happy valentine's day!
How many times have I heard that from those of you auditioning?!
I have a secret to tell you in response: Guess what? Sometimes THEY don't know what they want til they see it or hear it.
So those of you auditioning - and I am addressing this blog entry more toward music theatre performers although it can translate for those of you in the classical vein - QUIT TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THEY WANT!! YOU WILL DRIVE YOURSELF NUTS!!!!
If all you care about is what they WANT you will simply not be focused on what you can do. If all you want in the job, all they smell is your desperation. Trust me, THAT STINKS!
So what do you?
Release the notion that there is a logical direction of what "they" want. There isn't. Period. You are responsible to create new possibilities and new paradigms. What do you need to put yourself in a box for????
You will NEVER know what they want. EVER. You must let go of that. Seriously.
What I believe you need to do for that audition process is figure out what YOU are going to show them! You have an opportunity to not guess, but actually DO SOMETHING.
What have you got to show them? What do you want them to see? to hear? to respond to? These are the things YOU are responsible for, and in control of.
How someone responds to you is on them. What you are prepared to DO is on you. Take that responsibility and DO IT!
Know your strengths.
What do you bring into the room that is unique and positive and YOU? Your energy (be specific), your look, your demeanor; The decision to SHOW that is up to you.
What does your voice do well? SHOW IT! Pick the repertoire in order to put your voice and its assets in the spotlight. Be specific. Each audition can show something else, or simply something MORE.
How do you want to make them FEEL? Your ACTION in your dramatic intention needs to be so specific to allow you to focus to know what you want FROM those people at the table. You have to go get that. "I want them to like me" is NOTHING. That is beige, that is boring. Who cares if they like you???? Will you DO something that will make them interested? ACT! And that doesn't mean jazz hands either!
You notice how I haven't said anything about how YOU feel. By the time you are ready to enter an audition room, to have a successful audition, you need to be PAST feeling. You have a job to do. You need to provide these people at the table information to work with, and action to allow them to remember how you made them FELT in order to be intrigued enough to call you back.
1. What kind of energy do you want to to bring in that is uniquely YOU?
2. What do you want to show about your VOICE?
3. How do you want them to FEEL?
DO IT. Focus on the direction of these and keep it simple. The complexity of development happens in the studio with your voice teacher and your acting teacher to give you the technical knowledge to summon your talent to allow you to SHOW and ACCESS what you WANT to do and WANT to show. You cannot realize that until you have the technical accessibility to summon the full reality of your talent and artistry. If you are worried about your repertoire because you don't know if your voice will work, you are not focused for an audition. Your focus is on yourself, not the work. Perhaps you aren't ready to walk into that room yet. It's okay to say I am not ready. I wish more would claim THAT truth and then DO something about it!
"I just don't know what they want!" has nothing to do with.
"I am just confused with what I can do and what I am doing" is probably closer to the truth.
If you know why you do what you do, if you focus on what you bring in, how you bring it in, what you are going to show, and what you will go after to make them FEEL it - you have no time to second guess, to split your focus, to get nervous, to second guess or to ask questions that have no answers.
Ask the right questions. Find the right answers. Discover YOU and lead with that. They might not always know what they want, but they DO want to see YOU. Figure that out and DO YOU.
How many times have I heard that from those of you auditioning?!
I have a secret to tell you in response: Guess what? Sometimes THEY don't know what they want til they see it or hear it.
So those of you auditioning - and I am addressing this blog entry more toward music theatre performers although it can translate for those of you in the classical vein - QUIT TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THEY WANT!! YOU WILL DRIVE YOURSELF NUTS!!!!
If all you care about is what they WANT you will simply not be focused on what you can do. If all you want in the job, all they smell is your desperation. Trust me, THAT STINKS!
So what do you?
Release the notion that there is a logical direction of what "they" want. There isn't. Period. You are responsible to create new possibilities and new paradigms. What do you need to put yourself in a box for????
You will NEVER know what they want. EVER. You must let go of that. Seriously.
What I believe you need to do for that audition process is figure out what YOU are going to show them! You have an opportunity to not guess, but actually DO SOMETHING.
What have you got to show them? What do you want them to see? to hear? to respond to? These are the things YOU are responsible for, and in control of.
How someone responds to you is on them. What you are prepared to DO is on you. Take that responsibility and DO IT!
Know your strengths.
What do you bring into the room that is unique and positive and YOU? Your energy (be specific), your look, your demeanor; The decision to SHOW that is up to you.
What does your voice do well? SHOW IT! Pick the repertoire in order to put your voice and its assets in the spotlight. Be specific. Each audition can show something else, or simply something MORE.
How do you want to make them FEEL? Your ACTION in your dramatic intention needs to be so specific to allow you to focus to know what you want FROM those people at the table. You have to go get that. "I want them to like me" is NOTHING. That is beige, that is boring. Who cares if they like you???? Will you DO something that will make them interested? ACT! And that doesn't mean jazz hands either!
You notice how I haven't said anything about how YOU feel. By the time you are ready to enter an audition room, to have a successful audition, you need to be PAST feeling. You have a job to do. You need to provide these people at the table information to work with, and action to allow them to remember how you made them FELT in order to be intrigued enough to call you back.
1. What kind of energy do you want to to bring in that is uniquely YOU?
2. What do you want to show about your VOICE?
3. How do you want them to FEEL?
DO IT. Focus on the direction of these and keep it simple. The complexity of development happens in the studio with your voice teacher and your acting teacher to give you the technical knowledge to summon your talent to allow you to SHOW and ACCESS what you WANT to do and WANT to show. You cannot realize that until you have the technical accessibility to summon the full reality of your talent and artistry. If you are worried about your repertoire because you don't know if your voice will work, you are not focused for an audition. Your focus is on yourself, not the work. Perhaps you aren't ready to walk into that room yet. It's okay to say I am not ready. I wish more would claim THAT truth and then DO something about it!
"I just don't know what they want!" has nothing to do with.
"I am just confused with what I can do and what I am doing" is probably closer to the truth.
If you know why you do what you do, if you focus on what you bring in, how you bring it in, what you are going to show, and what you will go after to make them FEEL it - you have no time to second guess, to split your focus, to get nervous, to second guess or to ask questions that have no answers.
Ask the right questions. Find the right answers. Discover YOU and lead with that. They might not always know what they want, but they DO want to see YOU. Figure that out and DO YOU.
