Not knowing what to expect, I walked into the audition room. I had my monologue in mind—something humorous about aliens and fried clams; it was perfect for a show as out-of-the-box as “Crumble (lay me down Justin Timberlake)”. I excitedly introduced myself to the near-stranger with dark curly hair and smiling eyes sitting at a small table behind a laptop. That is Kate Sparacio, president of the Stockton Theatre club. Years of auditioning for high school shows had prepared me for this much: the walking in, telling your name and what you would be reading, and the way you are supposed to fill the space with your body and your voice.
I didn’t go in with very high hopes. The cast of “Crumble” is small, five people in all, and only three of those characters are females. I thought being a freshman and a biology major would put me at an extreme disadvantage for being cast. With all this in mind, I straightened up and turned into Trudy, a bag lady who has become an assistant to aliens coming to Earth in search of signs of intelligent life. Forgetting a few of the words was no issue; Kate laughed—at the appropriate times—just the same. I finished, she told me thank you, and I left the room, giggling and full of adrenaline.
The wait for the call back list was agonizing. They promised it would be up shortly, so my friends and I waited patiently for that list of names to show up.
After twenty minutes, a hand peeked out the door and stuck the neatly typed list of names to the wall next to it. We all looked at each other, nervous and unsure, and slowly we flocked to the list. As soon as I stood up I could see my name—but of course I had to get closer to make sure; it was unreal. A part of me wanted to take a picture to savor the moment, to send to my family, to look at it later and congratulate myself when nobody else was around—when I wasn’t surrounded by people who had the title of both friend and enemy, all at once. But I didn’t. I reminded myself this was only the half of it. I made it through the first stage, but call backs are a whole other story.
Those of us who made it to the next step congratulated each other, and were handed sides from the show to read. At this point, the object is to show the director how well you can work with the other candidates for the roles, and how you play the part. The director goes into the audition with clear images in mind about each character, and she must find these characteristics in each person she sees. This is perhaps the most exciting and the most frustrating step. You get to read for any number of characters and with any number of people. Every new side is a new experience, a new mask to wear. Despite the apparent excitement in the nature of this activity, it can be a long and tedious process. The end result, however—seeing your name on that final cast list—makes it completely worthwhile.
More exciting than anything else will be actually performing in this production for my friends and family. However, the audition process is one I will not forget and one I will not hesitate to take part in again. With each audition I have, my skills as an actress improve, because of the inherent difficulty and stress that comes with such an event. Through it all, the positive and motivational people who journey with me make it an unbelievable experience.