I am 29 years old. I'll turn 30 in August. And I'm auditioning for a 15- to 16-year old role. Well, it's the theatre.
I'm doing a rap song from Gloc 9 and for the life of me I can't do it without tripping over the words, so I have to be extra careful. I am not so worried about my Shylock speech ("If you prick us, do we not bleed") although I need to do choice hunts for that. I was planning to re-read Anne Rice's "Angel Time" to give me a picture of the sorry plight of Jews in history, but I ran out of time for that. Otherwise, my plan is to love Shylock. As another Jew by the name of Apostle Paul wrote: "Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them." So ayun. What I did was I read Merchant of Venice (nosebleeeeeed!) until I got to that part so I can understand where all of Shylock's anger is coming from. Truth is, not until I read all the preceding scenes did I understand what "To bait fish withal" means.
What also helped is a book I found in my library. I bought this last year from Books&Mags for P29.00. (Interesting, I'm 29 years old!) It's called "Shakespeare Alive!" by Joseph Papp and Elizabeth Kirkland. It's subtitle says: America's foremost theater producer brings Shakespeare's England to life." The book really helped me get a picture of the prejudice the Jewish people received in England, and suddenly I realized that Antonio was not cruel towards Shylock just as a theatrical device, but that he really is a product of his time, and he reflected the general or common feeling or attitude of the English towards the immigrant Jews during Shakespeare's time. I also began to understand why Shylock is in the moneylending business. (I plan to have Dene Gomez, who is doing the same speech for his audition, read the chapter on Jews in the book.)
I realize, slowly, that for the most part, Shakespeare's characters are really truly living and breathing three-dimensional people. I used to find it cheesy when actors talk about the characters in their plays as if they were real and living, as if what they read wasn't a script or play but a newspaper. Hello? Fiction, non-fiction! I recently had a dose of this when after a Titus Andronicus reading, I was listening to the conversation of Joel Saracho, Gwyn Guanzon and the director George de Jesus. That's how they talked about the play and the characters. As if Titus and Tamora and Aaron were in the showbiz section and they're commenting on the dirty business of their lives. Hey, a young actor learns!
For Gloc 9, I plan to walk all the way to PETA from my apartment and recite it all the way, as a warm-up and a desperate attempt to memorize the fast parts of "Walang Natira." This is my fault. I should have been reading the same amount of Filipino literature as English. Then my tongue would be used to our own language and not trip over the lines. I promise you, I can sing "Another Hundred People" from Company, or "Gangsta's Paradise" and not mess up the words. But I don't think those two would make good audition pieces. Besides, me, sing Sondheim? No.
Okay, I also wanted to say I fouled up two auditions I went to recently. The first was for a Samsung hosting event I didn't care about much because they'd have us dress up as Iron Man and deliver lines in that ken. Hyuk! I do wish their event a success. The casting director behaved as if he's good friends with Melvin Lee and Anton Juan, and then asked me to ham my acting up. Anyway, I read in a book if you don't feel "right" during the audition, if you don't feel good vibes in the working environment, most likely the actual rehearsal/production work would be worse.
The next was my audition for Upstart Production's Much Ado About Nothing. I did my assignment. I read the play. I dressed nice. I came on time. My mistake was, I relied on me. All on me. Me, me, me, and my abilities. Big mistake.
Jacob told Dan, his son, just about before he was to breathe his last, "Dan will govern his people, like any other tribe in Israel. Dan will be a snake beside the road, a poisonous viper along the path that bites the horse's hooves so its rider is thrown off." Amazing abilities, huh? Jacob was blessing his son and showing him his future. Looks like Dan has it good. But then Jacob interjects, "I trust in you for salvation, O LORD!"
See, trust in the LORD for salvation. Not in one's own blessings or abilities. That I didn't do. I came to Much Ado reading all "Oh, I can wing this. I can muscle my way through. No need for my daily morning meditation, no need for prayer. I'm uber-talented." Well, Joel Trinidad texted me and said, "No roles for you now. Maybe in July."
So I won't mess up today's auditions. Finally, here are some of my personal tips culled from personal experience when going to auditions.
01) Never leave God out of the picture. Include Him, make Him central to your art, your acting. He is the God of the Arts and the Theatre, after all.
02) "Don't think you are better than you realy are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us."
03) Offer your audition piece as a sacrifice to God.
04) Don't think it's an audition. Think of it as an actual performance. Have complete freedom and let your imagination soar in your own attack! Take the audition as a chance to do a scene study.
05) Come prepared. Theater companies would post what they expect, and you must try your best to meet their expectations. If they say come with a Shakespeare monologue and a rap song, be sure you have that and then some at your arsenal.
06) Breathe. Work out. Steam your vocal cords.
07) Don't make the audition about Yourself with a capital Y, although you really are selling yourself as an actor and artist. Try to focus on the character you are presenting in your monologue. That way you behave as if you've already got the part and you're presenting it before an audience.
I guess that's it. Now I'm off to practice what I preach. Boy, am I so nervous!
