Auditions! Auditions! Auditions!

You have GOT to love auditioning! Right? What a great thing it is to direct a show and be able to sit behind the table, rooting for every single one of your auditioners. It has REALLY changed the way I audition.

Great stories! Good lessons.

Know your show. Directors are trying to cast the show. They're looking for their cast! Audition with something that could very well be from the same show, the same characters we're looking for. Don't make them extrapolate where you might fit in. Show me the money!

Know you are good. Confidence is GREAT to work with.

Don't be a diva. Attitude is right up there with talent! We are watching the audition room. Are you patient, supportive, kind? No talent can compensate for bad social skills. It just ain't worth it! And the "black list" is real, folks. Don't get on it! It's kind of hard to get off it once you're on it.

LOVE your audition piece. You are an actor? You love being in shows? You love doing this stuff? Show it. Enjoy your piece. Know it so well you can enjoy performing it. If you are having a good time, so are we!

Dress to impress. Be professional. Be attractive. It sells. On stage too. And I don't mean you have to be a beautiful person. All the more, beautiful shapes, sizes, colors... all of it. How many times have I cast unusual looking people, for that reason alone? So be confident you have something to offer.

Be coachable/directable. Especially in call backs, when directors have the opportunity to give you feed back. Listen! Take it in! Go out on a limb and try it!

DO NOT choreograph your audition. Sheesh. Ever see "Waiting for Guffman"? Enough said.

Have fun! If you mess up the words, really, it is of NO consequence. Laugh about it. Be embarrassed. Go stand by the piano... and deliver. Voice, face, interp. Not much of the audition process has to do with memorization skills. It's only a problem if it interferes with showing your talent. Have fun! I have cast many many an actor based on how much fun we had in their "bad" audition. And I have never regretted it. I love to cast good people!

Lastly, audition for everything. Chances are, the third time they see you audition, they will think, "Hmmm, this person really loves and wants to be in a show. I think I am going to give them a shot." Woot! You're in!

Break a leg!

Tricks, secrets, short cuts... Help me. Help you.

The point is, I am always amazed at little tricks people have to make theatre magic. If you know ANY, start blogging. I have been doing this for EVER. Have LOTS of ideas, and am still on the hunt for new things. Storage systems. Sound tricks. Costume helps. Website treasures. ETC.

These are tough times. We could all use a little creative magic. Post on!!!

D

IT LOOKED DIFFERENT IN THE SWATCH BOOK!

Lighting madness! Let me start with a big shout out to the crew at the Lansburgh Theatre, Washington, DC. Amazing good crew. I'm a small production designer, who got an awesome gig with a professional dance company in DC through a dear friend. (It's who you know, folks!) So here I am, dropping into a high end house, with crew that is accustomed to working with jet setters. Yeah, it can be a little intimidating, but to their credit, they dealt with all my changes and goofy choices, never ever making me feel like I was a dork.

I get to the end of each design, about 94% (or less) satisfied with the outcome. I could look at a light design a couple dozen times, fine tuning cross fades, intensities, and color each time until it is right on the mark. Unfortunately, not many have the luxury of THAT much rehearsal time. In this case, we had one day to focus and program, 2 days to rough through the tech, and that's all.

I like having time to really see and feel the color. Is it too saturated? Does it play well across the whole production? Most of all, did it do what I thought the swatch said it would? For all my planning, the end of each gig has me discovering a few stand out colors.

Factor in scenic and costume palettes, but here are some pretty great colors that I think are versatile enough to consider no matter what you're doing.

Sidelight warmth: R321, perhaps too warm, but WOW a great AMBER, reminiscent of an intense sunset.

G375: a lighter, cleaner warmth that worked REALLY well in balance with R321.

R316 however, is a dreamy pot of gold at the bottom of the rainbow.

L119 is a punchy, vibrant blue I really like. In the photo at top is a blend of the L119 and R321 on Jason Ignacio of CityDance Ensemble, Inc. Hope there's no contract infringement posting this pic. It's my light design, right?

Not crazy about my down wash choices: red, blue, amber. Ended up feeling either too pink or too yellow. Looking for that mix. Green?

Love love love R356 in the hi side break up. A great lavender, not too saturated, not too weak.
Notice the streaks on the drop in back. I used patterns from the floor booms to splash some texture on the world. Hmmmm....

A word on green: I think it is VERY OK to throw it in you patterns to splash some great color into the world. A cautionary note though, make sure you have some NC light to keep the green monster at bay. It's a nice accent, not a key fill.

One last note aside from color: back to my opening comment, we are making art. You have to appreciate that directors, choreographers, designers, etc. can get pretty tense in those last hours. Keep your cool, keep your confidence. It's ART. Dynamic, organic, ephemeral, and sometimes so subjective and diverse that it's impossible for everyone to be on exactly the same bead. Communication is VITAL to a successful production, especially when time is tight. Nothing stifles communication like blowing up at each other. Stop. Relax. Believe me, everyone on the team wants success. If they aren't getting it, STILL, and they're not guilty of text messaging on the job, then share the responsibility and figure out how to get it solved.

Good times. Give. Share. Live.

DJ