"The question isn't who's going to let me; it's who is going to stop me"-anonymous.The alarm rings at 6:30 am. Day one: Carnegie Mellon(CMU) at 8 am and NYU at 2:30 pm. We are up and ready finding coffee sounds good, so we head out to Duncan Donuts grab some and a egg white turkey sausage flat bread hold the cheese(dairy is no good for the vocal chords)and off we go to Grier Studios a half a block away. In NYC you go into these very large buildings and they all have a security desk which you need to check in at so we do and the guard tell us Grier is on the 16th floor so we head to the elevators and up we go. I really wish I had my camera out or had thought to take a picture when the doors opened because I did not expect what I saw. There were young girls and guys literally camped out and jam packed in the corridor waiting for this studio to open. Many had cases, bags, and pillows -I almost tripped over a couple petite little things who were fixing their makeup right in front of the elevator doors. Yikes, this I did not expect. It was like a scene from a movie. There are many studios at Grier and in addition to Carnegie Mellon auditions at 8 am there was also auditions for Mama Mia and the Apollo Theater. It was so exciting to see that room filled with people chasing there dream....I ketch Jessie's eye.........."what would Gerard say"(Gerard's Jessie's acting coach)with a smile she says"breathe"!
I love the fact that Jessie has her first audition with CMU because she was visiting in November and Jessie got to meet the head of the Acting department and sit in on an acting class that she taught. Jessie loved Barbara,(the head of the dept.)she is a passionate women who spoke of hard work and dedication. Everyone who was there for the auditions goes into one room to fill out paperwork, hand in your resume and head shot. They also take another picture of you. Barbara got up and spoke about there program and the reality of how many actors they would have in their acting program.......last year they took 3 females, typically it is 5 or 6. They would see many talented actors not everyone will get in.There was 2 different audition rooms that people would be seen in. God worked it out that Barbara would be conducting Jessie's audition. When you come in the audition room Barbara puts Jessie right to ease. Jessie does a Shakespeare piece from Cymbeline as Imogen. After She does it Barbara ask to do it again and explore more of the angry side of the character. Jessie does that and Barbara says "oh good fiery I like that" . Jessie does her second piece and Barbara asked to do one more and to sing. Jessie does on of her favorites a jazz song called "Route 66" and then they have a great conversation for about 10 minutes. Barbara asks Jessie everything from about her experience at "Stage Door Manor" to what other colleges she would be applying to. As Jessie was leaving the room Barbara said "you are extremely talented and adorable" What a awesome way to end your first college audition.
The second Audition of the day was a NYU. The format was much the same as at the CMU auditions except for there was a small group warm up before the individual auditions would begin. Jessie went into the room and did her 2 pieces and had a 10 minute interview. It was apparent the man conducting the audition was looking to get to really know her and to see what she was all about. He was very nice but not warm and fuzzy the way Barbara was. They talked about her experience at NYU this past summer and he asked things like her favorite books, plays and what would she do if there was no such thing as theater? Interesting the answer she gave......"help girls see the truth". He was curious about that and she told him about her group she started at school called "Pretty Little Lies". "It is a group to help girls see the deceptions they believe about themselves such as not good enough, not pretty enough, not thin enough, you have to have a boyfriend to be happy, and be having sex with them, drinking and drugs are the norm and so many more. I love giving girls the ability to see there worth,, break away and heal from some of the lies they had believed". When he asked what she'd be doing in 10 years she said "acting and helping girls." Colossians 4:3 "God will open doors"
No comments:
Post a Comment