Dealing with Rejection

I have been a little depressed about all the auditions I have done, two for a director I have already worked with, etc. Bob Fraser had some comments in a resent email posted to the Atlanta Theatre Yahoo! Group. The email was titled “Audition With Authority”. Here is a small section on rejection:

DEAL. Every audition is just one of the many you will
have in your career. If you are a normal human being you
will “fail” 80% of the time. Not just at auditions either.
The best piece of advice about this failure business is
given by one of the richest men in the world, Bill Gates;
“If you want to be more successful, double your failure
rate.”

The most difficult thing to ‘deal’ with in the entertainment
industry is the inevitable – “I didn’t get it” realization
You must understand that this is going to be the case much
more often than not. Rejection is not an easy thing to deal
with, but if you want to be a successful actor you must
learn to deal with it.

It’s a central part of a professional acting career.

As I have pointed out, more than once, even successful
established actors are rejected a lot. Every time a part
is being cast (say, Batman or Scarlett O’Hara) there are
hundreds of professional, money-earning stars who are
dismissed as possibilities and dozens of others who meet
with the producers and find out later that ? “I didn’t
get it.”

Dealing with rejection is crucial to your eventual success.
So, deal with it.

Audition Notice: Prisoner of Second Avenue

The Renaissance Project seeks Non Equity adult actors and actresses for Neil Simon’s dramatic comedy, Prisoner of Second Avenue. Performance dates are weekends only, Friday September 2 Sunday September 17. Company seeks adult actors and actresses that can play 30-60 age range. Actors are asked to prepare no more than a 2-minute monologue; no sides will be provided. Bring a headshot and a resume if one is available. Auditions are by appointment only. Call to schedule an appointment at 404-243-6937, ext.3 with the Artistic Director Michael H. Cole (who will be directing). The audition will be on Monday night, July 17, 7:30 p.m. Auditions Will Be Held At: The Renaissance Project Theatre, 4650 Flat Shoals Parkway, Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, K-Center Building, Decatur, GA 30034.

Audition Notice: Leading Ladies

Stage Door Players announces non-equity auditions for the Regional Premiere of Ken Ludwig’s new play, Leading Ladies. Auditions will be held July 16th and 17th from 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM, at the theater. Show runs September 22nd through October 15th, and will be directed by SDP Artistic Director, Robert Egizio. All actors paid a stipend. Casting: 2 women age range 25-35, 1 woman to play 70-80, 3 men 25-50+. The roles of Jack and Leo have already been cast. Please bring headshot and resume, and be prepared to read from the script. For more information or directions to the theater, call 770-396-1726 ext 7, or click on the link above.

Audition for Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf

My shortest auditions ever. Even had it memorized.

NICK: Well… Yes and no.

NICK: Yes, I…

NICK: Are you alright?

NICK: Well…

That was it. All there was on a page of dialog with GEORGE and (HONEY). Not much to work with. I read it one way, then the director gave additional instructions to everyone. For NICK it was “very confident”. So I read it that way. The side was mainly for looking at (HONEY) with a little NICK thrown in.

Well, that was on Saturday and call backs were on Sunday. No call back. Well….