Day Ten & Eleven - Passion
For the sake of convenience, I decided to put these two days together, so be prepared for a relatively long post.
DAY TEN
Day ten started off with a monologue workshop with Katie Northlich, and she is absolutely brilliant. She apparently is a four-time monologue champion, and it really shows. Her enthusiasm was off the charts, and she was incredibly hilarious. She brought so much light into the room, and it helped ease the nerves significantly. Quite a few of us employed her “sitting down” technique, which really helped with relaxing our bodies and focused more on internally and emotionally connecting with our pieces, and it really helped.
Her workshop was probably one of my favorites by far.
The day continued with more business-y and practical workshops. Joanna gave an insightful workshop concerning the differences between union and non-union, Broadway vs Off-Broadway, and commercial vs non-commercial. Our last workshop with Randy followed, which touched on acting coaches, grad school, and general tips for auditioning. She is also an acting coach, and so she gave a general idea of what to expect in a coaching session by calling up a few people and coached through their monologues.
One thing that she said towards the end of the workshop that really stuck out to me was:
Rebellion is not autonomy.
She added on by saying that becoming an actor for the sake of proving somebody wrong isn’t the way to go. You have to do it because you need to.
I’ll definitely be carrying that with me.
The day concluded with a Theatre Intern Network meeting with aspiring directors, producers, etc. There was a Q&A session with professional Broadway producers and marketing people, who also talked about how a show gets to Broadway and what goes on to advertise those shows. The session was followed by mingling and pizza. Being the introvert I am (yeah, I know, an introverted actor?) I didn’t really mingle too much and I regret it. I did meet a few of the interns however. Only a few...
Overall, today made a spark. And that spark would soon kindle to a flame.
DAY ELEVEN
Today we had a legend in our midsts, and two Emmett Forrests sat in the same room.
The day started with an audition workshop led by the legendary director Jack O’Brien, who many might recognize as the director of Broadway’s Hairspray and the original production of The Piano Lesson.
This man is so brilliant. He told nothing but the truth. In a nice way, of course.
He tended to go off on a tangent, but even then he was VERY insightful. He ranted about today’s entertainment, celebrities, and diversity in the business (PREACH)
He then went on to workshop a few songs and monologues, and the tips he offered made a HUGE difference. As if the people who were called on weren’t already amazing, he took what they had to offer and made it even BETTER.
There’s a reason for all of the accolades he earned, and it showed.
After a short break, we all met a Springboard alumnus who is currently appearing in Fun Home: Joel Perez!
You can see him in the red shirt dead center.
He talked about his journey with this show, his overall journey as an actor, and his transition from Springboard to the real world. Very humble and funny. HUGE honor having him in the room to share his experiences.
The day was then brought ever so slightly in the downward direction when it came time to talk about taxes.
DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN.
Joking aside, it really did prove to be VERY helpful. I still need to get a firm grasp on the subject, but for the most part I feel more comfortable.
But then our spirits were lifted again when it was time to talk to probably one of the most talked-about performer on Broadway today:
Two-time Tony winner Christian Borle.
(Photo credit to thewingblog)
AND he sported a Springboard t-shirt. Awesome.
It was absolutely MIND BLOWING to be sitting in the same room as him. I became a HUGE fan of his after watching his performance in Legally Blonde: The Musical. Had been following his work ever since. He was so funny and gave incredible advice.
The most prominent one that he gave was:
“Other people’s success is not your failure.”
This was a concept that I found very hard to grasp as an actor, and even now I still get down in the dumps from time to time when a close friend or colleague gets cast or jumps on board a project. I’ll never forget those words.
When asked by somebody what his process was, he replied that he would occasionally steal material from the comedy greats: Tim Curry, Monty Python, just to name a couple. It’s kinda funny because when I played Emmett Forrest in my high school’s production of Legally Blonde, I kinda stole from his portrayal of the character. Hope he doesn’t mind... hehe.
It was crazy because right after the session, he had to head over to the St. James theater where he would be performing in Something Rotten, and we would be there to see it.
I don’t think I’ve ever laughed that hard than I did in Something Rotten. The cast was incredible. Brian d’Arcy James, of course, was amazing and hilarious. Christian Borle definitely deserved that Tony. He was too freaking hilarious and absolutely fun to watch.
They totally made Shakespeare the biggest fuckboy in this show, it’s so great.
And there was so much tap dancing.
It’s making a comeback, y’all. On the 20th Century had a bit of it, which also was incredible. Seeing it all made me want to go back to tap class... I think I’ll take more this upcoming school year.
The songs were so cleverly written and SO FUNNY. You get the idea. It was so funny. HIGHLY recommend you go see this one.
Welp, this marked the last show for the program. And the second to last day... I don’t want it to end. It feels like I just got here...