Choosing a Song for Auditions

I used to go through a lot picking a song. Seriously. I would listen to the soundtrack of the show, and then go through my sheet music (I have a lot of it), looking for That Perfect Song. The one that captured the spirit of the show I was auditioning for, that was practically in the show it was so amazing. In fact, it usually took me so long to pick a song that I didn't have a final choice until the day before the audition.

Which is fine. If you have fifty songs that you're good at singing and you know, it's fine to operate that way.

But throughout that whole process, my husband Hotty would look at me and say, why don't you just pick three or four songs to get really really good at, and use those whenever you audition? Instead of choosing from fifty songs, choose one that just kind of fits the general feel of the show, from four.

But I was never really into that.

So then I tried out for the Scarlet Pimpernel a couple months ago. And I sang a song from Fiddler on the Roof, called Far From the Home I Love. And despite the fact that I started in the wrong key and forgot a line of the lyrics, I realized something: I totally rocked that song up. Like, a lot.

So for my audition on Saturday, I figured, Hey. Maybe it's a trifle melancholy for Into The Woods (except for, you know, the melancholy parts. Children Will Listen, anyone??). But it's SO perfect for me. I sound friggin' gorgeous when I sing it. And that confidence adds a lot to your audition.

Maybe from here on out I'll start looking for excuses to sing that one. Because I like it so much. Because even though it doesn't go impressively high or low, it's right in the middle of my range where I feel unstoppable and can completely fill a room with my voice. Because it's what makes me feel like a rock star. And sometimes, feeling like a rock star is what gets them to ask you back.

Auditions are fun!

So today's been a pretty lackluster day for me. I'm just kind of sitting around at my job, working and not being too excited.

Except for every once in a while. Because every so often, I remember what's happening tomorrow.

Tomorrow I have a callback for Into The Woods. Some of you may know that I was in that show my senior year of High School.

Yeah... I was a theatre nerd in High School.

I completely LOVE it, and I've been hoping a theatre around here would put it on for about the last year and a half.

And now one is.

And one of my good theater friends is the Assistant Director.

Are we excited? Pretty sure we are.

Can I tell you about my audition, though? Because I'm not sure what to make of it.

So I was number four. Number two walks in, this cute girl, and I watched her audition through the window. She sings a song from She Loves Me, called Vanilla Ice Cream. She sings this lovely high part at the end, loudly, and I think, Maybe I should have picked a song with a loud high part at the end. And after she's done, my friend, the AD of the show, runs up to her and gives her a huge hug. And I smile, because, aww. They're friends.

So I wait my turn, and I go in the audition room. And my friend doesn't wave. He doesn't smile. He barely even looks at me. And after my audition, no hugs for me.

What gives?

I have some theories on this one:
 - Maybe the director told him not to be so nice to people anymore, after he was so excited to see Vanilla Ice Cream girl.
 - Maybe he didn't want everyone to realize how much he likes me, so when they're casting the show he has a better chance of getting me a good part.
 - Maybe he hadn't seen Vanilla Ice Cream girl in a long time (which only explains how he treated her, not me).
 - Maybe she did way better than me.

Thoughts, friends? Also: validations, please.

Thoughts about Suckerpunch

- The premise of this movie is awesome. WHY isn't the movie itself awesome? I think Hotty spotted it... not enough of the "real life" storyline. They needed more than just the beginning and the end. I understand what they were trying to do with the whole lobotomy thing, but ... that wasn't the right choice to make.
- Costumes were awesome. It would be a good film to analyze for costume study.

- Lots of symbolism. It would be a good film to study for that, not because the symbols are well done or meaningful, but because a) there are a lot of them and b) there are NO wrong answers.
- I'm glad I saw it with people who wanted to see it, and not anyone I had to convince to go. Because of this, no one judged anyone for wanting to be there.
- I like that Jenna Malone and Abbie Cornish actually look similar enough to be sisters.

- Did they include the fact that Babydoll is 20 so that she's not a minor, thus avoiding an R rating?
- I just... this film has all the ingredients of an awesome experience! (Except a great script, I guess.) WHY was it so crappy?? And not just crappy, people. It was the worst thing a film could ever BE. It was BORING.

- But at least it was pretty.

Thoughts about Jane Eyre

• My opinion of this movie is biased by the fact that I’m completely in love with the book, and have seen every movie version I can find. Just so you know.
• This is a pretty movie. It’s not a scary movie (although it tries to be, at times), and it’s not a funny movie. It’s pretty.
• It’s also a dark movie. The goal here seemed to be atmosphere and feeling, and the first was done well, while I had issues with the second.

• Jane was not upset enough about Mr. Rochester. In the beginning of their relationship. The whole ‘falling in love’ bit was portrayed more by Mr. Rochester himself, interestingly enough. So that you could tell he was falling for her, but her… not so much. Also, she didn’t hate Blanch enough at all.

• She WAS very upset later, at the wedding/aftermath. That was beautifully done.
• WHY OH WHY do they insist on having every. Single. Person. Talk about how handsome Rochester ISN’T, and then cast him as a very handsome person?? Just ONCE, I’d like to see him played by a genuinely ugly man.

• I mean, they have no problem at all with making Jane look plain.

• I wish they hadn’t taken out all the funny stuff. Seriously… it’s all gone.
• I’m gonna buy this movie.

Show Report: Alice in Wonderland, The Rock Musical

Just now, did you have the same thought I once did? That thought being, A Rock musical? Seriously? But you know what, it actually turned out ok.

I'm not gonna lie... I was kinda scared there. Until opening night, we had not had a full runthrough with all cast members present. Ever. We had not done a runthrough with all props or sets... in fact, we'd never even done a runthrough on the stage. THAT'S how unprepared we were.

It all came together, though. Opening night, nerves saw us through all the awkwardness of learning how to handle the props/sets/everything, and after that it was smoother just because we'd done it once. Closing night was fantastic... one of my best theater experiences ever. The show was amazing, my performance felt great, and I  liked everyone in the cast. Except one person, but even that night I was kind of ok towards her. So basically, if every night had been like that one, I could have done it for a month straight.

Two things. I want to mention the girl I hated, not to trash talk her personally, but mostly to complain about unprofessional behavior. Y'all. If you are ever in a play, COME TO REHEARSAL. Even if you're only in like three scenes and only sing one song, come. Do NOT skip just because, do NOT come at 6:30 on opening night (I don't care if you're in another show and are running late because of rehearsals for it. Opening night is more important). Do NOT tell everyone in the cast to calm down at the end of a long hellish rehearsal that you only came to the last five minutes of. (At that point, I said something cutting to her, and four people thanked me afterwards.) Do NOT blab in the dressing room about how little you care that you showed up late for the performance. And do NOT rely on your friendship with the director to get away with all of this. Because even if you're super talented, it a)drags down the morale of the rest of the cast and b)reduces your chances of getting cast in another show. And that's all I have to say about that.

The other thing I wanted to mention is my favorite line flub of the show. At the last minute, the director added a line for Tweedle Dee, when several characters are sitting around talking about how they don't want to go to the Queen of Hearts' croquet match. He says, "Do you know how long it's been since I've been on a date with a woman? Held her hand, nibbled on her ear, and heard her sweet voice whisper the words, 'Call me again and I'll call the police!'?" Turns to the audience. "You know it's happened to you!" Pretty awesome in its own right, ok. But on closing night, he said, "... heard her whisper, 'Call the police... (3 second pause while he panics)... and I'll ... call you.' " Y'all, this kid is 12. It was priceless. When the director, who happens to be his older brother, heard, he totally cracked up. As did we all. :)

By the way, I was the Cheshire Cat. That's right; J.A. finally gave me that big part he promised me! And you know what? I was awesome. :)

Likeable Villains, Part 1

So you guys. One of the side effects of not having a husband for the summer is a vast amount of TV-watching. Largely consisting (now that I'm all done being obsessed with Roswell) of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I just finished Season 4, and one thing that's really struck me so far with the series is how much I liked the Mayor from Season 3.

The first few times I saw him in the series, I didn't actually notice him. He was just some higher-up who talked to Principal Snyder sometimes. But as he got more screentime, and as his character and evil plot were developed more, I started to like him a lot.

If you haven't seen Buffy, well, you might want to look into it some time. Buffy is a Vampire Slayer, the Chosen One. She hunts and kills vampires and demons, keeping the world safe for democracy and not being killed on the street corner. She lives in the town of Sunnydale, California, which is located on top of a Hellmouth, pretty much a huge hotbed of demonic activity.

It's revealed in Season 3 that the mayor, Mayor Wilkins, is actually over 100 years old, and has been the mayor before, posing as his own ancestors. He built Sunnydale on top of the Hellmouth on purpose, because of some dark ritual he's going to enact, at which he's going to Ascend. (It's revealed that this Ascension is going to transform him into an uber-demon that's going to kill them all, thus enforcing the "authority figures as demonic evil forces" symbolism that the entire show, being based on a "high school as Hell" metaphor, revels in.)

So far, he's not sounding too awesome. I mean, ok. Dark ritual, kill everyone, become a demon. The fun thing with this character is that instead of being all byronic and brooding, he's a total goofball. He befriends a rogue slayer named Faith, and often treats her like a lovable niece, offering her minigolf and ice cream, and dressing her up in pretty sundresses. You know, in between giving her presents like very sharp knives and asking her to kill people for him.

Nontraditional Performance

Have you seen this??

A girl took all these pictures of herself with a whiteboard, quitting her job, then emailed it out to the whole office, because apparently her boss was a total d.b. Then today, this came out... apparently the whole thing was a hoax.

Here's what makes this fun for me: She's an actress. They held a casting call and everything, to cast this girl as Jenny.

SO. What makes this an acting job? She didn't have any lines. She was never actually filmed. As far as performance goes, there was very little, beyond still facial expressions and poses. Is this different than a modeling job?

Is this a performative experience for us, the "audience," as it were? Performance, to me, is generally defined as a person doing or saying something with the knowledge that he/she is being watched/observed. That makes this a performance... in that the blog post was done with the intention of fooling us, with being seen, and with being believed.

Random question: (If this were a class we'd discuss it, but it's not, so just think about it, ok?)

How are these pictures of "Jenny" different than these pictures?

Could we call these pictures a form of performance as well? (Just throwing this out there: I could probably call just about anything a performance-- and come up with a way to justify calling it that. lol)

(The Disney pictures, by the way, are part of the Disney Dream Portrait Series, as photographed by Annie Leibovitz.)