Audition 23

This past Friday marked the last week of our project, 30 in 30. This past Friday, we had an audition, which we counted towards our 30 in 30, precisely because we obtained the audition within our 30 day time frame. Stephanye, a colleague of mine, actor and executive producer of Nombril Productions, played the game and brought Kevin, Matt, and myself in for a "general." It was great. She gave us each feedback and notes. It was a wonderful audition experience. Later that evening, I also filmed a short vignette with Matt Cody and Darin Quan who auditioned me on Tuesday....dialogue was improvised but it was great practice and it's already edited and posted! Very cool! Friday marked my 15th audition! I am proud to say that I reached my goal of 15 auditions in 30 days! It's been a HUGE learning experience. I want to thank each and every person who helped me to reach this goal, to Kevin my partner, and for all of those who supported us and followed our progress on this blog.

Project Title: Audition 23

Location: Nombril Productions

Date: Friday, October 23, 2009

Time: 2pm

Submitted by: Self

Role: n/a

Medium: Theater/Film

People in

Audition Room: Stephanye Dussud & Jeremy

20, 21, 22

Friday morning I had an audition for a short student film at the New York Institute of Technology. Frankly, I didn't even realize that the NYIT had a film program. Or that there was a NYIT.

Anyway, the format was cold readings and the part I was reading for was an Irish priest so I had to pull my Iish dialect out of my a**.

The interesting thing about this particular audition was that the auditioners were nervous. I'm sure that it was because they were students and this may well have been the first audition that they were conducting on their own, but it was strangely comforting. Because of their nerves they became human and not figures to decide my fate. As a result, I was able to walk away from the audition that I felt ambivalent about and do just that--walk away.

On to the next....

Lara was kind enough to set up auditions for us with a friend of hers who has a production company that produces both film and theater.And Stephanye and her partner Jeremy were kind enough to carve a bit of time to see us. I did the Insomnia monologue for them and they gave me some interesting direction which I've started to incorporate into the piece.

Today I had a class at one on one that was designed to brush up on screen skills. The class was taught by an old friend named Suzy Savoy. She's never seen me perform and I'd never been in a class that she's taught, so there's that moment where your deeply hoping that you/they don't suck. Luckily, Suzy rocks as a teacher and I did a bang up job with the monologue.

Check it out!
one on one on camera monologue

Suzy is kind enough to agreed to sit down with me and allow me to pick her brain. It's my impression that she wants to take me under her wing. Which is pretty awesome!

Project Title: Audition 20

Location: NYIT

Date: October 23, 2009

Time: 10am

Submitted by: Self

Role: Priest

Medium: Film

People in

Audition Room: Charlie Sincinito, et al

Project Title: Audition 21

Location: Nombril Productions

Date: October 23, 2009

Time: 2pm

Submitted by: Lara

Role: n/a

Medium: various

People in

Audition Room: Stephanye Dussud & Jeremy

Project Title: Audition 22

Location: one on one productions

Date: October 24, 2009

Time: 2pm

Submitted by: Self

Role: n/a

Medium: Video

People in

Audition Room: Suzy Savoy and students

Auditions 18 & 19

So we met with Janice at Ripley-Grier and had her record our auditions on video! It was great to see Kevin's work. His work was so concentrated and specific, really lovely. As always, it was great to meet with Janice who has been such a source of inspiration for me.

Project Title: Audition 18

Location: Ripley-Grier

Date: October 19, 2009

Time: 3pm

Submitted by: Self

Role: n/a

Medium: Video

People in

Audition Room:Janice & Kevin

Yesterday, I auditioned for Darin Quan, a filmmaker. It was fantastic. I auditioned with two of my monologues. He gave me a few adjustments on each piece and all of his notes were not only helpful, but brought up so many new and creative choices for me. I really enjoyed the collaborative experience and look forward to the possibility of working with him in the near future!

Project Title: Audition 19

Location: Champion Studios

Date: October 20, 2009

Time: 3pm

Submitted by: Matt Cody

Role: n/a

Medium: Film

People in

Audition Room: Darin Quan

Auditions 15, 16, & 17. Woot!

So, I'm behind the stick at The Brooklyn Inn last Wednesday and one of my regulars, Paul Kelly, is done for the evening.

"Send me off with some Shakespeare," he says as he pulls on his coat.

I take a second to consider, decide I'm going to go for it and then launch into Hamlet's speech to the players. I do the speech directly to him. I could see in his eyes that he was a bit taken aback that I took the challenge (for challenge it was) and furthermore, that he was going to get it full on. He was rapt. When I finished, he was silent for a moment then smiled, shook my hand and thanked me. When I saw him next, he thanked me again.

This whole audition thing is getting easier. Sure, there's a certain flutter of nerves before I begin, but once the words begin, once I'm in the character, I'm having fun. Yes, auditioning is the job. I'm beginning to enjoy the job.

Yesterday, Lara and I met with Janice to check in and record our pieces. For me, one of the exciting things about the experience was wanting, actually wanting, to go first in the taping. Again, I'm enjoying the doing. I'm confident in what I have to present--to give as an actor.

Below are links to both of our pieces:

Kevin's monologue.

Lara's monologue.

Later that same day, I had the pleasure of hanging out with my friend, Jess Cohen, a really talented actress. We hadn't seen each other in a while and spent a lot of time catching up and my recent successes with auditioning came up.

If you haven't been to Bar 13, they have a rooftop deck. We went up for a smoke and she was asking about my pieces so I decided to just do them for her. Which I did. And again, the lack of fear was what struck me. I just loved doing the pieces!

I'll tell you, if there's nothing else I take from this project, it'll be that: the love of the doing.

Project Title: Audition 15

Location: The Brooklyn Inn

Date: Wdnesday, October 14, 2009

Time: Around 9pm

Submitted by: Self

Medium: n/a

Role: n/a

People in Audition

Room: Paul Kelly and others

Project Title: Audition 16

Location: Ripley-Grier Studios

Date: Monday, October 19, 2009

Time: 3:40pm

Submitted by: Self

Medium: Video

Role: n/a

People in Audition

Room: Janice Hoffmann & Lara Silva

Project Title: Audition 17

Location: Rooftop Deck of Bar 13

Date: Monday, October 19, 2009

Time: Around 7pm

Submitted by: Self

Medium: n/a

Role: n/a

People in Audition

Room: Jess Cohen

Auditions 13 & 14

Having recently reached out with a mass email to all my friends and family about possible auditions, two remarkable people offered themselves up as guinea pigs and/or auditors. These two remarkable people happen to be my siblings (I'm only slightly biased in my opinion of them.) My brother Ronnie lives 3,000 miles away in California and currently freelances as PA on commercial and film productions in LA and my sister is an ever busy PhD candidate at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx in bio-medical research. Now, given the distance and their crazy schedules we bring in technology and voila! Today I auditioned for each of them separately over video chat!

It was a very interesting experience, I had never video chatted before and performing via video...it was great! It was exciting to share my work with two wonderful people whom I love and deeply respect.

Project Title: Audition 13

Location(s): My home in Queens & my childhood home in Santa Cruz, CA

Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Time: 2:13pm EST/ 11:13am PST

Submitted by: Self

Medium: Video

Role: n/a

People in Audition

Room: Ronnie Silva

Project Title: Audition 14

Location(s): My home in Queens & my sister's apartment in the Bronx

Date: Tuesday, October 14, 2009

Time: 8:00pm EST

Submitted by: Self

Medium: Video

Role: n/a

People in Audition

Room: Andrea Silva

Audition 11 & 12

Auditon 11

I was visiting a friend on the UWS whose neighbor, John McNally, is a filmmaker. She knocked on his door and asked him if he could spare a few minutes for my project. He said, "sure," and I briefly explained the project and then performed a monologue from Face Divided by Edward Allan Baker. Afterwards, his response was, "I didn't expect it to be that good," and my friend said she got chills. It is a very powerful piece. I like it very much.

Project Title: Audition 11

Location: UWS apartment

Date: Monday, October 12, 2009

Time: 5:50pm

Submitted by: a friend

Medium: n/a

Role: n/a

People in

Audition Room: John McNally, my friend

Audition 12

Right after leaving that audition, I checked my phone, and had a message from Actor, Director, and Vocal Coach Joanne Pattavina, whom I have studied with and who I deeply respect as an artist. I had left her a voicemail and asked if she'd be available for an "audition opportunity." She had 15 minutes to spare and luckily was in the same neighborhood. Now, I did the same monologue, but somehow, perhaps because of our history, because I wanted to do well, I felt I was watching myself, I also felt outside of myself and I knew it wasn't going as good as I would have liked it to go. Joanne was great, because unlike most of my auditions she could give me feedback, and really useful feedback. She picked up on exactly what I felt was going on. She said I was telegraphing, that there was distance between "me", Lara and the "character". I was also playing around with a bit of an accent because the monologue is about a poor/working class couple from Providence Rhode Island. It was a great note, either really work on the accent OR drop it. Great advice. Really grateful for both the auditions, really great experiences.

Project Title: Audition 12

Location : UWS apartment

Date: Monday, October 12, 2009

Time: 6:20pm

Submitted by: Self

Medium: n/a

Role: n/a

People in

Audition Room: Joanne Pattavina

Audition 10

Sunday night. It was another open call, this time for Looking Glass Theater's festival of short plays. Matt Cody met up with me there and we were seen in the first group. 1 minute brief contemporary monologues. 8 down 7 more to go!

Project Title: Winter 2009/Director Forum

Location: Looking Glass Theater, 422 W. 57 Street, NYC

Date: Sunday, October 11, 2009

Time: 6:15pm

Submitted by: Self

Role: Various roles in short plays

People in Audition Room: 10 or so women, names were not provided

Audition 9

Just a quick post:

Got a call from a submission that I did on Backstage early yesterday afternoon. It was for an NYU short and the director wanted to see me in the early evening. Luckily, I'd had enough coffee to field the call. Also, luckily I didn't have to be at work until 10pm.

Go luck!

I think I'm really getting the hang of this. No nerves and had a great time. I could get used to this!

Project Title: Baby
Location: 35 West 4th Street
Date: Saturday, October 10
Time: 7:20pm
Submitted by: Me
Medium: Film
Role: Principal Role
People in the Audition Room: Tine Thomasenn, Allison (didn't get her last name - we auditioned together)

Audition 8

Today at 12:30pm I went to Judy Henderson Casting to audition with commercial copy for a Wal-Mart commercial en espanol. We did 2 rehearsals with the copy and 3 times on tape. I realize that my pronunciation and the accent I use when speaking Spanish could be improved. At one point she said, "Great attitude, now with the better Spanish, I can hear some American in there." Funny, but all in all a great experience. I would love to be going out for commercials all the time. This is audition 7 out of 15! Almost half-way there!

Project Title: Wal Mart Commercial

Location: Judy Henderson Casting 330 W. 89th Street

Date: October 9, 2009

Time: 12:30pm

Submitted by: Avanti Talent

Medium: Commercial

Role: Young Mom

People in Audition Room: Judy Henderson

Audition 7

Yesterday I woke up around 5 am to make the line outside the Equity building by 7:55 am for an EPA for Ground-Up Productions. They were looking for actors for a reading series. I was #5 on the non-union list. As I sat there, Meagan Barno walks in. We met at the Ward Studio and had performed together in I Wish You A Boat 3 years ago. Which was great. We got to wait on line together! Then, my friend Stephanye, an Equity member, said the list was looking good for us to get seen, at that point, they only had people signed up until 10:10am.

While in line, I get this call from a manager who hasn't called me in over a year, for a commercial for Wal-Mart in Spanish at Judy Henderson Casting for tomorrow!!!

Lunch hits, we haven't been seen.

Now it's 3:45pm. None of us had been seen and no updates. Then Katia Hoerning and Matt Cody arrive at the building at about the same time. It's a bit of a reunion. Matt has EMC points, goes into the lounge and speaks the monitor who tells him she's not going to get to any of us. So we leave, a bit saddened and disappointed.

Luckily, all is not lost. Matt told us about an open call for The Milk Can Theater Company at Ripley-Grier. We get there early and are seen in the first 1/2 hour. Audition 7 for our 30 and Audition 6 of my 15...I want to break the halfway mark this week!!! Thanks to Meagan for spending an entire day with me and Matt for the heads up on the audition... and also to the lovely girls who were waiting on line with us.

Project Title: The River- a play
Location: Ripley-Grier Studios-520 Eighth Avenue, 10th floor
Date: Thursday, October 8th, 2009
Time: 6-9pm
Submitted by: SELF
Medium: Theater
Role: Jennifer
People in the Audition Room: Lorraine Cink, Bethany Larsen,

1 other woman whose name I couldn't find out

Audition 5

Sorry, but I am posting Audition 5 after 6. Just got my new computer yesterday!

I just worked a very productive 4 day trip. Averaged 8 hours of flying each day, 14 hour days. I wanted to get at least 1 audition in and the wonderful flight attendants I was working with were game to be auditioned for. On the 3rd day of our trip, in the galley in the back of the plane, after service, I auditioned for Patricia and Juana. It was a monologue cut from Anna in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz, which I love, the character of Conchita. Despite the noise of the engine and the chance of interruptions, I concentrated myself, and went for it. When I finished, they both had tears in the eyes and Patricia came over and hugged me. It was an incredible experience and I am grateful to both of them for being so generous.

Project Title: A Plane Audition
Location: JetBlue Airways Airbus A320/Flight# 315 OAK to IAD/in aft galley
Date: Sunday, October 4th, 2009
Time: 12pm EST
Submitted by: SELF
Medium: Theater
Role: None
People in the Audition Room: Patricia Hill & Juana Espinal

Audition 6 and the Definition of Success

At first, the universe seemed to be conspiring against me.

I woke up late because I had set my alarm to 9pm as opposed to 9am. I discovered that my wife got the stapler in the divorce. The trains were crawling.

I got to 23rd Street at 11:45am. My appointment was at noon, four blocks north, and I was still sans stapler. Oh, by the way, they want you to be there 10 to 15 minutes early to fill out paperwork.

I kept my head, ducked into a CVS along the way to pick up a stapler and managed not to strangle the clerk at the counter (clerk counting out my change: One. Two. Three. ARRGGHHH!!!!!!), and got there at 11:55. I checked in, filled out the paperwork, stapled the resume to the headshot, and waited. Luckily they were running a little behind.

As I waited, to quell any nerves, I did my yoga breathing and reviewed my pieces (Walter from the film Insomnia and Man from Chirstopher Durang's Laughing Wild). In the lobby of One on One (http://www.oneononenyc.com/)they have a monitor where they show off their success stories. I really hadn't been looking at it, but at one point I looked over my shoulder at the screen and there was my friend Matt Cody's smiling face. I took it as a good sign.

I was feeling good - excited to strut my stuff - when my auditioner, Michael Goldfried (www.michaelgoldfried.com), invited me into the room. Completely centered, I knocked both pieces out of the park, then sat down to receive his comments.

"That was really good," he said.

He proceeded to compliment both my choice of pieces and me as actor. I believe his words were something along the lines of, "You're a very good actor."

(Insert MASSIVE s**t eating grin here)

We chatted a bit more about my goals, etc. I thanked him and went to gather my things and let myself out. As I was about to open the door he says, "Oh, let me ask you a question."

I stop and turn around.

He says, "I teach a directing class at SVA and we sometimes hire actors to participate. Would you have any interest in something like that?"

(OH, HELL YEAH!!)

"Sure," I say.

He gives me his card and asks me to keep in touch. I float out of the room and down to Union Square to meet Lara.

I would say that that was an unqualified success. Which brings me to:

The Definition of Success.

I'm not sure if we'll be able to meet our goal. I'm not even convinced that that is really the most important thing about this project. I have gleaned so much so far:

• The importance of communication
• The importance of self-confidence
• The self sabotage of not seeing the forest for the trees
• And by extension, the importance of the baby step.

I would say that ANY lesson learned from this process is a success.

All of which is not to say I'm not going to do my damnedest to achieve our goal.

I'm on fire right now. I am a good actor. I believe in myself.

This is who I am.

Project Title: One on One
Location: 34 West 27th Street, 11th Fl.
Date: Wednesday, October 7
Time: 12pm
Submitted by: N/A
Medium: Networking
Role: General
People in the Audition Room: Michael Goldfried

Monday updates

Just some quick updates from today:

• I'm auditioning for One on One Wednesday at noon.
• I've joined Backstage.com, got my headshots and resume onto the site and submitted myself for a bunch of stuff.
• Fingers are crossed!

Hopefully more to report soon!

Last Weekend

Last weekend, Kean University Theatre Department produced a retrospective going back to it's first incarnation as a drama club in the early 20th century. This is the event for which I've been working on Hamlet's speech to the players.

The weekend was amazing.

It started Friday, when I picked up my headshots. They look fantastic. I'm so pleased! (Thank you, Scott!)

I then hopped a train out to Jersey for a rehearsal. The train station in Union is butt up against the Kean Campus. I was already keyed up by the prospect of seeing people that I've not seen in years and being in spaces where the ghosts of performances past still linger, but I was completely unprepared for the physical changes that had taken place. New facilities and buildings seemed to have sprouted, fully formed from the empty places in my memories.

In my adrenaline fueled, hopped up state, I made my way to the main theatre on campus, taking in all the change, quietly reciting the monologue by-rote, and welcoming the flood of memories filling my head and my heart. Arriving at the theatre, I crossed the lobby and entered the theatre where the memories threatened to overwhelm me. It was here that I started my Kean theatrical career, playing Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. 

Peggy Dunn, a professor emerita who directed me as Toby Belch in Twelfth Night many years ago was my coach on the piece. We were able to find an empty classroom in the building and rehearsed for an hour or so. I was nervous at first. I've been operating in my safe, comfort zone for so long, that working with someone new - even someone who I have worked with before but separated by years - was outside that zone. But that's what this whole process is about. Getting out of the comfort zone. So, I threw myself out there and we had an extremely successful rehearsal. The piece took off.

On Saturday evening, after an extremely long and emotional day of rehearsal, we did the show. I knocked the speech out of the park.

So, energized by the weekend, pictures in hand, I'm ready to make the best of the time remaining in the project.

Up next: Today I'm going to set up an audition with One on One.

Project Title: Encore! A Theatre Retrospective
Location:Wilkins Theatre, Kean University, Union, NJ
Date: Saturday, October 3
Time: 7pm
Submitted by: N/A
Medium: Theatre
Role: General
People in the Audition Room: Holly Rhoades Logue, Michele Mossay-Cuevas, Susan Speidel, etc.

Audition 4

Yesterday, thanks to my wonderful friend Joel, I auditioned for Leslie Zaslower, Director of Talent and Casting for Nickelodeon. (Danielle, who also casts for Nickelodeon was also in the room.) It was a "general," so I auditioned for them, but not for a role that they are casting. It was more of a meet and greet. For my audition, I was given copy ahead of time for the role of "HOST" for a show where I'd be talking to parents about doing activities with their preschoolers. It was actually really great to work on the copy and I'd like to thank Matt Cody for giving me absolutely wonderful feedback on my read..I'd also like to an extend a thank you to Kevin who lent me his camera so I could work on my own.

Leslie and Danielle were great. Leslie thought the idea for the project was wonderful and suggested that I definitely get on Twitter to publicize. They gave me great feedback, had some wonderful suggestions and answered all my questions! All in all, a great experience.

Project Title: A General
Location:1515 Broadway, 38th Floor
Date: Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Time: 2pm
Submitted by: Joel Fisher
Medium: TV
Role: Host
People in the Audition Room: Leslie & Danielle