I loved learning this routine. It challenged me and forced me to think ahead. The genre was perfect too! It was definitely a show piece. It spoke to my jazz training quite well. I’ll be honest. Jazz was never my forte’ but I knew I had a strong background in performing and was confident that if I kept practicing, all would be well.
The day of the auditions arrived! I was SO excited. Like, so excited that my driving skill were slightly impaired. Sorry local friends. On the drive, I wanted to PUMP myself up. You can tell when someone has high energy or when someones energy is more melancholy. This show did NOT call for melancholy so I needed high energy. The song that I listened to that really gave me some good energy was by Fall Out Boy - Light ‘Em Up. Oh you better believe it. I was feeling PUMPED. That and the song by Pharrell Williams - Happy. I tell ya! Happy does it for my every time. Great song.
I arrived slightly early - totally didn’t want to be late - phew! Temperatures were took (still during covid time), 98.8 (oh good! I’m not sweating my nervous brains out.) I stood in line to check in and get my number. After which we went strait in to the audition room. It looked more like a massive warehouse which was very cool. Oh! Mirrors! Oh! An actual dance floor. Cool. Then it began. We learned the first part of the combination, then the second, then the third, then the fourth, then the fifth…and on it went. I don’t really remember HOW many sections of this routine we learned but it seemed to just keep going. Not gonna lie. This type of routine was what I feared. The length. Keeping the sections in the correct order. That’s really where I felt I was falling short and that’s where taking dance classes comes in handy. Too late for that now, I just had to press on!
You know what got me through this audition? Making believe that this wasn’t a call back, but a dance class. I was there to take a class and learn some new things and have fun! That really helped me. It helped me to keep perspective on my mistakes and it helped me to keep perspective on learning. This particular class did have a “class presentation” at the end aka - perform the combo you just learned. That was fun but boy! I did make some mistakes. I got in my head too much. I got in my head when the combo was being learned. BUT I did have a blast performing the combo. When everyone had performed the routine the producer talked to us. She gave us some wonderful advise and encouraged us to keep auditioning as this show was only going to cast 8 people out of the 90 that did call backs. I’m no math whiz but that’s what? 10%? I think so.
Call back over! Thank goodness. I left with a really positive sense of the experience and gratitude that I was able to audition at Hale Centre Theatre. It really had been so much fun. The next fun part? Waiting. I’m curious how long it actually took them to cast everyone but the final cast list was posted 18 days after the call backs. It felt like an eternity. Every time my phone went off with an email notification I would - as calmly as I possibly could - check my phone. The emails I did receive ranged from Old Navy trying to get me to buy all the clothes (could have used that as a good buffer but didn’t,) to emails from my voice teacher, the local church and the library. I heard nada from Casting Manager, which is where any important email would come from. I imagined what it would be like to receive that email. “Congratulations! You’ve been cast in our production of Guys and Dolls! Do you accept this role?” This is where the hard part is. You have to click on the YES button. I imagined the thrill of excitement as you realize that your life will infinitely change for the next 6 months. These are the thoughts that made my stomach turn in anticipation. I really just needed a firm answer. I was willing to take the answer, whatever it may be, but I NEEDED an answer. Till one day…..
I received an email from the administrative assistant. It was titled Guys & Dolls update. Nervously, I read that casting would be announced the following week and gave the instructions that if you are cast, you’ll receive an email from Casting Manager that you MUST respond to. I wondered if people had forgotten this crucial step. Hit YES. Ya know you want to! Press that YES button and move ahead! PLEASE! For all our sakes. Some of us are dying here. My favorite part of the email was the closing statement in all caps, “HANG IN THERE!” Oh! This gave my heart hope. Deep down I felt like I would not be cast this time but that statement gave me HOPE. Hope I needed. There IS a possibility that I could be cast but even if I wasn’t, I knew I could accept the decision with grace. There was SO many talented people who auditioned and I knew that they would be able to get a fantastic cast from all the auditioners.
In the end when the final cast list was posted, no I was not cast. Was that OK? Yes. I felt so grateful to have the decision made. Waiting had been brutal BUT it was worth it. It was worse then waiting for Christmas but I would do it all over again. It was definitely a roller coaster of emotions and thoughts but it was good practice to keep my mind and faith in check.
Will I audition again at Hale Centre Theatre? You bet your bottom dollar I will! Such a generous company to audition for. They put out some incredible musicals and plays to be sure but also the experience of auditioning for them was SO POSITIVE. They were so kind.
Stay tuned for future auditioning stories….
Your truly,
