There were some funky lines (leading to saying "Are there no scripts? Are there no actors?"), lots of stumbling on and off stage (those dresses were easy to trip on), the night a cloak got stuck in the trap and was sitting onstage for a couple of scenes, and a couple of major bumps and bruises. But my actors were troopers and muddled through the pain.

It was definitely a long run. Shady is a long run with shows running Thursday through Sunday for about 12 weeks. For some reason running a show Wednesday through Sunday, with double shows on Saturday just felt intense then Shady. Especially during hell week and opening week where the show ran for two weeks straight with no breaks.

However closing "weekend" finally arrived. We pretty much had sold out shows the Saturday and Sunday before closing as well as closing. I have to say closing audience, which was a Christmas Eve matinee, was so receptive and fun. You could tell people just loved coming to see a Christmas show on Christmas Eve. I wish all my audiences were that much fun. The cast pitched in and got me a collection of Dicken's stories. Adrienne made actual figgy pudding to share. It tastes just like a fig newton. We got in some great cast photos, which I can hopefully share later. We did a quick and dirty strike. Luckily we aren't responsible for lights and set on this production. Strike mainly consisted of getting costumes on the rack, cleaning the makeup room, cleaning the green, cleaning the lobby, putting away all the chairs, and picking up our paychecks (yay!). Richard, the artistic director, gave us some numbers for run. It turns out this particular show was the number selling of all time with some great audience numbers.

I'm very proud of everyone on show and the work we all did to bring it together. I had so much fun and am very much looking forward to working with everyone again, hopefully as an actress. However, if I have a bad run of luck I feel comfortable knowing I could always go back to Northside as a techie.

Have a Merry Christmas, everyone!

Upcoming Auditions: Now thru January 9, 2011

2010-12-23T16:38:00.000-08:00

Happy Early Christmas!

Notes about audition postings: This is just a quick overview of info I've received on Bay Area auditions. For detailed information please subscribe to Theatre Bay Area or bayareatheatrebums. Please do not email me for more information.

Broadway West

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Looking for an actor/actress to play "Warren." Call call 510-683-9218 immediately. Rehearsals start late January.

Chanticleers Theatre

Lend Me a Tenor

Auds 12/27 7p. Cold read. Email Sue Ellen Nelsen sueellen.nelsen@comcast.net for appt.

Pacifica Sprindrift Players

Speech and Debate

Auds 1/3-4 7-9p. Cold read and monologue. Call David (650) 784-5303 or email david.acevedo68@yahoo.com for appt.

San Leandro Players

Mary Rose

Auds 1/3-4 7-9p. Cold read & prep 2-min monologue (accents required for some characters). No appt. necessary.

Palo Alto Players

Altar Boyz

Auds 1/8 11a-4p. Prep 2 upbeat pop/rock songs. Email info@paplayers.org for appt.

The New Conservatory Theatre Center
The Pride

Auds 1/8 1:30-4p. Prep mono from play (given when appt. confirmed). Send a H/S and resumé to Jovan Olague Jovan@nctcsf.org for appt.

Ray of Light Theatre

Assassins

Auds 1/9-10 6-9p. Prep 32 bars musical theatre song. Go to roltheatre.com for appt.

Playbill Newsworthy: December 20th

2010-12-20T18:09:00.000-08:00

Cast announced for World Premiere of The Innocents. According to Playbill the Asolo Reperatory Theatre has finished casting for this play for it's Spring 2011 premiere. This certainly looks like it will be a great piece of 21st century theatre.

Anyone else have some doubts about this musical: Spiderman Turn-Off the Dark? Topless Robot has reported many of the mishaps that have occurred during its production. I respect the idea of turning some great comic hereos to the stage, but this play really seems over the top.

OMG! Why didn't anyone tell me about this? Al Pacino in Merchant of Venice?! New goal: get my ass to New York ASAP.

A musical from the creators of South Park? Yes, please. I will be google-ing this musical, The Book of Mormon, obsessively when it premieres Feb. 24, 2011,

Callbacks for Teatro Vision: "Bless Me, Ultima"

2010-11-15T22:38:00.000-08:00

Teatro Vision is currently working on adapting Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima into a play. I loved this book in high school and am looking forward to it going up onstage, even if I’m not a part of it. Elisa Marina Alvarado will be directing. You can check up on Teatro’s updates on their Facebook page.

My callback time slot was for 7:30pm, but I arrived at 7pm to give myself time to warm-up. A bunch of actors were sitting around chatting. It was a very familiar feeling. A lot of people seem to already know each other. It reminded me of my family gatherings-all the laughing, storytelling and joking. I hadn't been sent a script because at the time it hadn't been developed yet, so we were asked to read the novel. However, when I got there some people already had scripts. I was a bit confused. I also had the impression some people had been precast.

I was also wary of the outfit I had chosen. The email that was sent to me said that we should wear comfortable clothing and bring our own water with us. To me, that reads as I’m going to either be dancing or just doing a lot of movement. So I wore some workout shorts, a rock tee that I cut the collar off of, my vans and some makeup (gotta look good, right?). However, a number of people were dressed in jeans, nice shirts, some of the ladies even had heels. Only one other lady showed up wearing a workout sort of outfit, and a couple of the guys. I was initially really worried I had picked out the wrong outfit. As I learned later though, I did not.

It was at least a half hour before I was called in to read, so in the meanwhile I talked to the other actors who were also waiting. I talked a lot with a young woman who was working for Kaiser Permanente's youth traveling program, which I am very interested in. I grilled her about the program. She had travelled all the way from Fresno, where she was currently touring and then had to return the same night. Another gentleman, also with Kaiser, had driven from Sacramento.

When my time slot came up I was not prepared for the first part of the audition. I, 3 other ladies and 2 men were called in. There were sides on a table in the room, but we hadn’t been handed any. Instead, we were assigned characters, I was given one of TENORIO’s daughters, and a scene was described to us. I was very confused as to what was expected of me. I wasn't sure if were improvising, improvising with dialogue we were supposed to make up, or I was supposed to have something memorized. And we were just told to start. I became more confused when one of the guys started speaking. I looked at the other ladies who were also assigned to be daughters for guidance. They looked as confused as I was, but we all just sort of went for it. So we all just improvised it. After performing our improv piece one, which involved quite a bit of movement, we were assigned a side.

The first side was LUCAS stumbling upon TENORIO. The side was very similar to the scene we’d just improvised so I was thinking that Elisa had just wanted to see our physicality. After doing that once were then assigned sides similar to what we'd just done. Again, I was assigned to be one of TENORIO’s daughters. We ran the scene a couple of times. With the same group were assigned another side (minus a woman who had been playing "Death")-a school scene. Myself and another lady swapped JUNE's lines on different turns. We were dismissed for a bit after running the scene a couple of times.

I had some down time and spoke with a gentleman working on WVLO's White Christmas. He has a blog you should check out. I then was called back in to work with another group did the same TENORIO daughter scene. After a couple of runs with it I was let go for the evening.

I was quite satisfied with my work. I was also glad I spent time physically and vocally warming up. I probably should’ve warmed up more since I spent at least half an hour not doing anything. Also, I was glad that I was wearing the workout clothes because I spent much of my time being physical as a daughter. Now comes the waiting game. As I said before, even if not cast I felt I did a good job, there’s always room for improvement of course, and am looking forward to the production in general.

Update on Northside's "A Christmas Carol."

2010-10-29T23:57:00.000-07:00

So I heard back from James today. I was at work when I got the call. I checked my voice mail as soon as I had a free chance. I was not cast. Boo. James was very sweet about it. It was sorry, I can't use you this time. I love you (I love you, too, James). Bu-ut, would you be interested in stage managing/assistant directing?

I have some issues with accepting a tech position. I adamantly, do not want to be seen as a tech. I want to be an actress. And I do worry very much about being pigeon-holed as a tech. I actually been witness to this happening to my awesome fiance. He's a great actor and amazing singer. Unfortunately, he's taken so many tech positions no one knows he can act. Also, he doesn't market himself terribly, but that's another story. I know I did great work with Shady as an ASM, which is where I met James. He's seen what I can do.

My problem comes down to: take the tech position-don't suck at it, and forever get stuck as a tech. Decline the tech position-have nothing to do for theatre-wise for the months of October through December, and no money (tech pays very well, better than acting). I have played with the idea that if acting doesn't work out for me switching into stage management. So the experience would certainly be helpful.

...I spent a lot of time thinking about it and I've ultimately decided to go with the tech position. Really, I need the money. I need the experience and I could use the opportunity to do some more networking. I have hope that the actors I'll be working with will not just see me as a tech person. It's worth to note that quite a few actors, in general, also end up directing at some point. Here's to a good show experience!

Auditioning for Northside Theatre: "A Christmas Carol"

2010-10-20T13:37:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I went in for my audition for Northside's "A Christmas Carol." It's being directed by my friend, James Lucas. I met James this past summer at Shady. He played Georgette in "Much Ado About Nothing" and Antonio in "Merchant of Venice", and was wonderful. He mentioned that he would be directing in the fall and invited everyone to come out to audition. I gladly accepted the offer.

I'll be honest, this a show I really want. It pays a small stipend, will look great on my resume, will introduce to more people in the Bay Area theatre community (networking is awesome), and the timing is perfect.

I did have a few problems trying to book an appointment. Every time I called I got the answering machine, even during the office hours. And the machine starts off with talking about the Box Office hours and buying tickets. There is no mention of setting up audition appointments. And while it does say you can leave a message for a staff member, I did not initially know which staff member set up the audition appointments. The first message I left was never returned, but I didn't leave the message for anyone in particular. I just expressed my interest in wanting to audition, asking for a date and leaving my contact info. The second time, I specifically left the message for Meredith King, who sent the audition notice through bayareatheatrebums. This time I got my appointment confirmed.

Northside Theatre wasn't at all what I expected. I expected to find something like City Lights or Broadway West, a small space squashed between downtown buildings. Instead I found myself at an elementary school/community center that also has a theatre in it. The space is fairly small, but I'm getting used to that now.

I saw a couple of people there I knew from what I call the SJSU theatre group. These are people I have met either while attending SJSU or are SJSU theatre students. I'm enjoying seeing friendly, familiar faces at auditions. It helps me relax a bit. And it's always fun to catch up with people I don't see very often.

I was told to bring 2 contrasting pieces no more than 5 minutes in length. I had previously asked my mentor if I should find period pieces since it's a Dickens play, but was told "no." Instead I did a piece from Dan Dietz's "TEMPOdyssey," my comedic choice, and a piece from George F. Walker's "Tough," my contrasting piece. "TEMPOdyssey" is the one I've been working on in class so I felt quite comfortable with it. Tough was stolen from a fellow actor of the same class.

Overall I felt this was one of my better auditions recently. I'm gaining more confidence with each audition and the theatre class is definitely helping me. Also, I put some time into these monologues already so I wasn't too worried about the delivery.

After my audition James asked if I could stay to read some sides. Unfortunately, I agreed to pick up an extra shift at my day job so I couldn't stay as long as I would've liked. I did have time to get in one side, Belle's monologue. James gave me a bit of information on the piece before I went out to practice. What stuck with me was James saying that Belle is hurting, but trying not to show her feelings. That's she's strong. So when I came back to do the piece that's how I read it-strong. Belle is breaking up with Ebeneezer, but since she was the one walking away she wouldn't show her hurt. Well, judging by James's reaction I felt like I missed the mark. I had about 10 seconds of panic and my thoughts basically went, "Oh shit, I did it wrong. Um. Um. Quick! Ask him if I can do it again." So I did. I basically said, aloud, "Um. I could try that again if you want?" Luckily, James is great and let me give it another shot with a bit more direction. I tried to be a bit more heartfelt, and show more heartache. I felt like I nailed it the second time around. Right after the reading I had to leave for work. I won't find out for a few days about the casting.

What I really appreciated about this audition was getting a second chance. I'm so new and cold readings are still one of my worst areas. I really wish more directors would say, "Could you try it this way?" during an audition. I do get that there's time to consider and really if you deserved the part you'd have probably nailed it the first time, but for noobs like me these small second chances are so important in my learning curve. I just wish it would happen more often.

Currently Playing

2010-10-11T21:52:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of great theatre here in the Bay Area. Please support your community and catch a show.

Center REPertory Company
She Loves Me
9/2-10/10 (closes tonight!)

Pacific Repertory Theatre
The Country Wife
9/2-10/17

Marin Theatre Company
In the Red and Brown Water
9/9-10/10 (closes tonight!)

Ray of Light Theatre
Jerry Springer the Opera
9/10-10/16 (closes this week!)

Tri-Valley Repertory Theatre
My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra
9/17-10/10 (closes tonight!)

Altarena Playhouse
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
9/17-10/23

Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Compulsion
9/13-10/31

Broadway West
Dial M for Murder
9/17-10/16 (closes this week!)

Sierra Repertory Theatre
Red, White and Tuna
9/17-10/17

Ross Valley Players
November
9/17-10/17

American Conservatory Theatre
Scapin
9/17-10/23

New Conservatory Theatre Center
Anita Bryan Died for Your Sins
9/17-10/24

Subterranean Shakespeare
The Ben Johnson Series
9/20-10/18

California Shakespeare Theatre
Much Ado About Nothing
9/22-10/17

Sonoma County Repertory Theatre
Fat Pig
9/22-10/24

Solano College Theatre
Rent
9/23-10/10 (closes tonight!)

Pear Avenue Theatre
Angels in America & Our Town
9/24-10/17

City Lights
First Day of School
9/23-10/24

Custom Made Theatre Co.
The Last Days of Judas Iscariot
9/24-10/30

The Marsh
Loveland
9/24-11/13

Not Quite Opera Productions
Absolutely San Francisco
9/24-12/18

Brava! for Women in the Arts
Iph...
9/25-10/16 (closes this week!)

South Bay Musical Theatre
The Music Man
9/25-10/16 (closes this week!)

SF Playhouse
The Sunset Limited
9/28-11/6

San Jose Stage Company
reasons to be pretty
9/29-10/24

College of Marin Theatre Arts
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
9/30-10/17

AlterTheatre Ensemble
Intimate Apparel
9/30-10/24

Stage Werx Theatre
Zombie Town
9/30-10/31

Town Hall Theatre Company
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
9/30-10/31

Santa Rosa Junior College Theatre Arts Dept.
Anon(ymous)
10/1-10/10 (closes tonight!)

Stage 1 Theatre
Cinderella
10/1-10/16 (closes this week!)

Pacific Repertory Theatre
Twelfth Night
10/1-10/17

6th Street Playhouse
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
10/1-10/24

We Players
Hamlet
10/2-11/21

New Conservatory Theatre
And Then They Came for Me
10/3-10/10 (closes tonight!)

42nd Street Moon
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
10/3-10/24

Willows Theatre Company
Sleuth
10/4-11/7

TheatreWorks
Superior Donuts
10/6-10/31

Shotgun Players
Mary Stuart
10/06-11/07

Northside Theatre Company
Scrambled Eggs
10/7-10/31

Exit Theatre
Obscura-a magic show
10/7-12/18

CatchyName Theatre Company
Mad Tom
10/8-10/31

RasaNova Theatre
Dancing on Glass
10/8-10/10 (closes tonight!)

San Jose State University
The Seagull
10/8-10/16 (closes this week!)

Mira Theatre Guild
The Diary of Anne Frank
10/8-10/17

6th Street Playhouse
Becoming Walt Whitman
10/8-10/24

The Jewish Theatre
Wrestling Jerusalem
10/9-10/10 (closes tonight!)

Lyric Theatre
Babes in Toyland & Cox and Box
10/9-10/17

Auditions for the Week of 10/10/10

2010-10-10T23:31:00.001-07:00

Playwright's Center of San Francisco
General Auditions
Auds. 10/11 7-10p. Email your HS/Resume to sara@playwrightscentersf.org with “PCSF Fall 2010 General
Auditions” in the subject.

Tri-Valley Repertory Theatre
Bat Boy: The Musical
Auds 10/11-12 7:30p. Download aud form and & bring to aud with HS/Resume.

Pinole Community Players
The Full Monty
Auds 10/11-12 7:30p. Call (510) 233-3598 or email directingmeeks@sbcglobal.net for info.

Raven Players
Doubt: A Parable
Auds 10/12-13 7-9p; 10/16 10a-12p. Call (707) 431-7790 for appt/info.

Palo Alto Players
Shadowlands
Auds 10/16. Email info@paplayers.org for appointment.

Foothill College
Working
Auds 10/16-17 12p-5p. Call (650) 949-7268 for info.

Opening This Week 10/10/2010

2010-10-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a rundown of shows opening this week. Go out and support your community theatre.

SF Playhouse
Seven Days
10/13-11/6

American Conservatory Theatre
The Three Sisters
10/13-10/23

Climate Theatre
Jawvox
10/14-10/30

Marin Theatre Company
9 Circles
10/14-11/7

Diablo Valley College Department of Drama
Cabaret
10/15-11/7

Youth Musical Theater Company
Anything Goes
10/15-10/30

Benicia Old Town Theatre Group
Fences
10/15-10/23

Sonoma State University
Urgent Fury
10/15-10/23

Independent Eye
Hands Up!
10/15-16

Central Works
Penelope's Odyssey
10/16-11/21

Auditions for Week of 10/03/10

2010-10-03T16:34:00.000-07:00

Notes about audition postings: This is just a quick overview of info I've received on Bay Area auditions. For detailed information please subscribe to Theatre Bay Area or bayareatheatrebums. Please do not email me for more information.

Hillbarn Theatre
Holes
Auds 10/3. Callbacks 10/4. Call (650) 349-6411 for appointment.

Diablo Theatre Company
The Drowsy Chaperone
10/8 6p-10p and 10/9 11a-6p. Call (925) 944-1565 or email daren@diablotheatre.org for appointment.

New Conservatory Theatre Center
Treefall
Auds 10/9 11a-1p. Callbacks 10/10 6p-8p. Email HS/Resume to Jovan Olague, jovan@nctcsf.org.

Broadway West
I Do, I Do
Auds 10/9 2p-5p. Callbacks 10/10 6p-9p. Call (510) 683-9218 for appointment.

Auditions for the Week of 9/26/2010

2010-09-28T23:43:00.000-07:00

USF College Players

The Wild Party

Seeking M. Auds. 9/26 8:30p-9:30p and 9/27 8:30p-10p. Email HS/Resume to director.mike.ward@gmail.com

New Conservatory Theatre Center
Regrets Only
Auds. 9/27-28 7pm-10pm. HS/Resume to jovan@nctcsf.org

Symphony Silicon Valley’s
Hello Dolly and My Fair Lady
Auds. 9/26 9:30am-12:00pm. Email sslater@symphonysiliconvalley.org

The Pear Avenue Theatre
Death of a Salesman
Auds 9/28-29 7pm-10pm. Email HS/Resume info@thepear.org

Jewel Theatre Company
Of Mice and Men
Auds 10/2 1p-4p and 10/3 1p-4p. Call Mike (408) 464-3903 between 10a-8p

San Leandro Players
Charley's Aunt
Seeking F 18-25. Email lisekarler@yahoo.com

Bus Barn Stage Company
Angels in America: Milleneum Approaches
Seeking M. Email barbara@busbarn.org

Stanford Savoyards
Princess Ida
Seeking M. Email greg@planetbeagle.com

Opening This Week 9/26/2010

2010-09-26T20:59:00.000-07:00

SF Playhouse
The Sunset Limited
Runs 9/28-11/6

Town Hall Theatre
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Runs 9/30-10/31

AlterTheater Ensemble
Intimate Apparel
Runs 9/30-10/24

Galtean Players
Rivets
Runs 10/1-10/24

Stage 1 Theatre
Cinderella
Runs 10/1-10/16

Review: City Light's "First Day of School"

2010-09-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

City Lights first production of the season kicks off their attempt to "bring sexy back." And does a great job. Billy Aronson's "First Day of School" is a great modern farce on today's marriage and our attitudes towards marital sex.

It's the first day of school and the PTA bagel brunch has been cancelled. Married couple Susan (Diahanna Davidson) and David (Tom Gough) realizing they have the day free try to come up with an activity to spend their day. After a few suggestions David casually throws out "How about having sex with other people?" After debating a minute more it's decided that Susan will go after Peter (Rich Miller), the local artist and David will attempt to go after Kim (Mandy Manousos), a very involved PTA mom.

There are amazing performances all around in this small ensemble cast. Tom and Diahanna deliver their characters with just enough cheese to remind of the classic television shows of the 1950s. Mandy's portrayal as an over-involved PTA parent is amazing and hilarious. Rich's shy awkwardness as Peter was quite believable. And I adored Courtney Walsh's use of movement and awkwardness as an uptight lawyer. This cast does well together but everyone manages to still hold their own. I didn't feel anyone overshadowed each other.

(image courtesy of City Lights)

Something I really appreciated: complete facades. When doors and screens are opened it doesn't lead into some darkness or plain set. I loved that the set was fully dressed.

Overall, I would definitely recommend catching this hilarious show.

Auditioning for Teatro Vision

2010-09-25T23:44:00.000-07:00

So I'm going to start with an update on Foothill auditions: I did not get a callback. I'm a little uncertain as to why and am debating on emailing the director and politely asking for a critique on my audition.

Onwards! I attended South Bay Regional auditions back in June and was very lucky to get an email from Teatro Vision inviting me to audition for their production of Bless Me, Ultima. I quickly emailed them back and set up an appointment. They asked me to prep 2 contrasting monologues, preferably one in Spanish.

I do not have monologue prepped with Spanish in it and didn't give myself enough time to learn one. Instead I used a monologue from a play I did called Miriam's Flowers by Migdalia Cruz. I played Delfina and used one of her many monologues that had a Spanish/Latin feel to it. I also decided to do Goodnight Desdemona (again) because I really needed a contrasting piece.

This was one of those low-key auditions I'm beginning to enjoy. Auditions were held at Hoover Theatre and we had 15 minute time slots. I met with Dianne Vega and Elsa Alvarado to perform my monologues. They both went very smoothly and I felt relaxed for the first time in a long time. I attribute this to knowing my monologues really, really well.

Elsa, who will be directing Ultima, asked if I spoke Spanish. Unfortunately, no-or at least not that well. I took 3 and half years in high school and both my grandparents spoke fluently but I am far from mediocre. I usually understand better than I speak it. But I remain hopeful. Once I translate what I'm saying I can get it down well, I think. She also asked if I had seen any of Teatro's productions. Much to my embarrassment, I told her no I hadn't. To be fair though, I have only recently made it a priority to catch more theatre.

Teatro's production doesn't go up until next Spring, so it may be awhile before I hear back from them. But it was good practice overall.

Auditioning for Foothill College

2010-09-22T23:44:00.000-07:00

I auditioned for Foothill College today. They will be producing The Winter's Tale. I had not read Winter's Tale previously and the audition had asked for a Shakespearean monologue and cold readings from the play. For the monologue I opted to do Mariana from Measure for Measure. Actually, this is my only Shakespearean piece I have down. I'm hoping to get a new dramatic piece and a comedic piece at some point.

Since I pretty much had the entire day free I spent it in the student center reading The Winter's Tale. I read the wiki on it for a summary and then read all the parts that had women in them. I took a shortcut because it's honestly really hard for me to translate Shakespeare well in that short amount of time.

I arrived at the audition to learn that in addition to the monologue we might be asked to sing. This is not good for me. I'm not really a singer, and certainly don't prepare anything (which I need to start doing).

During the audition my monologue went very smoothly. I was quite proud actually. Marcia Frederick, the director, asked me if there was a particular part I had in mind and I immediately answered Paulina. (Although I would be happy with any part.) So she had me read Paulina's monologue from Act 3, scene 2. I was also, unfortunately, asked to sing. Since I had nothing prepped I struggled to think of something I actually knew the words of. Finally, I blurted out with "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Really, that was the best I had. I got through the first stanza ok and then struggled through the second. Luckily, Marcia cut me off.

Once I get my cold reading piece(s) I do my best to score them. I try to set a tone, objectives, character choices and substitutions. This is why it's important to read the play beforehand if you get a chance. It makes all this work go faster.

Since there were quite a few people at the audition and we were doing monologues plus cold readings, I spent more time than I should have socializing. But it was nice to chat with people on upcoming projects. I also spent some of my time talking to the Stage Manager about Foothill's conservatory. She was great and asnwered all of my questions.

When it was finally time for me to perform the cold reading I have to say I did the best to my ability, but I think I still screwed up. All the prep work I put into it while waiting didn't seem to show itself when it came down to it. The monologue read as quiet anger. Marcia thanked me when I was finished, double checked the information on my resume and then told me I was finished. I was pretty bummed. I wondered if I should have made a different choice, like maybe I should have been loud angry. And then I wondered why if I had been doing it wrong she didn't correct me? As in, ask me to read the monologue differently. I left the audition feeling confused and wondering if I would be called back.

Auditioning for Broadway West

2010-09-20T23:43:00.000-07:00

I auditioned for Broadway West’s general auditions on Monday. This season they are presenting I Do, I Do; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; Hay Fever; StarSpangled Girl; and The Last Night of Ballyhoo. I was lucky to hear about the auditions in advance from the director of Cuckoo’s Nest, John. I worked with him at Shady this last season, again one of the perks to sometimes taking a tech job instead of acting job.

Since I knew I already wanted to work on Cuckoo’s Nest as Ratched, I spoke with my mentor and he helped me pick out the play Doubt by John Patrick Shanley and told me to look at the character Sister Aloysius. Once I bought the play I figured I could piece together a monologue from the dialogue between Sister Aloysius and Sister James. I am not very good at this sort of thing so I had a friend of mine, who is not only an English teacher but also teaches Drama, look over the play and give me hand. With his help I was able to pull a monologue out by cutting Sister James’ lines.

The audition called for a monologue and song. But since I’m not the musical theater person yet I practiced a second contrasting monologue in the hope I’d be able to perform it. I choose Good Night Desdemona since I had been able to find and work a new comedic piece.

To be honest, I really could have spent more time on these monologues. I had them memorized but my substitutions and objectives were still muddy by the time auditions arrived.

The Broadway West company is a great small, intimate space. And they were very lax on their audition process, in a good way. I arrived early and ran into people I knew who told me a bit about their experiences working with the company. Everyone had great things to say about the company. Also, they were very generous on time and introductions. I was introduced to all the directors and assistant directors; the time slots were about 15 minute increments; and they allowed me to do my two monologues.

And while Broadway West treated me well this is probably one of the worst conditions I’ve ever gone into an audition. To say I was a bundle of nerves is a massive understatement. I was nervous for a few reasons. I didn’t like auditioning for someone I know. In most cases this is beneficial. If you completely mess up your audition you can hope the director remembers some of your previous work and just thinks you had a bad night. However, John has never seen me perform and I very badly wanted to impress him, especially since I seriously want to be considered for his show. When I was being introduced to all the directors, I learned that in addition to John, Bryan was also there (he’ll be directing The Last Night of Ballyhoo). I had auditioned for Bryan previously during Shady auditions, but I’m not even sure if he remembers me from it. So there was yet another person to impress. While waiting to audition I spoke with my friend, Jim, who informed me that lots of women coming through auditions were interested in Cuckoo’s Nest. This bit of news also didn’t help my nerves.

I really tried my best to calm my nerves. (I am thinking about enrolling in some meditation or Tai Chi classes to work on grounding techniques for situations like this.) But by the time I got onstage, I had already suffered from dizziness and nausea and just wasn’t feeling well. However, I was able to get through my monologues. I got all my lines right and didn’t drop or make up anything. I’m sure, despite my best effort, I was visibly nervous. What I was most disappointed in myself about is how I lost the nuance to my acting. I never got over my nerves. Usually, if I’m nervous at some point in the monologue I relax and start really getting into character. (Yes, I know I should be in character before I start my piece but my nerves don’t always let me.) I’m not really sure how I did overall. By the time I got to my car to leave I finally fell apart, crying. I was just so frustrated with myself. (And I felt stupid for getting myself worked up.)

About the only good news I’ve heard thus far is John saying my monologue was, I’m going to assume he meant the Doubt piece.

And now comes my least favorite part-waiting. With a general audition you wait until the show comes up and hope you get a callback. Which means it could be months before I hear from anyone.

Opens This Week 9/19/2010

2010-09-19T20:57:00.000-07:00

Broadway San Jose
Burn the Floor
Runs 9/21-26

California Shakespeare Theater
Much Ado About Nothing
Runs 9/22-10/17

City Lights Theater Company of San Jose
First Day of School
Runs 9/23-10/24

Climate Theater
Faux Real
Runs 9/23-10/9

Imaginists Theatre Collective
To the Actors/A los Actores
Runs 9/23-10/9

Solano College Theatre
Rent
Runs 9/23-10/10

The Revolutionary Arts Committee
The Longest One-Act Ever
Runs 9/24-25

Pear Avenue Theatre
Our Town
Runs 9/24-10/17

Custom Made Theatre Co.
The Last Days of Judas Iscariot
Runs 9/24-10/30

Not Quite Opera
Absolutely San Francisco
Opens 9/24

Cinnabar Theater
Travels with My Aunt
Runs 9/24-10/17

Sonoma County Repertory Theater
Fat Pig
Runs 9/24-10/24

African-American Shakespeare Company
Iph
Runs 9/25-10/16

The Western Stage
Footloose
Runs 9/25-11/14

South Bay Musical Theatre
The Music Man
Runs 9/25-10/16

Auditions for the week of 9/19

2010-09-19T00:19:00.000-07:00

Notes about audition postings: This is just a quick overview of info I've received on Bay Area auditions. For detailed information please subscribe to Theatre Bay Area or bayareatheatrebums. Please do not email me for more information.

Woodside Community Theatre
The Drowsy Chaperone
Auds 9/19 6:30-9pm. Email: auditions@woodsidetheatre.com

StarStruck Theatre
Annie
Auds 9/19. Appt call (510) 659-1319 or sign up online.

Broadway West Theatre
General Auditions
Auds 9/19 1-4pm and 9/20 7-9pm. Appt: (510) 638-9218.

Lamplighters Music Theatre
The Yeomen of the Guard
Auds 9/19-9/21 7-10pm. Email auditions@lamplighters.org with 1st and 2nd choice times and phone number.

Berkeley Playhouse
Little Shop of Horrors
Auds 9/20 4-5:30pm. Register berkeleyplayhouse.org

Bay Area Children's Theatre
Little House on the Prairie
Auds 9/21-22. Email HS/Resume to nina@bactheatre.org

Foothill College Theatre Arts
The Winter's Tale
Auds 9/21-9/22 7pm. Callbacks 9/25. Call for info (650) 949-7268.

Stanford Savoyard
Princess Ida
Auds 9/23-9/25. Email stanfordsavoyards@gmail.com.

Mary Sano Studios
My Kanrin Maru (working title)
Auds 9/24 4-6pm. Email HS/Resume to nonoko@gmail.com.

Coastal Repertory Theatre
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Auds 9/25 11am-3pm. Callbacks 9/26. Call for info Michael Lederman (650) 726-0268.

Pleasanton Civic Arts Stage Company
The Princess and the Pea
Auds 9/25-9/26 12pm-5pm. Appt rennals@sfshakes.org

Teatro Vision

Bless Me, Ultima
Auds 9/25 1pm-4:30pm and 9/27 6:00pm-9:00pm. Email dianne@teatrovision.org.

Auditions for the week of 9/12

2010-09-14T21:34:00.000-07:00

Notes about audition postings: This is just a quick over view of info I've received on Bay Area auditions. For detailed audition info please subscribe to Theatre Bay Area or bayareatheatrebums. Do not email me for more information.
Berkley Playhouse
Narnia (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)
Auds 9/13. Callbacks 9/20. Email resume/HS to casting@berkeleyplayhouse.org.

RasaNova Theatre
Dancing on Glass
Auds 9/13 5-7pm. Callbacks 9/14. Email resume/HS to drvidhusingh@gmail.com

Hapgood Theatre Company

The Complete Works of William Shakspeare (Abridged) & Imaginary Love

Aud 9/13. Email resume/HS to jmiller@hapgoodtheatre.org

Sierra Repertory Theatre

White Christmas & The Andrew Sisters Christmas of Swing

Auds 9/14. Email resume/HS/role desired to artistic@sierrarep.org

Ragged Wing Ensemble

Youth Ensemble auditions

Auds 9/14 6-8pm. Email Amy Sass, info@raggedwing.org

San Francisco Opera
Cyrano de Bergerac
Auds week of 9/20. Email resume/HS/body shot by 9/17 to Sean Waugh, swaugh@sfopera.com

Ross Valley Players
Pride and Prejudice
Auds 9/18 2-6pm. Callbacks 9/20 Appt: (415) 507-1621

Woodside Community Theatre
The Drowsy Chaperon
Auds 9/18-19 6:30-9pm. Email auditions@woodsidetheatre.com

The Retro Dome
Santastic and The MeshugaNutcracker
Email resume/HS/cover letter of availability and interest to contactus@guggyent.com

Auditioning for TheatreWorks

2010-09-12T22:56:00.000-07:00

This last Friday I auditioned for TheatreWorks general auditions. It was my first time auditioning for this company but I had heard many good things about them and much more about impressing Leslie Martinson (TheatreWorks casting director).

Overall, I think I did alright. I didn't bomb the audition, but I certainly could've done much better. Honestly, I did not prep very well, which is an awful thing to not do. I had over a week for this prep, which was plenty of time to either find new monologues or go over the monologues I currently have in rotation.

Since I waited for the last minute I felt I had no choice to use the monologues in my repertoire. Unfortunately, my rep is pretty limited and a bit outdated and wasn't quite appropriate for this audition. The pieces I used were Carol from David Mamet's "Oleanna" and Constance from Ann-Marie MacDonald's "Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)". Here's why these pieces don't really work: a) I feel a bit too old to be performing Oleanna anymore. The character is in her early 20s and I feel I make a barely passable 20-something. And b) the pieces don't contrast very well. Now part of this is my fault for not working them earlier in the week to make clear character distinctions to show my "range." But if you look at the pieces I think that both can be done as strong women in different settings. I've finally started to understand that contrasting doesn't necessarily mean one comedic and one dramatic.

I'm currently in the process of searching for new monologues, but til then I'm stuck with those two. Like I said, despite my lack of prep I was glad Leslie and her assistant at least laughed/chuckled during my comedic piece.

My very dear friend/mentor, Larry Barrott, gave me the best piece of advice, "Just relax." It's so simple and I've heard it before but it really struck me this time. As I drove to my audition I pumped myself up by reminding myself why exactly I was doing this audition. I love acting. It's an escape for me; to pretend to be someone else for awhile. So I just kept telling myself that someone was giving me the chance to play. To use my imagination and play. I had done enough of the work to know that I knew my lines and even though I was doing ridiculous things like making last minute cuts on my drive to the audition, I was finally able to relax and have fun.

One thing I saw this summer was actors having fun onstage. They knew their character well enough that they could play and it made for some amazing performances. It's something I seemed to have forgotten. But I'm glad to finally start bringing it back again.

I won't really know anything about the TheatreWorks auditions unless they want me for a show. So this means I'm out of their running until sometime next year. The way most generals work, from my understanding, is they put on file. When it's time for the show they're producing to come up they either know who they want for the roles, hold additional auditions and then start sifting through the files for additional callbacks. I'm pretty sure they do all three of these at certain points during the process. But essentially since I went to the generals I'm ineligible to go to the individual auditions since they've already seen me. If they have a part in mind for me they'll call me. (Please some clarify and/or correct me if I'm wrong.) Here's to hoping...

Shady Shakespeare

2010-09-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

My last day working with Shady was today. It was quite a sad day; I actually cried. This whole summer has been an amazing experience for me.

I auditioned for the Shady 2010 season back in Spring. I was not surprised I didn't get cast. I was (as usual) ill-prepared and just always seem to bomb at call-backs. (By the way, are there any cold reading classes out there? I could use one.) But everyone cast was extremely talented and fit their roles perfectly.

A little background for the actor on Shady: typically they run two shows during the summer. Rehearsals run 8 weeks long and you are usually double cast. Shows run through Labor Day weekend from Thursday thru Sunday nights. No understudy roles are available. It pays a small stipend and is performed in an outdoor theatre in Sanborn Park. You are also expected to help build the set, participate in set up during the run, and take down the set. It's certainly a lot of work, but I think it's a great experience as to what it's like to run a small theatre company. Everyone, actors included, work together to create the experience.

In speaking with Shady's artistic director, Larry Barrott, suggested I could ASM for both the Shady shows this past summer. Typically each show has a separate SM and ASM. I knew it would be a daunting task and I honestly had very limited ASM experience. But I figured my responsibility, the SMs, and my theatre knowledge would keep me afloat. And did.

Rehearsal started in late May and I jumped in sometime in early June after I quit my "day job." Early rehearsals were conducted at Independence High School, which has an amazing theatre space. Late June we moved into Sanborn and spent the rest of the summer there.

We had a record breaking year as far as attendance, which bodes well for next year.

Since I was not performing with them I used this time to brush up on my technical knowledge, start my networking, get some great advice, and pick up some great acting tips from professionals.

There is a slight con that comes with an actor working in a technical profession, which I'll save for a later blog. Otherwise it has been an amazing summer.

One last thing, Shady also offers a range of classes from children's theatre performance to combat training.

www.shadyshakes.org
Shady Shakespeare Facebook

Obligatory first post

2010-09-08T19:22:00.000-07:00

I was born and raised in the Bay Area of California and have been interested in theatre all my life. While I chose to study Psychology in college, I did earn a minor in Theatre Arts performance and have been acting since I was in high school. In 2005 I took a break from acting because I didn't believe I was good enough to earn a living from it (a decision I deeply regret). Recently, through encouragement from friends and family I have begun my journey to try and "make it." Unfortunately the institutions I've studied at thus far have left me ill-prepared for becoming an acting professional. Wondering if there were others like me I've decided to blog on my journey as well as throwing in theatre happenings in the Bay Area, and reviews on theatre related books and shows. Hope that this journey proves fruitful. I cannot even guess how this will turn out.

~Jess