A Learning Experience

Yesterday I auditioned at the NETC auditions.

What is the value of an experience? Is its value measured only by its outcome? I think not. I learned a lot, and that alone was valuable. Notes from the weekend:

• I was under-prepared. My monologues were memorized, and I think I performed them well. But it would have gone better if my memorization were more solid and if I'd delved deeper into the monologues.
  
• I had time called on me. I was just a short sentence away from finishing, but I had to stop. That was embarrassing, but I was confident in the knowledge that I couldn't have been the first (or last) person who had that happen. I should have done a better job of timing out the monologues.
  
• I got pretty nervous, and my mouth was dry. I think the reason for my nervousness had nothing to do with desire for a certain outcome and everything to do with the newness and bigness of the situation. I still need to learn how to handle my nerves and be more confident.
  
• Everyone seemed the same in a way. The average age was young. There were a lot of college students there. But I would include myself in that sameness. There were a ton of thin, pretty, brunette white girls who could play 20s. There were some minorities and different ages or body types, but not a lot.
  
• There were a lot of serious performers there who had auditioned to get into their serious prestigious acting programs and some of whom had professional gigs under their belts. I tried my best to not feel insignificant or intimidated. (And I think I did that pretty well.)
  
• There were some good regional theatres there auditioning for their seasons — but they were, for the most part, in the musical theatre audition room.
  
• Some of the ones in the acting-only room were auditioning for people to join their $100/week elementary-school tour of Jack and the Beanstalk. (That's not a specific example and is a bit of hyperbole.) It's not really that I'd look down on a gig like that. I wouldn't. (Hey, I'm coming from community theatre.) But I couldn't afford to take a gig like that, even if it were offered. College students have a definite advantage here because they're more likely to be able to actually take some of these offers.
  
• I got called back by two theatres. Both were educational-type tours. And they both seemed interesting. I don't know whether I could afford to take them. But I don't need to worry about that until and unless I am actually offered a job.