The introverted-extrovert

May I say something when it comes to memorization: Years and years ago I could memorize in the blink of an eye. I took pride in my ability to memorize lines, facts and things quickly and accurately. As my acting career continued, I was a singer first. I memorized songs rather than scenes. I auditioned for musicals rather than plays (in fact I've still never done one straight play in my lifetime). Slowly, and without me even realizing it those skills of memorization faded away. When I had to memorize a short line in a musical or a scene for a competition ,I had a very difficult time. It took me weeks, sometime months, ahead of time to get familiar with and memorize material before I had them solidly down. Although this could fly in my high school career where all I auditioned for and took as a class was Musical Theater, it could not in college. I had now chosen a major where I really had to be an actor first (as my drama teacher always said). Being an actor first meant that I had t...

For those who may want to read it, here is the second real monologue I have chosen. I chose this monologue because it is a great contrast from my previous Saint Joan monologue. This is a comedic piece from The Odd Couple by Neil Simon. Olive: I’ll tell you exactly what it is. It’s the cooking, the cleaning and the crying. It’s the talking in your sleep. It’s the moose calls that open your ears at two o’clock in the morning. I can’t take it any more, Florence. I’m cracking up. Everything you do irritates me. And when you’re not here, the things I know you’re going to do when you come in irritate me… You leave little notes on my pillows. “We’re all out of corn flakes. F.U.” ...It took me three hours to figure out that F.U. was Florence Unger…That’s just the frame. The picture I haven’t even painted yet… Every night in my diary I write down the things you did that day that aggravate me… This is June and so far I filled up to January… And I haven’t even put down the Gazpacho brothers ...

Auditioning Let's chat for a minute about choosing the right audition piece and I will share with you how I do so. When you go into an audition, for anything, you are trying to present you and the best version of you in sometimes less than 30 seconds. That can be hard to do. A few basic tips are things like: -Wear the right clothing- something that looks good on you, is you/your character, and that isn't too distracting. Wear a color similar to the one that you are wearing in you headshot. Always look professional -Try not to be stressed or worried- the easiest way to be yourself is to be relaxed and comfortable and open -Be you but always make your best effort to be engaging- that gives you a much better chance of being remembered -Be honest. If you are asked any questions (like if you're nervous), it's okay to be honest. Honesty is key when it comes to being yourself -Talk to your directors/adjudicators/accompanist if appropriate. Make sure to be polite, thank...

As I prepared to perform my first, true monologue in front of my Acting 1 class I was not as afraid as I was on the first day. In fact, I was hardly scared at all. The only thing I was mildly worried about was if I truly had it all memorized. (Now keep in mind, because I was prepared and did have it all memorized, I was hardly nervous, whereas when I am unsure about anything within my monologue or my preparation, I get rather anxious about it. When you are worried about a performance, you can often evaluate how well-prepared you are by how nervous or anxious you feel.) Another thing that added to my confidence was my classmates. In this particular class, we got over the hard part at the beginning, when we didn't know each other, our teacher, or anythings else. Our first monologue, if you recall, was the more vulnerable, difficult one. Now that we as a class are comfortable with each other it is much easier and meaningful when one of us performs. It helps us get to know each other b...

Before I tell about the experience with performing my first real monologue ever, here it is, a beautiful piece by George Bernard Shaw from the play Saint Joan. Yes they told me you were fools!  That I was not to listen to your fine words, nor trust your charity.  You promised me my life but you lied!  You think that life is nothing but not being stone dead.  It is not the bread and water that I fear, for I can live on bread.  When have I ever asked for more?  And it is not a hardship to drink water if the water be clean.  Bread has no sorrow for me and water no affliction.  But to shut me from the light of the sky and the sight of the fields and flowers; to chain my feet so that I may never ride with the soldiers; nor climb the hills.  To make me breathe cold damp darkness and keep me from every thing that brings me back to the love of God when your foolishness and wickedness tempt me to hate him.All this is worse than the furnace in the ...