Theater Etiquette

We saw "The Lion King" on Sunday afternoon and were blown away by the costumes, music and life-sized puppets. The opening sequence of the sun rising over the pride lands brought tears to my eyes. As good as the production was, the experience was not completely enjoyable. Let me tell you a little bit about Theater Etiquette so you are not embarrassed the next time you attend a show. (For the woman sitting next to me, this is for you.) I did not pay money to hear YOU sing. (Badly) Those on the stage have spent days and weeks rehearsing only to have you ruin their numbers. If you think you are really that good, then by all means AUDITION. It is tempting to hum along to "Hakuna Matata", it's a great song. BUT you are not on stage and that's what the soundtrack is for. Same goes for the dialogue, you may know every line in the script but you are just not that funny sitting in your seat. Besides you don't really know the lines if you say them AFTER the actor. And about your iphone...just because you turn it to the side to check your email, I can still see the blue glow bouncing off your face...it lights up the ENTIRE row. Turn it off, put it at the bottom of your purse and leave it there. You are not that important that you need to check it every 10 minutes. And just because you think are using your "inside whispering voice" doesn't mean you can talk about every line with your date. We can hear you!!!  Let's keep going to the theater fun! Be considerate...

8 to Go

The rule of thumb is that for every 20 auditions you go on for film and commercial work, you will land one part. Alright, 12 down, 8 to go. The trick is to NOT take it personally. I can do this, I can do this, I can do this!!!

German Accents

For my upcoming audition Saturday, I'm trying to perfect a German accent without sounding too commercial...you know...without using phrases like "Weiner Schnitzel" - WHICH is actually an Austrian dish. You see, it's harder than it seems. An even harder aspect is trying to come across as a 24-ish woman. My work is clearly cut out for me.

Becoming Someone Else...

It doesn't take much for me to become someone else. Yesterday, I was a shy lesbian with muscle problems. Mom, it's not permanent, this is not my way of "coming out"...it was just from 1pm to 4:30 pm! This is one of my favorite acting gigs...the standardized patient program at Duke is amazing. It teaches the students how to interact with patients as human beings and not just cases. You think that doctors are born with an innate ability to relate to patients, believe me, that is NOT the case. Not only do I get to do something that I love by acting, but I really feel that I am helping to shape these medical students into compassionate future doctors. Plus for acting and plus for creating a better world...just one student at a time. Whew...it's hard work changing the world!!

Wilmington Java World

Drove to Wilmington today for audition number 8! We ended up making good time, about an hour early, so we stopped for some coffee at Java World. There were three horses tied up near the trash bins; a sight you don't normally see in North Carolina. Along with the snow, this has been a pretty abnormal week for us Southerners. There was no buggy, so we knew it wasn't the Amish. Strange. When we entered the coffee shop there were three police officers with riding boots on...hmmm...for the record, mounted police like coffee and cakes NOT donuts. Just in case you were wondering. At the audition, I just talked to the camera telling a story about myself. Hey, I can talk! I'll find out about this one on Monday or Tuesday. Keep your fingers crossed! More to come...

Snowed In!!

It's not very often in North Carolina that you get snowed in BUT that's exactly what happened this year! Not only did it put a damper on our after Christmas day shopping, it held me up from an audition that was scheduled for Monday. We made the most of the winter wonderland and built an enormous snowman! We braved the icy roads to make it to the audition today AND found out I've got an audition in Wilmington on Thursday. It's been an exciting week!!!

A Little Behind

In case you're wondering how you would feel if asked to audition for someone's backside on a major motion picture...AWESOME, that's how! Could you imagine? "That's right folks, that's my booty." Unfortunately for me and fortunately for YOU, that will not be my film debut! I've had about 14 surgeries over the course of 7 years leaving me a little scared in certain areas. So unless they are shooting a war scene, my back door will not be famous. This has been a busy last two weeks for auditions and I'll keep you posted on how that goes.