George Washington ACA (February 9, 2014)

The last audition.

I can't even explain how burnt out I was at this point, and the prospect of waking up at around 7am on a Saturday was not a happy one. But, I was so close to being done... As long as I kept reminding myself of the celebration my friends had planned for later in the evening, I could muster up enough strength to get through this final audition.

The audition was at the Goodman, and the mandatory group warm-up started at 9:30am. I knew a couple of people auditioning, so it was nice to have friendly faces waiting for me when I arrived, making the audition more of a fun outing than a chore.

We had a really nice, long warm-up with Gary Logan, the director of the program, and Ellen O'Brien, head of voice and text. They were both really warm and lovely, and the audition room felt very relaxed and welcoming, including all of the other auditioners. The warm-up actually really helped, especially considering it was Saturday morning, and considering the week I (and most of the other people there) had. We returned to the lobby and were called in one by one for the initial audition. Because their program is specifically focused on classical acting, it required two Shakespeare monologues.

After the initial audition, we all waited around for the end of the day callback list to be posted. Luckily, all of my friends and I were on it, so there was no awkward goodbyes. I was really pleased to get called back; I had wanted to end the week strong, and it was especially nice to get some validation after my mental struggles with my LAMDA audition. Despite the program's reputation for wanting older actors, we were surprised to find that most of the people called back were pretty young. We waited in a different room for our turns, and in the meantime chatted a bit amongst ourselves. For the callbacks, they request that you have prepared a modern piece, as well as a couple extra Shakespeare. When I went in, they had me do my contemporary speech and then had me re-do one of my Shakespeare's from my original audition. I was then given some direction that was incredibly confusing to me in the moment, although looking back on it I think he was just trying to get me to say my Shakespeare piece in a more natural, contemporary tone (I have been accused in the past of "singing" Shakespeare). However, I think due to my split-second confusion, it made my re-do of the Shakespeare piece incredibly strange and muddled. I walked out feeling that, while it was no one's fault, I just hadn't jived with that piece of direction and probably didn't leave a very strong impression. When I talked to my other friends, none of our callback experiences were the same.

While I was slightly disappointed that I hadn't delivered my best, I was so pleased to have gotten a callback on my last audition and also that IT WAS MY LAST AUDITION!! That night, I celebrated with my lovely, supportive friends, first by going to the Carriage House (where we all stuffed ourselves on Southern comfort food) and then drinking and dancing. And then, of course, passing out in my bed without setting an alarm -- a nearly forgotten luxury.