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The Working Actor NYC. He's Patrick Richwood. He's Benjamin Howes.
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So this episode of The Working Actor NYC we're discussing in-person auditions.
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Do you have any rituals around in-person auditions?
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I mean, the really big ritual that's different is I have to put on pants.
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You know what I mean? When you're doing a self-tape, I've done many a self-tape with no pants on.
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And I'll say in the slate I'm not wearing any pants.
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I just let them wonder if I'm kidding or not.
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And then it goes to the full body shot.
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And then you're just like, ah!
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No, I don't know. Even I don't have that kind of nerve.
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I don't think I have any rituals about before I go on or before I audition.
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The more grounded in it I am, the better I feel.
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You know what I go to an audition for is to really feel like I embodied the part.
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I don't go to an audition to get a job because you don't know.
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Oh my God, there are so many factors that go into whether or not you get a part.
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You can't really go to an audition like it's a job interview wanting the job.
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You have to go to the audition like my teacher used to say, a chance to act on a Tuesday.
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Look, Al Pacino used to say that. He was like, I had a great day. I got to act today.
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And that's what the audition is.
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I think I don't have a... Do you have a ritual?
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I guess I kind of in a way do. Susan Blackwell taught me this.
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Susan Blackwell? I know Susan Blackwell.
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Yeah, fantastic, fantastic actor.
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But she taught me, and I can't remember who she learned this from,
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but first thing you do when you walk in the room, say "Hello friends."
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Oh, that's nice.
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It just, there's something. So I literally do that every time I walk into the room now.
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Hello friends.
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I just saw a video Tom Hanks said, "Be on time, know the text, and have an idea."
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Yeah.
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So that you're giving yourself a chance to be that character, whatever they're looking for.
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It's not a... You don't know exactly what they're looking for,
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but as long as you have an idea about the material.
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And I would add one more thing to that, maybe way before you ever get there,
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which is remind yourself of why you do this, all this in the first place,
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because that really helps me.
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I mean, I don't even think I did that consciously.
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I'll forget a lot of times to do that, but when I remember to think,
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oh, this is why I do this, this is why I love this,
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I go there with it in a different context, a broader context.
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And I think that may not be conscious when I'm in the building.
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Do you think it varies with the material?
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Like if you feel good about the material or whether you're like, this kind of stinks?
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Only at first, by the time you get to the audition,
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you better think it's the best writing that ever existed,
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because if you don't, you're not doing your job.
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I mean, you know, we have to do that on stage.
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Right.
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We have to work, do new plays.
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Maybe they haven't worked something out or maybe it stinks.
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Right, right.
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I've been at a few things that stink.
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Oh.
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I mean, I, you know, I burn those clothes.
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As far as in-person versus self-tapes, you know, they both have,
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I was thinking about this, they both have their pros and cons.
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Yeah.
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I think I would always opt for an in-person audition,
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because I really believe in the spark that can't be virtually recreated.
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I think there's an excitement.
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I definitely get an excitement from doing it, from meeting the people.
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Yeah.
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And there's something about, oh, I get to show them what I can do.
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For some, somehow in a self-tape, that's not as present for me.
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That idea of like, oh, I get this opportunity to show them my idea about this character, about this.
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There's also, yeah, there's, there is, there's an element of here I am in the sandbox.
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Yeah.
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And, and, and side note, I mean, when they're, when they're not a very good audience,
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my attitude is always that's because they're doing it in a very, very, very, very, very, very, very,
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very, very, very, very good, very good job.
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Yeah.
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I mean, sometimes they are.
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Yeah.
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But sometimes they're going, that's funny, that's funny.
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Oh, right.
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He knows the pacing of this.
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Oh, right.
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He gets that character.
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Yeah.
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They're doing their job.
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Yeah.
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Absolutely.
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So I feel like that's a pro for in-person auditions every time.
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Yeah.
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A con, you know, like I said, I have to put on pants, you know,
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you got to get on the, I gotta get on the bus and go somewhere.
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And there's the waiting room, which is never that much,
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or the waiting hall, or the waiting bench,
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or whatever it is, which is never that much fun.
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I mean, because I love it when I look around,
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I see people practicing their words,
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and I think, honey, if you don't know them by now.
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Oh my God, but that's me every single time.
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Really?
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Oh my God, yes.
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Why, is it not gonna, do you think it's gonna get better?
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No, but there is like familiarity.
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It is, it is definitely nerves.
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Like tomorrow I have an audition with four sides
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and two songs, and so I can guarantee you
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I'm gonna be sitting there with those.
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I'm not gonna have all of it memorized, I don't think,
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but I am gonna be sitting there with those words
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in front of me.
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But the other thing is like when you go to Pearl Studios
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or Ripley Greer or something, you're just guaranteed
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to see someone that you know.
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Oh yeah.
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And so that can take you out of whatever you're preparing.
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So you've gotta make sure that you've done your homework
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so that you know what your grounding point is
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so that you know your way back into the material.
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Yeah, yeah, you have to, a great teacher told me
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really deepen for yourself the moment before.
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The moment before you're speaking
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in this particular instance,
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because it'll take you right back to that place viscerally.
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Yeah.
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If you make that real for yourself,
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well that moment before you go in, just drop right back
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into it, and there you are, you're back in the exact
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right place, I think.
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And then it doesn't matter who you run into,
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or you know, for me it doesn't matter because
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if you've made something real for yourself,
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you can't unreal it.
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Right.
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Pull it back, it's still there.
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Yeah, yeah.
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But what the hell do I know?
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Honestly really, what the hell?
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The other thing I like about in-person auditions is,
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and I'm trying to be better about this,
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but it's a mutual assessment process.
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Like I, yes of course I am there to try to get the job
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from the people behind the table,
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but it's also an opportunity for me to go,
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oh do I want to work with these people?
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Really?
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Oh yeah.
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Oh, you're a better man than I.
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I mean.
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I can't tell anything, I can't tell anything.
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I can't even remember who I met.
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No, I really, I can't, I cannot remember who I met.
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Just this summer when I was at Bucks County
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doing Noises Off, one of our cast, my cast mates
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was a reader for like three of my auditions
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over the last year or whatever.
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And you didn't remember?
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I remembered by the time Noises Off happened
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because she made a point to say to me
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at the last audition, which was probably Noises Off,
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hey, do you remember me?
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I'm like, I do remember you.
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What's your name?
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It's just please tell me your name.
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So that we could, because she was distinct and good.
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You know, there's good readers and bad readers.
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Yeah.
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Oh my God, have you ever done it?
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Been a reader?
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You know, I have, but not for anything particularly high,
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you know, high end, like the stakes.
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I used to do it fairly regularly.
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You'd be great at it.
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I was, I really enjoyed it.
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I really enjoyed it.
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And it's fascinating being on that side of the table.
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Yeah, you learn a ton.
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Oh my God, I learned so much.
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But there was an audition for a musical of Giant.
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You know, the movie with James Dean and.
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Yeah, Rock Hudson.
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Rock Hudson and Liz Taylor.
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So two cowboys and a woman,
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and they only had me as the reader.
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So all of these cowboys were coming in to read a scene,
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a passionate love scene with a woman.
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And I had to play the Liz Taylor role
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and it got very broke back mountain.
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That's amazing.
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So for the afternoon session,
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they found a woman to come in.
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I mean, that's the thing.
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Then you go, what are they thinking?
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Oh my God, it got very broke back.
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It was so weird.
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Queered, more than weird.
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That's funny.
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Well, you know what though?
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The actor that can rise above that
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and see in your eyes, the eyes of the woman he's created.
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That's the actor.
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Whether he gets the job or not again, not the point.
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I've had many people say, how'd you do?
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And I'm like, I don't know if I got the job.
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The part was mine for 15 minutes.
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I know it was.
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Oh yeah, that's a good way of looking at it.
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You know, I really feel like I got in there.
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Yeah.
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I probably can count on one hand the auditions that I,
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no, that's probably not true.
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I'd probably say in my career,
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I've had maybe nine or 10 auditions
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that were I really triumphantly crashed and burned.
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Like I spectacularly went down.
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Oh, now I need to know.
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Well, just recently I was auditioning for
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that drag musical, Drag the Musical.
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Drag the Musical, yeah.
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I had done a self tape.
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Which was fabulous.
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For the initial thing that you read with me.
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You're an amazing reader for that.
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That's right.
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You're a good reader.
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You're such a good reader.
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Self tape felt great.
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I felt like it was solid.
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When I watched it, it made me,
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it transported me, which is unusual.
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So I went, okay, good.
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Sent it off.
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Got a call back.
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And just a perfect storm.
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I couldn't sleep the night before at all.
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Not because of the audition.
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I think it was because of something I ate.
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And I'm a great sleeper.
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I mean, I'm blessed with, like, my head hits the pillow.
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Eight hours later, I wake up.
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I had a boyfriend who used to say,
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there can't be a pillow on the bed when we have sex.
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Because if your head touches it,
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It touches it, it's over.
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You'll be out for eight hours.
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And so my brain cells weren't rubbing together.
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So when I went in, I had to sing the same song
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that I sang in the self tape.
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But the lyrics were a little tricky.
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Just a little tricky.
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For some reason, I can't remember now why,
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but it was easy to mix them up or something.
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And the song had a piano intro
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that I completely forgot it had.
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So I just started cold.
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I got the note and then started cold.
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Of course, the piano player was like, oh, okay.
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Let me catch up.
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All right, yeah, here we go.
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So he was a good egg.
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And then I forgot the lyric.
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Oh no. Right away.
256
00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:41,040
And I had to say, I'm so sorry, you guys.
257
00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:41,880
Let me start over.
258
00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:45,080
This is, let, reset, redo, do over.
259
00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:46,160
No problem, no problem.
260
00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:48,560
And when I'd walked in, I'd greeted them all
261
00:10:48,560 --> 00:10:49,780
very much like hello friends,
262
00:10:49,780 --> 00:10:52,520
because they were all a bunch of cool people
263
00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:54,120
that it was fun to be in the room with.
264
00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:55,240
That's Alaska.
265
00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:56,080
Yeah.
266
00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:56,920
I would have lost my mind.
267
00:10:56,920 --> 00:10:57,740
Yeah. Anyway.
268
00:10:57,740 --> 00:11:02,120
And so I started again,
269
00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:04,000
and I started without an intro again.
270
00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,220
And then I went up again.
271
00:11:06,220 --> 00:11:07,360
It was like that.
272
00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:08,600
And I think I finally made it.
273
00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:12,120
And PS, I had the lyrics in front of me.
274
00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:12,960
You didn't really use them?
275
00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:14,160
I had them in front of me.
276
00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:15,840
Here's the thing.
277
00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:18,460
The conventional wisdom is hold your script.
278
00:11:18,460 --> 00:11:19,300
Yeah, totally.
279
00:11:19,300 --> 00:11:21,720
I never, ever am not memorized in an audition
280
00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:24,220
because I can't read and act at the same time.
281
00:11:24,220 --> 00:11:26,640
I can't find my place
282
00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:28,320
once I've been looking in the person's eyes.
283
00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:29,160
Ah, right, right, right.
284
00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:30,000
I just can't.
285
00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:33,620
I can't go from visceral to back to one dimensional.
286
00:11:33,620 --> 00:11:34,460
Yeah.
287
00:11:34,460 --> 00:11:35,280
And back and forth.
288
00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:36,520
Just, my brain just won't do it.
289
00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:37,360
Right.
290
00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,400
So even if I'm holding the damn words,
291
00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:41,960
I'm only doing it for their benefit
292
00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:44,520
because it puts them at ease.
293
00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:45,880
And I'm memorized.
294
00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:46,840
But I went up.
295
00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:50,200
My brain was just not willing to work.
296
00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:51,840
And I learned a really good lesson.
297
00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:53,920
Make sure you sleep before an audition
298
00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:56,120
because even if you have to take a pill.
299
00:11:56,120 --> 00:11:59,680
That story reminded me though of a friend of mine,
300
00:11:59,680 --> 00:12:02,480
an incredible performer, Sally Wilford.
301
00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:05,540
She was telling me about her worst audition story.
302
00:12:05,540 --> 00:12:07,560
She was auditioning for a musical
303
00:12:07,560 --> 00:12:12,560
that she had been the artist that the writer used
304
00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:14,920
during the development of the project.
305
00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:15,760
Oh, yeah.
306
00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:19,240
So she was the template for this character.
307
00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:20,080
Oh no.
308
00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:22,480
Of course, it was played off-Broadway
309
00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,760
by somebody with a higher profile than she had.
310
00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:27,080
But she knew that material.
311
00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,960
So when it started going regional,
312
00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:32,640
she was getting called in for it all the time.
313
00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:35,680
And so she was singing the song
314
00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:37,720
and went up on one of the lyrics.
315
00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:39,040
She was like, oh, sorry.
316
00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:40,200
Let's just go back a few parts.
317
00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:41,840
Yep, start at the same.
318
00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:43,200
Start there, okay.
319
00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:45,320
Got to the same point, went up on the lyrics again.
320
00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:47,120
She's like, oh my God, this is so embarrassing.
321
00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:49,040
I know this material.
322
00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:50,400
I know this song.
323
00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:51,240
Oh my God.
324
00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:52,060
I helped write it.
325
00:12:52,060 --> 00:12:55,840
So, led back into it, got to the same point in the song,
326
00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:57,600
went up in the lyric again.
327
00:12:57,600 --> 00:12:59,860
And she was so embarrassed.
328
00:12:59,860 --> 00:13:01,320
And somebody from behind the table
329
00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:03,400
got up to go make a phone call.
330
00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:05,280
She's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
331
00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:09,720
Nobody leaves the room until I finish the damn song.
332
00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:10,720
Ha ha ha ha.
333
00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:14,200
Gee, I wonder if she got that job.
334
00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:15,520
I don't think she did.
335
00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:16,360
No, I don't think she did.
336
00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:19,720
I wonder if she's gonna be mad at you for telling that story.
337
00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:21,600
Everybody's got their crush and burns.
338
00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:22,440
Yeah.
339
00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:24,880
And for me, the worst is when I picture it
340
00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:29,080
like you're getting up speed to pierce through a membrane.
341
00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,040
And if you don't and you just bounce off of it,
342
00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:33,840
that's what it feels like.
343
00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:36,280
I kind of redeemed myself a little bit in the scene,
344
00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:37,120
but not enough.
345
00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:39,920
And by then you can tell you've lost the room.
346
00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:43,440
I learned a lesson last week.
347
00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:47,640
It was three sides, one song,
348
00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:50,720
one of the sides I'd been given that day.
349
00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:54,640
And it turns out they didn't give me both pages
350
00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:55,480
of that side.
351
00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:56,520
I only got the second page.
352
00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:59,120
So I got to the audition half an hour early
353
00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:00,640
and there were sides waiting for me
354
00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:01,480
because there was a whole-
355
00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:02,440
That were different than-
356
00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:04,680
Whole page of new material, which was fine.
357
00:14:04,680 --> 00:14:05,880
That's unusual.
358
00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:07,240
It was a mistake.
359
00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:08,080
It was fine.
360
00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:12,200
Of course, that was the side that the director wanted
361
00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:13,800
to give me an adjustment on.
362
00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:16,160
And looking back on it,
363
00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:17,920
I questioned whether or not I should have said,
364
00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:21,080
hey, this is the side that I know I'm the least familiar
365
00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:22,840
with, can we work on something else?
366
00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:26,200
Or does that then label me as, I don't know, whatever.
367
00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:27,040
But I-
368
00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:29,680
I don't think we're that subject to labels
369
00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:30,920
in the audition.
370
00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:33,960
I couldn't give the adjustment.
371
00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:37,080
I didn't do what he asked me to do.
372
00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:39,000
What would you have done in rehearsal?
373
00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:43,040
So I questioned whether or not I should make that part
374
00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:44,640
of my audition preparation.
375
00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:49,000
Like, yes, show up on time, know the text, have an idea,
376
00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,360
but then also have the second idea and the third idea
377
00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:53,520
and the fourth idea.
378
00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:55,240
Oh, oh, we've talked about this.
379
00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:57,880
Yeah, and you know what my feeling is, right?
380
00:14:57,880 --> 00:14:58,720
Tell me.
381
00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:00,280
I think that's that way madness lies.
382
00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:02,640
Because then you're trying to predict.
383
00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:03,480
Oh yeah.
384
00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:04,960
And you can't, you cannot predict.
385
00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:07,600
Adjustments aren't hard for me if I'm listening.
386
00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:09,960
I think the hard part is in auditions,
387
00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:12,000
we're really struggling to listen
388
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:13,560
because we're on the spot.
389
00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:14,400
Yeah.
390
00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:17,280
And the best auditioners are ones that really listen.
391
00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:18,120
Yeah.
392
00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:18,960
I think.
393
00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:20,040
They just, they go, uh-huh.
394
00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:21,480
And they take a moment if they need to.
395
00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:22,320
I've done that.
396
00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:24,040
I've been like, okay, hold on a second.
397
00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:26,960
Let me just see if I, let me make sure that that got in.
398
00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:31,200
I was up for the writer in the producers, you know,
399
00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:32,240
the Nazi writer.
400
00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:34,240
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
401
00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:39,160
And it was, it was the full last supper behind the table.
402
00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,200
Mel Brooks was there, Susan Stroman, and she was so.
403
00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:43,200
The full last supper.
404
00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:45,160
Oh, the full last supper behind the table,
405
00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:47,440
like producers, you know, all the rest of it.
406
00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:49,280
You know, and that was the audition when they said,
407
00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:52,040
and Mel Brooks wants you to prepare a joke.
408
00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:53,360
Like, it's part of the audition.
409
00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:55,920
You have to prepare a joke for Mel Brooks.
410
00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:58,800
But Susan Stroman got up, I did the material.
411
00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:00,440
Susan Stroman got up from behind the table
412
00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:02,720
and she came over to me and she came very close to me.
413
00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:04,600
And you know, she was just speaking very quietly.
414
00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:06,480
So it's just the two of us to hear.
415
00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:08,680
And she gave me an adjustment and I'm standing there
416
00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:12,800
thinking Susan Stroman is inches from my face right now.
417
00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,000
I really need to listen to what she's saying to me.
418
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:15,840
And instead you're listening to her back.
419
00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,440
And I'm just going, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh.
420
00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:21,680
And she went back down and she sat down
421
00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:24,120
and I did the material again.
422
00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:26,880
And it wasn't until I was walking out of the room
423
00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:30,200
that I was like, oh, that's what she wanted me to do.
424
00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:31,920
I didn't take it.
425
00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:33,440
Mind you, as I'm walking out the door,
426
00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,600
Mel Brooks is yelling out, I think you're terrific, kid.
427
00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:38,400
Yeah, I'll take that.
428
00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:39,480
Thank you very much.
429
00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:41,520
Yeah, yeah, I have said many times
430
00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:44,920
that the subway platform after an audition
431
00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:47,920
is a country girl without the tree.
432
00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:50,920
Oh, that's what I was trying.
433
00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:52,600
I couldn't get, but, duh.
434
00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:55,000
Because it's just strangled.
435
00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,960
Your creative thing, your third eye or whatever,
436
00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:00,960
it's just like in a stranglehold because of whatever.
437
00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:03,680
In-person auditions have the opportunity
438
00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:06,840
for you to do what you actually do do,
439
00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:10,760
which is send something out into the room
440
00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:12,880
that only you can do.
441
00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,080
And that's what I was trying to do.
442
00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:18,920
Something out into the room that only you can send out.
443
00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:19,920
Yeah, yeah.
444
00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:22,000
I had a wonderful experience like that recently.
445
00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:23,200
I did not book the job.
446
00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:29,520
I had an audition for Tina Landau and for Floyd Collins.
447
00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:31,360
Oh, I thought you meant to play Tina Landau.
448
00:17:31,360 --> 00:17:31,880
No, no, no.
449
00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:33,000
I was like, you'd be great.
450
00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:34,560
She was the writer and the director.
451
00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:40,320
And so Tina's very open-minded as a creator.
452
00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:44,200
And so for the audition, they asked
453
00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:48,520
us to prepare an up-tempo song or vaudeville song
454
00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:51,720
with some sharp movement or choreography.
455
00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:56,280
And it was so liberating because with that kind of instruction
456
00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:58,160
going into the audition, you know
457
00:17:58,160 --> 00:17:59,680
that you can't get it wrong.
458
00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:00,480
Yeah.
459
00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:02,480
That is so wide open to interpretation
460
00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:04,400
that you can't get it wrong.
461
00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:08,200
And so even it informed the performance
462
00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:09,800
of my other material as well.
463
00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:13,600
I was like, oh, I can do something unusual or weird
464
00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,680
or what I would not normally do in an audition.
465
00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:18,280
I can do it at this audition.
466
00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:23,840
And it was electric because I was nervous about it.
467
00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:26,760
And I was nervous about it, but it was also
468
00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:33,160
like a one-time only opportunity.
469
00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:34,480
And I knew that.
470
00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:35,960
And they felt it too.
471
00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:37,240
That's what's exciting about it.
472
00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:39,240
And it was that feeling, that chemistry
473
00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,920
between the table and me, it was so exciting.
474
00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:45,280
That's a good thing to remember actually for auditions
475
00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:48,880
is that it's really great to evoke for yourself
476
00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:52,480
that feeling of like, this is a one-time deal.
477
00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:54,360
The world's only going to see this once.
478
00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:57,240
For the next 10 minutes, I'm it.
479
00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:58,240
I've got the part.
480
00:18:58,240 --> 00:18:59,280
You know what I mean?
481
00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:02,360
It's mine to have and to express.
482
00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:04,800
And also it's funny because your brain got permission
483
00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:08,000
in that way or that's how you interpreted it.
484
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:09,600
You were in exactly the right space
485
00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:12,640
that you'd want to be in an audition to take an adjustment.
486
00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:13,880
Right.
487
00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:16,000
I guess we have to give ourselves our brains.
488
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,360
We have to trick our brains into giving them permission
489
00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:22,240
to let go of the way they prepared something
490
00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:25,400
and be free to experience it anew.
491
00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:27,320
And again, it comes back to listening.
492
00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:29,000
It's like, I'm going to listen to this.
493
00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,320
Now the director might just be giving you anything just
494
00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:32,440
to see if you can take it.
495
00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:33,800
That is also true.
496
00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:34,800
You know?
497
00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:38,680
So I do want to, I do have something else to say.
498
00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:41,680
Then say it, Sister Margretta.
499
00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:43,360
Maria makes me laugh.
500
00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:45,120
Thank you for picking up that cue.
501
00:19:45,120 --> 00:19:46,640
I love you for knowing that.
502
00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:49,560
I think that, how can I not know that?
503
00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:53,200
Then say it, Sister Margretta.
504
00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:56,080
That particular audition that I'm thinking of was so epic
505
00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:59,280
and so beyond the normal amount of material
506
00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:01,280
to learn in a week.
507
00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:03,800
And we both know there are certain casting directors
508
00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:05,680
who are infamous for this.
509
00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:09,720
And I often wonder if it's because either consciously
510
00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:13,240
or unconsciously they're thinning the herd.
511
00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:16,400
So they make it a real, because it will be like,
512
00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:18,360
you've got three days to prepare five scenes
513
00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:20,520
and two songs, you know?
514
00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:22,840
I have a famous story about that.
515
00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:26,120
There was a new production of The Phantom of the Opera
516
00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:27,120
going out on tour.
517
00:20:27,120 --> 00:20:29,920
Completely new production, new concept, new design.
518
00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:30,760
Oh yeah.
519
00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:31,600
Yeah.
520
00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:34,000
And I was being auditioned for one of the managers.
521
00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,120
And for the initial audition for the team from Britain,
522
00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:42,120
the initial audition was the entire manager's scene.
523
00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:47,240
That's a 10 minute, seven part harmony.
524
00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:49,520
And it was 48 pages of music.
525
00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:51,520
That's my memory, 48 pages of music.
526
00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:55,720
And so I was already pretty familiar with the musical.
527
00:20:55,720 --> 00:21:00,280
So I learned it in inverted commas.
528
00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:05,280
And I went into the room and they said,
529
00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:07,560
they said, oh, lovely to meet you.
530
00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:09,480
Let's start with something from your book.
531
00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:10,320
Oh.
532
00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:14,960
Which I was not prepared for,
533
00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:17,040
having prepared 48 pages of music.
534
00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:19,120
And so I sang something from my book and they said,
535
00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:20,360
thank you, lovely to meet you.
536
00:21:20,360 --> 00:21:21,440
Thank you so much.
537
00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:22,800
Oh my God.
538
00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:26,240
And I picked up my material and I walked out the door
539
00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:28,560
and I sat down on the bench and Mary Sugarman
540
00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:30,640
from Tara Rubin casting came out of the door.
541
00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:32,240
And before she even closed the door,
542
00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:34,080
she was mouthing the words, I'm sorry.
543
00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:35,720
I'm so sorry to meet you.
544
00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:36,560
She knew.
545
00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:37,400
I love her.
546
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:41,200
And I just looked at her and I said, 48 pages of music.
547
00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:44,440
She's like, I know, I know, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry.
548
00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:46,160
So I gathered my stuff and I left.
549
00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:50,200
And later that day got an email.
550
00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:51,840
She had emailed my agent saying,
551
00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:53,840
we're so sorry about Benjamin's experience.
552
00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:55,880
And we tried to get him to come back in the room,
553
00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:57,360
but he'd already left.
554
00:21:57,360 --> 00:22:00,360
I'm looking at myself, you've already said no, thank you.
555
00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:02,920
I'm not gonna walk back in the room just because.
556
00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:04,400
We tried to get you to come back in the room.
557
00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:06,360
I don't know if that's true, but that's what she said.
558
00:22:06,360 --> 00:22:08,120
Maybe that's how they thought of it, but wow.
559
00:22:08,120 --> 00:22:12,720
Anyway, I will tell you, I think I behaved well.
560
00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:14,520
I don't think I behaved improperly
561
00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:15,960
at any point during that session,
562
00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:18,600
but that was the second last audition
563
00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:20,320
that I had for Tara Rubin's office.
564
00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:22,720
The last time they auditioned me,
565
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:25,240
it was for the same production.
566
00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:28,280
And it was learned these three pages of music.
567
00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:31,080
It was a cut, which is what it should have been
568
00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:31,920
in the first place.
569
00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:36,920
But I'm wondering if I need to go back into a pay for play,
570
00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:39,760
meet a casting director thing with that office
571
00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:42,320
because they just don't call me in.
572
00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:44,240
Oh, that's a whole different conversation.
573
00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:45,080
It is a whole different conversation.
574
00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,040
I have a whole ethical thing about that.
575
00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:49,440
But this has been a good one about in-person audition.
576
00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:51,080
This has been a good audition.
577
00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:53,800
I think I learned a lot.
578
00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:57,000
If you have enjoyed this episode of The Working Actor NYC,
579
00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:58,200
like and subscribe.
580
00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:00,240
Oh yeah, like and subscribe.
581
00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,520
That means click the thing and push the thing, right?
582
00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:05,720
Yeah, see, that's what I would say.
583
00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:31,880
And hit the two thumbs up.
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000
The Working Actor NYC. He's Patrick Richwood. He's Benjamin Howes.
2
00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:18,000
So this episode of The Working Actor NYC we're discussing in-person auditions.
3
00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:22,000
Do you have any rituals around in-person auditions?
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00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:28,000
I mean, the really big ritual that's different is I have to put on pants.
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00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:34,000
You know what I mean? When you're doing a self-tape, I've done many a self-tape with no pants on.
6
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,000
And I'll say in the slate I'm not wearing any pants.
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00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:42,000
I just let them wonder if I'm kidding or not.
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And then it goes to the full body shot.
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And then you're just like, ah!
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No, I don't know. Even I don't have that kind of nerve.
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00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:55,000
I don't think I have any rituals about before I go on or before I audition.
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00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:59,000
The more grounded in it I am, the better I feel.
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00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:04,000
You know what I go to an audition for is to really feel like I embodied the part.
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I don't go to an audition to get a job because you don't know.
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00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:13,000
Oh my God, there are so many factors that go into whether or not you get a part.
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00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:17,000
You can't really go to an audition like it's a job interview wanting the job.
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00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:21,000
You have to go to the audition like my teacher used to say, a chance to act on a Tuesday.
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00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:25,000
Look, Al Pacino used to say that. He was like, I had a great day. I got to act today.
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00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:27,000
And that's what the audition is.
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00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:29,000
I think I don't have a... Do you have a ritual?
21
00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:34,000
I guess I kind of in a way do. Susan Blackwell taught me this.
22
00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:36,000
Susan Blackwell? I know Susan Blackwell.
23
00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,000
Yeah, fantastic, fantastic actor.
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00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:43,000
But she taught me, and I can't remember who she learned this from,
25
00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:48,000
but first thing you do when you walk in the room, say "Hello friends."
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00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:49,000
Oh, that's nice.
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00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:54,000
It just, there's something. So I literally do that every time I walk into the room now.
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00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:55,000
Hello friends.
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00:01:55,000 --> 00:02:02,000
I just saw a video Tom Hanks said, "Be on time, know the text, and have an idea."
30
00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:03,000
Yeah.
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00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:09,000
So that you're giving yourself a chance to be that character, whatever they're looking for.
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00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,000
It's not a... You don't know exactly what they're looking for,
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00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:15,000
but as long as you have an idea about the material.
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00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:19,000
And I would add one more thing to that, maybe way before you ever get there,
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00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:23,000
which is remind yourself of why you do this, all this in the first place,
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00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,000
because that really helps me.
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00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,000
I mean, I don't even think I did that consciously.
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00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:31,000
I'll forget a lot of times to do that, but when I remember to think,
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00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:33,000
oh, this is why I do this, this is why I love this,
40
00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:38,000
I go there with it in a different context, a broader context.
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00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:42,000
And I think that may not be conscious when I'm in the building.
42
00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:44,000
Do you think it varies with the material?
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00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,000
Like if you feel good about the material or whether you're like, this kind of stinks?
44
00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:50,000
Only at first, by the time you get to the audition,
45
00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,000
you better think it's the best writing that ever existed,
46
00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,000
because if you don't, you're not doing your job.
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00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,000
I mean, you know, we have to do that on stage.
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00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:58,000
Right.
49
00:02:58,000 --> 00:02:59,000
We have to work, do new plays.
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00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:02,000
Maybe they haven't worked something out or maybe it stinks.
51
00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:03,000
Right, right.
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00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:04,000
I've been at a few things that stink.
53
00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:05,000
Oh.
54
00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,000
I mean, I, you know, I burn those clothes.
55
00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:13,000
As far as in-person versus self-tapes, you know, they both have,
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I was thinking about this, they both have their pros and cons.
57
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Yeah.
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00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:21,000
I think I would always opt for an in-person audition,
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00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:27,000
because I really believe in the spark that can't be virtually recreated.
60
00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,000
I think there's an excitement.
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00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:34,000
I definitely get an excitement from doing it, from meeting the people.
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Yeah.
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00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:40,000
And there's something about, oh, I get to show them what I can do.
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00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:44,000
For some, somehow in a self-tape, that's not as present for me.
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00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:50,000
That idea of like, oh, I get this opportunity to show them my idea about this character, about this.
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00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:55,000
There's also, yeah, there's, there is, there's an element of here I am in the sandbox.
67
00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:56,000
Yeah.
68
00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:00,000
And, and, and side note, I mean, when they're, when they're not a very good audience,
69
00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:04,000
my attitude is always that's because they're doing it in a very, very, very, very, very, very, very,
70
00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,000
very, very, very, very good, very good job.
71
00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:08,000
Yeah.
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00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:09,000
I mean, sometimes they are.
73
00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:10,000
Yeah.
74
00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:13,000
But sometimes they're going, that's funny, that's funny.
75
00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:14,000
Oh, right.
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00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:15,000
He knows the pacing of this.
77
00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:16,000
Oh, right.
78
00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:17,000
He gets that character.
79
00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:18,000
Yeah.
80
00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:19,000
They're doing their job.
81
00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:20,000
Yeah.
82
00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:21,000
Absolutely.
83
00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,000
So I feel like that's a pro for in-person auditions every time.
84
00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:25,000
Yeah.
85
00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:29,000
A con, you know, like I said, I have to put on pants, you know,
86
00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:31,000
you got to get on the, I gotta get on the bus and go somewhere.
87
00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:36,000
And there's the waiting room, which is never that much,
88
00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:39,160
or the waiting hall, or the waiting bench,
89
00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:41,240
or whatever it is, which is never that much fun.
90
00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,000
I mean, because I love it when I look around,
91
00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:47,760
I see people practicing their words,
92
00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:50,800
and I think, honey, if you don't know them by now.
93
00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:52,540
Oh my God, but that's me every single time.
94
00:04:52,540 --> 00:04:53,380
Really?
95
00:04:53,380 --> 00:04:54,200
Oh my God, yes.
96
00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:56,880
Why, is it not gonna, do you think it's gonna get better?
97
00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:00,000
No, but there is like familiarity.
98
00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,800
It is, it is definitely nerves.
99
00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:08,280
Like tomorrow I have an audition with four sides
100
00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:11,680
and two songs, and so I can guarantee you
101
00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:13,000
I'm gonna be sitting there with those.
102
00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:16,080
I'm not gonna have all of it memorized, I don't think,
103
00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:17,560
but I am gonna be sitting there with those words
104
00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:18,400
in front of me.
105
00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:20,740
But the other thing is like when you go to Pearl Studios
106
00:05:20,740 --> 00:05:24,640
or Ripley Greer or something, you're just guaranteed
107
00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:26,420
to see someone that you know.
108
00:05:26,420 --> 00:05:27,260
Oh yeah.
109
00:05:27,260 --> 00:05:32,160
And so that can take you out of whatever you're preparing.
110
00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:34,280
So you've gotta make sure that you've done your homework
111
00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:36,880
so that you know what your grounding point is
112
00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:39,040
so that you know your way back into the material.
113
00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:42,960
Yeah, yeah, you have to, a great teacher told me
114
00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:45,840
really deepen for yourself the moment before.
115
00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:47,080
The moment before you're speaking
116
00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:48,480
in this particular instance,
117
00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:52,520
because it'll take you right back to that place viscerally.
118
00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:53,480
Yeah.
119
00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:54,960
If you make that real for yourself,
120
00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:57,720
well that moment before you go in, just drop right back
121
00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:01,200
into it, and there you are, you're back in the exact
122
00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:02,960
right place, I think.
123
00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:04,720
And then it doesn't matter who you run into,
124
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or you know, for me it doesn't matter because
125
00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:09,640
if you've made something real for yourself,
126
00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:11,600
you can't unreal it.
127
00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:12,440
Right.
128
00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:13,760
Pull it back, it's still there.
129
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Yeah, yeah.
130
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But what the hell do I know?
131
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Honestly really, what the hell?
132
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The other thing I like about in-person auditions is,
133
00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:22,140
and I'm trying to be better about this,
134
00:06:22,140 --> 00:06:24,720
but it's a mutual assessment process.
135
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Like I, yes of course I am there to try to get the job
136
00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:32,740
from the people behind the table,
137
00:06:32,740 --> 00:06:34,320
but it's also an opportunity for me to go,
138
00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:36,560
oh do I want to work with these people?
139
00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:37,400
Really?
140
00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:38,220
Oh yeah.
141
00:06:38,220 --> 00:06:40,520
Oh, you're a better man than I.
142
00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:41,340
I mean.
143
00:06:41,340 --> 00:06:43,160
I can't tell anything, I can't tell anything.
144
00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:45,120
I can't even remember who I met.
145
00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:47,640
No, I really, I can't, I cannot remember who I met.
146
00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:49,880
Just this summer when I was at Bucks County
147
00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:52,800
doing Noises Off, one of our cast, my cast mates
148
00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,040
was a reader for like three of my auditions
149
00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:56,880
over the last year or whatever.
150
00:06:56,880 --> 00:06:58,580
And you didn't remember?
151
00:06:58,580 --> 00:07:00,700
I remembered by the time Noises Off happened
152
00:07:00,700 --> 00:07:03,480
because she made a point to say to me
153
00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:06,480
at the last audition, which was probably Noises Off,
154
00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:07,600
hey, do you remember me?
155
00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:09,360
I'm like, I do remember you.
156
00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:10,180
What's your name?
157
00:07:10,180 --> 00:07:11,200
It's just please tell me your name.
158
00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:13,720
So that we could, because she was distinct and good.
159
00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:17,320
You know, there's good readers and bad readers.
160
00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:18,140
Yeah.
161
00:07:18,140 --> 00:07:19,240
Oh my God, have you ever done it?
162
00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:20,560
Been a reader?
163
00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:24,440
You know, I have, but not for anything particularly high,
164
00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:26,840
you know, high end, like the stakes.
165
00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,600
I used to do it fairly regularly.
166
00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:31,440
You'd be great at it.
167
00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:33,200
I was, I really enjoyed it.
168
00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:34,040
I really enjoyed it.
169
00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:36,000
And it's fascinating being on that side of the table.
170
00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:36,920
Yeah, you learn a ton.
171
00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:38,480
Oh my God, I learned so much.
172
00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:43,480
But there was an audition for a musical of Giant.
173
00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:45,320
You know, the movie with James Dean and.
174
00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:46,720
Yeah, Rock Hudson.
175
00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,560
Rock Hudson and Liz Taylor.
176
00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:54,000
So two cowboys and a woman,
177
00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:56,160
and they only had me as the reader.
178
00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:59,840
So all of these cowboys were coming in to read a scene,
179
00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:02,440
a passionate love scene with a woman.
180
00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:04,400
And I had to play the Liz Taylor role
181
00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:06,880
and it got very broke back mountain.
182
00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:09,240
That's amazing.
183
00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:11,360
So for the afternoon session,
184
00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:13,920
they found a woman to come in.
185
00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:15,200
I mean, that's the thing.
186
00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:17,360
Then you go, what are they thinking?
187
00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:19,520
Oh my God, it got very broke back.
188
00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:20,640
It was so weird.
189
00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:24,160
Queered, more than weird.
190
00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:26,600
That's funny.
191
00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:27,420
Well, you know what though?
192
00:08:27,420 --> 00:08:28,440
The actor that can rise above that
193
00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,760
and see in your eyes, the eyes of the woman he's created.
194
00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:32,800
That's the actor.
195
00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:36,400
Whether he gets the job or not again, not the point.
196
00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:39,200
I've had many people say, how'd you do?
197
00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:40,680
And I'm like, I don't know if I got the job.
198
00:08:40,680 --> 00:08:42,480
The part was mine for 15 minutes.
199
00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:43,320
I know it was.
200
00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:44,160
Oh yeah, that's a good way of looking at it.
201
00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:47,040
You know, I really feel like I got in there.
202
00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:47,880
Yeah.
203
00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:52,040
I probably can count on one hand the auditions that I,
204
00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:53,240
no, that's probably not true.
205
00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:54,800
I'd probably say in my career,
206
00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:57,240
I've had maybe nine or 10 auditions
207
00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:00,820
that were I really triumphantly crashed and burned.
208
00:09:00,820 --> 00:09:02,400
Like I spectacularly went down.
209
00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:05,200
Oh, now I need to know.
210
00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:08,320
Well, just recently I was auditioning for
211
00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:11,720
that drag musical, Drag the Musical.
212
00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:12,920
Drag the Musical, yeah.
213
00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:15,000
I had done a self tape.
214
00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:15,840
Which was fabulous.
215
00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:16,680
For the initial thing that you read with me.
216
00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:18,880
You're an amazing reader for that.
217
00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:19,720
That's right.
218
00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:20,560
You're a good reader.
219
00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:22,680
You're such a good reader.
220
00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:25,940
Self tape felt great.
221
00:09:25,940 --> 00:09:28,360
I felt like it was solid.
222
00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:30,520
When I watched it, it made me,
223
00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:32,800
it transported me, which is unusual.
224
00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:34,360
So I went, okay, good.
225
00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:35,180
Sent it off.
226
00:09:35,180 --> 00:09:36,640
Got a call back.
227
00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:38,960
And just a perfect storm.
228
00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:41,080
I couldn't sleep the night before at all.
229
00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:42,280
Not because of the audition.
230
00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:44,400
I think it was because of something I ate.
231
00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:45,920
And I'm a great sleeper.
232
00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:48,920
I mean, I'm blessed with, like, my head hits the pillow.
233
00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:50,820
Eight hours later, I wake up.
234
00:09:50,820 --> 00:09:52,920
I had a boyfriend who used to say,
235
00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:54,960
there can't be a pillow on the bed when we have sex.
236
00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:56,920
Because if your head touches it,
237
00:09:56,920 --> 00:09:57,760
It touches it, it's over.
238
00:09:57,760 --> 00:09:59,200
You'll be out for eight hours.
239
00:10:01,540 --> 00:10:06,060
And so my brain cells weren't rubbing together.
240
00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:10,040
So when I went in, I had to sing the same song
241
00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:12,040
that I sang in the self tape.
242
00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:14,280
But the lyrics were a little tricky.
243
00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:15,880
Just a little tricky.
244
00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:17,640
For some reason, I can't remember now why,
245
00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:20,320
but it was easy to mix them up or something.
246
00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:23,040
And the song had a piano intro
247
00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:24,600
that I completely forgot it had.
248
00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:26,460
So I just started cold.
249
00:10:26,460 --> 00:10:28,120
I got the note and then started cold.
250
00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:29,720
Of course, the piano player was like, oh, okay.
251
00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:30,560
Let me catch up.
252
00:10:30,560 --> 00:10:31,560
All right, yeah, here we go.
253
00:10:31,560 --> 00:10:34,000
So he was a good egg.
254
00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:36,760
And then I forgot the lyric.
255
00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:38,520
Oh no. Right away.
256
00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:41,040
And I had to say, I'm so sorry, you guys.
257
00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:41,880
Let me start over.
258
00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:45,080
This is, let, reset, redo, do over.
259
00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:46,160
No problem, no problem.
260
00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:48,560
And when I'd walked in, I'd greeted them all
261
00:10:48,560 --> 00:10:49,780
very much like hello friends,
262
00:10:49,780 --> 00:10:52,520
because they were all a bunch of cool people
263
00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:54,120
that it was fun to be in the room with.
264
00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:55,240
That's Alaska.
265
00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:56,080
Yeah.
266
00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:56,920
I would have lost my mind.
267
00:10:56,920 --> 00:10:57,740
Yeah. Anyway.
268
00:10:57,740 --> 00:11:02,120
And so I started again,
269
00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:04,000
and I started without an intro again.
270
00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,220
And then I went up again.
271
00:11:06,220 --> 00:11:07,360
It was like that.
272
00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:08,600
And I think I finally made it.
273
00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:12,120
And PS, I had the lyrics in front of me.
274
00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:12,960
You didn't really use them?
275
00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:14,160
I had them in front of me.
276
00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:15,840
Here's the thing.
277
00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:18,460
The conventional wisdom is hold your script.
278
00:11:18,460 --> 00:11:19,300
Yeah, totally.
279
00:11:19,300 --> 00:11:21,720
I never, ever am not memorized in an audition
280
00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:24,220
because I can't read and act at the same time.
281
00:11:24,220 --> 00:11:26,640
I can't find my place
282
00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:28,320
once I've been looking in the person's eyes.
283
00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:29,160
Ah, right, right, right.
284
00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:30,000
I just can't.
285
00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:33,620
I can't go from visceral to back to one dimensional.
286
00:11:33,620 --> 00:11:34,460
Yeah.
287
00:11:34,460 --> 00:11:35,280
And back and forth.
288
00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:36,520
Just, my brain just won't do it.
289
00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:37,360
Right.
290
00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,400
So even if I'm holding the damn words,
291
00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:41,960
I'm only doing it for their benefit
292
00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:44,520
because it puts them at ease.
293
00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:45,880
And I'm memorized.
294
00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:46,840
But I went up.
295
00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:50,200
My brain was just not willing to work.
296
00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:51,840
And I learned a really good lesson.
297
00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:53,920
Make sure you sleep before an audition
298
00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:56,120
because even if you have to take a pill.
299
00:11:56,120 --> 00:11:59,680
That story reminded me though of a friend of mine,
300
00:11:59,680 --> 00:12:02,480
an incredible performer, Sally Wilford.
301
00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:05,540
She was telling me about her worst audition story.
302
00:12:05,540 --> 00:12:07,560
She was auditioning for a musical
303
00:12:07,560 --> 00:12:12,560
that she had been the artist that the writer used
304
00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:14,920
during the development of the project.
305
00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:15,760
Oh, yeah.
306
00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:19,240
So she was the template for this character.
307
00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:20,080
Oh no.
308
00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:22,480
Of course, it was played off-Broadway
309
00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,760
by somebody with a higher profile than she had.
310
00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:27,080
But she knew that material.
311
00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,960
So when it started going regional,
312
00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:32,640
she was getting called in for it all the time.
313
00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:35,680
And so she was singing the song
314
00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:37,720
and went up on one of the lyrics.
315
00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:39,040
She was like, oh, sorry.
316
00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:40,200
Let's just go back a few parts.
317
00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:41,840
Yep, start at the same.
318
00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:43,200
Start there, okay.
319
00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:45,320
Got to the same point, went up on the lyrics again.
320
00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:47,120
She's like, oh my God, this is so embarrassing.
321
00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:49,040
I know this material.
322
00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:50,400
I know this song.
323
00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:51,240
Oh my God.
324
00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:52,060
I helped write it.
325
00:12:52,060 --> 00:12:55,840
So, led back into it, got to the same point in the song,
326
00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:57,600
went up in the lyric again.
327
00:12:57,600 --> 00:12:59,860
And she was so embarrassed.
328
00:12:59,860 --> 00:13:01,320
And somebody from behind the table
329
00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:03,400
got up to go make a phone call.
330
00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:05,280
She's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
331
00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:09,720
Nobody leaves the room until I finish the damn song.
332
00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:10,720
Ha ha ha ha.
333
00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:14,200
Gee, I wonder if she got that job.
334
00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:15,520
I don't think she did.
335
00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:16,360
No, I don't think she did.
336
00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:19,720
I wonder if she's gonna be mad at you for telling that story.
337
00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:21,600
Everybody's got their crush and burns.
338
00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:22,440
Yeah.
339
00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:24,880
And for me, the worst is when I picture it
340
00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:29,080
like you're getting up speed to pierce through a membrane.
341
00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,040
And if you don't and you just bounce off of it,
342
00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:33,840
that's what it feels like.
343
00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:36,280
I kind of redeemed myself a little bit in the scene,
344
00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:37,120
but not enough.
345
00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:39,920
And by then you can tell you've lost the room.
346
00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:43,440
I learned a lesson last week.
347
00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:47,640
It was three sides, one song,
348
00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:50,720
one of the sides I'd been given that day.
349
00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:54,640
And it turns out they didn't give me both pages
350
00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:55,480
of that side.
351
00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:56,520
I only got the second page.
352
00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:59,120
So I got to the audition half an hour early
353
00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:00,640
and there were sides waiting for me
354
00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:01,480
because there was a whole-
355
00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:02,440
That were different than-
356
00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:04,680
Whole page of new material, which was fine.
357
00:14:04,680 --> 00:14:05,880
That's unusual.
358
00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:07,240
It was a mistake.
359
00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:08,080
It was fine.
360
00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:12,200
Of course, that was the side that the director wanted
361
00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:13,800
to give me an adjustment on.
362
00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:16,160
And looking back on it,
363
00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:17,920
I questioned whether or not I should have said,
364
00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:21,080
hey, this is the side that I know I'm the least familiar
365
00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:22,840
with, can we work on something else?
366
00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:26,200
Or does that then label me as, I don't know, whatever.
367
00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:27,040
But I-
368
00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:29,680
I don't think we're that subject to labels
369
00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:30,920
in the audition.
370
00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:33,960
I couldn't give the adjustment.
371
00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:37,080
I didn't do what he asked me to do.
372
00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:39,000
What would you have done in rehearsal?
373
00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:43,040
So I questioned whether or not I should make that part
374
00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:44,640
of my audition preparation.
375
00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:49,000
Like, yes, show up on time, know the text, have an idea,
376
00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,360
but then also have the second idea and the third idea
377
00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:53,520
and the fourth idea.
378
00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:55,240
Oh, oh, we've talked about this.
379
00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:57,880
Yeah, and you know what my feeling is, right?
380
00:14:57,880 --> 00:14:58,720
Tell me.
381
00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:00,280
I think that's that way madness lies.
382
00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:02,640
Because then you're trying to predict.
383
00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:03,480
Oh yeah.
384
00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:04,960
And you can't, you cannot predict.
385
00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:07,600
Adjustments aren't hard for me if I'm listening.
386
00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:09,960
I think the hard part is in auditions,
387
00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:12,000
we're really struggling to listen
388
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:13,560
because we're on the spot.
389
00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:14,400
Yeah.
390
00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:17,280
And the best auditioners are ones that really listen.
391
00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:18,120
Yeah.
392
00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:18,960
I think.
393
00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:20,040
They just, they go, uh-huh.
394
00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:21,480
And they take a moment if they need to.
395
00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:22,320
I've done that.
396
00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:24,040
I've been like, okay, hold on a second.
397
00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:26,960
Let me just see if I, let me make sure that that got in.
398
00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:31,200
I was up for the writer in the producers, you know,
399
00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:32,240
the Nazi writer.
400
00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:34,240
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
401
00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:39,160
And it was, it was the full last supper behind the table.
402
00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,200
Mel Brooks was there, Susan Stroman, and she was so.
403
00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:43,200
The full last supper.
404
00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:45,160
Oh, the full last supper behind the table,
405
00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:47,440
like producers, you know, all the rest of it.
406
00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:49,280
You know, and that was the audition when they said,
407
00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:52,040
and Mel Brooks wants you to prepare a joke.
408
00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:53,360
Like, it's part of the audition.
409
00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:55,920
You have to prepare a joke for Mel Brooks.
410
00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:58,800
But Susan Stroman got up, I did the material.
411
00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:00,440
Susan Stroman got up from behind the table
412
00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:02,720
and she came over to me and she came very close to me.
413
00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:04,600
And you know, she was just speaking very quietly.
414
00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:06,480
So it's just the two of us to hear.
415
00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:08,680
And she gave me an adjustment and I'm standing there
416
00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:12,800
thinking Susan Stroman is inches from my face right now.
417
00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,000
I really need to listen to what she's saying to me.
418
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:15,840
And instead you're listening to her back.
419
00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,440
And I'm just going, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh.
420
00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:21,680
And she went back down and she sat down
421
00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:24,120
and I did the material again.
422
00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:26,880
And it wasn't until I was walking out of the room
423
00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:30,200
that I was like, oh, that's what she wanted me to do.
424
00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:31,920
I didn't take it.
425
00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:33,440
Mind you, as I'm walking out the door,
426
00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,600
Mel Brooks is yelling out, I think you're terrific, kid.
427
00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:38,400
Yeah, I'll take that.
428
00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:39,480
Thank you very much.
429
00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:41,520
Yeah, yeah, I have said many times
430
00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:44,920
that the subway platform after an audition
431
00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:47,920
is a country girl without the tree.
432
00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:50,920
Oh, that's what I was trying.
433
00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:52,600
I couldn't get, but, duh.
434
00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:55,000
Because it's just strangled.
435
00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,960
Your creative thing, your third eye or whatever,
436
00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:00,960
it's just like in a stranglehold because of whatever.
437
00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:03,680
In-person auditions have the opportunity
438
00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:06,840
for you to do what you actually do do,
439
00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:10,760
which is send something out into the room
440
00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:12,880
that only you can do.
441
00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,080
And that's what I was trying to do.
442
00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:18,920
Something out into the room that only you can send out.
443
00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:19,920
Yeah, yeah.
444
00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:22,000
I had a wonderful experience like that recently.
445
00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:23,200
I did not book the job.
446
00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:29,520
I had an audition for Tina Landau and for Floyd Collins.
447
00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:31,360
Oh, I thought you meant to play Tina Landau.
448
00:17:31,360 --> 00:17:31,880
No, no, no.
449
00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:33,000
I was like, you'd be great.
450
00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:34,560
She was the writer and the director.
451
00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:40,320
And so Tina's very open-minded as a creator.
452
00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:44,200
And so for the audition, they asked
453
00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:48,520
us to prepare an up-tempo song or vaudeville song
454
00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:51,720
with some sharp movement or choreography.
455
00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:56,280
And it was so liberating because with that kind of instruction
456
00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:58,160
going into the audition, you know
457
00:17:58,160 --> 00:17:59,680
that you can't get it wrong.
458
00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:00,480
Yeah.
459
00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:02,480
That is so wide open to interpretation
460
00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:04,400
that you can't get it wrong.
461
00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:08,200
And so even it informed the performance
462
00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:09,800
of my other material as well.
463
00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:13,600
I was like, oh, I can do something unusual or weird
464
00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,680
or what I would not normally do in an audition.
465
00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:18,280
I can do it at this audition.
466
00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:23,840
And it was electric because I was nervous about it.
467
00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:26,760
And I was nervous about it, but it was also
468
00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:33,160
like a one-time only opportunity.
469
00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:34,480
And I knew that.
470
00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:35,960
And they felt it too.
471
00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:37,240
That's what's exciting about it.
472
00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:39,240
And it was that feeling, that chemistry
473
00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,920
between the table and me, it was so exciting.
474
00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:45,280
That's a good thing to remember actually for auditions
475
00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:48,880
is that it's really great to evoke for yourself
476
00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:52,480
that feeling of like, this is a one-time deal.
477
00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:54,360
The world's only going to see this once.
478
00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:57,240
For the next 10 minutes, I'm it.
479
00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:58,240
I've got the part.
480
00:18:58,240 --> 00:18:59,280
You know what I mean?
481
00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:02,360
It's mine to have and to express.
482
00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:04,800
And also it's funny because your brain got permission
483
00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:08,000
in that way or that's how you interpreted it.
484
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:09,600
You were in exactly the right space
485
00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:12,640
that you'd want to be in an audition to take an adjustment.
486
00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:13,880
Right.
487
00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:16,000
I guess we have to give ourselves our brains.
488
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,360
We have to trick our brains into giving them permission
489
00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:22,240
to let go of the way they prepared something
490
00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:25,400
and be free to experience it anew.
491
00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:27,320
And again, it comes back to listening.
492
00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:29,000
It's like, I'm going to listen to this.
493
00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,320
Now the director might just be giving you anything just
494
00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:32,440
to see if you can take it.
495
00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:33,800
That is also true.
496
00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:34,800
You know?
497
00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:38,680
So I do want to, I do have something else to say.
498
00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:41,680
Then say it, Sister Margretta.
499
00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:43,360
Maria makes me laugh.
500
00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:45,120
Thank you for picking up that cue.
501
00:19:45,120 --> 00:19:46,640
I love you for knowing that.
502
00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:49,560
I think that, how can I not know that?
503
00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:53,200
Then say it, Sister Margretta.
504
00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:56,080
That particular audition that I'm thinking of was so epic
505
00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:59,280
and so beyond the normal amount of material
506
00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:01,280
to learn in a week.
507
00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:03,800
And we both know there are certain casting directors
508
00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:05,680
who are infamous for this.
509
00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:09,720
And I often wonder if it's because either consciously
510
00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:13,240
or unconsciously they're thinning the herd.
511
00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:16,400
So they make it a real, because it will be like,
512
00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:18,360
you've got three days to prepare five scenes
513
00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:20,520
and two songs, you know?
514
00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:22,840
I have a famous story about that.
515
00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:26,120
There was a new production of The Phantom of the Opera
516
00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:27,120
going out on tour.
517
00:20:27,120 --> 00:20:29,920
Completely new production, new concept, new design.
518
00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:30,760
Oh yeah.
519
00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:31,600
Yeah.
520
00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:34,000
And I was being auditioned for one of the managers.
521
00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,120
And for the initial audition for the team from Britain,
522
00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:42,120
the initial audition was the entire manager's scene.
523
00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:47,240
That's a 10 minute, seven part harmony.
524
00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:49,520
And it was 48 pages of music.
525
00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:51,520
That's my memory, 48 pages of music.
526
00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:55,720
And so I was already pretty familiar with the musical.
527
00:20:55,720 --> 00:21:00,280
So I learned it in inverted commas.
528
00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:05,280
And I went into the room and they said,
529
00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:07,560
they said, oh, lovely to meet you.
530
00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:09,480
Let's start with something from your book.
531
00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:10,320
Oh.
532
00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:14,960
Which I was not prepared for,
533
00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:17,040
having prepared 48 pages of music.
534
00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:19,120
And so I sang something from my book and they said,
535
00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:20,360
thank you, lovely to meet you.
536
00:21:20,360 --> 00:21:21,440
Thank you so much.
537
00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:22,800
Oh my God.
538
00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:26,240
And I picked up my material and I walked out the door
539
00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:28,560
and I sat down on the bench and Mary Sugarman
540
00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:30,640
from Tara Rubin casting came out of the door.
541
00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:32,240
And before she even closed the door,
542
00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:34,080
she was mouthing the words, I'm sorry.
543
00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:35,720
I'm so sorry to meet you.
544
00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:36,560
She knew.
545
00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:37,400
I love her.
546
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:41,200
And I just looked at her and I said, 48 pages of music.
547
00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:44,440
She's like, I know, I know, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry.
548
00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:46,160
So I gathered my stuff and I left.
549
00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:50,200
And later that day got an email.
550
00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:51,840
She had emailed my agent saying,
551
00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:53,840
we're so sorry about Benjamin's experience.
552
00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:55,880
And we tried to get him to come back in the room,
553
00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:57,360
but he'd already left.
554
00:21:57,360 --> 00:22:00,360
I'm looking at myself, you've already said no, thank you.
555
00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:02,920
I'm not gonna walk back in the room just because.
556
00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:04,400
We tried to get you to come back in the room.
557
00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:06,360
I don't know if that's true, but that's what she said.
558
00:22:06,360 --> 00:22:08,120
Maybe that's how they thought of it, but wow.
559
00:22:08,120 --> 00:22:12,720
Anyway, I will tell you, I think I behaved well.
560
00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:14,520
I don't think I behaved improperly
561
00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:15,960
at any point during that session,
562
00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:18,600
but that was the second last audition
563
00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:20,320
that I had for Tara Rubin's office.
564
00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:22,720
The last time they auditioned me,
565
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:25,240
it was for the same production.
566
00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:28,280
And it was learned these three pages of music.
567
00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:31,080
It was a cut, which is what it should have been
568
00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:31,920
in the first place.
569
00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:36,920
But I'm wondering if I need to go back into a pay for play,
570
00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:39,760
meet a casting director thing with that office
571
00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:42,320
because they just don't call me in.
572
00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:44,240
Oh, that's a whole different conversation.
573
00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:45,080
It is a whole different conversation.
574
00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,040
I have a whole ethical thing about that.
575
00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:49,440
But this has been a good one about in-person audition.
576
00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:51,080
This has been a good audition.
577
00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:53,800
I think I learned a lot.
578
00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:57,000
If you have enjoyed this episode of The Working Actor NYC,
579
00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:58,200
like and subscribe.
580
00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:00,240
Oh yeah, like and subscribe.
581
00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,520
That means click the thing and push the thing, right?
582
00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:05,720
Yeah, see, that's what I would say.
583
00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:31,880
And hit the two thumbs up.
