ACT Result (March 4, 2014)

In case anyone's interested in the actual letter. I guess I could theoretically still hear back from them, as I'm sure people can drop out up until the program starts, but I'm not hanging my hat on that prospect.

ACT Final Callback Weekend (March 1st - March 3rd)

A handful of words to describe this weekend: bizarre, exhausting and exhaustive, inspiring, terrifying, soul-crushing, intense, horrible, wonderful.

The ACT callback weekend was incredibly well organized, which is something I could absolutely appreciate. They arranged your hotel, helped you get your flights (and then reimbursed you) and gave you a schedule of events which they followed basically to a T. I touched down in San Francisco for my first time at around noon and rushed into the city (and on the way rode the train with a very strange guy who was clearly looking for a casual San Fran weekend hook up -- yeesh).

I arrived late for the orientation, although everyone was incredibly chill and welcoming. There were about, 15 of us in total. I was about two hours into my weekend there, and I was already exhausted. Uh-oh. After a brief chat with Melissa, we were given about an hour, so I ran over to the hotel (only a ten minute walk from the school), checked in and washed my face. Despite the fact that we no longer live in an era of stagecoaches and days of travel, I think we may have too quickly retired the idea of a "traveling clothes." Whenever I take a plane, or even the El, I still feel like I manage to get coated in a thick dusting of grime.

Then, it was back to ACT for a final rehearsal of the first year's "Will on Wheels" show, which was an abbreviated version of Romeo and Juliet. Then, a small break before a reception with ACT staff and students (color me terrified). Luckily, there was beer and wine and snacks there, and everyone made a conscious effort to mingle and to make small talk. My fears of standing in a corner crying over a plate of cheese squares and crackers were not, thankfully, realized. Astoundingly, I had already started to make a small group of friends, with which I went to dinner after the reception. Then, it was straight off to Napoli!, the ACT mainstage production. I'm not going to get into a long review of it here, mostly because that whole weekend feels like a vague, blurry second of my life. Let's just say this -- the set, costumes & lighting were brilliant. All of the acting was really strong. The play itself...eh. Not sure if it was a product of the translation, or if the play in its original Italian was also a bit meh. (Ah, what a thoughtful, intelligent review. "Meh," raves The New York Times. "The play itself...eh," proclaims Peter Travers of the Rolling Stones.)

Afterwards, there was an optional cocktail reception with the students, which I went to for all of four seconds before I realized I was being far too ambitious and promptly returned to the hotel to go to sleep. Which I then did. Quite soundly. But only for about eight hours (which sounds like a lot, but it so, so wasn't) before we were up again to take a walk through the rainy streets to ACT's costume shop, a Tardis-like building: unassuming from the outside, inside a maze of rooms that went back and back and back. I got to touch the costumes used in their production of Taming of the Shrew back in the 70s, which I had watched many a times on Youtube. That was pretty great.

Then, we returned to the main ACT building for a vocal warm-up with Jeffrey Crockett, thus kind of beginning the official audition portion. I have to admit, for some reason, it was really hard for me to connect with the lesson or to relax. I think it was just the extra pressure I was putting on myself, and the fact that I wasn't quite sure when we were or weren't being assessed (a distinction that quickly became apparent to me later in the day, so I can safely say they are NOT really assessing the vocal warm-up. That is there for you and your benefit).

Next were the individual monologue presentations, which were actually the least stressful part of the day for me. That is something you have prepared for, you know what to expect and you're ready (or at least you should be). It was a lot of waiting around, and I of course was last. You just go in, do your two monologues and song, and walk out. I felt pretty connected to my pieces and positive about my performance.

Next, we had a meeting with Cary Perloff, the artistic director of ACT. It was really lovely to hear her speak about theater. She's incredibly passionate and eloquent (as you'd have to be as an artistic director). Then, a quick financial aid meeting. Then FINALLY THANK GOD LUNCH TIME. Some of the first and second year students joined us to eat and answer some of our questions, but honestly my brain needed down time, and my stomach need food ASAP, so I was more focused on that than I was on having a serious conversation with the students.

Next, we had a workshop with the head of physical theatre, Stephen Buescher. This is when I realized that we were definitely being assessed. A whole slew of the staff were in the room with us, lined up against one wall, with all the stacks of our resumes. During this whole workshop, and the next one, they were looking through the resumes and scribbling notes on it. It was terrifying despite my attempts to ignore it. The workshop started with just some general movement work in the group, which was fun. Stephen Buescher clearly knows his shit. However, it then transitioned into this improvisational work, and I felt incredibly subpar about my performance. I'm not very good at improv, unless I'm in a space with people I know and trust with a teacher who has worked with me and knows me. It's a slow process for me, so just being thrown into that situation was not good. But, there was nothing I could have done in advance to prepare, so... I tried to shake off my immense disappointment as we transitioned into a workshop with the co-head of voice and dialects, Lisa Ann Porter, which was a much more positive experience for me. I didn't necessarily feel like I stood out in any way, but I think I did a solid job. Then...just a few more Q&As with staff members we hadn't met yet, and then it was over.

I headed to a bar with some of the people from my group who were sticking around that night, and we drank and relaxed and watched the Oscars before heading back to the hotel and continuing the party there. It was really great to blow off steam after such an intense and stressful day. I woke up the next morning hungover, incredibly congested and with a terrible sore throat. I'm just glad my body held out until the end. I felt...empty. And sick. And a bit disappointed. But also incredibly lucky that I had gotten the opportunity to go to San Fran, meet incredible artists and be reminded why I love theatre. I left for the airport and returned home, where I found out that people had already started receiving offers. I heard back at the end of the next day, when I got an email saying I had been chosen as a reserve, and that I'd find out towards the end of the month if they would have a place for me. I still haven't heard anything back, so I'm assuming no one has dropped out.

So, a largely positive experience. It really is a great opportunity, and they treat you so well while you're there. They really made me fall in love with the school, so that did make the rejection a bit harder (rather than when you audition for a school you've never visited and they say no). And I was disappointed in myself for my performance in the physical theatre workshop (or, rather, lack of performance). But, in those situations, you just have to focus on the positive because so much is out of your control.

Stats

On February 26th, I heard back from George Washington University via email in regards to my application for their classical acting program -- I didn't get in. I was a little bummed, mostly because I knew that I could have done better at my initial callback, but I also knew that I hadn't done well and therefore my hopes were not that high. But, a rejection is a rejection, and it always hurts a bit.

So, going into my callback weekend for ACT, these were my stats so far:

Guildhall: final recall audition, two days between May 18th - 23rd.
Bristol Old Vic: shortlisted, will hear final decision in early May.
RCS: accepted!
LAMDA: no response yet.
Juilliard: no end of the day callback, rejected.
Yale: no end of the day callback, rejected.
TISCH: no end of the day callback, rejected.
ACA: end of the day callback but ultimately rejected.
ACT: final callback weekend, March 1st - 3rd. 
Old Globe: no response yet.

More results!

The same day as I found out about RCS, I got a call while I was at work from a number in San Francisco. Too shaky and shocked to answer, I let it go to voicemail and hyperventilated for a moment before listening. It was Melissa Smith, asking me to call her back as soon as possible. After I had calmed the butterflies (a bit), I rang her back and she told me she would like to have me come for the final callback weekend at ACT.

Huzzah!

Then, two days later (February 14th), I received this email from Bristol Old Vic:

 

Huzzah!

(More later.)

ACT, TISCH, Yale & Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Auditions (February 4, 2014)

In the Grad School Auditioning Week from Hell, this was the Grad School Auditioning Day From Hell. With four auditions in a row, I knew things would be bumpy. The day started off uneventfully enough with my audition for ACT at 10am. They were running slightly behind but the wait wasn't too long. You are auditioned by two people, Melissa Smith (the conservatory director) and Jeffrey Crockett (head of voice). I went in, introduced myself, did my two pieces and then was interviewed briefly (I believe the only question they asked was, what kind of theatre interests you? A broad question which I used to talk about the touring production of Prudencia Hart I saw last year, which has really stuck with me. Luckily, Melissa had also seen it!). They post their list for end of the day callbacks after the morning session and after the afternoon session, so I only had to wait until about 1pm to find out.

Next was my TISCH audition, right down the hall, at 11am. We had a short orientation session in the hallway after filling out some paperwork, and then got split into two groups for two different auditioners (we all know my feelings about that set up). I went in, did my two pieces, and then the woman who was auditioning me (too much of a blur to remember who she is...) asked me a few questions about my Shakespeare and then had me re-do the end of it. I walked out, waited until the end of the hour to hear the callback list, which I was not on.

LUNCH BREAK! In which I awkwardly ran into Jeffrey Crockett. Knowing that probably he was at lunch with Melissa deciding who from the morning session they wanted to call back for the end of the day. Luckily, as I found out after lunch, it was MEEEE! (And other people...) Unfortunately, their callback time was at 3pm, right smack dab in the middle of my Yale and RCS auditions. I had to wait around until I caught Jeffrey and asked him what I should do. He said just come after, as soon as I could, so I could jump in with the group. The thought of this kind of loosey goosey arrangement panicked me a bit.

The panic continued as my Yale audition was scheduled for 2pm, and yet they had not shown up! (Horrible weather was causing flight delays -- great timing, Mother Nature!). They had to completely reschedule their morning auditions, but luckily showed up a bit before 2pm and started setting up. Although, this still meant my audition was delayed, and my stomach churned faster and faster the farther behind they got, as I had my audition for RCS in a DIFFERENT HOTEL at 3:30pm. I finally got in and did my two monologues and was thanked and told to check the callback list at the end of the hour. I waited around until the last possible second, waiting for the end of the hour callbacks (which were actually going to be held at 8 or 9pm that night, thanks to all the rescheduling and delays) before I gave up and ran to a bus, trying to get to my next audition in time.

I showed up at my RCS audition, which was at The Westin, about ten minutes late, for which I apologized profusely. It all seemed very casual, however, so it was no big deal, although meant I didn't actually get in for my audition until around 4pm (thus complicating my ACT end of the day callback situation, but I just took a deep breath and tried to focus on being present at RCS). The audition took place in a HUGE room, in front of Mark Saunders, the head of the MA program. After chit chatting a bit about my resume, I did my two pieces and song, after which he stopped me. We worked both of them -- freeing up my movement in the Shakespeare piece, and then containing my emotion for my modern. It was a pretty solid workshop, and he really took the time to talk to me about my opinions and also gave me very solid, strong direction. Then, we sat down and he interviewed me (for quite a long time, I will say). He explained the program a bit while I asked more specific questions, as well as asking me why I chose the pieces I chose, why I want to go back to grad school, what I felt my weaknesses were...it was really the most rigorous interview that I had. But it felt really, really good. Yes, it is terrifying to have such an involved audition, but it is so wonderful to know that you're getting a good chance to show them what you can do. Your whole possible future at the school doesn't hang on ten minutes that are over before you know it.

So, I left RCS feeling proud and happy, feelings which mostly dissipated as I immediately freaked out about making it to the ACT end of day callback. After missing the bus, I decided upon a peculiar running/walking/hopping combination to get me back to the Hyatt Regency and, hopefully, to my end of day callback! I was there outrageously late, and sweaty. After sitting outside the closed room, I managed to talk to Jeffrey and Melissa. Yes, the callbacks were over. Should I come back tomorrow? No, that seems too complicated. So, instead, I had my end of the day callback alone with them. It involved a vocal/breath warmup with Jeffrey (one-on-one), and then a cold read of some dialogue from a play with Melissa (one-on-one). We ran through it a few times and also discussed what was going on in the scene. Then, I did a third piece for them (I chose one of my other Shakespeare pieces) and that was that.

I checked the Yale end of day callback list to see if I had made it through, and no such luck. I have to say, I was a little grateful that I wasn't going to have to stick around until 8pm to do a callback. I dragged my weary bones back to my home, where I promptly collapsed in front of the TV. Hell day, over.