Saturday, February 7, 2009

A Small Orchard In The Big Apple

Today I went to NY to audition at my only real legit liberal arts college choice. Marymount Manhattan College is a small school in the upper east side and offers a variety of theatre majors ranging from a BFA in Acting to BA's from anything in Performance to Drama Therapy. The school is fairly small both in size and population but it is one (if not 'the') of my top choices.

I went in with a monologue that I believed to be rock solid and I couldn't wait to do it. We (about 20 of us total and only two guys) get to the audition room with two of the professors from the school. We warm up, get relaxed, and begin to recite our monologues one by one. My turn comes around and halfway through my monologue the acting professor stops me and comes out from behind the table. He whispers to me the following: "Just be you". So I start all over without character and just recite the lines. Halfway through, he says "thank you" and I sit down. I sit through the next ten monologues in pure confusion and anxiety as to what the hell just happened? Was it good? Bad? Does that mean I have potential? Did I make a bad choice and he couldn't bear to watch me bomb anymore? What. The. Hell? He hadn't stopped anyone before me nor did he stop anyone else for the rest of the audition.
After the rest of the auditionees had gone it was time to leave. As I gathered my things the professors taps me on the shoulder and pulls me aside.

"Didn't it feel so much better being you?"
"Ya, it did."
"Cus to be honest, the first time you did it, it was crap."
"oh...sorry."
"What other schools have you applied to?"
"Well I have a state school that's my backup."
"Come here. Come here and I'll teach you how to act."

After the initial shock of the entire event wore off, I've come to realize that this could be a very good sign.
What a day.

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