It's finally that time again. Time for another audition. Familiar theatre, familiar director, familiar song. Not the one I had such a breakthrough with. That was a ballad. This time they want an upbeat song. I've auditioned with this song before.
My goal this time? Probably not what you're expecting. My goal isn't getting a certain part or even just getting into the show.
Wait. What??? My goal isn't to get into the show????
No. For one simple reason: That's not under my control. While there are things I can do to guarantee I WON'T get into the show, there is absolutely nothing I can do that will guarantee that I WILL get in. That's the nature of the beast. The reality of theatre.
I like to explain it to theatre newbies like this: Imagine that you want to create a fruit salad. You go to the produce section and start picking out fruit. Are you going to pick every fruit that's there? Of course not. Is there anything wrong with the fruit you don't choose? No. No matter how good a certain fruit looks and tastes, if it doesn't go with the other fruits you've chosen, you're not going to chose it. The wrong combination will ruin your salad.
It's the same for a director picking actors for a production. The actors have to fit together. It does no good to choose a phenomenal 30 year old female lead if your best male lead is 17. If you're putting together a family, a dark haired swarthy father with an equally dark mother are not likely to have produced an ultra-fair skinned blue-eyed blond offspring. The cast needs to fit together the same way the fruits in that fruit salad need to blend.
There's no guarantee that I'm the right "fruit" for this cast. So making getting a certain role my goal isn't realistic. Or fair to myself. I have no control over the casting decisions. What I DO have control of is my performance. My experience. My thoughts.
So my goal is to once again focus on performance, instead of survival. To bring to the stage the attitude "here I am. Place me where you want me. If you believe I can do it, so do I."
It's a lofty goal for me. But I'm pretty sure I can reach it. :-)
