Many students were favored and got cast in every show even if they put their audition together 2 hours before the actual audition. It made me work harder constantly finding audition pieces that you could relate to the show. Still, I was passed over. Students would get drunk and show up to rehearsals or shows like that and wouldn’t even get a slap on the wrist. When talking to a teacher about a student showing up to rehearsal drunk, he said “It’s not affecting me and it shouldn’t affect you”. I did graduate with a BA in Music Theatre and a few shows under my belt. Through my high school and colleges years, there were many accomplishments, but I still felt like anything I did wasn’t good enough. No matter how hard I worked, no matter what I accomplished, those that were favored in school would be favored out in the real world. A few months after moving back home, I decided that I’ll take one last stab at auditioning for a local theatre. I worked hard on my audition and got the part I wanted. With each audition I have there, I’ve realized that all my hard work in the past has paid off. I’m getting the roles I audition for, understudy for more than one lead in a show and the best part is I’ve done more shows than all those favored in my past. And while they learn to adapt to reality, I’m already living in the real world.
Posts Tagged audition
The Real World
Mar 2
Star Wars and the Carpenter
Jan 22
There’s a story told in a published biography of Harrison Ford, the well-known actor. It goes like this. Before Ford was an actor he worked as a carpenter. He was a really good carpenter but acting was his love. So he loaded everything he had into his VW Bug, left Wisconsin where he was attending college, and set out for California. He found some acting work but carpentry paid better. He built a recording studio for Sergio Mendes and a sun deck for Sally Kellerman. He built an expansion for Francis Ford Coppola’s office. That led to a small part in American Graffiti, directed by Lucas and another part in The Conversation, directed by Coppola. But carpentry still paid better. Lucas hired Ford to build some shelves in his home and sometimes hired him to read lines with other actors who were auditioning.
This was the case when Ford was working on hanging a door at Lucas’ new production facility in Northern California. Actor after actor went though the auditions and readings. Nobody was right for the part of Han Solo, pilot of the Millennium Falcon. Then somebody said, “Let’s audition the carpenter. He’s a pretty good-looking guy.” Harrison Ford read the lines and got a major part in Star Wars.
A career was launched by a chance meeting and he never had to work as a carpenter after that.
