This has been quite a first week back! Dance call Monday, voice call Tuesday (callback!), voice call Thursday, and then asked to attend the dance call on Friday! Yesterday’s EPA and today’s dancer ECC was for Alhambra Dinner Theatre, and I want to share the wise words that Tod Booth told my audition group this afternoon. He’s the artistic director for Alhambra and has been casting for them for many many years. Tod got his equity card at 16 and has been performing professionally for over 50 years. But first…let me preface.
Yesterday, at the EPA (singer call), friends and colleagues said that Tod was incredibly friendly in the room, spending a lot of time with each singer, so I went in quite relaxed. After singing, Tod asked me a bit about my school/degree and then I got the phrase I ALWAYS hear in the room…”So, I see you’re a dancer?” It never fails. He told me that he loves singers who dance and told me that he’d like to see me at the dancer ECC tomorrow. Of course, I’ll be there!
There were 33 equity women at the dance call and approximately 60 non-eqs. I was in the second group, which gave me the opportunity to relax a bit, hear the music, and prep my mind to learn as quickly as possible. After Monday, I wanted to learn from my mental blocks and try to do better this time. I even got a quick neck squeeze from the radiant Natalie Coca, which absolutely brightened my day!
We were taught a fast, sexy combo to “Too Darn Hot” from Kiss Me Kate and it felt right up my alley. I have a long journey of improvement ahead of me, physically, but for the shape I’m in, it was the best I could ask for. I even rocked the combo, mentally! I was able to concentrate in the very specific way that I needed to in order to commit steps to memory quickly. Everyone is different, but I know how I learn and what I need to do for my brain to start to feel the combo in my bones. It was a vast improvement over Monday’s process.
I’m one of those actors that attends both singer and dancer calls as much as possible, and let me tell you, dancing tends to be valued MUCH more than singing in this market. Many regional theatres casting professionally will almost always cast an ensemble member who has stronger dance skills over strong voice skills. If I go in and sing for a theatre and then dance for them later, I usually get cut at that point, simply because I can’t keep up with the dance majors, and singers just tend to get overshadowed. But this call was different!! As we lined up in our small groups of 4, Tod asked each of us to state out loud whether or not we had already sang for him. He even said that they were pretty sure who already had and they had pulled our resumes with notes from yesterday! Unheard of.
Out of 30 women in my group, only 3 had sang for him previously, myself included, so that already gave me a leg up. Then, once we had all finished, he pulled all of us aside and gave the most wonderful speech. He told us a bit about his background and how long he had been in this business. He told us that 50 years ago, theatres used to hire 1) Singers 2) Dancers and 3) Actors separately. Today…they have to hire one person to do all three. He told us that the best thing we can do for ourselves is get into voice lessons immediately. He said he was so impressed by our performances as dancers, but if we can’t use our voices properly, we have no leverage and simply aren’t as marketable. As a singer who dances, it was the most beautiful phrase I’ve ever heard a casting director say.
He then stated that he’s not worried about us as actors, because he can tell just by speaking with us individually that we have the personality to support characters on stage. I thought that was such an beautiful statement, and I tend to agree with him, especially when you’re looking at a season filled with “character shows” like Kiss Me Kate and Elf.
It was incredibly refreshing to be valued as a singer who has moderate dancing ability and finally have a competitive advantage over straight dancers who are uncomfortable using their voices. I have quite a road ahead of me to prep for audition season, but I feel motivated and determined not to waste the precious time I’ve been given. Time for goals, plans, and execution. But for now, it’s Friday funday! Have a beautiful weekend, babes!
