Strike One

So I ended up not getting cast after attending both callbacks.

The first one was the play. I confess I didn't get the best impression when I walked in and the director was hugging people, and announced that she had brought some people into callbacks without an initial audition. Again, I understand, you like who you like, but if you can't at least hold back a little during the audition process, you're making a pretty big statement to newcomers. And that statement isn't, "We're really open-minded and happy to have you!" Also the opening spiel contained the instructions "we'd like either Eastern European or Texas accents- either one". That didn't exactly make me feel confident there was a vision at work. And I think there's something a little obnoxious about a theater troupe on the West Coast picking Texas as the setting for a play about a town infected with stupidity. If you're going to change it to America, fine, but why pick on the South? There was just this feeling of condescension, that of course if people are stupid and backwards and impoverished, it has to be Texas. Ugh.

Then we did the callbacks where we were all reading the same selections in front of everyone in different combinations. The two roles I was reading for were for women in their forties. The only role I did not read for was the twenty-something. I tried to put a twinge of disappointment behind me– the girls reading for the twenty-something were in high school, maybe I projected a more "mature" flavor they didn't like for the ingenue, I just played an ingenue, this would be more of a challenge, put on a happy face, etc. So I read for the largest female role first, and I tried really hard to make strong choices, go for broad comedy since that seemed to be what the director liked, try for the Eastern European accent, and connect with my fellow actors onstage. And it went well. I was proud of myself.

Then a woman in her forties went on stage and made the exact same choices I did, and I knew that I wasn't getting cast.

This is why having actors watch each other audition is a pet peeve of mine. On one hand, it's really, really hard NOT to be influenced by what other actors do, particularly if you've JUST SEEN THEM. On the other hand, some people go overboard to try to think up different choices, and end up making some counterintuitive ones because everyone just saw their first impulse and they don't want to be seen as copycats. And I've just heard so many stories of people going in and trying a couple of creative gestures and motions, and then suddenly everyone is doing the same thing, and those people get cast while the person who actually, y'know, HAD the idea ends up getting a nice "sorry, we couldn't find a place for your talents. Better luck next time."

Anyway, I did get an email to let me know I wasn't cast, which was courteous. But I'll definitely think very carefully before trying out at that particular theater again. Sadly, there are now a few of those.