Rock The Audition!

Stephan:

How do you feel about the Rock Songs in your audition book?

I just finished an amazing class with actor/teacher extraordinaire Sheri Sanders (www.sherisanders.biz) called "Rock the Audition" and I was blown away! I wanted to make sure to pass it along...

In her class, Sheri hooks you up with 2 contrasting rock audition songs that fit you like a glove and then she works style, time period, vocal styling, and storytelling with you to make the songs excel in the audition room. Sheri has an extensive knowledge of 60's, 70's, 80's, & 90's rock and her musical directors for the class are amazing... ours was Wendy Bobbitt-Cavett the warm and wonderful Musical Director for Mamma Mia!! (It must be mentioned too that Sheri is singularly talented in her own right and has one of the fiercest voices I've heard... so trusting her instincts and insights comes very, very easy)

It's amazing to me how many shows on Broadway and Tour require a rock or R&B song these days: Xanadu, Legally Blond, Rent, Jersey Boys, Grease, Passing Strange, Hairspray, Spring Awakening, Shrek... with the Vegas, Tour, and Broadway companies of Mamma Mia auditioning alone, it's so worth it for you to have a rock audition you love. If you're looking for the best place to make it happen, check out Sheri's class, it's a great place to make it happen...

Sheri Sanders' web site is www.sherisanders.biz
You can check out her upcoming rock classes at www.sherisanders.biz/class.htm (there's one coming up in May!)

Not For Tourists.com

Stephan:

hey guys!

Some of my friends are really big fans of Not For Tourists which has neighborhood maps and info about a lot of the actor neighborhoods in NYC. Check out their web site: http://www.notfortourists.com/

You can actually check out locations of drug stores, banks, bars, restaurants, shops, and post offices close to you on their web site for free at this link: http://notfortourists.com/NewYork-PDFs.aspx It's especially great for artists new to NYC or people who are trying to figure out which neighborhood to sublet in or find an apartment.

At last, all of the information about your neighborhood in one place (no more using "store locator" links on the web!!)!

NonEquityDeputy.com

Hey guys, check out this amazing web-site I just came across! It's a place with message boards for Non-Equity actors, with tons of information on specific theatres. The web address is www.nonequitydeputy.com

Sheet Music In Your Key...Part 2

As a continuation to the Blog entry I posted a couple weeks ago - "Sheet music in your key (3 ways to transpose your music)...Part 1", here is a look at the other 2 options you have for getting your sheet music's key changed (or "transposed").

Choice 2. Paying someone to transpose it for you. There are many songs you may want transposed that online sheet music stores either don't have, or don't give you the option of transposing. In this case there are several people in NYC who you can pay to transpose your sheet music for you. In addition to being able to transpose that rare piece of sheet music into a key that no one else will have, going to someone to do it for you will also give you the advantage of being able to personalize your music with other small changes and finishing touches that you wouldn't get from the generic sheet music store, such as getting them to insert a different ending, add a key change, make it an 8, 16, or 32 bar cut, or even possibly making major changes to the song (if they're able & willing).

A couple people you can pay to transpose your music are stepUPmusic (Chris Guilmet) 917-453-3851 cguilmet@earthlink.net, or Michael Hicks 212-946-1434 m.d.hicks@mindspring.com

Choice 3. Doing it yourself.
Obviously, if you have this capability, you would know it. What you may not know, however, is that by using free MIDI files that you can find online, you can make the process of inputting the notes into your music composition program amazingly easy. If you go to http://www.hamienet.com/ and go to their Broadway Musical page (on our Ultimate Theatre Homepage you can get there by clicking on "Broadway MIDI Accompaniments (Free)" under Scripts & Breakdowns), they have hundreds of MIDI files for Broadway songs. If you click on and download the MIDI file for the song you want, you can then open up that MIDI file through your music composition program (I know this works for Finale, I'm not sure how well it works for other PC and Mac programs) and you will have notes to the song in your program, ready for transposition. You may want to add the lyrics to the song, and maybe clean up some of the notes, but it can save you an amazing amount of time in not having to enter the entire song yourself.

In Conclusion: I really hope that this is helpful to you. Sometimes getting that song in the perfect key for your voice can make all of the difference. If you have any comments, suggestions, or recommendations for other people you know who transpose music, please do pass them along. You can contact me at StepStub@aol.com (Stephan Stubbins). Happy Transposing!

20at20

Eric:
OK guys. I like bargains. And since I also like theatre, any bargain on theatre is one that I have to be a part of. Enter "20at20." Hmmm... The organization of Off Broadway Brainstormers have come up with a way to remind people that off-Broadway does exist and that butts in the seats are the only way to keep this animal breathing. So for the first time, they've decided to offer $20 tickets to participating off-Broadway shows. Interested? Check it out:

what: "20at20," $20 Rush Tickets
why: Give my regards to off-Broadway
where: Tickets are sold at the box office only.
when: One week only! Sunday, March 4th - Sunday, March 11, starting 20 minutes before each curtain.
who: Participating off-Brodway shows listed below...

25 Questions for a Jewish Mother
-St. Luke's Theatre

A Jew Grows in Brooklyn
-37 Arts

A Very Common Procedure
-Lucille Lortel Theatre

Altar Boyz
-New World Stages

The Awesome 80s Prom
-Webster Hall

"BE" by Mayumana
-Union Square Theatre

The Big Voice: God or Merman?
-Actors Temple Theatre

Bill W. and Dr. Bob
-New World Stages

Defender of the Faith
-Irish Rep

The Fantasticks
-Snapple Theater Center

The Fever
-The New Group @ Theatre Row

The Gazillion Bubble Show
-New World Stages

Gutenberg! the Musical!
-Actors' Playhouse

I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
-Westside Theatre Upstairs

Jewtopia
-Westside Theatre Downstairs

The Last Word...
-Theatre at St Clement's

Mary Rose
-Vineyard Theatre

My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish, & I'm In Therapy
-Little Shubert

My Secret Garden
-45th St. Theater

Naked Boys Singing
-New World Stages

Perfect Crime
-Snapple Theater Center

Room Service
-SoHo Playhouse

Sealed for Freshness
-New World Stages

Some Men
-2econd Stage Theatre

Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell
-Minetta Lane Theatre

Stomp
-Orpheum

The Voysey Inheritance
-Atlantic Theatre

Good Luck and Happy Viewing.

The Jen Waldman Studio

Stephan:
Have you ever had that experience in your life as an artist where you find yourself realizing that something bigger is at work in you, when it begins to crystallize and become clear that that you are on the edge of something amazing? Have you ever found yourself in that perfect creative environment where those feelings are fostered and where you can tangibly feel yourself growing & deepening as an artist? I have been taking the best class lately (from Jen Waldman at the Jen Waldman Studio), and it has been exactly that, an inspiration.

In NYC there are hundreds of teachers and classes for musical theatre actors and performers. For an NYC actor it can be almost as overwhelming choosing the right teacher and studio, as it can be to get that dream job or get that dream agent to return your phone calls. There are many, many good teachers in NYC, but for those who have really been around NYC there are a few that are in a category of their own, we call them “career changing amazing”, and those are exactly the words I would use to describe Jen Waldman and the Jen Waldman Studio

I am a huge fan of Jen’s class. Every week we work on visualizations, affirmations, exercises, and on developing, enriching, exploring, and enhancing the songs in our book. If you are looking for that next step, that place to dream, that opportunity to sing the songs you love the most, and to dig deeper and express fuller…Check her out, you’ll be glad you did! www.JenWaldmanStudio.com

Sheet music in your key (3 ways to transpose your music)...Part 1

Stephan:
So you've got that perfect song that you're sure will leave those power Agents and Broadway Casting Directors drooling...only, you sing it through with your voice teacher and you hear those dreaded words "You're going to need to take this up a whole step, you need to change the key, it needs to be transposed!" To many those words may be tragic. For you (after reading this 3 part blog entry) those words will be opportunistic (your opportunity to get a song in a key the others don't know how to get). Suddenly that soprano version of 'Old Man River' that you've always been dreaming about singing for your "RENT" audition is possible!

To be super clear, "transposing" a song means changing the key, raising or lowering all of the notes in the song, to better fit your voice. You have 3 basic choices when you need to get a song transposed. I'll begin with Choice 1 and continue with choices 2 and 3 in the following weeks...

Choice 1. Buying sheet music online and printing it at your computer. This is perhaps the easiest method. If you go to a sheet music store online such as MusicNotes.com, SheetMusicDirect.com, or FreehandMusic.com, you can often find exactly what you are looking for. Once you decide to purchase a song, many songs have the option of transposing the song before you print. However, there are some things you should be aware of before you buy:
A. Not all of the songs on each site have the option for transposing (though many do). Make sure it's an option before you buy (if you want it in a different key than the original).
B. Sometimes you'll find a song on one of those sites that you can't transpose, but on a different site that same song is transposable. In other words, make sure you shop around to a couple different sites if you don't immediately find what you want.
C. With these sites, you have to print and choose the key when you buy the song. You can't come back a day later (after your voice lesson) and try to print it again in a different key (you would have to then buy it again).

I assure you the whole process is very convenient. Their software will play back the music to you, so you can sing along and be sure it's the key you want. The fact that you can sit down and find that audition song, have it printed out and in the key that best fits your voice in under 10 minutes is pretty amazing (considering how long that process took a few years ago!)

If you're interested in these sheet music sites, follow our sponsored banner links on our UltimateTheatreHomepage (at www.UltimateTheatreHomepage.com). They are the banners at the very bottom of the page (quick and easy to access if you're using the homepage regularly!).

Read next week and I'll continue with Choice 2 of your 3 transposing options...

Your Student ID is worth $!

Eric:
That's right. Even if you are out of school, hold onto that student ID because it can help you get discount tickets to Broadway and off-Broadway shows. Each show is unique with their separate rules. However a student ID can usually snag you a ticket for around $20-$35 which is worth its weight in gold if you ask me considering a ticket now can cost a patron over $100.

Note that student rush tickets are different from lottery tickets. As the name suggests, lottery tickets are limited discount tickets available to anyone whose name is drawn at a lottery for that day's performance. Student rush tickets are limited discount tickets for those with student IDs only, available on the day of performance and are sold on a first come first serve basis- usually when the box office opens and subject to availability of course.

Has your student ID expired? I don't want to say anything shady....so I'll just write it: My ID has been expired for years but I have yet to have anyone question me on it (knock on wood). Regardless, you can ask box offices about their student rush tickets and policies or you can check out our "Theater Tickets" heading on the homepage for more student discount information.

Actors, Where Are You Going...

Emily:
Do you ever look at an audition posting and just think, “Yes, I know I can do this role, this is perfect for me!” Where does that gut instinct come from and why are we drawn there? You might think it is simply because you match the vocal type or style, age, height or any other “quality”. But there are other forces at work…forces that drove you to be an actor in the first place, deep inner feelings that give you personal bliss and satisfaction to create and explore and express.

So many times we can feel exhausted pushing those great instinct’s aside and thinking foolishly that because we’re an actor, we have to be able to play anything and everything to get the job. And then we also think to ourselves, “What sets me apart from all the other thousands of actors striving to get jobs?” Yikes! It’s mind blowing!

Still a secret resource in the city!!! John Dapolito’s-AWG (Actors Where Are You Going?) Program (www.johndapolito.com), is pioneering new psychological profiling technique’s to help actors understand how to market themselves. You are the product you’re selling in the acting world and John’s program helps the actor uncover their personal niche (product) for individual success.

An established actor, playwright, director and acting teacher himself, John has an instinct for revealing actors to themselves like no one I have ever met. He addresses all of those haunting acting questions during his eye-opening seminars, which then sets the tone for the one-on-one private session. I recommend both HIGHLY. For one of the most useful things I have ever given myself is the AWG-Program. It has added new direction to the way I work my craft and see myself as an actor. Check out the website!

Because.....if you don’t know where you’re going….
…..it’s much, much harder to get there.

WEBSITE SPOTLIGHT: Hopstop.com

Eric:
We've all been there...Your friend's band is playing at that bar in the east village, but you have no idea how to find it. The movie you're doing background on is meeting on location in Inwood, but you've never been past 96th St. Check out www.hopstop.com found under or Maps & Direction heading.

I personally love this website because it continues to give me detailed directions and maps of catering locations in the city. The traveling time estimates are so accurate that I've always been on time for my events. It will even ask you for the travel day and time so that it can calculate any weekend subway changes! Hopstop.com's directions can vary from the fastest and most direct to subway & bus combinations. If you ask it to map out an address you will see cross streets and the neighborhood. Or if you just have an idea of the location and want to check out the scene you can "Point to Location on a Map." And just when you think they're done, you can even request subway directions on your mobile phone! Ain't technology grand? Happy traveling!

Money in the Bank! (Fidelity Investments)

Stephan:
Do you have extra money that you don't need for another couple of months that's just sitting in your checking account? This is a conversation I've had about 4 times this week and since a lot of us are actors with fluctuating accounts, I thought I'd pass it along.

It started with a question from one of my roommates, Sonja, "I've got this money just sitting in my account and I don't know what to do with it. Do you have any ideas?" She came to me because I'm something of a nerd when it comes to reading books on money management and doing research on investing.

"Sure that's something I was dealing with in August" I said, "I can't guarantee this is the best answer for you, but I've found something that works for me." I went on to tell her about my accounts at Fidelity Investments (www.fidelity.com). I started an account there for my Roth IRA right after college (thanks to my Grandparent's wisdom), but more recently I started an account there for an amount of a few thousand dollars that was just sitting in my checking account waiting to be used. They have a money market account that right now is getting about 5% interest and you can link it to your checking account at your bank to get that money back into your checking account the next day if you needed to.

The best part about it is that you can go in and talk to somebody at Fidelity for free and they can detail all of your options and give you other great ideas, even if you don't already have an account there (check out their locations). Sonja and I went in yesterday and met with one of the guys there and it looks like it's exactly what she was looking for. The funny thing was that while I was there I ran into a friend of mine who was in a commercial class I took a couple of years ago. When we started talking about it, he realized that he could use something like that too. I thought I'd pass it on to you!

Happy Christmas & Merry Hanukkah

Hope everybody has had a wonderful week with their family & friends. Check out this funny video from the companies of Avenue Q & Fiddler on the Roof ("Everyone's A Little Bit Jewish")

'Spring Awakening' & INMULABAL

Stephan:
I saw Spring Awakening (the Broadway show, http://www.springawakening.com/) last week, and was blown away! If you haven't seen it yet, and if you can still find a cheap ticket (it was selling at 50% capacity through previews...although, now it's officially open), I would highly recommend it. While not everyone I know who has seen it has been in love with it, I certainly am. Check out this music video (Spring Awakening Video), it may get you hooked. Hope you like it!

Also, I took part in a really cool reading this month for a new group that my former roommate (playwright/actor) Brian Pracht started with some friends. The group is called INMULABAL, and it is comprised of a bunch of actors and writers who met through the LAByrinth Theatre (Philip Seymour Hoffman & John Patrick Shanley's theatre group). INMULABAL has been meeting every week as a sort of "acting group" (like a "writing group" only for actors), where they perform for each other and bring in new exercises, ideas, and inspiration. A couple weeks ago they had their first "performance" where there were about 9 readings of new plays and short pieces. I was super impressed with the talent and the subtlety of the writers and actors. If you're interested, check out their google-group page (http://groups.google.com/group/inmulabal). Happy Holidays!

To pay or not to pay, that is the quesiton. Paying for an audition

I have to admit, I was a bit nervous as I walked into the “Film Center” building on 9th Ave. I had been there once before to do some voice-over work, but I’d never been up to the 14th floor where “Actor’s Connection” calls home. I was nervous—but not for the usual actor reasons like performance anxiety or a sore throat. My trepidation was more on philosophical grounds.

You see, in the six years I’ve lived in New York City, I have never directly paid to be seen by an industry professional. I say “directly” because I know we’re always paying indirectly. Of course it takes marketing and networking (in addition to talent) to make it in this biz, and through the years I’ve bought the headshots and the postcards, the voice lessons and acting classes. I’ve even traveled to other cities just for an audition—paying for transportation, food, accommodations etc. but I’ve always stopped short of paying directly for an audition. “Real” actors wouldn’t ever do that, I thought. It was my proverbial line in the sand, the period in my sentence, the curly black hair in my gourmet pizza. No thank you, sir.

But then my fiancé, Dana, bought a “pack” of three seminars at Actor’s Connection and couldn’t use them all. Not a fan of wasting anything… and, well, technically I wouldn’t be the one paying to meet the guy, I took her remaining seminars from her. And that is how I found myself stepping into the elevator at 630 9th Avenue. What would it be like? How long would we have? What kind of actors would be there? I knew there was no prerequisite, audition or screening process… Would this Casting Director think less of me for being there? Would he just be there for a paycheck, or would he take us and our “connection” seriously?

I stepped out of the elevator and then into the Actor’s Connection lobby. I was a half an hour early, so I sat down across from the front desk to wait and watch. Other actors were coming and going, rehearsing scenes and sides, or softly reciting their monologues under their breath. Nothing out of the ordinary there.

Soon, we all filtered into Studio One and I sat down in the center of the second row of chairs. The monitor stood in front and gave us some ground rules: You’ll be paired up by the Casting Director for the scenes that you’ll be reading cold. He likes to pair people himself, and because there is an odd number of people, someone may get a monologue to read. You’ll each get four minutes. Then she asked if any one had come for the first time. I slowly raised my hand. Ahh, a Virgin, she said delightedly… She left the room, and as we waited for the Casting Director to arrive a guy in the front row said, very loud: “Thanks for coming, sir! How would you like it if WE were seven minutes late?? Huh, Sir?? HUH!” I sincerely think he was trying to be funny, sitting there, berating the empty chair in the front of the room. But his antics were met with an embarrassed silence. Finally, the CD we were waiting for turned up, and after which, everything went much smoother. We got to ask him some quite pointed questions—and it was actually pretty comfortable. So often in an audition, I’ve found that I have walked in and out of the room so focused on myself that I’ve already forgotten what the people in the room look like! This little “interview process” made me feel (whether it was true or not) that I had made some sort of personal connection with him. Here are a few of the sound bytes from our question/answer session: Reels are easiest for him to look at online, send him a URL address rather than a DVD. He watches Law and Order, (even though he hates the show!) religiously. Why? Because it keeps him up to date on the NYC acting pool. He also said that 50% (at least) of your audition is the impression you make as you walk in the door. And finally, the most important thing he “looks for in an actor he is considering casting:” Professionalism.

We were paired up and given scenes and a few minutes to prepare. When my scene partner and I went into the room, we got to do the scene three times and even got a few adjustments. Lastly, we handed over our picture and resumes, and that was that.

As I walked home, I couldn’t help fantasizing about all of the other industry professionals I would like to meet. It was easier, and certainly more personal, than a cattle call. I guess, without the pressure of “casting a project,” CD’s can give a little more time for a personal connection. Of course, as I write this, it has been a few days now and I haven’t heard anything—no national commercial yet… So it still could be just a paycheck for C.D.’s at the expense of inexperienced actors. But, it didn’t feel that way. Without an Agent submitting you, how else would you get in front of these people? And if you do get called in for something, and got cast, who cares how you first met!

As I said, nothing tangable has come of my little experiment so far, but I certainly feel different that I thought I would. Instead of pathetic, I feel positive and proactive. And as I wrote my little thank-you post card that night to the casting director I had met, I wondered if I had been wrong all along? To pay or not to pay? It's not a question for me anymore.

A day with Gandhi

Stephan:
How many people can say that they got to be Gandhi for a day...on top of that, how many of those "Gandhi"s have then been granted the extreem opportunity to have a fist fight with Jesus and break a bottle over his head. In this esteem, I may be in a class of my own.

It really was a great week from the begining. Monday I got the opportunity to sing again for the BMI writers workshop. For those who haven't heard of the BMI workshop, it's a program for musical theatre songwriters. The songwriters who are a part of BMI get the opportunity to present their songs to a classroom of fellow singers and songwriters, who then discuss the songs and present valuable insights, ideas, and feedback. Some of the shows that have emerged from this workshop are hits like A Chorus Line, Little Shop of Horrors, Nine, Ragtime, & most recently Avenue Q. Often when a songwriter writes a new song, instead of singing it themselves they'll ask a singer or actor to come into class and present it for them. On Monday I was one of those singers.

I've sung for a few different writers there, and I must say it's always a good challenge and a terrific learning experience (along with being a great opportunity for meeting and being heard by the next generation of musical theatre composers). My song went well, I didn't nail it like I had hoped, but I certainly did have some good moments. I must note that I love the music of the composer I was singing...the wonderful BJ Bjorkman! The head moderator of the class this past week was Maury Yeston (Titanic, Nine, Grand Hotel). Listening to him digest and diagnose the songs in class was a real education. I loved some of his ideas on sincerety in music (speaking right to the story and not musical theatre-ing it up), emotional juxtiposition (the bad guy of the show thinks they're the good guy, and sometimes when you write music for the moment when the ship hits the iceburg, it doesn't have to be done with drums and a great boom, maybe it's better with a flute solo), and good song concepts vs. well written songs (it could be a great song, but if it's the wrong moment, it's lost). Just being in that room (especially after spending most of the rest of the day in an office) was a giant breath of fresh air.

So, Thursday I get the call from 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien' - "hey Stephan, are you available tomorrow? Our usual Gandhi is unavailble for the show tomorrow and we were wondering if you would be interested" (I of course being a 5'6" midwest looking "white boy", had to take a moment) to which I answered "sure, I can move some things around, but are you sure you think I would be ok for Gandhi?". "Yeah (beat) do you have a lot of chest hair?" (beat) "Is it good to have chest hair? I could shave it all off?"...needless to say, after talking about my chest hair, arm size, pecks and overall indian-compatibility, I was deemed worthy and asked to come in on Friday.

We were supposed to be a part of the College Mascots bit on Friday night (us being the "fighting pacifists" - Jesus fighting Gandhi). Unfortunately after getting the bald cap, face paint, indian toga (indian toga - is that what it's called?), and after breaking a bottle over Jesus' head in the 4 o'clock rehearsal, we got cut. Alas, my National TV Gandhi debut must wait. All in all, what a way to spend a day!