Fun with Auditions! Part 2

It was four days before the the shoot.  Audition night. I was driving around struggling to find my way to the audition site.  Nerves, darkness and very teeny tiny, poorly illuminated street signs were all contributors in delaying me from arriving at my destination.  I made a call to the casting director on my cell phone and was safely guided into the parking lot of the building.  

The week leading up to tonight, I had read and reread the script and its 4 re-writes at least 8 times each.  I had all 3 lines memorized.  I was nervous but feeling pretty confident never the less.  The production crew had asked me to bring my guitar as we were going to need a working guitar for a prop in one of the scenes and we wanted to be sure that it was going to meet the directors expectations. Armed with resume, head shots, script and guitar, I headed into the lobby where I was invited to sit and wait for my name to be called.  I could hear the other auditioners acting their scene.

Finally, the producer walks to the lobby and says "Lisa, they are ready for you".  Then he asks, "So, can you play a little something and sing along"? WHAT!!! I advised him that I had not played guitar in over two years and had not prepared ANYTHING.  While I would stay up nights straight to workout any musical composition in order to shoot in 4 days, I couldn't play anything on the spot.  I suddenly felt weak and sick to my stomach and any confidence I had walking into the audition, was suddenly sucked out of my body.

I entered the room and reached out to shake the directors hand and said hello to the screenwriter.  "She says she cant really play anything" the producer reports to the director.  Great, I think, nice impression and I haven't even opened my mouth other than to say hello.  "That's okay" the director says. "Here, we can look up the lyrics and the chords to the songs here on my laptop." &(^%%$%$ Internet! For real!?  I was starting to have an out of body experience.  I was above everyone, looking down at myself, and wondering what song and dance (literally) number I was going to pull out.  Then the director says, "I want her to be bad.  She thinks she is a rock star but she cant play or sing."  TA DA! That I can do!  I took a deep breath and started to go through the motions of being a rock goddess and tried to sing a non melodic, pitchy (in the words of Randy Jackson) rendition of a song that I had indeed played in my band days.  People in the room, including the director and screenwriter, started to laugh and nod their heads and after a few painful minutes of performing several "mash ups", the director announced, "You're hired"! "Don't practice too much, I don't want you to get good before the shoot"!

I couldn't have been more pleased!  I was hired!  My audition was terrible and the Hollywood director said I was hired! It was one of the most fun auditions that I had ever had.  I took a deep breath and went "all in".  And it was a success!  I, was a success!  And I was going to get my opportunity to act.  My resolution was coming to fruition.