When I saw the posting on Theatre in Chicago's audition website for A Streetcar Named Desire I nearly fell over with excitement. It was only the second listing I'd ever seen for an open call of a Williams play in my 10 year career as a professional actress (the first posting was for The Glass Menagerie at Red Twist theatre which I submitted for but never got an audition).
As life goes in the Chicago theatre scene, submitting your headshot and resume does not always mean you'll get called in to audition so I tried to keep my excitement at bay and immediately submitted my material with my fingers crossed.
About a week after submitting I received an email that I had an audition slot for July 17th at 7:30pm!! Never mind that it was on my 9th wedding anniversary...it was a chance to audition for one of my favorite plays of all time! The email requested that we prepare 2 contrasting monologues from mid-century modern plays. I already had a monologue worked up from Arthur Miller's A View From a Bridge I just needed to find a second monologue so I decided to look for an obscure Williams' play preferably something comedic. I landed upon a book of shorts by Williams and found a perfect pieced together monologue in The Lady of Larkspur Lotion. I diligently re-read "Streetcar" and memorized this piece while driving back to Chicago from Virginia with my parents, son and two nephews in tow...it was not an easy task. By the time I had my 2nd piece memorized, I had no time to show it to anyone before the actual audition (an audition faux-pas, I failed to heed the advice I give to my acting students..."never try out a new monologue in the audition room, show it to someone, anyone first") but when the only human you see before your 7:30 audition is your two year old son...what choice did I have? It was solid, I was sure of that...I was going to be okay.
And then there was the problem of what to wear. I knew I wanted to give a glimpse of the time period, a nod to what I'd look like if they were to cast me in this play. I tried on 5 dresses...all seemed too short, or too modern, nothing seemed to be quite right...until my fingers landed on the beautiful green and white vintage dress I bought in Budapest...the perfect length...a great color, I zipped myself up and saw the southern belle in me I'd been looking for....it was PERFECT!!! And then I took a breath...and the zipper gave in from the middle...NOooo!!! But I was not going to let a broken zipper keep me from wearing this perfect dress so I grabbed a needle and thread and spent 45 minutes cricking my neck sideways, sewing myself into this dress!
I gave myself an hour and a half to get to the audition (it was all the way across town and I was leaving during the end of rush hour)...it was just enough time. I had enough time to sit in my car and run through my monologues a few times before heading in. When I signed in I was surprised to learn that I was next to audition (even though my slot wasn't for another 15 minutes) I asked if I could have a few minutes to use the restroom first which they graciously allowed me. My heart was racing, I splashed my face with water and used some breathing techniques to calm myself down...I was going to be fine. I walked in the room and introduced myself to Melanie and Chris and began with my Miller piece first...it went okay...I sat down and began my Williams piece perfectly with my Deep South dialect when I noticed Melanie give a glance to Chris...in that split second all of the words left my brain...I froze and tried not to panic but I could not find a single word to save myself. "I'm so sorry...just give me a second." and I tried to start over but could get no farther...I was stuck...an actor's nightmare..."I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry it's a new monologue and I haven't had a chance to do it for anyone...I think I'm just so nervous because it's Streetcar and I've never had the chance to audition for Streetcar before...I'm so sorry."
"That's okay, that's okay...you know what? From your first piece I already knew that I wanted to give you the sides for Blanche so don't even worry about it...we'll be starting the callback at 9."
He handed me the sides and I left the room in shock.
Blanche? He wants me to read for Blanche? HFS!
Oh. My. God....okay Kirstin...he's giving you a second chance...don't mess this up.
For the next hour and a half I studied those sides like it was my last and most important job on earth. And it paid off...no broken zipper, or botched audition could stand in my way from landing the role I never thought I'd have...by 2pm the next day she was mine.
Lessons learned:
1) Dressing the part for an audition is a good idea...even if it means you have to sew yourself in!
2) ALWAYS try a new monologue for someone else before you audition...even if he's only 2 yrs old
3) Make the most of a 2nd chance audition or callback.
As life goes in the Chicago theatre scene, submitting your headshot and resume does not always mean you'll get called in to audition so I tried to keep my excitement at bay and immediately submitted my material with my fingers crossed.
About a week after submitting I received an email that I had an audition slot for July 17th at 7:30pm!! Never mind that it was on my 9th wedding anniversary...it was a chance to audition for one of my favorite plays of all time! The email requested that we prepare 2 contrasting monologues from mid-century modern plays. I already had a monologue worked up from Arthur Miller's A View From a Bridge I just needed to find a second monologue so I decided to look for an obscure Williams' play preferably something comedic. I landed upon a book of shorts by Williams and found a perfect pieced together monologue in The Lady of Larkspur Lotion. I diligently re-read "Streetcar" and memorized this piece while driving back to Chicago from Virginia with my parents, son and two nephews in tow...it was not an easy task. By the time I had my 2nd piece memorized, I had no time to show it to anyone before the actual audition (an audition faux-pas, I failed to heed the advice I give to my acting students..."never try out a new monologue in the audition room, show it to someone, anyone first") but when the only human you see before your 7:30 audition is your two year old son...what choice did I have? It was solid, I was sure of that...I was going to be okay.
And then there was the problem of what to wear. I knew I wanted to give a glimpse of the time period, a nod to what I'd look like if they were to cast me in this play. I tried on 5 dresses...all seemed too short, or too modern, nothing seemed to be quite right...until my fingers landed on the beautiful green and white vintage dress I bought in Budapest...the perfect length...a great color, I zipped myself up and saw the southern belle in me I'd been looking for....it was PERFECT!!! And then I took a breath...and the zipper gave in from the middle...NOooo!!! But I was not going to let a broken zipper keep me from wearing this perfect dress so I grabbed a needle and thread and spent 45 minutes cricking my neck sideways, sewing myself into this dress!
I gave myself an hour and a half to get to the audition (it was all the way across town and I was leaving during the end of rush hour)...it was just enough time. I had enough time to sit in my car and run through my monologues a few times before heading in. When I signed in I was surprised to learn that I was next to audition (even though my slot wasn't for another 15 minutes) I asked if I could have a few minutes to use the restroom first which they graciously allowed me. My heart was racing, I splashed my face with water and used some breathing techniques to calm myself down...I was going to be fine. I walked in the room and introduced myself to Melanie and Chris and began with my Miller piece first...it went okay...I sat down and began my Williams piece perfectly with my Deep South dialect when I noticed Melanie give a glance to Chris...in that split second all of the words left my brain...I froze and tried not to panic but I could not find a single word to save myself. "I'm so sorry...just give me a second." and I tried to start over but could get no farther...I was stuck...an actor's nightmare..."I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry it's a new monologue and I haven't had a chance to do it for anyone...I think I'm just so nervous because it's Streetcar and I've never had the chance to audition for Streetcar before...I'm so sorry."
"That's okay, that's okay...you know what? From your first piece I already knew that I wanted to give you the sides for Blanche so don't even worry about it...we'll be starting the callback at 9."
He handed me the sides and I left the room in shock.
Blanche? He wants me to read for Blanche? HFS!
Oh. My. God....okay Kirstin...he's giving you a second chance...don't mess this up.
For the next hour and a half I studied those sides like it was my last and most important job on earth. And it paid off...no broken zipper, or botched audition could stand in my way from landing the role I never thought I'd have...by 2pm the next day she was mine.
 |
| The dress...only worn once at a friends wedding in Alaska. |
Lessons learned:
1) Dressing the part for an audition is a good idea...even if it means you have to sew yourself in!
2) ALWAYS try a new monologue for someone else before you audition...even if he's only 2 yrs old
3) Make the most of a 2nd chance audition or callback.
No comments:
Post a Comment