Pippin Project: Final Report
Monday, March 30th, 2009Hi, All!
Well, tonight was the night. I had my audition for Pippin. Me and reader’s choice (kind of) headshot number nine headed 30 minutes up (down?) the road to North Atlanta for the big event.
Things started off shaky because I had to rush back from school and pick Lila up from day care, get ready, and get out the door by about 6:30 to be safe. I didn’t actually leave until 6:40, and there was a brief moment of panic when I thought Oliver was going to let me down. But after one unintended loop, we were on our way. Turns out the place is pretty easy to find, although I still would have been lost without Oliver.
When I got there, I had approximately three minutes until my audtion time. I told myself that this would be okay because most likely they were auditioning groups. But I was still a bit nervous. Somewhere amidst this nerviness, I turned into the wrong side of the one-way loop in the theatre parking lot and nervously righted myself, hoping I wouldn’t run over, say, the Director out for a smoke break, in the process.
When I got in there were only about 20-30 people there, and most of them belonged to the first group (there were auditions tonight starting at 6, and yesterday.) My group ended up being six women, several of them about the same age as me, although I think I was the youngest. This was not a great sign because all of the characters are a little older than me, and I have a tendency to come off as my age. Or ten to twenty years younger.
(This has nothing to do with Pippin. But I thought you guys deserved
some pictures for sitting through this long entry.)
So…after about 10 minutes I went in to sing. That part went okay, but I had some trouble finding my pitch on the first line of the song. I still can’t be sure whether it was me (probably) or partly the piano. Pretty sure me. I felt myself looking mousy and nervous. Then I realized, “Hey, those three people judging you in the audience are watching you be mousy and nervous. Better make that look like it happened on purpose!) So I did a little Dolliver-style “burst” out of my character and tried to make the going from nervous to happy a “bit.” It came off okay, and I got a laugh with my silly hand motions and big grin at the end. Then I forgot to end. I just kept belting that last note like my life depended on it. Finally, I heard a little throat clearing, did a final “end scene”-y motion, and hightailed it out of there.
They said thanks.
Dancing was next. We had to wait for the others to go, and then the six girls from my group (one guy stayed back) went in. All we did was two counts of eight, which was a blessing. I can barely count to eight, much less dance something during it. I kind of tried to turn and flail with everyone else, but it was pretty sloppy. I did it right twice during practice, but not ever perfect when we did it in groups of three for the Director. All three of the judges or what have you watched the whole thing though — learning and performance — so they must have got the gist. I can’t dance. But I can get generally from point A to point B with a smile on my face if given very specific instructions. Just don’t look at my feet.
The only real glitch with the dancing was the instruction of how to act during it. Looking back, I cannot be sure if I had any look on my face other than concentration and mild despair. Hopefully I was smiling. Because the Choreographer prefaced her instruction with this: “Of course, do the dance the way you want us to see you. If you want to be Catherine, look sweet. If you want Berthe, look sexy. If you want Fastrada, look like you’re on the edge of orgasm.”
I’ll give you a moment to guess which one I chose.
After that it was thanks and bye. The Stage Manager said that callbacks would be sometime next week if they have them. I didn’t blow them away, and I’m a little pissed at myself for not nailing the whole song. But I did fine and I feel good about it. If they’re looking for a singer for Catherine, someone sweet who can belt while making big facial expressions and standing relatively still, there’s a slight chance I might be their girl. If not, I’m glad to have found the theatre, and maybe I’ll spend those months this summer taking a dance class.
Thanks for all your encouragement and support! I hope you enjoyed the project! 
