I Feel it in My Fingers...

Passed Bill Nighy in the street today. I love living in London!

And the Results Are In

Well after much anticipation the cast list was finally posted this morning. And as expected there was quite the uproar. Where to start. Hmmmm. Several students, including myself, had expressed the hope that we would be sent the cast list in the evening. Mostly so that we could take the time to read the list ourselves and assimilate the information before talking to our classmates. This would give us the opportunity to either celebrate or be disappointed on our own time. However, this is not the way things happened. We were sent an e-mail at some point in the morning, during our dance class. And since no one in this technological age can seem to put their phone down (even in a DANCE class) someone saw the news and immediately spread the word. This meant that half of the class rushed to their own phones, and then started talking about it. Consequently, I didn't even get to read the cast list for myself before someone informed me that I hadn't gotten the part I had hoped for. To be fair, that was an unintentional side effect of her excitement for the person standing right next to me. But it was still a bit disappointing. However I am still quite pleased with the outcome of the auditions. I did not get the role of Dot, but I was cast as Yvonne. One of the largest female roles in the show, aside from Dot. And, unlike Dot, my role was not double cast, so I get to do all of the shows. I think it will be quite fun. She has some great bits, and a really lovely scene towards the end of Act I. Also I get to play opposite my friend John, which will be a lot of fun! So all in all, not a bad day! However we now get to the plot twist. And, while this does not affect me directly it is not a happy one. About two hours later (we were still in this dance class) we were sent a second e-mail, with a second cast list. There weren't a huge number of differences, however the changes that had been made were noticeable. This is perhaps the worst mistake our instructors have made yet. Its one thing to accidentally send out your blunt notes, its another thing entirely to cast someone and then give the role to someone else. It was not good. And of course on top of that we had all of the usual disappointments and frustrations the come when not everyone can be cast in the roles that they would prefer. We are still hearing all of the comments about how another show should have been chosen, how the people casting the show have their own biases etc etc etc. People have been gearing for this announcement for the last three months, so it is no wonder that emotions were running high today. Right. So that is that. We start straight in on music rehearsals over the next week or so. In the meanwhile we still have to prepare for our audition exam next week. On top of that my friend Jill let me know that Royal Caribbean is holding auditions for Hairspray next week, and I believe she and I are going to go. This will be my first professional audition in a year, which is exciting. And the show is a lot of fun. I have thought about auditioning for cruise ships at several points over the last few years. If nothing else it would be a good way to start chipping away at my student loans! I would prefer to find a way to stay in London, but a job is a job (and what with the new visa laws that may prove incredibly difficult). Lets just see what happens at the audition.

No News is No News

Auditions are done, and now the waiting game is in full swing. I made it through the weekend unscathed. Not only did I manage to not drive myself crazy thinking about the auditions I was quite productive and had a really nice weekend. I awoke yesterday morning refreshed, relaxed and raring to go! My long audition day started right off the bat at 11 with my biggest role of the day. I then had audition slots throughout the rest of the day. As the day the roles got progressively smaller, as did the time slots and the breaks in between. At the beginning I had a 10 minute slot and then a two hour break. By the end of the day I had 2 minute slots with 15 minutes in between. To be honest, it was rather gruelling. All in all I felt pleased with my work. I walked into the room completely prepared. I knew the music inside and out (no easy feat with Sondheim) and had memorized my sides. I had done my research and made my character choices. I didn’t make any major mistakes in the room, and I think I came across well. Everyone was in high spirits throughout the day, which really helped. No one got catty at the last moment. Everyone encouraged everyone else. And by the end of the day, as people became tired and punchy, it had basically turned into a big party. They only called in a handful of people for recalls, although they assured us that this was by no means a short list for any of the roles. I did not get a recall. I am a bit bummed about that. Especially as they started reading Georges and Dots together. So while they say that things are still open to change I am guessing that I am no longer in consideration for that role. We are still waiting for the cast list however. Originally we were told it would go out later that night (which I thought was ambitious of them), then that it would take a day or two. We all figured that we would get the cast list today, as music rehearsals start tomorrow. However we have just received word that we will not get the list until tomorrow at lunch. I was really hoping that they would let us know in the evening. So that we were not all gathered together to receive the news. I would like to have a few minutes to digest the information, to either celebrate or be disappointed, before I have to talk to everyone else about it. Well we will just have to wait and see what happens.

Updated clip

I was informed that the youtube clip I posted only had about half of my song. So here is the updated link. This one has both the scene and song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-uzGnQbg6U

Weekend Woes

Well here we go. Into what may possibly be one of the most painful weekends to date this year. The George auditions are on Monday, and I have to get through the next few days without driving myself insane. So far things are going well. Here is the breakdown. I am auditioning for 6 roles (5 in the first act, 1 in the second), which means that I need to have prepped for auditions on Monday 4 songs and 8 scenes. I have to learn both parts for a couple of the scenes. For example for Dot I need to know pages 48-55, however I need to learn pages 50-52 as Yvonne as well. At the moment I am feeling prepared on all of the songs and 2 of the scenes. This weekend will be dedicated to learning the rest of the scenes. We have been given the schedule for Monday, the breakdown of times for each part. And frankly I am a little perplexed by their method here. Everyone is called for multiple roles. Originally we were led to believe that we would each get a time slot and they would see as much as they could, starting with our biggest role, in that time. Then if they needed to see more or different material (for example the characters we didn’t have time for the first go round) there would be callbacks, or recalls as they are here, in the afternoon. They have made things much more complicated for themselves. They are going role by role, calling one person in at a time, through every single part. The beginning of the day starts with 10 minutes each for the leads, and ends with 2 minute slots for the smaller parts. They are going to lose so much time with people going in and out that I think we are going to have to give up on the schedule half way through the day. It also means that all of my auditions are at least an hour apart throughout the day. It is going to be a loooooooong day. At 4:30 they are going to announce recalls, and then they only have an hour of those. Then music rehearsals start two days later. They have also hinted that we will find out casting that evening. I will be incredibly impressed if things actually work out that way. I thought we had some tight turn-arounds at ACT! (I am particularly missing being on that side of the table right about now) I plan on taking a dance class immediately after auditions end, to prevent myself from checking my e-mail every 5 minutes for the rest of the evening. On the other hand, they have been building up this process for the last three months, so I am really ready to be done with it. They announced the show in December, and told us to familiarize ourselves with it. So like the dedicated student I am, I started working on the music then. That’s a long time to be working on one audition. I just have to remember how prepared I am, and not try and figure out what the people on the other side of the table are thinking. I won’t be able to guess the casting ahead of time, so I need to stop trying. Right so aside from the time I have allocated to work on scenes, I need to figure out what to do with myself this weekend. Are there any good movies out? Unfortunately the Hunger Games doesn’t come out until the end of the month. I am currently reading the books to prepare. I need to think of places that I have not explored yet. A few of my friends have decided to go out of town this weekend, which I am beginning to think might have been a good idea for myself. Ah well it might be too late for that. I'll find something. In other news, I did not get picked to compete in the Sondheim prize. I am pretty disappointed about that. In the end they chose two guys, instead of a guy and a girl, which is an interesting choice. I did ask for some feedback, and didn’t hear anything new. So I just have to keep working. On a brighter note, we keep getting nice weather here. So hopefully some of this weekend will be spent outside!

I'm Ready for My Close Up

Hi all, for anyone who was interested in seeing my showcase performance you can find the video here. The video clip contains my scene from Arthur Millers A View From the Bridge, and my song On the Steps of the Palace from Into the Woods. Things are very slowly creeping back to equilibrium after showcase and our research projects. Very slowly. I dont think we will reach stasis until after the auditions for Sunday in the Park with George next Monday. Right now we are in the middle of many auditions. Starting yesterday we have a big audition every week for the next three weeks. Yesterday was the audition for the Sondehim Prize, next monday is George, and the following week is the auditioning exam. Everyone is sort of freaking out about any and all of these. I'm off to the practice rooms right now to prep for all of these auditions. I just have to make it through the next few weeks....