I was finishing up at an audition this afternoon, when a fellow actor came tearing in, looking completely exhausted. Someone asked him how he was doing, and he simply replied, “I’m living the dream, man. I’m living the dream.”. It made me laugh because it was so true. We work so hard to have opportunities that I can be difficult to remember to enjoy them.
So while I’m walking on this tightrope between my NYC auditions and prep work for London… I’m trying to remind myself that I’m living the dream (even though I’m not getting much sleep).
Dreams notwithstanding, I’m working pretty hard right now. Another one of my assignments is to have “A short piece of Shakespeare text in my original language” as well as “A short piece of Shakespeare text in English”. I have some questions about the original language request (should I do something from West Side Story?), but apart from that this assignment is well within my grasp. However, I have nineteen prepared Shakespearean monologues. I guess that’s a humblebrag, but I’m seriously having trouble making my selections. There are several that I’m ruling out because I’ve actually played the role (there goes Olivia) or I’ve worked extensively on them in an academic setting (goodbye Lady Anne and Paulina). I also want to avoid the piece I auditioned with (see you later, Queen Margaret).
So, I’ve narrowed it down to five. In the finals, I have Duchess Eleanor, Lady M, Cleopatra, Hamlet, and Tamora.
Eleanor: I love this role. However, I’ve been doing this monologue on and off for years. I’m afraid that I may be locked into a vocal pattern with it, and while this is sometimes a good reason to revisit a piece… sometimes it causes a bunch of new problems. Also, The Globe is doing the Henry VI Trilogy this year and this can invite comparison.
Lady M: I have a strong (almost lethal) drive to play this role. However, I’ve already worked on it quite a bit. The Scottish Play is also part of the season.
Cleopatra: Very, very difficult role. Especially for me. This is perhaps why I need to work on it again. I had a really bad audition experience with this piece, and I’ve never used it since. Maybe it’s time to get over it.
Hamlet: It’s always fun to get my depression on, and let’s just face it: it’s freakin’ Hamlet (I mean, c’mon!!!). That being said, Hamlet is a dude. I am not.
Tamora: She’s great fun. I did a table read of Titus this spring, and it was kind of a blast (I’m pretty sure that says something messed up about me). The down side (or maybe the up side) is that this piece is almost entirely new to me.
Funny, but reading this list makes me think that maybe I should consider a character who’s “nice”.
Nah. I don’t want to do that. That’s not part of my dream.
Here Be Americans 