(no subject)

[prog]

Today I have to decide whether or not I actually want to audition. There are enough roles so that I can probably get one if I don't blow it, but now of course I must question whether I want to commit to a through-December timesink. Seeing as how MIGS continues to pick up steam, while ICCB deadlines remain steady, and how I recently agreed to throw some "sweat-equity" into someone else's interesting project, I wonder if I should just call it done as far as personal commitments go, and pass on the drama for now (as it were). As fun as it would be, I can't pretend that the production wouldn't take up a lot of time.

Tough choice, actually.

Comments

Rewarding or Frustrating?

[lyricon.livejournal.com]

I remember when I auditioned for a college production of Hamlet. I didn't actually get cast, but the director was a friend of mine and (probably out of guilt for not casting me) asked me to be an unspeaking crowd-person in several scenes. I readily agreed.

It started out slowly. At our first reading of the play, a few people didn't show up and I read their parts. Then a person dropped out, and I got a few lines. Then another person dropped out. And by the end of the play, I read practically every non-major character's lines. I didn't even realize their were so many "servants" in that play.

The worst part was that even though I really didn't have that many lines, they were pretty evenly distributed throughout the production, which meant that I had to be at every rehearsal. It really swallowed my life. As production time drew near I had next to no time to myself, and most of my friends hadn't seen me in weeks. I was incredibly stressed out.

But.

Putting on the production was absolutely magical. Even playing such a minor role as I did, it was entrancing to have all those people watching me, to feel the energy coming back from the crowd, to hear their applause. To work with such a fine group of people to produce something which actually drew people in, made them forget their own lives and feel like a part of a story written 500 years ago was an experience almost defying description. I am not really an actor, but that was exhilarating enough to make me wish, for just a moment, that I was one.

And looking back on it, I am very, very glad that I did it.

I can't pretend to have any clue about what you should do, but that's the short version of my experience with this type of thing. I hope it helps a little.