Back on the theatre horse

So. 2 auditions today, for plays, and then a film audition on the 8th. Wish me luck. I'm trying to do the 'plant plenty of seeds, pick a few flowers' approach. Or maybe it's called the shotgun effect. Or maybe it has to do with having hands wide enough to throw two baseballs at the same time.

Anyway, I figure if I start auditioning for things I don't entirely depend on, I can afford a few practice rounds before I get really invested.

I never used to hate auditioning like this before. I never really liked it except when I was a kid, because I got the first three parts I auditioned for. I was something like nine years old the first time I didn't get cast, and all of a sudden there was the, 'wait, you don't want me? someone did it better? how? why?' that all actors understand at a certain point if they keep at it long enough.

Several people (friends whom I think know me pretty well) have assumed I will quit, which hurts a little. They ask, 'soo, now that you have the L.M.T. license, I guess you'll stop doing shows, right?' or 'it must be such a relief to not have to worry about auditioning anymore!' Well, sorry to rain on your relief parade. I don't see myself ever stopping. The whole reason I went back to school and got a massage therapy license was so I could work fewer hours, make more money, and have control over my schedule. And I don't want these things because I'm lazy. I am trying to corral my work obligations to make room for WHAT I REALLY WANT TO DO WITH MY TIME. Which is theatre and film. GOOD theatre and film.

On the upside of all this. I do find myself pickier about the auditions I'll go to. They can't be plays I don't like and they can't be shitty student films and I won't put up with raunchy commercial auditions where I'm asked to simulate an orgasm caused by Philadelphia cream cheese. Sorry. I guess that's just me.

The Steppenwolf audition I didn't tell anyone I had went well. I felt wrong for the part, but I was well-prepared and didn't embarrass myself. So I figure at least they saw me do a good read. It's way too early to know if anything will ever come of it.

That's the whole story. I'm off to staple headshots, and work on monologues, and figure out what I can do with my hair that makes me simultaneously look like a French cafe society-type and a sixties prostitute and a teenager from Cuba!