Audition report--

Wow.

I was really on a roll going into this one. I had successfully prepared three auditions for today and with two behind me, I was cruising into the home stretch, gears a-spinning and guns a-blazing. Or so I thought.

When I arrived, the casting assistant was pairing up men reading for MITCH with women reading for JOY. "I don't have anyone for you right now," she told me as she checked my name off her list. So I sat and waited. And waited. The hallway began to fill with people. Many Mitches. Many (though not quite as many) Joys. And pairs were being set up, but no one was being set up with me. I was pretty far down the list so I didn't panic, until I saw someone who had arrived after me get himself a little Joy.

I started to panic a little. I had gotten excited about the idea of getting to run the scene a couple of times before going in, and then performing it with a live Joy. Sure, it was more dangerous to have to rely on another actor but it could be fun. That fun was not to be mine. So I went down the hallway a little bit and started to run the lines with my usual scene partner -- myself.

The scene felt terrible. I don't know what had happened but it felt all wrong. I couldn't seem to re-find the rhythm of the scene. Then Tony called me in. Alas, I was alone, facing the producers, with an empty chair by my side. Tony was a few feet off to the right, on a couch, reading Joy's lines. I said the first line and got a little chuckle. "Great," I thought, "They're going to be very supportive." Unfortunately it was the last noise they made for the rest of the reading. They sat stone-faced. I stared at the back wall and had trouble deciding between looking at the empty chair next to me or all the way over to Tony. So I just stared at the back wall more.

I stumbled to the end and they mercifully sent me on my way. Maybe three auditions a day is one over my limit.

So maybe it wasn't me. A friend of mine went in to read for I Do this week as well and cautioned someone else against auditioning for the show. "It's a terrible room," he warned. "Don't even go in on it." It's nice when you can find a reason not to blame yourself.

Pilot Auditions | Theatrical Auditions | Auditions