Hamlet, Kaput.

And thus, Hamlet came to a close. It was our final show and I have to say I'm a little glad of it. I very much liked all my fellow actors, and I'm proud of the show we put up but I'm ready to put it to rest.
I learned a great deal through this production. especially about Shakespeare. You forget how much you're missing 'til you really immerse yourself in it for a long time. The First Folio Technique our director offered was quite helpful but I think I need to study it more in depth to get the full capacity of what it has to offer. And truly, listening to others delivery speeches and dialogue did more wonders for me than most classroom-style instructionreally could. I'm a bit of an aural learner so hearing the text is best.
I was forced to grow a beard for the show. And when I say beard I mean full on total beard. All the men grew one, except Hamlet. Despite the compliments I have received, I can't wait to shave it off. My girlfriend has promised me a hot lather shave, so momentarily I will be searching the region for a barbershop open on Sunday.
During the night I had a nigtmare we were doing the show again. Sort of. Not evern really doign it again but just fooling around, doing entrances and exits, joking around but I was sick of it. It was dark and it was 4 in the morning and I had no idea why we couldn't go home and sleep. I have but one more obligation with the show, that being the End of the Season Barbeque. And then Hamlet is truly over.
I thought I heard a train this morning when I woke up. I like to imagine it was the train Hamlet rode out on.

I had an audition yesterday for an upcoming production of Lear. It was a little odd in that the director was in Lithuania and attended the audition via webcam. But he was excellent and putting you at ease about the situation and offered excellent direction. I first delivered my prepared monologue and he gave me high praise. I had originally been given sides for Fool and Edmund, but he told the people running the audition to give me Edgar sides. I did some preparing in the hall, came in to read some more, and scored myself a callback. Just the few details about the show I have heard trickle out make it out to be something I would be very excited to be a part of.
Call backs in not quite two weeks

I have to say I was really down and out about Hamlet. I felt like the only one who struggled through the whole process. I got very few compliments or notes which gave me no real clue as to if I was on the right track or not. I began to think of myself as quite a bit less of an actor. But friends who saw the show were rich with compliments despite my minimal stage time and some cast memebers told me there favorite part was a bit in the play where I play a major role. All of this has done me great good.
I feel like I can run with the big dogs again and feel ready to take on the world a bit. I can't wait for the generals to come back around.

Important Lessons in Counting Chickens

Rember that post I had not too long ago about all those opportunities that were popping up? Yeah well... so much for that.

Through a series of avenues I happened to hear that medium-sized house role I was up for already had their callbacks. Needless to say, I wasn't asked to attend. Not that I'm not being considered I guess I divulge a few details. The play was The Dead Guy and it's being performed at ArtsWest. Supposedly the director wanted the cast to skew older than I look. Fair enough. But it would've been nice to know that I was no longer being considered.

I guess I'm still technically up for Romeo and Juliet at Balagan but I'm not holding my breath. It's been about a week since the audition and they said they would get back to us right away. I shot off an email to a couple of people at Balagan and got a reply that said they had just finished casting, it took them longer than expected, and I should hear something pretty soon. It's a glimmer of hope. Not a spectacularly bright glimmer though.

I think I will gun for this Rep role though. It's a bit of a longshot but it's worth. It's the metaphoric Hail_Mary, only I'm throwing the ball towards the start of the first quarter. Maybe even on third down.

Call me over-eager.