An Enlightening Audition Experience
A friend called me recently asking if I would be interested in auditioning for the lead role in one of my favorite operas. He was cast at the baritone and said the company still needed a tenor. I contacted the lady to whom my friend had spoken and set up an audition. I was to sing his most well known aria for my audition.
In preparation for this experience, gathering music, printing my resume and whatnot, I realized that it had been some time since I have been on an audition. For one reason or another, I have made excuses not to go. I know I have been working on certain aspects of my professional presentation, but I should have been getting out there more than this. I decided that since I have known this aria and worked on his characterization for about 15 years, not only should I be able to sing to the best of my ability, but also make strong acting choices, the most recent aspects that I have been working on.
Upon arrival, I met the three adjudicators, two women and one man. After a quick joke that lightened the mood of the room, I sang the famed aria. I nailed it. I sang with great vocal ease and expression and showed definitive acting choices. I felt great. Then the man spoke. "I completely disagree with every one of your acting choices," he said. Needless to say, I was a bit taken by not only his comment, but the passion with which he spoke. During a pause, I began to explain the basis for my choices, something that any director would want to know, and he interrupted me to contradict my reasoning and tell me, "you are wrong." When he had finished, I was thanked before I left.
As one can imagine, I left feeling quite uneasy with a dash of frustrated. The natural reaction to being told you are wrong by someone older and more experienced is to doubt if you really were right to begin with. Had I done the right translation? Did I have the correct understanding of the opera and the character arc up to that moment? And that's when it hit me. I had. I knew what I was doing. I know that character. I know what he has gone through and what he was going through in the moment of that aria. I was not wrong. It was inappropriate for him to say that I was wrong instead of attempting to direct me to try something different, though I believe that he mistaken all together.
At some point, we have to tell ourselves that we may actually know something that another older professional does not. I am not saying this to put him down, though I would be justified in doing so by how he spoke to me. If I had not made a positive impression, he would not have taken the time at all to criticize. I am saying that I did my work, I knew what I was doing and I presented not only well, but appropriately. The acting choices were strong enough that he was compelled to speak of them without mentioning the singing at all (he simply couldn't argue with that). I believe that I made the best choices possible and would not do it another way. Stay true to yourself and what you know. Do your homework and you will have the knowledge that gives you the confidence to overcome adversity.
This experience ignited a fire within me and I have sought out more auditions to show what I have to offer. I have been on a couple of more already and have been offered a role. It is amazing what a little incorrect, negative feedback can do for motivation if channeled correctly.
In preparation for this experience, gathering music, printing my resume and whatnot, I realized that it had been some time since I have been on an audition. For one reason or another, I have made excuses not to go. I know I have been working on certain aspects of my professional presentation, but I should have been getting out there more than this. I decided that since I have known this aria and worked on his characterization for about 15 years, not only should I be able to sing to the best of my ability, but also make strong acting choices, the most recent aspects that I have been working on.
Upon arrival, I met the three adjudicators, two women and one man. After a quick joke that lightened the mood of the room, I sang the famed aria. I nailed it. I sang with great vocal ease and expression and showed definitive acting choices. I felt great. Then the man spoke. "I completely disagree with every one of your acting choices," he said. Needless to say, I was a bit taken by not only his comment, but the passion with which he spoke. During a pause, I began to explain the basis for my choices, something that any director would want to know, and he interrupted me to contradict my reasoning and tell me, "you are wrong." When he had finished, I was thanked before I left.
As one can imagine, I left feeling quite uneasy with a dash of frustrated. The natural reaction to being told you are wrong by someone older and more experienced is to doubt if you really were right to begin with. Had I done the right translation? Did I have the correct understanding of the opera and the character arc up to that moment? And that's when it hit me. I had. I knew what I was doing. I know that character. I know what he has gone through and what he was going through in the moment of that aria. I was not wrong. It was inappropriate for him to say that I was wrong instead of attempting to direct me to try something different, though I believe that he mistaken all together.
At some point, we have to tell ourselves that we may actually know something that another older professional does not. I am not saying this to put him down, though I would be justified in doing so by how he spoke to me. If I had not made a positive impression, he would not have taken the time at all to criticize. I am saying that I did my work, I knew what I was doing and I presented not only well, but appropriately. The acting choices were strong enough that he was compelled to speak of them without mentioning the singing at all (he simply couldn't argue with that). I believe that I made the best choices possible and would not do it another way. Stay true to yourself and what you know. Do your homework and you will have the knowledge that gives you the confidence to overcome adversity.
This experience ignited a fire within me and I have sought out more auditions to show what I have to offer. I have been on a couple of more already and have been offered a role. It is amazing what a little incorrect, negative feedback can do for motivation if channeled correctly.