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