Sunday Night. Had one of those quickie, sell yourself-in-a-minute and no more, auditions.
Used to be that you'd have 3-4 minutes to do a monolgue with a couple minutes of banter. No fault of the producing company, but by the time I got there for the last half-hour of antics and verse, they were running 20-minutes behind (someone must've been long). I have a new "quickie" piece. Hard to describe, but its a combination of vaudeville talk, classic pitch, and lots of hand-waving and postering. Actually, when I walked in and the director said, "What are you doing for us tonight!" I could only shrug my shoulders, raise a finger and say..."Just Watch." Then I held up my "Joel Thingvall, The World's Greatest Actor" sign and made themlaugh, made them cry...because I wsa either that good, or that bad. I'm working on monologues. I have a couple up on this site. My old stand-by Shakespeare piece. Another recent addition that I thought would work well for film auditions, "New York Actor." I'm still working on a piece about old guy thoughts and romance, which will be up before the year is done. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I still have my "J.B." rewriting that I've done since high school which used to see me bounce around the stage, shout to the skies, cry in my sorrow, and be sacrcastic as...well, hell. I'm still looking for a couple of comedic pieces. Actually, inspired by the great Carl Ballantine, hope to add a 5-minute magician sketch to my portfolio (thanks, Carl, for all your inspiration). A monologue puts the actor in total control. You are supposed to show range, emotion, how you move, how you "play" an audience. Too often, though, actors bite off more than they can chew, so to speak. The monologue has to really show YOU as a performer...yes, you are playing a part, but the essence of your own character needs to show...shine. It's scary. Out on stage. Nothing but yourself...your body...your voice. No one to work off of, no props, stark lighting. Usually silence from the few in the shadows of the seats. As I was wandering the halls outstage, people were stretching, contorting their mouths...faces...silently running lines thru their heads...you'd see a body twitch as they pretended to make a motion, but not complete it amongst us other auditioners. I remember the days when I was young, was worried that something wouldn't work...right. As you age in the audition process, the tougher aspect is to remian fresh, to still have that sense of wonder when you wander on stage. You still need to be alive, have feeling, yet also have fun. You are, afterall, an actor playing a part. What could be more fun!?
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AuthorThis BLOG will be my personal exploration into the World of Performance Art. Follow me as I return to an Adventure started in the sixties to be An Actor! Categories
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