Main Stage Show Auditions
Posted by Ryan Maltz on Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Under: Outreach Officer
Hey.....
It's me....
Maltz...
I'm here to discuss with all you gorgeous people the Main Stage show auditions from the point of view of me.....it would only seem to make sense as I am the writer/author/producer/generator of this electronic blog/article/crappy piece of writing...
So where do I begin....
How about with Wintertime as it was the first one I auditioned for...
I took a huge risk with this audition, because for my 1 minute comedic monologue, I actually did an original piece I wrote my Freshman year at Creek for my Stage Door audition...(I know how much you all loved that show...) It was a monologue about a boy who thinks he might be gay, because he has very homosexual tendencies.....(no comment)
Actually, I will comment....I am straight. I swear. Really. I'm being honest. Granted I like theatre, singing, dancing, clothes, hair, a well groomed body, and The Notebook, but you know what? Who doesn't? (A lot of guys apparently)
So anyways, that piece went alright. It didn't seem to get a big laugh, maybe a few smiles and smirks here and there.... then again Nicki said she was laughing at it, but apparently I didn't hear, so who knows....it's always hard to read the panel...
NOTE* - After being cast in Wintertime I asked the lovely Allison Watrous if that was a good idea to do an original piece and to my surprise she said yes, because she was able to see a great deal of me as person in the monologue (even thought it was a character), which helped out a lot, because she's never worked with me before. Also, she said she wanted bold choices, and this was apparently a smart one. I tend to have trouble figuring out if my BOLD choices are actually GOOD ones...(cough* cough* they hardly are cough* cough*)
Then my 30 second piece was one of Jonathan's monologue, which was the same one used in callbacks. (SO LUCKY!!!) Then I was so fortunate to be cast as that part! It seems this year has been nothing but roles I've never played before and this is definitely another one of those :) My level of excitement is building with each rehearsal for the show!!!
Also, thanks to Ethan Griggs for giving me the idea to take a super long pause before starting the monologue, as that's what he did in his one act auditions and it seemed to work for him....so before starting Jonathan's piece, I just stared ahead for about 8 seconds, which was awkward, weird, but cool at the same time....(hopefully it was a good idea)
The funny thing is, is that I initially thought I did terrible in my Wintertime audition, and a lot better in my Laughing Stock one, which I will get to, but it's weird, because the casting for what I thought would happen was reversed...
And then in Wintertime callbacks, I read Jonathan most of the time with several different girls, which was so interesting, because I saw all there different interpretations, making me at the time adpat my character to fit their tone.
NOTE* - I'm so excited to work with Julianna who is Ariel! She was the last girl I read with in callbacks and is also my current One Act director! Tis going to be lots of fun!
I had always been excited for the Laughing Stock audition as I knew it would be fun. And that's just what it was....except fun multiplied by infinity...
I was inspired a lot by Jim Carrey for this audition, because I thought that was the level of energy needed to execute the audition well. And the funniest thing happened....after I was done with my monologues, the half sister to Lucifer (Lauren), turns to the handsome Brandon Becker, while pointing at me and says, "Jim Carrey." So that was very weird, but cool to see that she made that connection... And I think many people walked out of that audition with confidence, because Becker is always giggling and laughing and then very nice afterwards...uh he's wonderful...
Also, during Callbacks, I was handed this empty plastic holder thingy and suppose to make a gag of it, while delivering a monologue.....ok this prop was NO USE! I was like..."you've got to be kidding me" when I saw all the other props that people had....so I panicked and my mind thought of sexual jokes (as it usually does)....and you know....it was a fairly decent size object and very rectangular....so....
I turned around, and put it down my pants, so no one could see....and then I turned back around to deliver the monologue, where Becker laughed and said, "You've done enough, you don't need to say anything."
I never thought, pretending to have a boner would be a good idea in an audition....
Overall, from these auditions I learned to take risks and make BOLD choices, but be fairly smart and understanding about them as well, as they may end up working out.
I'm so excited to work with Allison and with such an amazingly talented cast!
Hopefully you enjoyed this piece of writing, even though I don't think J. Michael Thornton would approve...
It's me....
Maltz...
I'm here to discuss with all you gorgeous people the Main Stage show auditions from the point of view of me.....it would only seem to make sense as I am the writer/author/producer/generator of this electronic blog/article/crappy piece of writing...
So where do I begin....
How about with Wintertime as it was the first one I auditioned for...
I took a huge risk with this audition, because for my 1 minute comedic monologue, I actually did an original piece I wrote my Freshman year at Creek for my Stage Door audition...(I know how much you all loved that show...) It was a monologue about a boy who thinks he might be gay, because he has very homosexual tendencies.....(no comment)
Actually, I will comment....I am straight. I swear. Really. I'm being honest. Granted I like theatre, singing, dancing, clothes, hair, a well groomed body, and The Notebook, but you know what? Who doesn't? (A lot of guys apparently)
So anyways, that piece went alright. It didn't seem to get a big laugh, maybe a few smiles and smirks here and there.... then again Nicki said she was laughing at it, but apparently I didn't hear, so who knows....it's always hard to read the panel...
NOTE* - After being cast in Wintertime I asked the lovely Allison Watrous if that was a good idea to do an original piece and to my surprise she said yes, because she was able to see a great deal of me as person in the monologue (even thought it was a character), which helped out a lot, because she's never worked with me before. Also, she said she wanted bold choices, and this was apparently a smart one. I tend to have trouble figuring out if my BOLD choices are actually GOOD ones...(cough* cough* they hardly are cough* cough*)
Then my 30 second piece was one of Jonathan's monologue, which was the same one used in callbacks. (SO LUCKY!!!) Then I was so fortunate to be cast as that part! It seems this year has been nothing but roles I've never played before and this is definitely another one of those :) My level of excitement is building with each rehearsal for the show!!!
Also, thanks to Ethan Griggs for giving me the idea to take a super long pause before starting the monologue, as that's what he did in his one act auditions and it seemed to work for him....so before starting Jonathan's piece, I just stared ahead for about 8 seconds, which was awkward, weird, but cool at the same time....(hopefully it was a good idea)
The funny thing is, is that I initially thought I did terrible in my Wintertime audition, and a lot better in my Laughing Stock one, which I will get to, but it's weird, because the casting for what I thought would happen was reversed...
And then in Wintertime callbacks, I read Jonathan most of the time with several different girls, which was so interesting, because I saw all there different interpretations, making me at the time adpat my character to fit their tone.
NOTE* - I'm so excited to work with Julianna who is Ariel! She was the last girl I read with in callbacks and is also my current One Act director! Tis going to be lots of fun!
I had always been excited for the Laughing Stock audition as I knew it would be fun. And that's just what it was....except fun multiplied by infinity...
I was inspired a lot by Jim Carrey for this audition, because I thought that was the level of energy needed to execute the audition well. And the funniest thing happened....after I was done with my monologues, the half sister to Lucifer (Lauren), turns to the handsome Brandon Becker, while pointing at me and says, "Jim Carrey." So that was very weird, but cool to see that she made that connection... And I think many people walked out of that audition with confidence, because Becker is always giggling and laughing and then very nice afterwards...uh he's wonderful...
Also, during Callbacks, I was handed this empty plastic holder thingy and suppose to make a gag of it, while delivering a monologue.....ok this prop was NO USE! I was like..."you've got to be kidding me" when I saw all the other props that people had....so I panicked and my mind thought of sexual jokes (as it usually does)....and you know....it was a fairly decent size object and very rectangular....so....
I turned around, and put it down my pants, so no one could see....and then I turned back around to deliver the monologue, where Becker laughed and said, "You've done enough, you don't need to say anything."
I never thought, pretending to have a boner would be a good idea in an audition....
Overall, from these auditions I learned to take risks and make BOLD choices, but be fairly smart and understanding about them as well, as they may end up working out.
I'm so excited to work with Allison and with such an amazingly talented cast!
Hopefully you enjoyed this piece of writing, even though I don't think J. Michael Thornton would approve...
In : Outreach Officer