Big Apple Summer || The Audition

So here is the post to begin what this blog is REALLY about - an amateur jumping into the crazy auditioning world and true tales of what that's actually like - not just what I might want y'all to think it's like. ;)

The picture shown above is a snap of the non-equity line outside of Telsey Studios at my first Newsies audition (snapping a photo - rookie move, i know. But I was excited!! :) Here we go...

Day One - Woke up at the crack of dawn (err... 5am), hummed silently in our hotel bathroom, and headed with mom on a 6 block walk from our hotel to the Starbucks across the street from the audition - to my pleasant surprise, the audition was being held at the same building as the Manhattan Theatre Club where we had Springboard classes only a few weeks prior - so I led my mom to Starbucks with great confidence & pride;)

After a quick oatmeal & hot tea (...& photo opp for mom) I walked over to Telsey around 6:45am and jumped in line - only about 20 people strong at that point! Another pleasant surprise. Made some nice audition friends (many of which were barely out of high school - what? whatever;) So around 8am they let us into the building up to the Telsey & Co. floor. And there I sat for the next 2 hours. My little, unexperienced self showed up ready to go at 6:45am - hair done, make up on & heels securely fastened to my feet. I would soon find out that this was, yet another, rookie move. More and more, the people arriving (especially women) were dressed in, well, workout clothes! Spandex, nike shorts, tank tops, ponytails, you name it - they were casual to the max. They sat in this casual attire munching on apples and granola bars and chatting with all their auditioning pals - seemed as though 80% of everyone knew each other or recognized each other from their undergrad! But I gotta say...I didn't mind this interaction a bit. The environment was so much more relaxed & friendly than I had anticipated, and to learn from these seasoned auditioners merely meant I got to show up in sweats next time. Score!

So anyway, around 9am the man running the audition called for the AEA members (equity actors), and each of them got the extreme privilege of having an actual audition slot. A real slot...man, what a concept... Once their slot was assigned, the actors dispersed - the time to put on their new self was NIGH. Girls began unwinding curling irons, primping eyelashes & gargling water in a way that almost sounded like a warm-up. All the while, the rest of us non-eqs (rookies) waited for our turn. Finally, he called up non-equity, and to my third pleasant surprise of the morning, people [almost] fully respected the order of the line we had begun nearly 3 hours earlier. How very integrity-filled (integritous? integratious?) -- how very honest of them! Finally, 11am rolled around and my group of about 10 was called up on-deck. It was finally time! With my headshot turned in and sheet music binder in place, I did one last quick-fix of the hair and got in line.

I'd just flown in that weekend from Dallas where I had sung at my best friend Molly's wedding - & that (along with some minor squealing & belting on the dance floor ;) left my voice feeling a little tired.

^^ Look at my dance partners...how could I possibly resist a little Stevie Wonder? ^^

Thus, I sang John Bucchino's "It Feels Like Home" from the musical It's Only Life - this song uses a little bit of a lower range, but is still one of the most beautiful songs in my book (clarification: I don't say "beautiful song" because of how I sing it; I mean it's a flat out "beautiful song" on its own...glad we're clear). So I walked in, said hello, presented my piece to the pianist and the 5 or so young men behind the table, left it all on the floor, & just like that -- audition over! Wild. I knew my voice was not as strong as it normally was, but the panel of men glowed of so much enthusiasm and sunshine that they could've left a tone-deaf 97 year old feeling young, talented & alive. Which -- you know what? I really appreciated that. I was one of hundreds they'd be seeing that day, but they took the effort to make me feel like my time mattered. And THAT mattered!

[a male version of "It Feels Like Home" ... gosh this song's so beautiful.]

So that was that. First Broadway ECC down, and I was out by 11:15am! (Not 6pm as I had been led to believe...although, I do know that summer is a "slower season" for auditions, so fall and spring might not be so kind!) I planned to attend Mamma Mia auditions later that day but figured it'd be better to give my voice a rest before the next day's audition... so instead, we ate! (Who's surprised? Not a one of you.)

So I'll give your eyes a rest and save the 2nd & final audition story for another day, another blog post. :)

Cheers!
Kelsey