Callbacks

Last week I was lucky enough to find myself at a callback audition for a musical I’d auditioned for. For those of you not as familiar with the audition process for most local musicals, here’s the short version. You show up for a 1st audition; usually about a 5 minute slot; sing 16 bars of a song; maybe recite a 1 minute monologue; the nice people say thank you and you go home and wait.

If you’re lucky you get a “Callback” audition. They call you in for a 2nd audition. Kind of like when you get a 2nd interview for a job. Different theaters and companies can do them a little differently. Sometimes only a dance audition, where you’re taught a dance combination with a group of other auditioners. Then you reproduce it for the choreographer, director, etc in small groups. Sometimes you learn a bit of a song, again in a group, from the specific musical you’re auditioning for. Then you sing it alone or in small groups. Usually a callback audition will be a longer period of time than a first audition though.  Anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours. One thing’s constant though. You’re in a room with a bunch of other people who want a part too. The longer you’re with them the more time you have to kill. Some like to sink into their world of smart phones and the world-wide web, but  I like to get to know people. Ok, let’s get real, MOST theater people like to get to know people.

This particular callback offered me not only the opportunity to get to know some new people but the opportunity to reconnect with a few theater friends I hadn’t seen in a while. For a few hours I didn’t worry about my day job, my bills or hardly anything  in my life. I was having the best time talking about anything else that we all have in common. Stories about shows some of us had been in together. Figuring out people we knew or friends we have in common. Our love of music and theater. Our hopes and dreams. The things in life that make us laugh. It never ceases to amaze me how easily theater people find it to connect with each other. How quickly we trust each other and start telling each other about our little life adventures. We give each other joy in a way no other people can. Kinda like an instant family whether we’ve met before or not. So if we only have each other and our stories to share for those few hours,  it’s all good.

By the time I walked into the audition room to read for director, the writer and the leading lady, Paige O’Hara (some of you may know her as the voice of Disney’s Belle from Beauty and the Beast), I was relaxed and having fun. I didn’t care anymore if I got a part or not. No, really, I didn’t. Ms. O’Hara was so sweet and encouraging. They all were . I just thought to myself about how I’d had so much fun the last few hours. Now I had a new story for the next time I’d be sitting around with theater friends. A story about the time I auditioned in front of Paige O’Hara and how she uttered, “Good Girl!” after I read from the script. I got to enjoy fun people and play act for a few minutes. I went home blissfully happy. I was just happy to have that one night as a part of my life forever. No one can ever take that away from me.

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~ by soniar07 on January 11, 2011.