5 Tips for the Anxious Actor

Audition season always seems to sneak up on me. It's funny, but I still get jitters. I love meeting new people, sharing the dream of our company, and getting psyched for new possibilities every season. The excitement spills over into nerves, especially the day before and the morning of. This year's no different!

Tomorrow, I'm taking the bus down to NYC to audition a group of 40 actors whittled down from nearly a thousand resume submissions. We'll have another round of about 30 actors at the end of the month in Albany. And I know already it is going to be an incredibly difficult job figuring out the right 7 people to fill the open spots in this summer's company.

Now, I know I'm not the only one with audition jitters. So here's a few tips to ease your mind while you're in the room with us.

• Don't apologize! You're already in the top 10%. You have an impressive resume. You've got nothing to apologize for. Be proud! Even if you stumble a bit or you're feeling under the weather, I'm looking for how you handle yourself in a tough situation. Starting over is not the end of the world, and handling tough moments gracefully (with no apologies) can still land you a gig. It's happened before.
• Be polite. This one should really go without saying. We're a small company and a tight-knit bunch. We're not sending casting interns or assistants to these auditions. You've got the Artistic Director in the room, and I don't take kindly to anyone being rude to my people who are signing you in or handing out sides. Even if you're nervous, don't be abrupt! Smiling at someone will probably help you relax a little.
• Don't choose a "10." I know it's tempting to choose a monologue that showcases your ability to go from 0 to insane in 2.5 seconds or less. It's incredibly difficult to get to an emotional 10, or even a 7 or 8 in the audition room. You don't have the advantage of the structure of the play, the context of the action, and neither do I. We haven't been on a journey yet! What I'm really looking for in a monologue is how you can speak the verse. Are you aware of the rhythm? Are you using the rhythm or fighting it? The sides will be a much better guide for me to see more of your range. So absolutely choose a monologue that shows you off because you do it really well. But don't put yourself at a disadvantage by choosing something where you have to rage or weep or be all sorts of crazy.
• Look around. A lot of casting directors seem to prefer when actors look at the clock over their head and pretend that's a person, but that drives me crazy. I'm right there! You have a fantastic group of actors all around you! Use us! When we perform Shakespeare IN THE RAW, the audience is right there and they love it when you engage with them. Engage with us in the room, too!
• Have fun! This is probably the most important piece of advice I can offer. Even if you're feeling terribly anxious, take a deep breath. This is an opportunity for you to do today something that you love doing. Today, you are Prospero. You are Trinculo. You are Macbeth. Or Lady Macbeth. Maybe both! Enjoy this moment today, because it is awesome!

I can't wait to be back in the city tomorrow if only for a few hours. You can bet I'll be grabbing a delicious scone at Alice's Tea Cup and trying to contain my excitement at having some amazing actors bring two of my favorite plays to life right before my eyes. My excitement may look a little like this:

The Malvolio Jig

Break a leg!

Macbeth and Tempest Actor Tracks

Scaroon Manor Amphitheater, New Year's Day 2013

What better way to usher in 2013 than with auditions for the summer? It's been awfully cold upstate this winter, which is delicious, but it sure is making me nostalgic for summer!

We at the Adirondack Shakespeare Company are planning our season auditions, which will be held in NYC on Saturday, February 16 and in Albany on Monday, February 25. Our Fourth Annual Summer Festival Season will feature mainstage productions of The Tempest, Macbeth, and an original children's production of David & Goliath. We're making some changes this season due to budget cutbacks, including trimming our company from 14 members to 9. One of these members will serve as the Assistant Stage Manager for all productions. Two of the other members will act in one of the main stage shows and serve as "Conductor" for the other. (I'll describe this position more in a later post, I hope!) The remainder of the company members will act in all three shows.

If you're an actor viewing this post, welcome! Following is a list of our potential tracks for the two mainstage shows, The Tempest and Macbeth. These tracks are set only for each show and not paired up between the two shows yet. That is, I haven't yet decided how the Propsero track in The Tempest might pair up with any track in Macbeth, or if perhaps that track might serve as Conductor. All that will depend on who shows up in the room! All roles are open.

So without further ado, the tracks in The Tempest (listed in descending size order) will be:

Actor 1 - Prospero / Master

Actor 2 - Ariel / Miranda / Boatswain

Actor 3 - Gonzalo / Stephano

Actor 4 - Caliban / Ferdinand / Adrian

Actor 5 - Antonio / Trinculo / Juno

Actor 6 - Sebastian / Iris / Spirit 3.1

Actor 7 - Alonso / Ceres / Spirit 3.1

Actor 8 - Conductor

And in Macbeth:

Actor 1 - Macbeth

Actor 2 - Lady Macbeth / Ross / Seyton / Hecate / 3 Murderer

Actor 3 - Malcolm / 2 Witch / Old Man / Porter / 2 Murderer

Actor 4 - Macduff / 3 Witch / Duncan / 1 Murderer

Actor 5 - Banquo / Siward / Hecate / English Doctor

Actor 6 - Lenox / 1 Witch / Young Siward / Fleance / Boy

Actor 7 - Lady Macduff / Donalbain / Gentlewoman / Hecate / Angus

Actor 8 - Conductor

Comps Installment 1

It is the start of a new semester. Actually, we are already a few weeks in. I've been devoting the last few weeks to shoring up one of my comps lists on the Early Modern English History Play. So the blog has been a bit quiet of reading responses. I'll be adding a reading response post over the weekend or early next week on some of the Henry VI's, but in the meantime I'd like to share how this list is shaping up.

Shakespeare really corners the market of the English history play. He tops my list by more than ten to one, if we also include those he likely co-authored. I'm excited to be able to order some of these texts on Amazon and others I have access to via EEBO (Early English Books Online).

Shakespeare, William.

1 Henry VI2 Henry VI3 Henry VIRichard IIIRichard II1 Henry IV2 Henry IVHenry VHenry VIIIKing John

And the plays that have been engulfed in the authorship debate lately:

Edward III (New Cambridge Shakespeare)Sir Thomas More (Arden Shakespeare)

And in the firmly, non-Shakespeare camp:

Marlowe, Christoper. Edward II.Ford, John. Perkin Warbeck.Heywood, Thomas. The First and Second Parts of King Edward IV. (EEBO / Revels Plays)
Peele, George. Edward I (c. 1591) (EEBO)
Anonymous. The True Chronicle History of King Leir. (c. 1590)
--. Famous Victories of Henry V.--. Thomas of Woodstock. (Revels Plays)

I'm a little on the fence about including King Leir, but it is billed as a "True Chronicle History" so it seems worth it to have on there at the moment. I can always delete it later on.

I'm really intrigued by adding the following series of poems to my list. Although they don't fit neatly into the category of "history play," it seems clear that they were influential to many of the plays written in this period.

Baldwin, William et al. Mirror for Magistrates. (EEBO)

Since I am also focusing on performance in my dissertation, I have acquired a few of the following already. Some are films, some are filmed stage productions, some I have yet to find but am hoping they are available.

The Hollow Crown. Dir. Richard Eyre and Rupert Goold. BBC, 2012. 

The Wars of the Roses. Perf. Michael Pennington. BBC and English Shakespeare Company, 1989. 

Wars of the Roses. Dir. John Barton and Peter Hall. Perf. David Warner and Ian Holm. Royal Shakespeare Company, 1965.

An Age of Kings. Perf. Robert Hardy, Sean Connery, and Judi Dench. BBC Worldwide, 2009.

Edward II. Dir. Derek Jarman. Perf. Steven Waddington, Kevin Collings, and Andrew Tiernan. Sales Company, 1991. 

Edward II. Dir. Richard Marquand and Tony Robertson. Perf. Ian McKellen and James Laurenson. BBC Worldwide, 2009. 

Richard II. Dir. William Woodman. Perf. David Birney. Bard Productions Ltd., 1982. (Just ordered on eBay!)

I know there is also a 1971 production with Ian McKellen as Richard II, but I have not been able to track that down anywhere. I also believe I found some copies of the NBC Hallmark Hall of Fame TV production (1954) starring Maurice Evans. University of Delaware, UT Austin and UC Berkeley libraries have copies according to worldcat.org. I also think I can get a copy of the 1997 production of Richard II starring Fiona Shaw at the NYPL. Included in the BBC Complete Shakespeare Collection should be the 1978 Richard II with Derek Jacobi as Richard. If so, I'll be ordering that on eBay as well.

We're going to need a bigger bookshelf.

Or Else What Follows? - 7.23.12

Twelfth Night opens this Saturday!

Summer is our busiest time of the year here at ADK Shakes. There are things going on just about every day, which makes it a bit difficult to keep up with my posting on here. Here's a recap of our weekend:

On Friday, we toured down to Congress Park in beautiful Saratoga Springs. We set up by the War Memorial to perform selections from The Twelve Labors of Hercules, and we learned quickly that some feathered friends would play an important role in our performance. Long lines of ducks marched right through our makeshift stage, which was pretty hilarious. Patrick particularly enjoyed scattering them with the Nemean Lion's entrance. Perhaps my favorite part of the day, however, was even before we got to the park -- I was on the radio!! In case you missed out, I gave an interview about ADK Shakespeare's third summer season on The Eight O'Clock Hour on North Country Public Radio. But don't worry, you can listen to the broadcast right here!

Saturday brought beautiful weather and an adventure down to Albany to pick up our NYC contingent of actors who traveled via bus to the capital. Almost everyone has now arrived, and we had a delicious dinner at our rental house in Wevertown.

Sunday was all about workshops (as is today!), and we are hunkering down at the Schroon Lake Central School to work on sonnets, verse speaking, and spatial awareness with Leslie Reidel (of the University of Delaware and the Enchantment Theatre Company). We are so fortunate to have Leslie returning to do workshops again this season. If I can find some time, I'd love to write a more detailed post on the experience of doing these workshops. I've found them so valuable in my own work as an actor, and I see a monumental difference in the work of others as well. And I have to say, I love it!

The rest of the week is rising action until we open Twelfth Night on Saturday evening -- 7:30 p.m. at the Boathouse Theater. Our first rehearsal for this show is Thursday, followed by one of our final Hercules performances in Ticonderoga. We'll be performing at 4:00 p.m. as part of their Arts Week festivities! Friday will be our long intensive rehearsal day all driving towards our evening opening performance on Saturday. Sunday we cap the week off with our very first tour to Caroga Lake -- we will be at the outdoor amphitheater on Main Street at 2:30 p.m. I'm already super proud of this ensemble and the amazing show I know they are going to put on -- don't miss our opening weekend of mainstage performances!

Reserve your tickets now at adkshakes.ticketleap.com and view our full performance schedule right here.

A Herculean week!

I couldn't be more thankful. We had an especially fantastic performance of The Twelve Labors of Hercules this morning! An amazing audience of 70 people laughed, applauded, and enjoyed the show today. All the actors felt especially "on" and the energy was completely contagious. I love shows like this!

Today's show was a wonderful cherry on the cake of yesterday's Meet and Greet. We had a great time chatting with many members of the community, snacking on some delicious treats, and running for cover from the insane thunderstorm that hit in the middle of Hippolyta whooping Hercules's you-know-what. We rolled with the punches and really enjoyed lighting candles and gathering in the beautiful parlor at the Paradox House Gallery Retreat. It was an evening to remember! Here are some pictures from the selected scenes we performed:

Deinos, the man-eating mare of Diomedes

Hercules moves rivers and puts the ram in the ramalamadingdong

Eurystheus discourages Iolaus

This evening we are working on some Hydra repairs and probably running some Twelfth Night and Hamlet lines. The main stage company arrival has felt so far away all month, but they will all be joining us here on Saturday -- a few short days away. I can't believe it's here already! Before they arrive, I have a paper to write on Romeo and Juliet for class. It certainly is an interesting experience to have my head in the production zone as well as the critical scholar zone. We'll be studying Hamlet and Twelfth Night for class too, so I'm particularly looking forward to what my different mode of thinking will bring to the performances.