Audition this weekend!!!

Going to an audition for me is almost like Christmas-except there's no guaranteed gift of a role, or a project when the audition is done-the excitement is the same though!!

This audition is this coming Sunday for a show called "The Heiress", now, while I don't know too too much about this show, the company I am auditioning for, Center Players, my home since I graduated college, was nice enough to put a small description on the facebook event page:

"The Heiress" is set in NYC in the 1850s. This period classic tells of a shy and socially naive young woman, who falls desperately in love with a charming young man. Her critical father, a successful and wealthy doctor does not approve of the marriage and threatens to disinherit her if she proceeds with the wedding plans. This beautifully written drama explores the social and economic structure of the times, while continuing to illuminate relationships of fathers, daughters, lovers, and close family members that are still relevant in today's world.

Sounds pretty cool, right? I bought the play and need to read it asap before this audition.

So..what exactly do I do for audition prep? Here's "my process", and I've found every actor has a different one:

1)I'm making sure my face is as clear as it can be by washing it two times a day (instead of the once at night that I normally can get away with)

2) I purchased the play and intend to read it cover to cover before going into the audition room.I need to know my character before I try to play with her.

3) Do a brief character breakdown/backstory so I can really get in touch with who this person is

4) make sure my resume is printed

5) part of any audition could always be to prepare a 1-2 minute monologue-from memory. So therefore, I'm preparing my memorized monologue as well (which is a WHOLE different ball game in of itself!)

6) do the laundry-I know this seems trivial, and something that we all do anyway. But for an audition, I like to plan my outfits ahead- If I can avoid it, I never wear white to an audition. No, this isnt a supersition, if you wear white onstage without the right lighting you get completely lost up there and nobody will be able to see you!

7) Do a sketch of my makeup for audition day in my mind. You never want to wear too too much makeup. Let's not doll ourselves up like cheap whores, okay? Leave that for when you're in Cabaret or something like that!

8) I'm also in the process of finding out WHO else is auditioning. Now, I've gotten lucky for this audition because it's my the playhouse where I feel most comfortable. I know what skill sets the people coming out for this have, and I know the director as I've worked with her before, so I know what to expect.

But in a few weeks I'll have another audition, for Hairspray, and I'm a stranger at that theater.I don't know them, they don't know me, and I won't personally know anyone auditioning. So I'll need to do as much research as I can (knowing the show before I walk into an audition helps me with this. If I can do a better character than anyone else based on what I know-I go with that!)

And when I do get to NY, forget it! Whole new ball game and I might not even know the show-the wits'll kick in at that point and I'll just prepare for everything in the previous steps.

Now, I also have a proces on the day OF the actual audition:

1) Get up before 11am. Again, trivial-but I LOOOOVE my sleep, like every actor who keeps an irratic schedule. Go to bed late, wake up late! But I will blast my ass out of bed at 10 am to get ready for a 1pm audition.

2) Wash my face early. I wash it as soon as I get up, in most cases before I eat anything. I do this because my skin on my face is sensetive, and sometimes it will get red, blotchy and itchy right after being washed. I wash it early enough and my skin has a chance to calm down before I have to put make up on it.

3) EAT! The nerves will be there one way or another, and I never know HOW long I'll be at an audition, so I always make sure to shove SOMETHING in me if I can help it. If it's an afternoon audition, I go with something like a sandwhich, or a salad-something light. For morning auditions, it's eggs, or eggos, and one 1/2 glass of 1% milk.

4) brush my hair, brush my teeth (even if I've already done it for the day), put my audition make up on.

5) Print my resume and make sure its up to date. This is usually the last thing I do before I walk out the door, and I really should break myself of this habit, because I sometimes forget to add that last project I just got out of! So I really should know better..but we're not all perfect.

6) Make sure I look put together- Nothing worse than going to an audition looking like a freakin hot mess! I always make sure I look put together, confident, and ready.

NEVER WALK INTO AN AUDITION COMPLETELY UNPREPARED-YOU WILL GET TRAMPLED!

With the audition being Sunday (with the option of going Monday isntead), I have a LOT of work to do, with little time to do it! All of these steps need to get done before I walk into t he theatre to do my thing.

Let's get shit together and go kick this audition's ass on Sunday afternoon! :)