SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1999 ----------------------------In this issue--------------------------------------- The Play's the Thing: Anatomy of an Audition or The Art of Keeping Directors in the Same Room Enter Laughing: Some corrections from the TRE editorial staff and columnists Voices in Contemporary Theatre: Last month I promised a return to my trademark cosmopolitan cynicism, and invited e-mail on the subject of amateurs who think they're professional. Towards that end: A glossary of Amateurism, Professionalism, and the Bay of Pigs: Rubin's Corner: New Productions for the Fall CyberTheatre Monthly: Broadcast.com, Industry Central, Tales from the Deck. Techie's Corner by Michael Powers: Columnist Michael Powers returns with more expertise for creating Fire -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE PLAY'S THE THING Anatomy of an Audition or The Art of Keeping Directors in the Same Room Hello to all! Pheewwwwww! What a couple of weeks I have spent! I have started my last year of college, for the BA in Performance. I have gone through auditions for the semester. I started a new job as the Group Sales Assistant for the theatre department. I am shopping around for an MA or MFA program, as if I haven't been in school long enough. I am deep into rehearsals for our production of Triumph of Love, which is the musical that Susan Egan and Betty Buckley did on Broadway. Quit laughing at me for assistant directing a musical cause I actually like this one! I can hear all my online theatre friends snickering because they said that eventually I would find some musicals that I liked. And as if that isn't enough, I still have to find time to be the Artistic Director for Skull and Dagger, the student dramatic society for San Diego State University. So, enough about me . . . how are all of you? This month I have decided to vent about auditions in general and pass on some of my comments, from a director's standpoint, about the care and feeding of an auditioning actor. Now keep in mind that this is primarily aimed at the college crowd, and those fresh-faced actors who have just left high school without a clue about how to audition at the college and professional level. These are not hard and fast rules. They just represent the rambling of a director who sat through many hours of auditions and saw many don'ts and do's regarding the audition process. Let's get to the bad news first . . . good news will follow. DON'T #1: Short skirts, shorts, tee shirts and clunky shoes I know we all want to look fashionable with the latest thing off the rack from Norstrom's or the Gap, but let's be realistic. An audition is a job interview, whether for college, community theatre, or the professional stage. Would you apply for a job on Wall Street in a skirt so short that you could not sit or bend over in? Would shorts be appropriate for a job interview with a major film producer or a Fortune 500 company? I think not. Keep in mind (and this is for the ladies right now) that the stage you are on for the audition is generally higher than the seats of the auditorium. If you wear too short of a skirt and plan on moving, bending, kneeling, climbing on a chair, or laying on the floor, the auditors might be able to tell you what secret Victoria's Secret has been hiding. It makes auditors very nervous if they are distracted by the clothing you wear. I watched directors turn away from the audition because of being embarrassed by the short skirt or a blouse cut so low that nothing was hidden. Make sure that your skirt is long enough to work and move in. You want the auditor to focus on you, not what you have on underneath an outfit. Shorts and tee shirts are also a distraction because it seems to me (and other directors with whom I have spoken) that such a casual dress for an audition shows a casual interest in that same audition. How much time does it take to select a nice pair of slacks and a dress shirt. This applies both to the men and the women. AND PLEASE, shed the need to wear those clunky platform shoes that are so popular. They are noisy! The clomp, clomp, clomp of those shoes as you walk across the stage get louder and louder to the auditor who has heard 50 other people wearing them. They are not easy to work or move in, and the height you gain from them could be a loss of a part if an auditor is too busy covering his or her ears to hear your audition piece. Tennis shoes are no better as they fit in the category of too casual. Invest some money into one good pair of shoes for auditions, like character shoes, dance shoes, or a nice quiet pair of loafers. Believe me, what you spend now could pay for itself in parts. DON'T #2: Too many Juliets spoil the casting pot Do you have any idea how many times an auditor hears the same monologues in a day of auditions? Well, recently I heard far too many Juliets doing the balcony speech from Romeo and Juliet, Kates from Taming of the Shrew, Jailor's Daughters from Two Noble Kinsmen and a slew of Hamlets, Macbeths, and Lears. A potential director wants to hear something different. If everyone is doing "To be or not to be," then find another piece that is not generally done. Look around and find something that no one else may do. For myself, I scour Shakespeare and find the offbeat, the seldom done, the familiar character with an unfamiliar monologue. I love Queen Margaret from the Henry VI (all parts) and Richard III, but I don't do the "crooked back Dickie boy," which is one of her best known speeches. I found several other speeches of hers that are just a powerful and guess what . . . most people don't know they exist. I recently found a new monologue from Two Noble Kinsmen that is not the Jailor's Daughter, but a Queen begging for the body of her dead husband. Even my professors were not that familiar with the speech. Unusual is a hook and it makes the director sit up and listen. READ THE PLAY from which the monologue comes. I can't stress this enough. You have to know the whole journey of the character in order to form a roadmap for the monologue. How can you make effective and informed decisions about a monologue or a character if you don't know the story. You might even be surprised to discover two or three other speeches that are even better. When I was looking for a monologue from Madwoman of Chaillot, I first read the play, marked three or four potential monologues, and re-read the play. A bit of checking steered me away from overdone selections and I found a delightful speech that summed up the Madwoman for me. It that monologue I was able to incorporate the whole idea of the play and the world in which the Madwoman lived. Monologue books are great . . . they are fast and make selections for you, but guess what . . . everyone else reads them too! Use the monologue book as a guide to selections, and then go read the play and see what other gems await you. DO NOT SELECT A MONOLOGUE THAT SIMPLE TELLS A STORY! Steer clear of pieces that start, "When I was a child I used to . . ." and "I remember when Aunt Betty used to bake me cookies." Remembrance speeches are hard to pull off and does little to challenge the actor to make strong choices. Make sure that the monologue you choose is a pro-active piece with a strong objective and clear discoveries or changes in attitude. Let the auditors see you working out the problem mentally. If your objective is "to force that idiot out of my house" then you have many possible actions you can take to achieve your objective. Remembering Aunt Betty's cookies may be charming, but where is the obstacle for you to overcome. DON'T #3: To prop or not to prop . . . Ok, many directors do not like to see the use of props during an audition. Cold readings or callbacks might be different, but the audition is about you and what you can do with a monologue, not what a prop can add to your selection. Props can be cumbersome, annoying, and believe me, Murphy's Law will apply at sometime (you know the one - if anything can go wrong it will happen to me on stage in front of potential directors and at the most untimely point in my monologue. Ok, that is my version!) and the prop will refuse to cooperate. Hey, even those pesky chairs can refuse to behave at times. I once saw a woman doing a wonderful monologue and at just the point that she grabbed us emotionally she tried to stand up from her seated position. There was a loud rip. Her skirt caught on a crack in the plastic chair and tore as she struggled to get free. She was so upset by her torn skirt that, instead of focusing on her speech, she focused on the tear. RULE TO REMEMBER: check the chair. Well, as you can see these DON'Ts are just the tip of the audition iceberg. Don'ts can sink you just like the Titanic and you might even find yourself short on lifeboats to rescue yourself from the icy stares of directors. There are probably more don'ts in the pile, but these few cover the major errors that occur on a regular basis. Next month I will give you the good news . . . the DO's of making the audition experience positive for you and for the directors. Until then, hide the clunk shoes, rethink your monologue choices, and leave the props in the prop room. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ENTER LAUGHING Enter Laughing Corrections from the TRE Editorial Staff: Due to circumstances beyond the control of the editor, last month's article contained an error. It seems that columnist, Caprice Woosley, not known for appreciating musicals as the rest of us do, inadvertently referred to making a musical of Doonesbury which, as admirers of musicals know, was already done. One day we hope to win the columnist over to enjoying the musical artform, but until then we are patient when she makes mistakes." Furthermore the management wishes to apologize for editor, Marie Mersinger, while a great fan of new musicals, doesn't care for many older musical nor for comics, and there was some confusion about whether Woosley was talking about Doonesbury or Lil Abner. We hope to win her over as well, until then, patience is a virtue. T he editor wishes to retract her correction in re Caprice Woosley and Doonesbury where we implied she dislikes the artform known as the American Musical. She writes: "Unclean, Unclean, You will never convert me! Well, ok, maybe I am beginning to like them just a bit. Sorry about the Doonesbury slip, but at least I thought about the potential it had to be a musical, if I liked musicals that is." The management wishes to modify it's apology re Marie Mersinger and musicals based on comics. Evidently she enjoys comic books quite a lot, but prefers the superhero variety to daily slice-of-life baby-boomer commentary like Doonesbury. She also maintains that she finds many older musicals delightful while finding much contemporary stuff to be "pretentious violin-laden overblown drivel". We imagine the confusion about Lil Abner arose from Julie Newmar's appearance as Stupefyin' Jones in Lil Abner and as Catwoman in the old Batman TV series. The management is forced to clarify its retracted correction and modified apology regarding Caprice Woosley, Marie Mersinger, Julie Newmar, Lil Abner, Doonesbury, The American Musical as an art form, and Comic books or comic strips of the superhero, baby-boomer, or any other variety. The management has no opinions whatsoever regarding which actress made the best Catwoman or if Warner Brothers is contemplating a Batman Musical. The management further states its lack of opinion whether a new Doonesbury musical would involve a Dan Quayle character represented by a feather and if so whether the feather would be worked by puppetry and if the puppeteer would be paid scale. The management is pleased to announce its retirement from entertainment journalism. We are going to a cloister ourselves in a monastery in Tibet where it's quiet and there is no e-mail and no musicals and no e-mail about musicals. Goodbye. Marie Mersinger and Caprice Woosley happily announce they have taken over management of TRE. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Voices in Contemporary Theatre Last month I promised a return to my trademark cosmopolitan cynicism, and invited e-mail on the subject of amateurs who think they're professional. Towards that end: A glossary of Amateurism, Professionalism, and the Bay of Pigs: In college whenever we studied the dynamic of group think, professor and textbook always cited the same example: The Bay of Pigs. I remember thinking "if this has only happened once in 10,000 years of recorded history it doesn't belong in the curriculum - and if it's happened more than once for gods sake let's have a new example once in a while." Since then, I haven't thought of it much until beginning a promised article on amateurs and professionals in theatre. One thing last month's request for e-mail on this subject made clear: we need to start by clarifying our terminology: Amateur (1) - linguistically this word is drawn from the latin amare, to love. It connotes someone who engages in an activity for the love of it. True amateurs are rare and wonderful things, in every discipline, because they do what they do out of a love for that discipline. Such people, in theatre, will generally behave most professionally in that they put the show first above their own concerns, demonstrate a true team spirit, and are surprisingly adept at distinguishing between reasonable demands on their generosity, for the good of the show, and unreasonable demands which simply flatter the ego of other company members. Amateur (2) - as the word is actually used, is a non-professional in that they do not get paid. The true theatre veteran will immediately recognize the paradox: many struggling theatres pay so little that none of the paid-and-therefore-not-amateur(2) actors, designers and directors can be said to be doing it for the money. They must be doing it for love and therefore amateur (1). Adding the word professional to the glossary doesn't clear matters up. For we all use it differently depending on our agenda. For instance... Professional (1) - paid. If you've EVER been paid ANYTHING for performing this function, you're a pro. This definition may work for prostitutes, but doesn't quite cut it for theatre. Mrs. Jones hems a few costumes for GUYS AND DOLLS at the high school in 1993 'cause little Becky is playing Nicely Nicely and opening night they hand her an envelope that says "Thank You" with a $25 gift certificate at the fabric store. Does anybody really think this makes her a professional costumer? Likewise the theatre which thinks its gone professional by paying the same amateurs who did it for nothing last week. These organizations always remind me of the 5-year old pulled the cookie jar off a high shelf and complains "you said I could have a cookie it when I could reach the lid without standing on a chair" Professional (2) - supporting yourself performing this activity. Obviously, no one who applies this definition to theatre knows any working actors or the realities of NYC and LA rent. Professional (3) - in the union. Another noble attempt, if only there weren't so many legitimate working actors who weren't in AEA or SAG yet. Professional (4) - this is your work and you take it seriously. Few professionals have the perogative of actually turning down paid work, but the true pro will be tempted to do so anyway if, understanding the complexities of a role or productions, he suspects he's not up to the challenge and making a mess of it will damage his reputation. Professionally trained - In the UK this means drama school, and it's a fairly useful term in that respect for distinguishing pro from amateur. In the U.S. we tend not to use this phrase, but we should. It wouldn't necessarily connote early training but those who act as a vocation and continue to take classes throughout their professional lives. I'm aware that there are plenty of bad acting classes around and plenty of people wasting their time and money on them. But thus far this is the only distinction I've found that realizes the critical whatever-it-is that separates the real actor from the wannabe resides between the ears not in the wallet. Working Actor - My preferred term because damnit I know one when I see one. Some in the union, some not. Some routinely make rent on their earnings from commercials and voiceover work, some augment acting salaries with temp work, clerking at barnes & noble, selling real estate, and of course waiting tables. Uniformally talented. Uniformally they have this bone in their head that requires them to live this insane bohemian life no matter how often they vow to quit and live like normal people. Wannabe - an amateur who operates not for love of the theatre or love of performing but for love of their own egos. They can catalogue instances of "unprofessionalism" in everyone they've ever worked with, as denoted by any word or behavior not familiar from their earlier productions. Blind to their shortcomings, they regularly attempt work far beyond their abilities. Group Think - A bunch of people get together and create an atmosphere where, collectively, they cannot recognize a spectacularly bad idea that any one of them, individually, would see as a mistake. In theatre, a group of wannabes get together and delude each other into thinking they're the RSC. Okay, now that we've defined some terminology, let's have some fun. Send those comments to voices@1501broadway.com. News from the mailbox... Judi Dench was so taken with the full sized replica set of the Rose Theatre that Miramax gave it to her to take home when filming ended. Variety reports that she is now (early 1999) looking for a site and a financial backer so it can be used as a working theater. Historic Theatre District is Downtown Detroit's Hottest Ticket DETROIT.COM -- With empty, rundown yet dramatic turn-of-the-century buildings, it was a good bet that Harmonie Park in downtown Detroit would never be redeveloped. But overcoming fears of crime, falling property values and an overburdened city administration, developers have started work on one of the last pieces of Harmonie Park, a $6-million renovation of the Harmonie Club, a former German social hall dating to 1895. The four-level structure joins a growing list of historic theaters and social clubs that are experiencing increased membership or are being renovated into dining and entertainment venues. "With General Motors Corp. and Compuware Corp. moving downtown, you're going to see more executives looking for corporate entertainment," said Brenda Schneider, vp and director of business and development for Comerica Bank in Detroit. "Harmonie Park is a terrific example of an urban district that has been revived due to vision, demand and its special architectural setting." Harmonie Park, just north of Greektown, has become the hottest development pocket in town because of its proximity to the theater district, two pending sports stadiums and more than $2 billion in nearby corporate investment. Since 1996, several dozen residents and businesses, including a recording studio and architectural firm, have moved into the district. Three restaurants, a coffee house and jazz bar have opened, and an upcoming rathskeller, steak house and banquet hall are going into the Harmonie Club. The surrounding businesses are forming an association to oversee day-to-day concerns such as parking, traffic, landscaping, signage and marketing. The theater district is also poised for an expansion. Development teams are examining renovations of the Madison Theatre near the Detroit Opera House and the National Theatre on Monroe, east of Woodward. One team has started a feasibility study to convert the National Theatre into an African-American Museum of Historic Film. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rubin's Corner NEW PRODUCTIONS FOR THE FALL After this summer's trip to London, I realized that it is getting harder to tell the difference between production in London and New York. It seems that both the West End and Broadway are doing the same shows. However, a look at the productions due in London this fall and you realize that there is still a difference between the two areas. Tess of the D'Urbervilles is expected in London this fall. This follows a try-out in Sheffield with Alasdair Harvey and Paul Shane. A Noel Coward revue called Masterpieces is due in London as part of the Noel Coward Centenary. Christopher and Malcolm McKee devised the new musical. This fall we will be able to find out, What Happen to Baby Jane? This musical adapted from the 1962 Robert Aldrich film of the same, which started Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. This time it will feature Millicent Martin. When Miss Saigon close at the end of October, it is expected that On Dangerous Ground will replace it at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. It is described as a new international dance spectacular. The theatre is hoping that The Witches of Eastwick will follow this production. Cameron Mackintosh is presenting this eagerly awaited new musical. Written by Dana Rowe and John Dempsey, it is expected in the late spring. It could star Ruthie Henshall, Maria Frieman, Sandy Duncan, Lulu, Twiggy or Lucie Arnaz. Elaine Paige and Lou Diamond Phillips are expected to star in the West Eng Production of the King and I. The Reduced Shakespeare Company is turning their reductive skills on the Millennium...1000 year in 100 minutes. The eagerly awaited new play from Alan Bennett will star Maggie Smith. The play is about a lady who lived in a van outside Alan Bennett's North London home in a van, it will be called The Lady In The Van. The Noel Coward productions will include A Song of Twilight with Corin Redgrave and Vanessa Redgrave. The West End is also expecting Lautrec, the musical bio on the famous French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Charles Aznavour is writing the production. Napoleon, a musical from Canada, is expected in the spring. Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to his popular The Phantom of the Opera now seems to be off, with Webber now spending time on the musical The Beautiful Game. The musical Happy Days will stay in Australia instead of coming to New York and the West End. Martin Guerre will debut in New York, but not return to London in its fourth version. Sleuth and Vertigo will provide us with West End trills during the fall. So perhaps we see some non-Broadway productions this year in London. However, the big hit in the West End this fall will be The Lion King and the big hit in NY will be Saturday Night Fever. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Broadcast.com We love this site. You'll need a real player or windows media player. With them you can explore everything from a streaming video introduction to stage combat: http://www.broadcast.com/broadband/ListenPages/ba/1789/ to a study of Theatre as an artform and a "Basic Theatre vocabulary:" http://www.broadcast.com/video/ListenPages/el/1045/ http://www.broadcast.com/broadband/ListenPages/ba/2551/ to a rich selection of radio plays http://www.broadcast.com/entertainment/radioshows/ Industry Central http://www.industrycentral.net/links_index1.html So thorough a resource we can barely begin to describe it. Features a monthly profile on a Working Actor, articles on Age Discrimination, keeping production at home, The Entertainment Industry Development Corporation's Guidlines on professional conduct, Daily Shoot Sheet, message boards, broad topic industry news, writers exchange. Check this site out. Tales from the Deck http://www.coolwebsite.com/ A reader recommendation: fun little arts 'zine from a member of the ICQ Theatre & Film Pros Network -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Techie's Corner Hello and welcome to the TECHIE'S CORNER. When last I wrote we were discussing fire. This month's column will touch on "Fire the Old Fashioned Way". Fire has been a major problem in civilized urban areas as long as man has been civilized and urban. It has only been in the last century that man has found a source of light, other than flame, for lighting his world. Flame in the form of candles, torches, oil lamps, gaslight, limelight etc. When theatre began to emerge from the dark ages in the form of pageants, passion plays and miracle plays, gone were the stone and marble edifices of the Greeks and Romans. The permanence of great stone structures was reserved for cathedrals, castles, forts and palaces. Structures and buildings for spectacles, pageants and theatre were now built mostly of wood and of course, wood burns. In addition as theatre emerged in it's own right the trappings of the stage were largely made of wood and canvas, costumes were large and voluminous, all combustible. Since that time, one of the most common forms of death and destruction in the theatre has been the result of fires. Theatre has always thrived on some form of spectacle. Special effects have been with us since the time of the Greeks. Buildings on fire, volcanoes erupting and explosions are all exciting events on stage. But how do you do it safely and night after night? This month we will look at one of the oldest and simplest forms of fake fire, the silk streamer and blower method. The most recent time I have seen this method use was in the ice capades where a small wall of flames rose suddenly behind the skaters for a few moments and then disappeared with no trace of smoke or heat. The lack of smoke can be an advantage or disadvantage depending on the final desired effect; in this case it was a definite advantage. In an ice show the ability to produce flames without heat is an obvious advantage. Of course the silk streamer method does not need the approval of the fire martial which is always a plus. Simply stated, the "flames" are strips of some very light weight but tightly woven cloth, cut into strips or a series of strips to resemble flame shapes. The thing that makes the flames look the most realistic is the color or "dye job". A good color job on fabric flames is a variegated blend of color from the base to the tip and from flame to flame. Real flames tend to be a deeper red-orange color at the base and more light orange or yellow toward the tip. Occasional flecks of blue and green can add additional reality to the look of a flame. Until the middle of the 20th century, silk was the fabric of choice as it was very light weight, tightly woven and would easily take bright colors of dye. Silk also had a shimmer or sheen that would reflect light very effectively. Now there are a number of synthetic fabrics that can be used. Rayon, nylon and polyesters galore are available. How long should the strips be? How many should there be? The length of the strips is determined by the desired look and the strength of the fan or blower you have available. The most common length I have seen or used is between 10" and 24". Less than 10" is hardly effective and with strips longer than two feet it is very difficult to prevent tangling. The number of strips is again, determined by the desired look. Generally two or three look the most realistic, but even a single row can look great when lit well. Silk strips are nothing without some form of air movement to raise and flutter the streamers. Some of the methods used by our forebearers are at once, primitive, ingenious and incredible. One method used by early church pageants and miracle plays was the "Bellows" method. In this method, a large bag of leather was fitted with a number of bellows or manual "air pumps" with one way valves. The "air pumps" were operated by many means such as hand pumps similar to today's fireplace bellows, or by foot pumps like those found in old pump organs, or giant fireplace bellows operated by a water wheel. By this means air could be pumped into the bag from the bellows, but could only escape by blowing past the silk streamers. The leather bag was then compressed by weights or simply by a person sitting on it! Much like a bagpipe, it then produced a steady flow of air rather than a series of "puffs". Today a chamber such as the leather bag is known as a plenum chamber. Today the airflow is provided almost exclusively by electric fans or blowers. Fans with a propeller type blade are a poor choice for this effect as they produce an air current that looks like the double helix of a DNA molecule. This has a pronounced tendency to twist and tangle the streamers. Fans or blowers known as squirrel cage fans are a far better choice. First the airflow is in a straight linear column. Second the squirrel cage type of fan produces a greater "force" known as static pressure. Static pressure produces greater "push" against the fabric streamers for the same or less air velocity and noise as propeller type fans. Squirrel cage fans are also known in the air moving industry as "centrifugal blowers". There are three types of blowers named by the shape of the blades or fins that make up the fan. They are: the Forward Curve (FC), the Backward Incline (BI) and the Radial Blade (RB). The forward curve is the most common and the one you are most likely to encounter. The FC blower is the quietest and produces the greatest airflow for the noise level. The BI and RB type blade blowers produce, respectively, increasingly greater air flow and noise levels. So, for example, a quiet, romantic fireplace would probably need an FC type of blower. A large flame coming from a burning building window with crowd noise and sirens might ask for a BI type. Flames spouting from a distant volcano or a boiler explosion might need the extreme airflow of an RB blower. For the most part, 90% of the blowers the average consumer is going to encounter is the forward curve type. For fireplace or a windowsill, a wide narrow blower is needed such as those offered by Grainger as transflow or low profile blowers. These blowers run from $45 to $95 and are listed in the 4C743 and 4C825 series. Other suppliers such as McMaster-Carr et al have many similar blowers. The final thing that makes this fire effect work is the lighting. To be perfectly honest I cannot find, nor imagine a good, safe, way to light fabric flames without electric light sources. Today we have a number of very bright, sources of light such as the MR-16 type lamps. These are very small and can be concealed rather easily. While I have shown MR-16 lamps it the sketch, any type of lamp that you can use will work to a greater or lesser degree. I should mention here that the lamps should always be aimed so that when the fans are off, the light is not aimed at the fabric. Otherwise the fabric without the air cooling effect can catch fire very rapidly. The descriptions and illustrations of the fire effect may seem a bit vague so far. That is true. The reason is that this effect is very much a trial and error type of thing. The exact fabric you choose, the particular "look" of the fire, whether a campfire, or a fireplace etc, the space you have for lamps, the size and shape of the air holes, etc will all affect the exact operation of the effect. It is a rather easy and surprisingly realistic way to produce fire on stage but it does take a bit of work to get it the way you want. As with all the tech tips I write about, if you want to give them a try and need some help, feel free to contact me. Until next month, Don't sweat the small stuff, and remember .... It's all small stuff! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1999, Mersinger Theatrical Services