Audition #3 - United Professional Theatre Auditions (UPTA)

So I have been finding that beginning to write this blog has been extremely difficult.

Not because UPTAs was a completely terrible experience, but because putting the pen to paper (in this case finger to keyboard) is forcing me to accept the fact of how clueless I was about how to prepare myself for UPTAs. Not always a fun thing to write about.

The Audition:

UPTAs is an amazingly well run unified audition.  I don't think there really is much competition when it comes to the organization, specificity and atmosphere that UPTAs provides.

We began the day at 7:30 A.M.  First thing we did was check in at Playhouse On The Square (where the audition was being held).  This process can sometimes be a painful one.  If the unified is understaffed or has a hard time understanding that St. is not my middle name, then it can take quite some time, but this checking in process was completely painless and the friendly faces of the staff was definitely a plus.  I think that was a huge strength to this convention.  Everyone involved was so friendly; everyone was ready to help and willing to guide every individual.  It's always a nice juxtaposition to the extreme indirectness of the audition process.  It's funny how small you can feel with a number slapped on your chest amongst a group of others with all their numbers slapped on their chests too.  I like to compare the unified auditioning process to that of a slave auction.  Think about it. 

Memphis: Where the audition was
hosted. Definitely not the fun city
I was expecting.

Anyways, we check in and are eventually herded into the beautiful theatre at Playhouse.  Honestly, the theatre is pretty spectacular; they are currently doing an acapella version of Shakespeare's Midsummer and that forest looked like so much fun.  The meeting was basically a debriefing process.  We were informed of how everything was going to run and allowed to ask any questions.  Also this meeting was very fun and light hearted.  It even included an Elvis impersonator to continue to keep all 200+ of us young theatre artists entertained and at ease.

The meeting is concluded and we all leave the theatre to allow for the companies to come in and find their seats to begin the process.  By this time I'm feeling pumped.  Especially since the convention was sponsored by Red Bull and I had just finished my first one of the day.  Unfortunately my readiness was completely misplaced.  Being number 192, I was going to be spending most of my time sitting around waiting.  That was such a mistake.  If you know that you are going to be later in the day at an audition, FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO DO!  Sitting around in all the nervous energy does you absolutely no good.  It just ends up making you more nervous, because not only are you sitting waiting to audition you are also hearing all the success/horror stories of everyone who is auditioning around you.  Not really anything worth listening to until you have done your audition and have your own story to tell.

While I was waiting I got the opportunity to mingle with a lot of my fellow young theatre artists.  This is something that you must do when you are at these conventions.  It is a great way to see what everyone else is doing and how they are finding their own success.  I ended up hanging out with some of the artists, that day, who found a lot of success at UPTAs.  The conversations I had with them made me realize now that I really have to step up my game, if I want to be successful at unifieds.  Just a few things that I picked up from these smart artists:

• Audition outfit: I thought I had learned my lesson at The Actor's Theatre of Louisville, but obviously I didn't take my own advice to heart.  While, this time I didn't look as extremely costumed as before, I still looked like a businessman rather than an artist.  All clothes should be form fitting, this means tight jeans and a nice dress shirt or sweater that shows off your shape.  Companies want to see what you're working with, they'd rather not play the guessing game when it comes to body-types. (Be on the look out for a blog to explain all this better, it's going to include some fun pictures!)
• Headshots:  I need new ones.  Not only do I need a new headshot, but I need to have more photos of myself available.  Every single one of these guys had a photo on the top of their resume, a business card and a postcard that all had different photos of themselves.  It's a lot easier to market yourself as a versatile artist when you have photographic evidence.
• Social Media:  I've got to continue to step up my social media game.  I need to keep up with my blog posts, doing my best to have a new entry each week. I also have to begin working on my own website.  Every single one of these guys had a consistently updated Facebook, twitter and website that looked great and really showed them as professional, business minded, artists.  Companies love if they can just type your name in google and see everything you've done.
• Package:  No, not the one between my legs, but the one I audition with. I need to really work on finding a great package.  The monologue that I did from The Dreamer Examines His Pillow by John Patrick Shanley is not enough to show companies everything I can do.  The girl who had the most success in my audition group crammed in both a classical and contemporary monologue.  Doing two monologues in 60 - 90 seconds seems like a daunting task, but I feel it is plausible.  Right now I'm considering doing a package of Biron from Love's Labor's Lost and Buff from Suburbia by Eric Bogosian. Companies would rather see that you can do both right on the spot then assume that you have any classical or contemporary experience. 

Out of all of this I learned, most importantly, that the preparation that is required for unifeds is beyond any sort of preparation I have ever seen before.  From head to toe from slate to monologue to song to end slate, everything was methodically calculated and thought out that not a single thing was left up to chance.  These guys had thought everything out so carefully that there was no way that they weren't going to get 37 callbacks and 2 job offers by the end of the day.  So, I must step up my game. Point, blank, period.

Now it is about 3:30 P.M. and my group is finally called into the holding room.  The last two groups are the two groups for acting only, no singing.  This segregation really frustrates me.  Conventions tend to give people who are just acting the shaft.  It's pretty obvious to me.  By the time that the acting only group auditions the companies are bored, unfocused, uninterested or not even present.  This is a horrible energy to walk into and audition for.  I would recommend to UPTAs that they move the acting only group to the beginning of the day.  When the companies are in a better mood and it allows for the rest of the day to be devoted to the 150+ musical theatre actors.  Plus, I think it took about 30 minutes to get through our whole group.  Definitely not a large chuck of time, and wouldn't you want to start your day ahead of schedule then behind?  I paid just as much money to be present as the musical theatre actors did, so my audition should be treated with the same amount of attention and respect.

Also, 2/3rds of the group that I was auditioning with was a group of sophomores from a specific university (that will remain nameless) that sends them to UPTAs to get an internship for their junior year.  Well, this group of individuals had obviously taken advantage of the free Red Bull and proceeded to run around doing obnoxious warm-ups and screaming their monologues to each other.  I felt like I was at an audition for a community theatre production of High School Musical.  The icing on the cake was when they did a group huddle, ending it with a "Go, Group Awesome!!" before we went into the audition.  All professional atmosphere was lost.

The Stage at Playhouse on the Square.
Beautiful, right?

FINALLY, I get to have my 90 seconds on stage.  The energy I needed for the piece was not there; my timing was off and the energy and emotion looked fabricated.  By the end, I find a connection and am grounded but, by then the 90 seconds is up.  So this is when I came to the realization that this monologue just isn't right for these kind of auditions.  It's better suited for a showcase or an audition for a specific show or season.  It's not something that makes me sellable to all genres and that's what I need for these auditions.  I need two monologues that show enough of my personality, but also says, "I'm ready for anything.".  I'm hoping that I will find this in the Biron/Buff package I'm working on now.

After the audition I go to check the callbacks list and find my number on nothing. NOTHING.  I was hoping to have at least one thing to hang my hat on, but I have to chock another one up to experience, unfortunately.  I did learn a lot from this audition and have realized that doing unifieds is a game of simply trial and error.  Sometimes you get lucky and something really sells and other days you get nothing.  Today I got nothing.  This may sound like a very defeated individual, but I promise that I am anything but.  I am going to continue to work my ass off to improve on everything I learned this weekend in an effort to make sure that this doesn't happen again.

I'll sum this whole blog up with our apt phrase that me and my fellow young theatre artists came up with for UPTAs: "It is what it is," and UPTAs certainly was what it was.

Next Up:

Strawhats in New York City.  This audition is mostly for summerstock musical theaters; something that I'm not in any way right for.  I am planning on using this audition as an opportunity to tryout the Biron/Buff package and make sure that it is the right choice before I head to SETC.