I don’t really audition. I hang comfortably in the right place with people that know me relatively well. Then, when the right time passes I get an offer to perform. I have a 20 year old headshot and a 4 year old resume. There’s no recording of my voice. I feel like I’ve forgotten everything about singing. When I reached DC I took a break from singing. After an 8th month hiatus, I started lessons with English Chris. Six months later I am in tune and getting comfortable with my sound.
English Chris pressed me to go out for a few audition openings. I missed one application deadline and was declined an audition because they received too many applications. Then I met Firecracker Tina at a party who told me to audition for the summer opera at CHAW. It was easy. It’s a community fair which didn’t require me to provide an EPK and life story, but I felt inclined to create a resume and bio. It was a start. I auditioned for a chorus part and got a mezzo role. I found myself at the Red Derby hoping to get a role in this opera over a glass of grig like a typical cliche. How great it was to open an email with the offer of Peep Bo!
Now the hard part comes. I haven’t been in full scale production rehearsals in over 5 years. Is it like riding a bike? I think so. We had a read through of the scripted parts. Thank God I read some books this past year. I am not really known for cold reading. I don’t do cold calling either. I remember doing a cold read for the Cosby show once. What a disaster. This was not painful like that at all though. I was actually reading 'on water' which allowed me to focus more on expression.
Actor Peter is our choreographer. We did an interesting exercise of drawing our character's names with our body parts. It was a great way to get started relating to our characters. It also gave Actor Peter a point of reference when customizing choreography for our bodies/characters. Nice approach~ I thought.
My next move is to engulf myself in the G&S midi files of Boise State... There's much to do before rehearsals start.
