Don't Cry For Me

The recent Evita Open Call was quite literally a madhouse. That term has been liberally applied by performer friends and never before have I been privy to a circumstance that cannot be accurately described by any other term.

I certainly appreciated the strongly worded call notice, which instructed auditioners not to arrive before 1:30pm, as the call was slated to begin at 2pm. But of course, there were girls waiting outside of Telsey + Co. audition hall at 6am in the morning, happily posting away their determination (or particular brand of crazy, depending on your audience) on audition update.

Oddly, the Telsey people did exactly what the creative team for Evita said they would NOT do, and allowed those women to start a list. Lo and behold, when everyone else arrives around 1pm, there are about 200 names on the list. The production assistant promptly ripped up the list, posted a new list on the board, and -almost gleefully- instigated a free for all that I KID YOU NOT involved hair pulling and pencil stealing of the worst order. At one point, I saw five or six pens on the page at once.

I mean, I know we all want work, but some CIVILITY, people! Needless to say after arriving at 12pm, I was number 356 or so.... I was particularly excited about the audition after realizing that Evita's director is the same director of Don Giovanni at the Met! In my hopeful performer mind I was thinking he might be there somewhere to recognize me. (Ha). Sadly he was not in any of the (FOUR!) audition rooms that the production team ultimately opened. Three of those rooms necessitated an a capella audition - a rare and beautiful thing where you can technically choose your key, tempo, and pitch and the person on the other side of the table won't know any better, as there is no accompanist! That also spells a certain doom for those who may need the piano's assistance to really bang out their song.

Well, I was asked to come back at 3:30pm, and they did not call my name until 5:30pm. Totally acceptable - the norm of the trade is that there is no norm. Saddening though, because by that time I was halfway through my first hour of tutoring for my new client.

During the day, I met this girl Tara, who has a fantastic operetta voice (I first heard her sing at the audition performance class at Broadway Dance Center). She shared that she chose to take four - five months of not working at all in order to pursue auditioning and only auditioning. That plan looks more and more appealing the less open my current part time job is about allowing me back when the Met Opera gig has ended....

There's no future like the present, though, so today I'll be focusing on the things I have control over: making strong lesson plans for my kids, taking voice lessons this afternoon, eating something nutritious before I fall over, and making it to a workout class tonight.

For my fellow performers, a new addition to the Broadway Discourse in the form of video blogging on Youtube. Dance On, thoughts?!

Diary of a Chorus Girl