This last Thursday, I had the wonderful opportunity to audition for the Broadway Revival of Stephen Schwartz hit musical, Godspell. I luckily made the Promo Video at www.Godspell.com part of the Broadway show's official "Day by Day" blog. I'm 28 seconds into the clip!!
Having directed it last Fall at Shafer Street Playhouse, I was super excited to audition, especially because the Revival of this show is pretty much a very important moment in musical theatre history. Randy Lutterman, director from SpringBoardNYC, suggested for the programs' alumni to try out, and I was happy to wait in line starting at 6am with fellow SpringBoarder Benjamin Williams. Also joining me were TheatreVCU graduates, Kim Exum, Jasmine Coles, and Joshua Grace. Having such a caring support group auditioning beside me was a comfort and joy, especially because this was my first big Broadway audition. Their sense of easy and professionalism was contagious and made me feel at home.
Being use to casting calls with barley a hundred actors, or set appointment times for auditions in the Greater Metropolitan DC arts industry, I had a moment when I realized that nearly 1,000 people were auditioning. During this eight hour wait, I found it hard to keep energized and focused, and with the sun soaking everyone up, it was hot, and we were exhausted and hungry. Also being in the middle of a huge city, there was no place to practice or warm-up. My explorations down side streets to find an alley way to sing in didn't show much promise, but I let myself look like a little bit of a loony as I belted my song and walked down a crowded sidewalk.
Right before I went in, I got up off the sewer vent I was sitting on against the wall and my phone somehow managed to fit and fall through a crack, into the sewer, and down nearly a dozen feet. I let this go for the time being and moved on. I had to let this [important] distraction go--I basically waited half a day and my time has come!! Nerves didn't really get me til I was three people away from my chance to sing. I awkwardly dropped to the floor and did some push-ups, getting into my breath. When my time approached I got in and got out. My 45ish second audition was the quickest ever and included my rendition of "Open the Eyes of My Heart" a contemporary Christian pop-rock song. Being use to singing with a piano, its simple to honor the beats and pauses in a song and listen to your imaginary other, while for this audition it was a bit of a challenge as singing a'capella was requested---oh and they switched the audition request from 16 bars to 8 bars.
Before I knew it I was out and it was all over. Being my first experience of the sort, I was super content with the process and am psyched to come to the city and audition for more productions. It was also super fun to meet so many musical theatre fans in line, network, and make new friends. Making the Godspell.com "Day by Day" Blog was also quite the treat (check out the video above!). The video is also on Godspell on Broadways YouTube channel and is pretty popular!! It's so exciting that I'm part of the promo footage for the premier of the Broadway Revival! Having given up the opportunity to audition for this show back when I was a freshman in high school, I am happy to have made up for it and attend the biggest Godspell audition yet, the Broadway casting call.
Oh, and thanks to a very kind gentlemen who works at the church where the casting call was in NYC, I was able to get my cell phone back after my audition, safe with no damages. Things ended pretty well!
Here's a montage of "Godspell" directed by yours truly at Shafer Street Playhouse last Fall:
Producer, Director, Actor, currently in NYC, making the 'American Dream' a reality. My hearts in the art, lovin'; life, play some music and let's dance, foods fun, I like people. I am the change I want to see in the world. Subscribe to my Blogs! Tweet me @walidchaya.
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