All I knew was that the auditions were at the Atlanta Ballet. I arrived early, so there weren't signs up saying who should go where. A few other people were already there. We chatted a bit. Theatre people are interesting. Forty-five minutes later, the auditioners arrived and had us leave the comfort of the waiting room to form a line. By that time there were 20ish people. So we went outside and continued our conversations. I took the advice of one of my friends and let others go in front of me. It was a lot like waiting in line for a ride at six flags. The wait is eternal, but fun because you are just hanging out. And, when the wait does end, there is one minute of something scaryish but very fun.
Some time after we lined up they gave us stickers with numbers. I got to be 314. The wait continued. Finally, two hours after I got there, they started letting 10 people at a time into the waiting room. You would think that with only 16 bars to sing, these auditions would move fast, but it was another 45 minutes before they let the next ten in. As I walked in, I felt like I was glowing with excitement. I was really auditioning! Most of the other people seemed to have a serious stress bubble.
The wait continued. Apparently, the powers that be here thought it would be the best use of everyone's time to have call backs for the principle roles (picked from the Actor's Equity members' audition the day before) at the same time as the open call for people not yet in AE. So these professionals were allowed to just enter whenever they wanted and we had to wait. Though it added time to what was already a lengthy process, it was fun to watch these talented people. They had a confident air about them which was a stark contrast to the general mood emitted by those not yet in the union. Go figure.
I asked the woman in front of me in line if it is rude to ask how the audition went. She said I could ask, but she didn't want me to ask her if she had been called back because she would have felt bad telling me she wasn't. When she did come out, I didn't have time to chat b/c it was my turn to go in.
They have a person who brings in your head shots, resuemes, and application together and puts them on the desk in front of the two auditioners. I followed him in and checked to see if I would be acknowledged by the men behind the desk. I wasn't, so I walked to the pianist who was looking at me. I gave him the music, and the tempo and asked him if I needed for them to ask me to begin. He said to just start. So I walked back to the centre of the room and was about to start, when they looked up and asked me what I was singing. I said "Oh what a BEAUTIFUL morning." In a very expressive voice. They smiled and I began--faster than I told the pianist. Nerves! Thankfully, he was very good at following. The room we were in was 100% hard surfaces, so my voice sounded quite loud.
The second I started singing, they turned my head shot over to look at my resume with a very precise moment. I got a bit distracted wondering why they wanted to look at my stuff so fast. Twenty long seconds later, I finished. One of the men asked me if I was a dancer. Good question. I've had a total of four dance classes in my entire life, but I LOVE expressing music through motion. I was afraid that if I told him "yes" he would expect me to know 100s of terms/moves that I don't know. So I kind of stumbled and said "kind of, it's in me." He said "it's just trying to find a way out." and I agreed with him. I waited for a call back time or a cue to stay, but they kind of indicated the audition was over. Before I made it very far, they reminded me to get my music from the pianist. So I walked back across the floor, and then I left.
Once I got out, the person who had ushered me into the room had me stand against a wall so he could take a picture. I asked him why that was important b/c i hadn't been called back. He said they wanted it for their records. Humm...
One of my friends from school was 9 people behind me in line, so I waited to hear how she sounded through the closed doors. The wait was another 40 minutes. But worth it because, she sounded great. Then, the day was over. I felt worn out from the events earlier in the day piled on top of the uncertainty of what was expected of me at this sort of thing, and the meeting of new people.
I'm ready to do another. With more preparation of the song this time. The pianist was very nice and the men behind the table seemed quite amicable. It is obvious that they love what they do. It is so much fun to work with people who love what they do.
Something that I heard from more than one person today is that these people hold auditions in Atlanta because the tour will perform at the Fox, and they don't want to frustrate the clientel, but it is for whatever reason, generally understood that casting happens in NYC.
While I was chatting, people told me about atlantaperforms.biz. This website has many more non-union auditions than the Actor's Equity website does (currently zero on the East coast) but most of these seem to not pay either. Not so good. I'll update w/ the date of the next audition. In all, I feel today was a success.
Cherrio!
