Rejoice With Those Who Rejoice

Apparently my last post was not the bucket of sunshine my faithful readers hope for. As a happier follow-up, I thought I'd share this sweet little audition success story that a friend of mine wrote about recently:

"Went to an audition yesterday, and was a fill in for the old lady in the play for one of the scenes. Of course I went all out on the role thinking I wouldn't get it...hm...Well, I must have done a great job because I got the part!"

This is a friend I made during the aforementioned holiday play 2009. She was one of 5 adults in a cast of about 25. All of the adults had various ensemble roles to play and her primary role was that of the attention deficit family cat. I remember during initial rehearsals being, shall we say, startled, by her tremendous enthusiasm. She meowed and howled and purred and stretched and pawed...as cat-like as any human could be. I remember even cringing a little at one point, wondering if maybe she wasn't a little too over-the-top. But she put every ounce of herself into that cat and she brought something new to every rehearsal. I found myself admiring how creative and adventurous she was willing to be in order to make that darn cat the best darn cat the world had ever seen. And I noticed how every time she rehearsed a scene, the kids in the cast watched her with complete and utter delight.

Once the show opened, it became quite an event for some of the cast to gather around the monitor back stage in order to watch Snowbell the Cat's melodramatic "death" scene. We looked on in eager anticipation, wondering what new agony Snowbell would suffer for our entertainment. During a Q & A with the audience after one of our performances, each of the kids took turns sharing their favorite parts of the production. The most common response was a finger pointed at Snowbell...she had won their little hearts.

On the recommendation of many, I have been reading Michael Shurtleff's definitive guide to auditioning, aptly titled: Audition. He talks a lot about making bold choices and running with them...I think Snowbell's story shows just how powerful boldness can be.