Professionalism From Start to Finish

Part of what makes actors nervous about the audition process is not knowing what to expect. We've all been on auditions with unclear directions. Unclear on what to bring. Unclear on what to prepare. Unclear on how long you'll stay. UNCLEAR ON WHERE TO FIND THE AUDITION ROOM. So we go to the audition, we feel our way through, emerge on the other side and wait. Wait to hear about callbacks, offerings of the role we wanted (or the role we didn't), or the "i'm sorry." And this is fine, it's part of the business.

But the worst type of waiting is waiting for communication that never comes.

And, unfortunately, that happens a lot. Some companies get back to you. Sometimes they never get back to you. And I get it, you're busy producing your show. But this is Boston, folks. As we've talked about many times, we are a tight knit community that grows and thrives on going the extra step. (I'm not talking about an extra mile, just ONE EXTRA STEP.) We're a growing arts community and as we've blogged about on many occasions, companies make names for themselves not only based on the quality of their shows, but based on how actor-friendly they are.

Last week, however, I had a very refreshing experience. I auditioned for Silence, GAN-ə-meed Theatre Project's winter production. From start to finish, the audition was a relaxing, pleasant experience that I would definitely do again. First, the director emailed all of the actors a location to meet to walk over to the audition location as it was a bit tricky to find. AKA: NO LOST ACTORS. Second, the director respected our time - those who had other commitments were seen first and those who didn't were seen in a timely manner and let go when they were finished reading. Third, and this is pretty much why I wrote this whole post, even though I didn't get the role, not only did the director get back to me within a week as she promised, SHE CALLED ME to thank me for my time. It took 30 minutes and one simple phone call to tell me that this company is classy and respectful and DEFINITELY a company I would audition for again. It FELT professional and isn't that what we are working towards? Running professional theatre companies? With every audition I go on, I pick up things about running The CoLab and this made an impact on me in a positive way. So thank you, GAN-ə-meed, and I look forward to auditioning for you in the future.

If you're interested in talking more with the GAN-ə-meed crew, check out their Women in Theatre Networking Night at The Burren on October 11. You can find more info at their website here.

Happy Auditioning,

E