Picking up from last time –
One of the audition songs I use a fair amount is from The Last 5 Years. I’ll mention this in the story of my first audition, but that’s a pretty overused musical for audition songs.
I think it’s overused because the songs are great! But! Think about all the other musicals in the world. There are other songs so that people don’t have to sit through the same ones and over and over. So, I need to get on that.
Also, I need to have monologues ready! I used to have my comedic, dramatic, Shakespearean, modern, etc. for days. Again, no idea what I did with that binder. How did I not realize at the time that this was going to be work I’d done that would be convenient to keep? I also don’t think I realized that it had taken time to build up a folder full of songs and monologues. It just kept growing until one day it was kinda like, “Well, would you look at that? I have a repertoire!”
The good news is, there are some monologues I still remember so hard. (I can do Constanze’s from Amadeus for you right now, and I haven’t looked at it since high school… But I have recited a few times each year probably. I guess sometimes reciting a monologue from a scene where your husband’s about to die is just totally appropriate for some reason a few times a year?)
Also, even if I had kept everything, I would need to switch some of it out. Can I really still be doing material as Luisa in The Fantasticks? I mean, maybe. Maybe for a couple of years more. But I think I’m definitely pushing maybe. The only good news on that is that I kind of feel like in auditions, you don’t have to be perfect for the role of the song or monologue you’re doing – it just has to showcase things you could bring to the part for which you’re auditioning (with you might be more right for).
Another thing I no longer have? My tap shoes! …And possibly my ability to tap.
How did I let these things go by the wayside? I spent all this time cultivating these talents, and what? I just thought they stay there, strong as ever, when I never practice?
Some things you retain. I still know some things about acting (and singing and dancing). But obviously some of it goes away (though I’m sure it can all be gotten back).
Even my voice – I totally took it for granted in high school (and in probably the year or so after). In high school, I sang all the time! So, I just thought my voice was always ready to sing. But no. I didn’t have a magical voice. I had a voice that got to warm up and be used every day. And now, again, my voice is still there. But I’m re-learning how to use it, in certain ways. And I’m definitely learning it takes longer to warm up when you’re out of practice – which feels a little jarring, but I get it.
Oh, and outfits! I have barely any audition outfits (as I still don’t have a full wardrobe in a size 8). But I’m doing what I can with what I have.
So, now that I’ve painted a picture of the mess I am, how about we talk about my first audition in years?