Preparation!

It's February, and this year that means that Stagesource just did it's lottery thing and assigned time slots to actors participating in their annual auditions. That's right ladies and gentleman! Coming to you this April, the biggest and most important cattle call of the year!

Actually though, they are a pretty big deal, and can make a big difference for an up and coming actor in the next year of work if you can do a good enough audition with the right people in the room. Of course, like everything acting related, there are so many things out of one's control that can if you allow them to, turn the event into an exercise in frustration. Even if a company is casting a show which you would be a great fit for say, it's pretty up in the air if they'll be in the room when you go up. I mean I think these auditions last like ten hours on both days, and most people understandably just don't have that kind of stamina. And like any audition, there are certain things you can control, what did you eat the day of, are you get well rested, are you dressed appropriately, did you prepare prepare prepare. But then if someone cuts you off and gives you the finger on your way over? You spill coffee on yourself? The neighbor's dog keeps you up half the night and your cranky this morning? You can't control any of that! You can't control how the room will be set up. You can't control people using their cell phones. You can't control the person before you doing a screamfest of an audition about... I don't know, watching their dog get raped by aliens (if you are reading this and wondering what kind of piece to do, don't do anything with screaming or about sexual violence, just don't do it). Or alternatively you can't control the person before you killing with their comedic chops and making you look bad.

All the things you can't control! Of course fellow actors you know this. And the best thing you can do is carefully choose pieces that showcase you and which you have fun doing, prepare the hell out of them, and act the hell out of them. So that's where I'm at, the first step which is choosing material. Of course I have a stock of monologues I can do... but those have been shown around town. BUT I know I can do them really well. Then again, there are other monologues I've been wanting to get down to working on and should I take this opportunity to really polish a new piece or two that won't have been seen by anyone before? Who do I go to for potential monologue coaching? I need to start figuring this stuff out. Because last year I was not as well prepared as I could have been, and my presentation suffered for it. That's OK though, because if you've done Stagesource or any cattle call of that nature you know they are a different animal then your typical audition, two or three or four people at a table in a room and that's it. This is bigger, higher stakes, etc. You probably won't nail it on your first try. But this is my second attempt, and that is my objective. Nail that shit. Calderwood Pavilion, April 2nd 5 o'clock... here I come.