That Sunday shine is a certain sign...

Passover has arrived. Easter is here and Spring has sprung. Finally. This winter the weather has been all over the place. One day it’s 65 degrees and sunny and the next day it’s -11 and frigid cold. We’ve had four nor’easters, including a snow-magedon, a snow-pocalypse and a bomb cyclone.

There has been one good thing that's come out of the weather. It’s something my friend Sandy, a non-actor, taught me: if there’s a storm in New York City that doesn’t close the subways, that’s when you have the best chance to get tickets to see a Broadway show. I guess it’s because people are afraid of being stranded in bad weather. At any rate it worked for us.

During the fourth storm a couple of weeks ago, Sandy and I were able to get really good last minute seats to see HELLO DOLLY, now starring Bernadette Peters. Our tickets were in the orchestra row L. And we paid less than it cost for rush tickets. For those who may not know, there are several ways to get affordable tickets to see a Broadway show, almost any show. But you’ve got to have time and you’ve got to be prepared to not see it. (Perhaps that should be a future blog)

HELLO DOLLY is one of my favorite shows. It always has been, ever since I saw the movie as a kid starring Barbra Streisand. As an adult I know that the movie is a little off on some things, but I still watch it. And I still enjoy it.

I remember being excited when Broadway announced “Dolly...” was coming back. It has a part that I’ve always wanted to play. Given who the leading lady was slated to be, this was going to be high profile Broadway. I needed advice on whether I should audition or not. Let’s face facts. For some projects auditioning is a futile endeavor. I wondered whether this would be one of them. I chose to talk my talk and walk my walk. I counseled myself just like I would anyone else asking me a theatre question. I took emotions out of the equation and logically responded, like I did for a good friend on Facebook.

Recently my friend became a new Equity member (Congrats!). She seemed a bit confused or lost on a couple of things. So she posted a query on the union Facebook page:

“Just got out of an audition for a theater that had a season full of u/k pieces ... much of it was period specific... but all the women around me were in jeans and slightly dressy shirts or even less. Am I missing something? ...why are people auditioning for established theaters in casual street wear? Is this a thing now? No judgement, truly but I'd like to keep abreast of what is acceptable when pursuing work. Many thanks!”

Another colleague of mine replied with:

“You definitely do NOT need to dress up for an audition anymore, though dressing to suggest never hurts... but casual IS in.”

And then some other woman commented:

“I wear jeans to almost all auditions, unless they have requested that everyone wear stretchy, movement-friendly clothes.”

What?

Are you crazy?

Why would anyone do that to themselves?

Okay. I’m back now...

Here’s the bottom line: An audition is a job interview. Like my friend so astutely said, auditioning is “pursuing work”. Nothing more, nothing less. A person arrives with resume in hand. They enter the room to be interviewed to see if they’re qualified for the position. The boss then decides if they can work together or not. If so, they will be offered a job, unless someone more qualified and more personable comes along. As much as I am loath to admit it, sometimes a big part of acing that interview and getting the job is about how you look. Sometimes it’s not.

After much debate with myself I took my advice. I decided to not audition for HELLO DOLLY on Broadway. The show was too high profile for this big ethnic guy to be cast in one of the leads. Sometimes it comes down to money and name recognition. Talent and or how inclusive the people behind the table state they want the cast to be, no longer matters.

Watching the show, I saw just how incredibly talented and inclusive the cast was. There was every size and shape and hue on that stage. However none of the size or shape or hue was in a leading role. The leading roles were names: first Bette Midler (and Donna Murphy), David Hyde Pierce, Kate Baldwin and Gavin Creel, in the role I want to play. The cast Sandy and I saw had Bernadette Peters, Victor Garber and Santino Fontana, in the role I want to play.

Don’t get me wrong. Clearly one shouldn’t avoid going to a Broadway audition if one feels right for the show. However there are two things that trump talent. Money. Those who have it and those that can bring more to those who have it. The people who were cast in the lead roles in “Dolly” are people who put butts in seat. They bring money to those who have fronted money to put up the show. I made an educated guess that this would be the case. So what I would have worn to the audition, or job interview, wouldn’t have mattered what-so-ever. But outside of that particular scenario it really does matter.

You only get one chance to make a first impression. Is that impression one of not caring about appearance? Or Hygiene? Or any of the other things that job interviewers make judgements on the moment a potential employee walks through the door?

So naturally my reply to my query-minded colleague was:

“As for dressing for an audition...be appropriate. Wear what is comfortable to you, allowing you to do physical work if need be and something that is in the normal scope of you...the nicer dressed version of you. Auditions are job interviews. Respect should be given to all those involved.

And above all else stop looking around the room. The other auditionees are not you, do not have your skill set or your life experiences. You would be remise to judge what you do and or wear by what you see and or hear.

You do you.”

And that is the most important thing: You do you, but the nicer version of you, both in attitude and dress. Again an audition is no more than a job interview where you demonstrate your practical skills pertinent to the job itself. Think about it. How much faith would a stockbroker have in someone interviewing for a job if that someone showed up in jeans and a t-shirt?Who goes to an office job interview in sweats and flip flops? Does someone believe showing up at a law firm in stretchy pants and an over-sized top will help land the position?  Attending a job interview looking like you rolled out of bed does not instill confidence. The issue arises when we creatives believe there are other rules for us because we have talent. And to be honest, in some places that’s all you need: heaps of talent and confidence in said talent.

However a lot of us need to realize that an actor is a business owner, a proprietor, just the same as someone who sells soup. The product, or soup, an actor sells is his or her talent. Is what's being sold chicken noodle or lobster bisque? The “can” the talent comes in is the actor’s physical body. Is it sleek and plastic or metal and eye catching? The “label” of that can of soup, what helps get everyone interested in buying the soup itself, is what the actor is wearing. The actor’s clothes support or distract from his or her talent.

Does your soup label say chicken broth yet the contents are Vichyssoise?

You have to know what you’re selling, what the package is and how to literally dress it up. Then target auditions and theatres who are most likely to purchase that product, because no one can realistically attend every audition. No one. Especially with the new online sign up system Equity has put into place.

Part of the job of an actor is sifting through the auditions and choosing what’s right for the product he or she is selling. Sometimes that’s a show on Broadway and sometimes that’s a show on the Broadway of Wisconsin. Other than budget, there is really no difference between the two. Both can have major talent. Both can be mega hits. And both can propel your career forward.

So the HELLO DOLLY calls keep coming. And I keep not going. It’s not that I doubt my talent...much...anymore. It’s that I’m being very selective in which auditions I attend. I focus and hone in on projects that are within my scope of talent and that I can realistically be cast. I believe “Dolly” on Broadway is not one of them right now.

But in truth if you don’t go to an audition you definitely won’t be cast in the show unless the producer owes you a favor or your dad has a barn...

HELLO DOLLY was everything I think Broadway should be. It was full of talent, designed well and it left the audience feeling something. I loved it and Sandy really liked it too. Did I agree with everything that happened both backstage and on stage? No and neither did Sandy. She couldn’t understand why everyone was walking around on “tippy toes”. But the few things I thought were less than stellar were still amazing and extremely well done. When the cast entered for “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” I smiled from ear to ear while the tears streamed down my face.

Because of targeting projects I want to do and can do, I've had a successful year. I’ve been called back for roles like “Sebastian” in LITTLE MERMAID, “Amos” in CHICAGO, “Ken” in AINT MISBEHAVIN, “Melvin P. Thorpe” in BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS and “Rooster” in ANNIE. And the callbacks have been more consistently happening. Most of the people behind the tables, the people with the money who are looking to me to make them more money, commented very positively on how I was dressed.

Do you want to make a great impression that extends far beyond your talent, freindliness and ability to bring money to those who have it? Do you want to stand above the throngs of people who just schlep from audition to audition not caring what they look like or knowing what they’re selling? Do you want to increase your likelihood of actually getting the part? Or at least getting a callback? Then be smart. Know your product. Target specific shows, companies and theatres that buy what you’re selling. And when you’re getting ready to go to those auditions remember it’s just a job interview. And the easiest non-verbal, non-talent related way to help make a great impression is to...

“...Get out your feathers, your patent leathers, your beads and buckles and bows...”