I Hope I Get It (On Auditioning and Things)

Photo Cred: Ebony P.

OVOC (Okanogan Valley Orchestra & Chorus) is currently in the works of putting on Wizard of Oz as their annual spring musical. On Saturday they held auditions and those auditions were terrifying. Or at least I thought they were going to be. You see, I haven't auditioned for anything for about two years now, but once I heard about Wizard of Oz I hopped on the "I'm Going To Be Dorothy" train and rode it all the way home.

So going in, I had a lot of expectations for myself, and was completely confident in how I would do. But then I showed up and there were other people there and holy goodness they could sing. And they wanted to be Dorothy as well, and that made me want to pee a little.

But then I went up to talk to the accompanist about my sheet music and she told me I had a "beautiful voice" and my fears were calmed a little. Until other people started singing. My heart was thumping in my chest so hard I thought that other people could probably hear it. Then they called me up.

"#37, Alexis Olmstead".

Awe crap. Here I go. My legs were shaking, my hands were trembling, my stomach was threatening to fall out of my butt. It was not pleasant. But as soon as I got up on stage I felt at peace. I had forgotten. The stage is my home. I live and breathe for theatre, and I LOVE how it feels to be up on that stage, doing my thing. I was still a tad nervous but slightly calmer so I went through my song, and hoped it went well.

They don't even need to make me a costume!

After the vocal auditions we broke for lunch, I breathed a little because the hard part was over, and mentally prepped for cold reads and the dance audition. The dance audition was the easiest part of the day, our routine was only two or three eight counts long. I was very happy with that. I was not as happy with the fact that I had to perform it about seven times. But I just kept on smiling because I was Dorothy and Dorothy smiles a lot and I was like...this will help me in the end.

Then - the most important part of the day. Cold reads. Cold reads are where the director and production staff really see if you have it what it takes to make a character come to life. This is where the 15 - 20 year old girls who can play younger are separated from those who can't, and ultimately, I feel, where the director decides if a particular actor or actress is right for the role.

In cold reads I only read twice, in two scenes where I didn't really talk very much, but needed to react to a lot of things, so I did the best I could, remembering that Dorothy (at the point of the show where the scenes took place) was this mystified and scared little girl. She was running away from home in one scene and had just met the Wicked Witch in the other. Keeping that in mind, I acted my butt off. I hope.

At the end of the day I was confident and anxious. The director only saw me read twice and I felt that I could have done more if given the chance, but didn't speak up when she asked if anyone wanted to read for the part again, which I was really kicking myself in the butt for.

And now, the waiting begins. This is the worst part because you don't know. You have to trust the director and everyone else  that they know what is best for the role. So here's to everyone that auditioned and here's hoping that I get the chance to play little miss Dorothy Gale.

Alexis Olmstead is a part time waitress and full time diva. She is currently awaiting news of her audition and planning her Tony acceptance speech. Her cats have heard it about fifty times and send their pleas for help. For more general updates on Alexis' life, thoughts and opinions, check back sporadically.