On the Plus Side, Bathroom Scales Now Friendly

My New Stage Name: Dixie

Just got back from my audition at the Bay Theatre in Annapolis -- I thought it went alright. Perhaps even not bad. So I'm told, decisions shall be made very soon.

Sometimes it takes some time into the day for me to realize that something on my mind was from the previous night's dreaming. When I woke, I was wondering why Bay Theatre had sent me audition scripts for the role of "Jerry," when I had been told I was auditioning for the role of "Reg." Once I got a bit more coherent, I realized that there was no character of "Jerry" in the play. That, and I realized it was highly unlikely that I had been sent audition material printed inside of a stack of paper cups.

Have at it, dream analysts.

Best Supporting Actor: Sgt. Johnson

Thanks for the comments to the previous post, y'all -- and by the way there's an interesting irony in getting good "highly secret occult" witch vibes when one of the plays you're auditioning for is Macbeth. Proofreader -- I don't know what the deal is, Shenandoah not getting a single Helen Hayes nom. I checked their list, and also noticed that Ford's Theatre isn't mentioned for anything. Hm. Nor is Imagination Stage, though I heard there's an odd rule that essentially allows HH to ignore a lot of children's theatre (I skimmed through their rules, though, and didn't see it, though). Don't know why. Hmph.

News . . . not much yet. The audition for Macbeth at BSF went "alright" (as defined on Feb. 10) -- read a couple of scenes playing the title role. So did a whole bunch of other guys. The waiting area was very cold. The audition area was very hot. One of the women who read for Lady Macbeth with me was very pregnant. The audition at Round House went . . . "not bad" which is a half step up from "alright" which is a half step up from fine. Clear, yes? I read for the character Blind Pew in Treasure Island (with marvelous Scots dialect, thank you very much), and after I read, they asked me about my stage combat experience -- a plus for me, since I have plenty. No word from either place thus far, which doesn't necessarily mean anything. Keep vibing, please.

Also: a further callback at Bay Theatre, coming very soon. So the ball rolls a bit further.

Another cartoon coming soon. Hope y'all don't mind.

Nibbles

I was left uncomfortably staring into space for over a week after the audition on the 10th for Baltimore Shakespeare Festival (okay, not quite that bad, there have been some things to keep me busy) . . . but I recently received a spate of calls for:

1. an audition on Monday the 19th at the Bay Theatre in Annapolis for Table Manners, the first play in The Norman Conquests trilogy by Alan Ayckbourn;
2. an audition (via Taylor Royall Casting) on Tuesday for an industrial (produced by EFX Media) -- which quickly turned into a dayshoot the following day, yesterday, yay me (I played a "business reporter");
3. a further callback this Saturday for BSF's Macbeth; and
4. a callback on Monday the 26th at Roundhouse Theatre in Bethesda, for Treasure Island.

Of course, I'm hoping for lots of good things here, and for this ball to keep rolling. Feel free to send good vibes my way.

Ma, the CB! Batch 'em!

A couple of comments in the yesterday's blog. Very cool, it's always good to see someone's checking me in the e-ether. (Re the comments: 1) Thanks, sis! 2) Benjamin, thanks for the advice. Though BSF doesn't pay much. [I know a few Benjamin's, how do I know thee?].)

Had that audition today at BSF for Macbeth, in which I read a little of Banquo and a monologue worth of Macbeth. I left the audition feeling . . . . like it went alright. Meaning? Well, alright is a half-step better than fine, which is neither pessimistic nor optimistic, i.e., a sort of ambivalence that is not casual but also not high-strung. Make sense?
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According to Berkeley Breathed's Opus (not to be confused with the similarly named play, see yesterday's blog), CHUNKY LORD VOLDEMORT is an anagram of DICK CHENEY VA-VOOM. Well, even though it isn't . . . it should be. Thanks, BB.

Opus Is Not Just a Penguin

A handful of auditions, but no solid bites thus far. It is very frustrating. Outside of auditions, I haven't been in rehearsals or performances for a month-and-a-half, and it's driving me bananas. Feels like a year.

The latest: I did a general audition for Baltimore Shakespeare Festival on Saturday, and then had a callback for Opus at the Washington Stage Guild on Monday. I've already received a call that I was not cast for Opus -- but it's okay, sorta. Though I thought my audition went well, I felt that I was a touch younger than what they were looking for.

I do want to say this: the audition for Stage Guild was fun. Some auditions, you go in, you do your thing -- cold reading, monologue, what have you -- and you get no response whatsoever from whomever is watching you. Audience response is food to a stage actor (and in this case the director / producer / head of casting, etc., is your audience) and auditions like that leave you still hungry, and dissatisfied. At Stage Guild, the director and producer responded. It felt good. Additionally, for the production manager to call and say that I was not cast is an act of kindness -- so much better to know than to sit and wonder. And, now I know I'm on their radar. So, check 'em out, they're good folks.

Baltimore Shakes -- well, I got a good feel from them, and I got a callback for Macbeth on Saturday. Wish me luck.

Something You Won't Find On Bourbon Street

An Auditioner's Life

I would have titled this "An Actor's Life," but I sometimes feel a touch presumptuous calling myself an actor when I'm not holding an acting job at that moment (though I have seen / heard / read a few people call themselves "actors" who really shouldn't -- heck, I'm sitting at a desk that I built, but I ain't callin' myself a furniture designer. Does hanging posters on your wall make one an interior decorator? I take the trash out every few days, so does that make me a garbage man?)

But a few auditions have come up, at least. I didn't feel very good about my recent one at Signature, to be honest. I had two yesterday, one for a commercial and one for an "interactive film"(a sort of instructional film, that's about what I know). I felt good about both of these, but here's the thing: with theatre auditions, I usually get some sense of how the audition went. With TV / film, I usually do best when I get no strong impression of how it went. Hm. A couple more auditions are coming up in the next few days. Cross your fingers.

And the drawing pad is getting some use again: I'll have another drawing posted soon, hope you like it.
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Otherwise: Here's an explanation of each of the 10 theoretical dimensions in our universe (I feel so pleased, I actually understood them. Sortakindasorta-ish). And: Milk beer? Guh.

Holy Lizards

I've been busy the last month-and-a-half, with travel (visiting various relatives), teaching, and auditioning. I am really, really tired, mainly from the teaching, which just finished today (almost: now I just have to finish grading a few things and fill out some paperwork). On Monday the 22nd was a general audition for a number of area theatres -- I was there all day, because, along with my own audition, I also helped sign people in. Not a bad day -- a few folks, unsolicited, said they liked my audition, and I had the chance to see a few friends, including Carl Randolph, Warner Crocker and his wife Thomasin (from Wayside Theatre) , Chris Youstra and Margo Seibert, with whom I worked at Imagination Stage. And I have a callback already at Signature Theatre in a few days, about which I'll say naught more at this moment, lest I hex it.
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Interesting stuff:
A virgin Komodo dragon has recently given birth to 5 baby dragons. (Okay, "gave birth" is a touch inaccurate -- she laid the eggs, and then they hatched.) I'm sure this'll be horribly offensive to someone: what if this were the Second Coming? Why not? Couldn't Christ could take the form of 5 adorable baby Komodo dragons if He so pleased? Additional proof of the involvement of a higher power: they've been eating locusts (perhaps to gear up for the next plague of 'em).

New items for my materialistic Christmas wish list: I 'd like an "adaptive wave" catamaran. Or a hydrogen powered motorcycle (shame it only does 50 mph, but apparently it has kick-ass acceleration).

Word, Y'all

While looking at the website Neatorama (specifically, the little blurb about the Pillow Fight League in Toronto) . . . .

. . . a random word popped into my brain, and now it's our word of the day: oubliette. An oubliette is "a dungeon with an opening only at the top" and it comes the French word oublier meaning "to forget" (i.e., it's a place where you can be forgotten, not where you can go to, say, forget about your troubles, though I can see how that could work -- I wouldn't be worried about car repairs or taxes if I happened to be thrown into an oubliette). Live it, love it, learn it. See if you can use it in casual conversation.