Why hello to everyone out there in the wonderful world of the web! I know you all were just losing sleep over the fact that you wanted to read another Ben blog and there was no new materiel in which to indulge ones self...so you reached for your iPods and remote controls... but at long last the blog is here, so you can relax and read...stuff. Let's dive in.
The Training
Alright, to correctly tell this story, you must first know a couple of things that make it more interesting... Like what you ask? Like the fact that I really hadn't sang "Broadway" type songs in over a year, like the fact that this was my first audition in over a year... And if I got cast, it would be the first show I've been in since Brighton Beach Memoirs with City Rep in 2005... So, with that in mind I prepared. I sat in my car listening to "Eye of the Tiger"... then realized that this was not going to get my singing voice back in shape... so I took it out, and put on some old lame voice rehearsal tapes that I had found collecting dust, and starting singing along with it (if you could call what I was doing singing). I'm not going to lie, I pretty much sucked at first... sounding more a dying baby lion then a young man. But I was eager to improve, and with time I did. After a hard day of training my voice I would eat some ice cream... put some whip cream on there and consume it all! I'm not sure what this has to do with anything, but ya. So, really with all the practicing I had been doing there was but one thing to do... wait for auditions.
The Audition
The morning of auditions come fast... I walked inside and soon I found myself surrounded with familiar places, and nervous but smiling faces... and quickly remembered why I loved acting so much. I filled out the paperwork and was whisked away into the theatre to learn the dance. One thing I had not practiced was dancing... the reasons for this being... A: I fill like a big, tall, thin dork when I dance Broadway stuff in front of people... and B: I didn't really have much to learn from... So, when I saw the dance we had to do I went right to work! I stepped to the left, I stepped to the right... something was wrong. Yes, that was it... I cared what people thought of how I looked... So, I threw that aside and went for the gusto! And it worked! In no time I was dealing fifties moves like there was no tomorrow. I finished learning the dance, got my things, and moved to door number two. In door number two I learned the dance really fast... and... waited! Which is of course my all time favorite thing to do at auditions. Finally I went in to the audition for the Director. I aced the dance and my song, boo ya! He walked over to several sheets of paper and picked a half dozen, and walks up to me. He says, "I want you to come back to call backs for Albert and Birdie. Learn these monologues and songs by the date of call backs." Well, after great news like that there is only one thing to do... go to work. And of course prepare for call backs.
The Call Backs
Call backs came as quickly as auditions did, and I felt ready to be... the person I was supposed to be... or whatever. I got there when they asked me to and waited... and waited... and waited. Two hours, three jugs of water, and a trip to the bathroom later I was called to do what I do best... be a ham. I went back there and gave it my best shot for both roles, and I felt confident too. I left call backs that night doing the only I could now do... wait. The next day while I was at work I received a message from the Director asking me to please call him back. So while I was on my lunch break I called him back. I got his voicemail... that did it. My appetite left... I had to know why he called. I ended my meal and headed back to my place of employment. My phone rings... I reach franticly for it, it's the Director. I answer, we make small talk... then he offers me the role of Conrad Birdie! To which I naturally graciously accepted! The end. btw the show will run the end of July through the beginning of August... I will give more details when the show gets closer.
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