#1. Imaginary Beasts

I never thought I'd be so interested in the work of Moliére, but a production of two of his plays entitled "Moliére Squared"? How could I not be intrigued?!

I got off of the Orange Line at Ruggles Station, crossed the street and looked out. "So this is Northeastern University," I said aloud to no one.

I followed the path down past some shiny glass buildings, realized I went too far, popped into a convenience store for directions, then headed back to Shillman Hall.

I'm trying to get into the habit of having at least one picture for every post. So, here: here's Shillman Hall.



Now that THAT'S out of the way...

The check-in table was at the end of a hallway on the third floor. As I was filling in my form, the director poked his head out of a lecture room to one side and said I could come in whenever I was ready.

"I was BORN ready!" I replied. Except I didn't; I just wish I had.

When I went in, he gave me the skinny. He'd listen to my monologue to get an idea of what I'm all about, then he'd give me two scenes to work on - he was more concerned with seeing how I play.

OH, I thought. I expected to hop in and hop out of this audition - I didn't expect to actually be engaged!

After I did my Misanthrope monologue, he gave me two scenes: one from George Dandin, and another from Amphitryon (where I read for Mercury, how cool is THAT?)

I then withdrew to another room with a Imaginary Beasts company member, who prob'ly had more good ideas in her than I did. We worked on (or should I say PLAYED WITH?!) the two scenes for a bit, and we went back in with them. I was... all right.

Mr. Director then let me know what a huge turnout they had gotten for this production, and that he'd have a lot of hard work ahead of him when it came to casting.

BUT, he told me, he wanted to keep me in mind for future projects. Maybe he tells every actor that.

And then he hoped that I would be kind to him on my headshot blog.



Wh... HOW'D HE KNOW?

Oh, I probably taped the wrong resume to the back of my headshot.



9 headshots remain.

ALERT! 3 x 10 Headshots!

These past 10 headshots have proven to be just as fruitful as the first.

I was cast exactly once for the first 10, and I was cast exactly once for the second 10. Both times for unpaid 10-minute play festivals.

Things can only improve for the next ten!

For this batch, my photographer threw in prints of another photo we had taken in that same session.



I dunno. I'm not CRAZY about it. My eyes are pretty vacant. And that's not my jacket. But we'll see what Boston thinks!

#10. Zeitgeist Stage

A production of Farragut North, a pretty new play loosely based on the playwright's experience working on the Howard Dean's 2004 primary campaign.

Several of my accomplices and I have been excited by this one for a while, because it's a great script and two of the roles are white males in our age range - the main character being one.

"ONE of us has gotta get this," we've been saying. "We're gonna ROCK this."

I arrived at the BCA Plaza Theatre in good spirits. The last time I auditioned there was my first success on this blog.

The stage manager greeted me with great verve, and I filled out the audition form. I marked that I wished to be considered for two characters: Stephen, the lead, and Ben, who is not the lead.

She pointed to another fellow, Nate. I would be reading for Stephen and he would read for Ben. This instantly struck me as a poor idea, as Stephen was the older character, and I was visibly younger than Nate (no offense to Nate).

We read through our scene a few times. And, frankly, I could not tap into the aggressive campaign manager that Stephen was supposed to be. So I suggested that we read through again, but with the roles switched.

Of course, I was able to find a lot more juice in the role of the meeker Ben, and Nate made for a much prouder and robust Stephen. It made perfect sense.

But then - and I'm thinking back on this, and I don't know why it happened - we agreed to switch the roles back.

We were then called in to do a tepid reading in front of the director in the black box theater. He said Thank You politely.

We came out expecting to be handed another side. Instead, we were bid good night.

We looked at each other, shrugged, and took off.



No headshots remain...?

#8 & 9. Commonwealth Shakespeare Company

Comm Shakes is putting up Othello in the Boston Common this summer. It's kind of like The Publick Theater's Shakespeare in Central Park, except in Boston Common, so, y'know, it's more New English.

I needed two contrasting monologues - one classical. I figured that I could kill two birds with one stone and learn a new comedic monologue that I could also use for a future audition.

So I chose a monologue from Moliére's The Misanthrope, in which Acaste tells a rival suitor that he is the greatest and the best because he is rich and can feign intelligence. Whether or not I'd ever be cast in the role, it's a great monologue.

Of course, I spent all week goofing off, playing Breath of Fire III and Heavy Rain. I woke up the day of the audition having still not memorized the monologue.

So I transcribed the monologue in a notebook and worked on it everywhere I went. Taking it off the page in the subway, practicing aloud and loudly as I walked from place to place as the rain was ever-threatening, tasting every syllable in every way that occurred to me. from Kendall to Central to Inman to Sullivan. I even practiced on Prospect hill, which I didn't even know existed.



I didn't get to stand on the top, but it was a nice place to work.

I practiced all the way into Downtown, through Boston Common, all the way into the Paramount Center at Emerson College. I went up to the sixth floor, looked at all the nice things that I didn't have access to while I was attending, then was asked into the audition room.

Three gentlemen made me feel quite welcome, then asked me what I'd be doing for them.

"I have two pieces from The Misanthrope and Another Bad Night at the Candy Factory by Jeff Belanger."

And then I laughed uproariously at the three men on the other side of the room. By throwing myself for a loop I managed to unleash something like an adrenaline rush which really added a spark to my performance. Also, laughing at my audience was a boon for my self-esteem, not unlike imagining them in their underwear.

Then the director told me that I gave a great audition and that they'd be in touch. He says that to a lot of people, I'm sure, but at least he didn't tell me to get the hell out!

I felt great. Makes me wonder if I shouldn't cram a new monologue before EVERY audition! I don't even care if I get called back - I was on fire.

Too bad they asked for two headshots.



1 headshot remains.

CHALLENGE: Simulated Amnesia

Fellow Emerson College graduates Alexandra McConnell-Trivelli and Kaite Fleming, now that they're not so busy with Sleep No More, have begun work on a collaborative project inspired by the condition of Clive Wearing, a British musicologist with the most acute case of reoccurring amnesia in history.

They have cast me as the amnesiac.

Area IV members Zachary Baker-Salmon and Charlotte Jusino are also a part of the project.

For such a peculiar role I thought it would be best to supplement the rehearsal process with a bit of behavioral reconditioning. I've decided to Daniel Day-Lewis this shit.

For now, this basically just means following a few rules in my day-to-day life.

• Greet everyone with enthusiasm
  
• Keep a diary of my thoughts (or rather my first thought, repeatedly)
  
• Play Solitaire
  
  • Obtain a deck of cards
  • Or: Tetris
    
• Investigate self mid-activity ("How did I start doing this?")
  
• React impulsively and completely to every new sight and sensation
  
  • Movement exercises to raise awareness
• Reduce concern for physical appearance
  
  • Though scrutinize reflection when passing mirrors
    

There's more I can do, I bet. The main thing is to remain alert and follow my passions. Once I can do that I can work on narrowing the scope of my memory.

Or I can run into a few walls head first.

#7. Boston Actors Theater

The Altruists by Nicky Silver has been touted as one of the funniest contemporary plays by my peers. It's pretty good, anyway. So I guess it made sense to check it out when these guys were putting it up.

Auditions were at Boston Playwrights' Theatre. Man, that place gets all of the action.

Boston Actors Theater. Boston Playwrights' Theatre. Huh.

This was a cold-read audition. Before I signed in I was asked who I thought I should read for. I wanted to say, "What do YOU think, smart guy?!" but I didn't think I'd score too many points with that one. Here are all the male roles:

RONALD: Male mid 20s to 30s, a gay social worker; a well intentioned dreamer
ETHAN: Male late 20s to early 30s, a womanizing political activist
LANCE: Male early 20s, a beautiful, stupid street hustler and prostitute

Since no one would cast me to portray any of these characters, anyway - and I pretty much knew that coming into this - I said that I would read for Ethan.

I read a scene between the characters Ethan and Sydney with another actor, Lauren. We read through it again and again. She was getting funnier each time and I was not. Sydney was clearly the focus of the scene, as all of her objectives were pretty clear. All Ethan seemed to do was act as a brick wall, refuting all of her points. But I figured, "Well, listening is acting, too; not just speaking."

So I listened to Sydney real hard for the directors. And then they told me they had seen enough.

In my heart, I knew that I should have read for the gay social worker.



3 headshots remain

#6. TRIPLE HEADER!

1) BAD HABIT PRODUCTIONS

Stop Kiss

Held at the Lyric Stage Company theater right next to Copley. When I checked in, I was handed an audition form by the fellow at the table an a side for the character Peter. I wonder how he decided that Peter was the character I should read for? Before I could asked he pointed to a table topped with coffee and cookies that I could help myself to, which I promptly did.

I barely sat down to fill out the form when Rough Week accomplice Scarlett Redmond emerged from the restroom. I used this opportunity to ask if she would be interested in being in a stage reading I was directing for Centastage. She said Yes.

I was invited into the theater, which was still set for Lyric Stage's production of Groundswell. I had always liked Lyric's theater - a modern thrust where every seat is a good seat, both cozy and roomy, like a Volkswagen Beetle.

Sitting in the house were the director, producer and stage manager. They told me to do my monologue and read the provided side in whichever order I pleased, and that I could use the folding chair on stage of I needed to.

I have never used the chair in an audition before. I always figured sitting was never as impressive as standing and moving about. But I told them that I would be doing my a monologue from Another Bad Night at the Candy Factory - and, OF COURSE, I have to be tied to a chair for that monologue.

So I pulled up the folding chair, put my hands behind it to mime being tied up and fired away. I didn't realize how steep the seating was in the house. I expected to be looking out past everyone, but instead I was just ended up kind of looking into them. It didn't help that I was really far downstage and all up in their business to begin with. WHOOPS!

Then I switched to the side. In the material I was given, my character was speaking to his incapacitated girlfriend at her hospital bed. What sucks about that is that the whole time I was pretty much speaking downward and rather quietly - you know, the way you WOULD speak to your incapacitated girlfriend. I wasn't sure they could even see or hear me.

Also I was wearing a turtleneck sweater. I mean, I look great in turtleneck sweaters, but looking down for so long, I could feel it creeping right up into my chin.

2) STONEHAM THEATRE

Marathon

I almost didn't audition for this one. It was for a play with only two roles and and it was in Stoneham. But once I read that anyone cast in the play would have to run in place on stage for the duration of the performance, I had to step up for the challenge.

I was half an hour late. I keep saying that I can't be late to auditions, but, I mean, I had to take a bus I had never taken to get to a place I had never been. And it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the buses were running on a holiday schedule. So come on.

Yeah, so I had never been to Stoneham Theatre's theater before. It's really nice! It's so clean and shiny - a renovated movie theater. The director was sitting in the gallery. I introduced myself as, "I am really very late." He was nonplussed, and just asked that I fill out an audition form. Then I did my Harry monologue for him.

Then I read a side with the other guy there, Tim. We read it while running in place - each reading one role and then switching on our second time through. Tim had the foresight to bring sneakers with him.

The material is really great. I would've loved to have done it. And I totally could have. I've done a performance piece where I ran back and forth on a pier for an hour and a half. I didn't have any lines, but still - the potential's there.

I just really wanted an excuse to push myself... I should just write a role for myself where I constantly lift things and do jumping jacks.

3) INDEPENDENT DRAMA SOCIETY

Three Days of Rain

After this past SLAMBoston was concluded, I was invited to audition for Three Days of Rain. There were three nights of auditions for a play with only three roles. Probably because it's so easy to get space at BU, where the auditions where. So why not?

It's pretty cool walking to an audition and being greeted by name before you say anything. It's also kind of weird. I mean, what happens when a bunch of people who DON'T know the producers see that the producers know YOU and then you don't get cast? Who knows?!

I went in to read just once with two actors whom I was already acquainted with from SLAMBoston. We read for the director, whom we all were acquainted with. Even with all the familiarity it's still weird, presenting a material as though it were actually a scene. Especially when you barely know who the characters are, where they entered from or what else is in their immediate environment.

It's weird. I hated the concept of the monologue as the crux of the audition, but I've become so used to creating my own personal story to present to others now that cold reads, which I once loved, have become so alien.

I'm always learning. I need to attain balance. Equilibrium.

RESULTS

Of the three productions, I was called back for STOP KISS and THREE DAYS OF RAIN. I was cast in neither.

Scarlett, though, was cast in Stop Kiss. Hooray for Scarlett!

In one week I auditioned for three productions and was called back for two. I don't think that's too bad.

Especially considering all it cost was one headshot! Interestingly, only Stoneham - the guys that didn't call me back - needed a headshot.

I hope they frame it somewhere.



4 headshots remain.