I was wrong in a previous post. Kelsey Theatre is 190 miles round trip from here at my vacation, not 170 miles. But, I valiantly made the trek, oblivious to the raging storms that accompanied every mile. The callback was enjoyable, as enjoyable as these things get at any rate. There were a whole lot of females competing and only three males. They were all good actors and strong singers. So how did I do? That's the question everyone asks actors after auditions; "How did you do?" Here's the answer; "How the fuck should I know how I did?" I mean, I think I did really well. I thought my reading was nuanced, my singing sublime and my impact immense. But no one who matters cares what I think. All that matters is whether my stuff matched up well with the stuff in the director's mind. Otherwise it's "You were great but we decided to go in a different direction; if that.

The role of the King in K&I is not a heavy singing role which suits me fine. I style myself as a singing actor, not an acting singer. Most of the theatrical work I've done has been in non-musicals. Hopefully this comes across. So...I'll let you know.

Tomorrow is the callback for King and I. I watched the video last night. Yul Brynner was pretty awesome, it was indeed a tour de force but the show is...well vintage Rodgers and Hammerstein, which is to say insipid. Getting to know you was the 50's version of "It's a small world after all." I can remember singing it in school and hating it then. The role of the King however would be a great role and one I could chew on for a while. Well, I should know soon and, if chosen, that will lock up my fall.

If not, I note that Montgomery Theatre has an audition notice for the Last Night of Ballyhoo. That will definitely be on my list.

I got a callback from Playful for King and I. It's this Sunday. I am still on vacation so this means schlepping 170 miles again for 10-15 minutes of auditioning. My wife thinks I'm nuts. I am of course nuts but I also would love to do the show and there's not a good way I know of to get the part without showing up for the audition. So onward and (hopefully) upward.  I actually haven't seen this show for many years, I should probably get the DVD. All I remember is Yul Brynner's terrible faux accent and deep laugh. I have a deep laugh and my accent is as faux as any man's. In fact, I pity the fool who tries to be more faux.

In other acting news I saw a casting call for Christmas Carol at Walnut Street Theater. It's non-union but it pays. I think I shall see if I can't do Scrooge yet again this season.

Congratulations to all the folks at Maurer Productions ! They have garnered 17 Perry Award nominations; 9 for their production of Driving Miss Daisy, a show I "reviewed" in this blog, and 8 for "Dancing in the Rain," a show I regrettably missed seeing. I am particularly impressed by Dan Maurer  being nominated in his first show as a director. For a full list of the people nominated from Maurer, go to the link above. I just want to say that these are not only highly talented people, they are some of my favorite people with whom to work. They consistently attract the highest caliber actors and technicians because they are friendly, respectful, and know their onions. I'm looking forward to auditioning for them in the near future.

In other news, I auditioned tonight for King and I for Playful Productions at Kelsey. I drove 85 miles each way from the shore to do so. These are also people with whom I'd love to work again. Constant readers will recall I did my first show at Kelsey for Playful. I think my singing was pretty good at the audition but then we had the dreaded dance audition. Now as a dancer, I'm a pretty good singer. With remedial help I can dance, but I am not enough of a dancer to pick up moves after being shown a few times in a group. I need TLC and one on one, after which I can dance. I've actually danced in a number of shows and none of the reviewers guffawed so I manage.

I know I could do a strong lead in King and I. It calls for a dominant lead and I am that. Hopefully the crew at Playful comes to the same conclusion.

I apologize if I offended any directors with my last rant. Indeed, I have had the pleasure to work for a number of really good, respectful people. You know who you are. And the assholes? Well, you know who you are as well. It is unfair to tar an entire class of what may be people with the same brush.

And so, oh my brothers and only friends, I have apparently been thrown off the My Fair Lady island.  Tom Orr wrote me to say he had been called back for a "final callback" and alas, I have not .  So I wish Tom good luck and I retire to heal my wounded ego.  I have to admit that I really both desired the role of Higgins and also believed I did a good job at the callbacks but, in the end, I don't get a vote. I do wish that I got a final rejection from the director. I know Tom was also perplexed. He auditioned over a month ago and just heard back yesterday. When I blogged that I had received a call back, Tom had already been called back I believe. This was obviously discouraging to him and consequently he probably figured he was out of the running; only to be contacted Monday. This is just not a respectful way to treat people. All of you directors take heed; giving people the courtesy that they are due, even actors, is only going to enhance your positive reputation and increase our desire to audition for you and work for you...fuckers.

So, why don't directors just let us know what's up? I'm waiting for news, a familiar feeling. Many of my friends audition and wait for news. And the directors know. They know who they desire to cast, long before they call, and they know that actors would appreciate a heads up. But do they change their behavior? Noooooo! I don't get it.

I know I've been like some breathless virgin about this whole Higgins thing. As I mentioned in some other post, I feel like a minor league ball player waiting to get called into the "game." I love to act, and I act, but not at that certain level. Maybe I never will. I was watching "Field of Dreams" last night; one of my favorites, and there is a scene where Burt Lancaster plays Archie Graham; a doctor who got to play about 5 minutes in the majors. He's a small town doctor and Kevin Costner offers him a chance to play on the field with the players of his dreams and he turns it down. The Costner character is confounded but Lancaster, while admitting he always dreamed of at least having a bat in the big leagues, says; "It's no tragedy. If I had only gotten to be a doctor for 5 minutes; now that would have been a tragedy." Maybe that's what I'll come around to. I dream of being a pro. I long to do a long run as a lead in a legit company. But maybe my real value lies somewhere else. Eventually it will just be as it will be.

I did the callback at Media for Higgins yesterday. It was interesting and as enjoyable as these highly charged environments can be I suppose. There were only a few Higgins' and more Elizas. In addition were Pickerings and Doolittles. They also auditioned the chorus people. Looked to be a long day for the director and company. I did my scene with Eliza, sang my song, and then was asked to stay and read with the other characters. The other Higgins' were dismissed. While one might think this was positive, I have been around too long to draw any conclusions based on flimsy evidence. It is just as likely that they just needed one person to read and the director said "tell John to stay" because John was the only name he remembered. Or it could be he wanted to see more of me and now regrets it. I have stopped trying to read director's minds. They are dark places and resist my powers. Nevertheless, I am pleased with my performance and I believe I acquitted myself well. Whether or not this meets Mr. Cline's desires is unknown until he makes the call. There was a screw-up by the accompanist when I did "Accustomed to her face." Instead of stopping the music during the speaking part of "Marry Freddy, what an infantile idea...," he continued playing the song resulting in his being about two pages in front of me and me therefore needing to speak everything from that part on so as not to have it sound jarring. I made a quick decision not to stop him but to charge on (as I would do in performance) and hope the director realized the error. All in all I am pleased I was called back. There were some very talented people in whose company I was privileged to be. Whether I win the prize or not, to make the finals was an honor.

Today I had a session with an acting coach and one with my vocal coach. Both around callbacks for Higgins. You might ask; "How can you do that John and still work?" Well, I'm glad you asked. As a Forensic Psychologist in my day job, I sometimes have to go to Court and testify. (Yes that is also acting.) When I have a Court date I need to take off the entire day because I never know when I'll get out. Today was quick and so I quickly arranged to be an actor the rest of the day.  I could definitely adjust to spending more time working on acting and singing and less time on...working.

So, my acting coach is my older brother Dan. Now Dan has been teaching and directing for almost 40 years. This is the first time I asked him for help. Those of you who have older brothers might recognize the extremely complex nature of the brother relationship. Anyway, this was actually a very good experience. Dan was very helpful and was able to point out several areas in which I might consider changes in delivery and did not once say; "You suck! You are such a douche bag as an actor!" I appreciate this.

I got a callback for Higgins at Media! I am amazed and astounded, pleased and excited. I really had closed the book on that show although, truth be told, I was discouraged that I had not gotten called back. Well, just goes to show...something. Now I have a week of nerves studying the sides and preparing the song. I know that Tom Orr also got a call back and I certainly respect Tom's prodigious talent. I don't know if he's been seen yet or whether we'll be mano a mano next Saturday; whatever, If I don't get the role, I hope Tom does. I know he'd do a great job. I'm just pleased to be in the finals.

So now I'm back to figuring out possibilities. I'm glad I didn't jump at any of the other opportunities that have come up...oh wait, nothing else came up.

Tonight Pajama Game opens at Haddonfield and Sweet Charity opens at Actors NET. Break Legs everyone! BTW, I focused on Sweet Charity in my last post but I did see snippets of Pajama Game last month and it also looked really good. I think anyone going to see either show will be pleased.