Typecasting? Never... (watch video before reading post)

Great video! My favorite moment is near the end when the blonde female yells out, "Ahhhh! I am booking EVERYTHING!!!" I recently went to two auditions that mirrored what the three actors go through this video. One was for a regional production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, a show known for having a multi-cultural cast. But as the guys ahead of me were walking out of the room, I could tell who was staying for the dance call and who was not.  Yes, most if not all, were Caucasian. Not just Caucasian, but the young romantic lead type Caucasian male. Character actors? Out the door. Over 29 years old? Out the door. It was like they were casting all Joseph types for the brothers.

The other was for a combined audition for two regional productions of Les Miserables, pretty much the same story. But in their defense, they did put that they were looking for 20s (I can still pass for 29, right?) tenor/baritone males for the double cast role of Montparnasse/Jean Prouvaire. But as the guys ahead of me exited the room, the ones that were giving high-fives to each other indicating that they were coming back for the callback later that day were....drum roll please...Caucasian males in the 20s, young romantic lead types! You look over 30? There's the door. Character man? And don't let it hit you on the way out.

There were a handful of non-Caucasian males in their 20s, but they only quietly packed up their belongings and headed out the door after singing their 16 bars of music and followed me to the elevator for our Ride of Rejection. I just wanted to ask the guy behind the table, "Couldn't you have put it in the notice that you only wanted Caucasians at this call? So, I didn't have to get out of bed early this morning...on a Saturday, warm up (and wake up my roommate in the process), drink tons of water the night before AND the morning of, and hope and pray all the way there that I could squeak out my high note at 10am after getting my voice cold from walking out on this cold day to get here. Oh, and can I have my headshot back? But hold off, I need to go to the bathroom again."

Back On This Blog After Almost 3 Years!

Well, finally back on here after a long while. I was discouraged by the format of this site sometime last year, I think, but it looks like they have improved the mobile part at least.

Anyway, to update, I am still in NYC auditioning for theatre and working in the glamorous world of film and television as a background actor. I was inspired to start this blog again after creating my new actor website. And then I re-read some of my past posts from 2006/2007 and saw how positive I was back then...and I liked it better than the slightly jaded person I was becoming recently. I could tell I was getting bitter about not booking much theatre work since I arrived here in 2009. I started only to put my focus on finding the next background gig, because it was giving me an almost living wage. But then, I was starting to not be able to go to theatre auditions and started getting comfortable with settling in the background. It was fine. I was getting semi-steady work. I was paying my bills...sort of. But I just wasn't fulfilled with being a supporting role all the time.

I've had a little taste of being a little more featured, but it didn't dawn on me until I took a seminar with a casting agent, that there was something more. I realized that I do have potential. Everyone has potential to succeed in this business, but few work hard enough to do it. I knew I wasn't working hard at it, just making it by. Just hoping on pure luck, like in the past. But I knew in the back of my mind that if I would just go to that audition, instead of talking myself out of it the night or the morning before, and just get my butt out there that things would happen. Just keep going in and do a great job and one day someone will finally give me the opportunity to keep doing what I love the most...live theatre!

Sometimes, you just need to start the ball rolling yourself. I finally made the decision to watch the cash flow and stop eating out and going to Starbucks so much. Made a budget and kept to it, but always knowing that I could be flexible with it too. I started my taxes earlier this year. I took time off of background work to go to an theatre auditions. Been nailing it in my sessions with my vocal coach, and getting my confidence back in the audition room. And so finally, I am a part of, first a reading, and an upcoming workshop production of a new musical. I won't question how I got the role (as I usually do), I will just say, it was meant to be mine at the moment. Someone may take over, if it goes beyond and headed to Broadway, but, right now it's all mine!

And about another project, it is always great to do another reading for a good friend who is an up and coming writer. A really good one, too. I may not be rich right now, sometimes times are tight, but I'm not starving, I'm not homeless, and I'm still pursuing what I love to do...and not a corporate drone stuck in a cubicle in an office.