happy SUMMER!
Summer Solstice always gives me feelings of magic and of possibility...
So how about we CLAIM that magic and possibility???
Let's talk, the dreaded audition room.
(Trust me, I am groaning with you!)
How I wish I could get each of you in the room with me, get my hands on you and watch you claim your magic and your space...but alas, the blog will have to try to provide some insight...
The audition room isn't inviting.
The audition room is surreal.
I have no idea what just happened in the audition room.
Why can I do it just fine in the studio and then I blow it in the audition room????
Sound familiar?
Okay my beautiful, unique and precious snowflakes...here goes.
The audition room is magic ONLY when you are present there.
Take a second....let that one absorb a little....
The audition room IS inviting when you are present there.
The audition room is REAL when you are present there.
You will know EXACTLY what happens in the audition room when you are PRESENT.
Are you truly present in the studio? Or pretending? If you are present, then you have the power to be present in the audition room!
I have started offering audition master classes through the summer. It is always a great way for me to see/watch/learn from my singers in this environment. In the studio, they know they are safe - it's a nest of sorts - one I work hard to create to explore in (and then push you out of - fly, be free!!)
HOWEVER...
I don't get the privilege of watching you in the audition room. Suddenly in that environment things change don't they?
There's a whole lot of "too" that happens...
TOO perky.
TOO tense.
TOO fast.
TOO scared.
TOO held.
TOO annoying.
Did I say TOO perky? yeah, that one needs to be said twice.
Here's a little secret: The audition? It is YOURS. It doesn't belong to anybody else. You aren't invading some one's space. You don't need to permission to be there. Those people sitting at the table and the guy/gal at the piano? They have a job only because YOU are there to audition. Seriously! Nobody auditions, no point in sitting there right?
So, if it is YOURS, why are you rushing? why are you not present? why are you freaking yourself out?
First thing: what are you CHOOSING to reveal in the room? And it is a choice. If you do not make a conscious decision of what you want to reveal and focus on that, what is often revealed is literally what you don't want them to see (nerves, perkiness, annoying behavior, amateur-esque-ness).
So, if it is to your choosing - what do you want to reveal?
Remember it is an audition. This isn't the time to get deep and artistic (hard for us who are deep and artistic!) I love my casting friends, but let's get real: during an audition day their attention is...squirrel! If you have nothing real to say.
You know what I'm saying here...
So if you make it complex, they are just gonna notice that dust bunny under the piano....or that broken nail...or message me on facebook!
it is YOUR audition.
They will pay attention to you ONLY when you claim it. If you have something to say, and something to reveal, then and only then will it have a chance of being heard.
Choose and claim your REVEAL. Choose ONE THING. Complicated doesn't work in the audition room. For ANYBODY.
Then something as simple as being present comes into focus. Are you really present?
I beg to differ. This is something we ALL need to be aware of. Often we are already out of the room before we even enter the room.
We just want to be done!
Once you learn to claim and be present, you will enjoy the magic you can create literally every step you take.
How many of you actually know which foot you stepped into the room with? Yeah, THAT present.
Did you smile? With your teeth or without?
Did you speak? (In the words of the character of Helen Sinclair in "Bullets Over Broadway": Don't Speak!")
Seriously. You aren't there to visit, to be buddy buddy, to "hi guys" people at the casting table. You are there to reveal to be considered for a job. Period.
How many steps did it take to get to the piano? Try counting. That is really staying present.
Did you breathe with each step? Are you holding your breath while you walk?
Where is your energy in your body as you walk?
Did you make eye contact with the pianist? Did you notice what color their shoes were?
How many seconds did you take to ground yourself before your intro/bell tone?
Did you remind yourself about your focus of reveal before you took your first singing breath?
How many people are in the room?
How many seconds did it take before they looked up when you started singing?
Most of you (and trust me, neither was I many moons ago!) are not that present.
I challenge you to BE that present.
Don't try to do ALL of it in the first audition of being aware. Start out simply with 1. what foot did I enter the room with? 2. how many steps did I take to get to the piano? 3. How many seconds did I take before I started to sing in order to actually BREATHE?! 4. How many steps did it take to LEAVE the room? (your audition is still happening - even back in the dreaded jazz hands hallway!)
Start exploring your REVEAL. What about YOU are you CHOOSING to reveal in the room?
It is a choice.
And then get and STAY present. Literally one step at a time.
Happy summer auditioning!
