Open Call...

I'm sitting in Panera in Plymouth, MA. I just ate a sandwich and a "Fuji Apple Salad" (one of my new favorite things. Check it out)

It only took 4 1/2 hours to get here today...but it felt twice as long as my drive to NYC. Perhaps because I hit three patches of stop and go traffic (and with a standard transmission...that is not fun).

Anyway: On to the real purpose of writing this blog.

What I learned/experienced at my first New York Open Call Audition.

I showed up 20 minutes early for sign-in - There were 70 people ahead of me.

What I Learned: It is OK to be at an Open Call super early

I talked to one girl who said she stops in at an open call location hours early, signs-up, goes to work, then goes to the open call at her lunch hour. So if there's a sign in sheet posted that early, it's ok to do that. Good to know.

We were in two rehearsal rooms (One a holding room, one an audition room) on the 12th floor on 8th Ave... part of Pearl Studios (Where loads of auditions take place daily. There were at least four other productions auditioning just on that floor.)

What I Learned: Any actor in New York will more than likely spend lots of time in this building.

We were all given numbers (I was 123. Ha. (There were also scheduled auditions in the morning...The afternoon auditions started at #51)) Then we got to chill. Since I was one of the "later" ones, I had the honor of sitting on the floor. :) I made friends with two other girls and we sat together. For 3 hours. Until it was our time to sing.

We were asked to prepare 2 songs 16-32 bars each. At the start of the auditions, the casting team talked to everyone in the room and asked us to keep our songs to 16 bars. By the time we got up to sing, they were keeping it to a strict 16 bars of one song only.

We were lined up in groups of ten outside the audition room, and then ushered in one at a time. I felt ready and prepared. But things change as soon as you walk into that room. :)

The audition went alright. I didn't feel great about it. One of the auditioners was actually smiling at me while I was singing (as opposed to the others who looked bored... and I realized I was looking him in the eyes and needed to look at others, and I just ended looking at one spot in the back of the room instead of including all of them. Suffice it to say I lost my concentration/intention/specificity (You know, all that stuff we learned in school) and was in my head. But. Moving on...

I finished. They said. "Thanks. That's all".

What I learned: Sometimes you spend hours waiting to sing less than 30 seconds. And that's it. And. Must really really work on concentration.

I knew that was the case...but it really became real now that I've experienced it. :)

I also learned: One of the advantages at being "later in the line-up" is being able to watch what goes on.

During the three hours while I was waiting, I was watching as each person came out of their audition... those called back for the next day were asked to fill out an audition form. Of the 70 people in front of me, I only saw 3 people filling out those forms. Two African American Guys, and one girl. One girl, out of 50 in front of me was asked to stay. I'm sure there were many many many girls there with incredible talent who did wonderful auditions...but it was very obvious the casting team already had very specific ideas in mind for what they were looking for.

There were over 30 people behind me also. Putting the grand total of people they were seeing that afternoon at 100. I did feel bad for the auditioners. I don't think they took a break from when they started at 1 PM. It's gotta be tiring. Person after person....

So. Suffice it to say. I'm not disappointed. Well...being on a ship would be amazing... but God's got other plans this time. On to the next. I've got 4 other auditions in the next 2 1/2 weeks. All exciting opportunities should they work out...

I know there's going to be a whole lotta "no's". But the time will come when, Lord willing, there will be a "yes". I don't know what God's got in store. But I'm knocking on doors. Each audition will be a learning experience.

But you can only ever have one first NYC open call experience. :)