I stand corrected

Yes, I can be wrong about things. I don't like it as much as being right, of course, but as I like to know things (correct and right things) I am willing to stand corrected.

My last entry here (from far too long ago, I know) stated that I never get the part I wanted, when I knew what I wanted, from the show I wanted, and blah blah.

That statement has been eclipsed. I was cast as Porthos in The Three Musketeers at the Hale Centre Theatre in West Valley. Semi-pro theater, never done a show there before, got the part I wanted. Of course, now I'm trying to super analyze what I did so I can repeat it for all subsequent shows I audition for. Heh. Here are a couple of theories I have/things that seemed to work for me (which may be totally erroneous, but this is how I'm currently seeing things):

1. Don't care what part you get.
• Really. Try not to care at all which part you get, and not just seem like you don't care. This will lessen the nervousness that makes you seem not as good as you are.
2. Minimal preparation.
• Counter-intuitive, I know, but this seems to work for me; don't read the play before hand, don't really learn anything about it at all until you get there, DO memorize monologues and or cold reads whenever possible, but mostly just improvise on the spot.
• EXCEPTION: When you find yourself trying to go to sleep the night before your audition, and you get a silly, odd, or otherwise unexpected piece of inspiration that will make your monologue different and memorable, DO IT! It's prolly genius.
3. Do whatever you feel like in your audition; be you.
• I'm not talking about throwing away morals, professionalism, or otherwise behaving improperly, I'm talking about being you. See, people put up fronts; masks; aspects of themselves that seem to be better fitting than they really are to a given crowd or situation. But the real key is in being who you are and being comfortable with that. It really goes back to a key element of acting that a brilliant teacher once told me in class:

  "Everything you do is right."

  It was said in reference to acting, of course. That's the genius of it; it's about your interpretation of the piece, or monologue, or character, or whatever. It's up to the director to decide if they want to work with your interpretation and everything, but they want you to do the acting. Trust your instincts. Follow your impulses (if not the first, then one of the one's after that).
4. Finally, you have to be totally willing to fall flat on your face.
• This goes back to the not caring. I've often gotten the part I specifically didn't want because I didn't care what I did when I read it, so I just did whatever popped into my mind, and it ended up being brilliant to them, so I got the part. Heh. Go figure. So the thing to do, then, is to take chances, do your stuff, make mistakes, not care, and just be brilliant. Don't try to be funny, or try to be brilliant; just let it happen.

I tried to apply all those ideas to this last audition. I had only once auditioned for the Hale in West Valley before this instance, but I wasn't even able to come to auditions because of another show I was in (Frankenstein. Awesomeness. Really). I wasn't too happy with it anyway, since I got called back for bit parts and an old man. Again. Anyway, I asked advice of friends as to who I should audition for, which ended up being Porthos (won by 1 vote, but only 3 people actually voted...), and the night before I got the inspiration to use a puppet demonstration in the monologue. Genius. And I didn't care. At least, I worked really hard to not care; I looked at how much fun it would be to play any of those parts. And it's true; I'd love a chance to play just about any one of the parts in the show (major parts anyway...)

In callbacks I read for Porthos, but also D'Artagnon's Father, and Treville (who are both old men...). But I tried to do well. And not care. I did get a lucky break in that, while reading a bunch of guards for a part, I got to read Porthos against them all. So I did it different every time. Good times, and they got to see some variety to my acting.

When I got called, I knew (of course) that I'd been cast, but there was a pause before the Stage Manager said what part I'd gotten (she later said she'd probably lost her place on the paper, but it still stalled my heart for a second), and I got the part. First time ever (unless you count a 30 minute student production, which I don't).

And now, Three Musketeers opens tonight. I get to leave for it in about half an hour, actually (bus trips... yay...). But I'm excited to get to open a show playing the part I really wanted to get in a classic, iconic show that I've always wanted to do, getting to sword fight on stage (first time in a long time, oddly enough), and being the comic relief in the show. Good times all around.

So, I thought I'd better update this blog (and hopefully do so more regularly in the future) since I can't really whine anymore. I mean, look at my costume for the ballroom scene (masquerade):

Awesomeness! :D

Done.
LB