You say you want the truth, But you can’t handle the truth!

THE DIRECTING ACTORS GYM’S FIRST AUDITION!

I’m not sure who came up with the quote, “only the stong survive”, but I’m partly convinced, it was some one in the entertainment business! Lol.

There has been a lot of buzz about the past, Directing Actors Gym (DAG), founded by Miles Maker. On January 17^th, at the gym, actual auditions were being held with Casting Director, Wendy Mckenzie for a play, “Who Is a Virtuous Women”, written by AJ Jackson.

The DAG is known to be an actor friendly space where different levels of actors come to “flex” their acting muscles. The audience is usually filled with performing actors, directors, writers, producers and spectators who come to enjoy actors who are learning, growing and flexing their acting muscles as well as flaunting their talents. At the DAG, there is usually a director chosen, someone who is thriving in the business, and who can provide a great deal of advice to the actors to push them to their next levels and at the same time, workshopping the works that are being performed for the various writers.

AND LET THE FUN BEGiN…

At the past DAG, tensions were high! This was not just the usual gym setting; this was an audition for casting director, Wendy Mckenzie, (Wink of an Eye, LLC.), who is known for being a brutal-tell-it-like-it-is-even-if-it-hurts, casting director! Miles Maker, in his introduction, made mention of the tension lurking in the room and spoke to all the actors to relax and have fun. And the fun began… or ended…

The auditions began with all the men going to the holding room and coming up one by one to audition, while the women watched. The first few auditions passed fast, with Wendy saying, “STOP, NEXT, and a few quick, THANK YOU’s”, before the actors could in some cases, even get the through the first line! Suddenly, I could feel the tensions peak, probably sending most every actor waiting to audition into a frenzie. I must admit, I began sweating too; I knew my turn to audition was coming soon. I literally had sweat rings from my arms to my navel! LOL. After the actors auditioned, they were sent down to the holding room and Wendy addressed the audience as to why the actor either would be called back or not and what worked or didn’t work. Sometimes, even keeping the actors on the stage to probe them on their acting choices in front of all. It was a grueling process and in my opinion, a brutal, but great place for me to learn- even if it was at our (the actors auditioning) expense.

Wendy was very frank when she didn’t like acting choices that were made and equally as praising when she loved someone’s work. Still, she left actors infuriated! In the holding room, I heard other actresses balking in so many words, about “the nerve” Wendy had; others totally distraught and some even talked about their embarrassment, that they were stopped during their first sentence. Because I was third to the last to audition, I’d overheard a lot. I’d noticed one girl sitting alone downstairs kinda just staring off in a daze like, and I asked her if she were okay, and she mouthed something (I could not make out), and I then heard her say she was okay. Then another actress came down, taken back, by being stopped mid-first sentence and the two of them chatted on about the audition, obviously both upset by Wendy stopping them.

NEWS TRAVELS FAST…

After the auditions, (I’d survived them!), I was having a general conversation with two actor friends of mine; encouraging them to audition for the final audition Wendy Mckenzie was having for the same play, and one of my friends said she was a little scared to audition for Wendy because she’d heard how brutal Wendy could be, and she’d heard from a couple of her peers about them being stopped while auditioning for her at the DAG. I was really floored by how quickly information traveled, as it was only hours after the audition! One of my friends decided that she would not audition for Wendy after our long discussion, and my other friend and I ended our conversation on this note: that we would make our own experiences and will not make any assumptions, nor would we come to any conclusions from other people’s experiences.

GOTTA THINKING…

After all that happened during and following the auditions, I began thinking about Wendy’s “brutal truths”, and wondered, could there be some validity to the buzz? Is Wendy wounding actors? Or, are actors wounded because they are not able to deal with the truth? I’d been thinking really hard about blogging since these auditions, and felt torn. On one side I am an actor, and am biased when it comes to my fellow actors and how we are treated. On the other side, however, I am a professional and an acting coach who believes that every actor should know the truth and be truthful about where they are skill wise. I believe the sooner we find out, the better because then we have more time to improve.

I NEED TO BLOG...I NEED TO BLOG!!!

A few days passed and I wrote on my facebook status, “I need to blog!” I felt the need to address this matter badly, and was building up my confidence to write about it. Please understand- I still had to consider my thriving career as an actor as well! After deliberating, I decided I owed it to my peers to blog about this. So, I did what many bloggers would have done; I went to the source!

HELLO, WENDY, IT’S ME…

I decided to see if Wendy Mckenzie would be willing to discuss this audition and her workshops with me as I’d participated in her workshop once before. I wanted to be honest with her and see what she’d say, if anything, about the buzz that had been buzzing. At the time, I wasn’t too sure how she’d take discussing this matter with me, so I diddled daddled around the topic.

WHAT I KNOW ABOUT WENDY

One thing that I know about Wendy, and most who have conversed with her outside of the audition room would probably agree, and that is, that she has a sweet spirit-still very straight forward- but down to earth and sweet, none the less. In fact, one memory I have of Wendy is at a model/actor workshop and modeling competition where the two of us served as judges on a panel, and true to form, Wendy was brutal, and honest and she told it like it was! After the workshop, there was a young man who hung around to get feedback from Wendy and I. The young man was really aggressive and wanted answers on bettering himself and his craft. During the workshop, he told Wendy that one of his best traits was that he could sing, and when asked to sing in front of the audience, the young man recoiled. Wendy decided not to waste time with him and politely told him to have a seat. Shortly after the workshop had ended, the young man wanted to redeem himself. He came up to where Wendy, another judge and myself were standing and asked us to “tell him where he’d err’d. He’s also asked Wendy particularly to look at his portfolio and tell him what she’d thought. Wendy, still truthful, yelled at him, “Why did you get up and say your best skill was singing but didn’t sing!!! You have to be prepared!!!” She goes on, in a very giving manner to tell him how it looks when an actor/model isn’t prepared. Then she snatched his portfolio, and she told him what did and didn’t work with it. The other judge and I chimed in here and there, but I watched closely at how Wendy related to the young man; getting a sense of what she was really like, when she was not in a “workshop” setting. My opinion was that Wendy loved what she did, and cared about what the young man walked away with. She’d spared him all symphathy and told him what she thought. It’s been a year since that guy met with Wendy, and I happened to run into him again at dinner at the cheesecake factory, and he made me a friend on facebook, and the first thing I noticed was his new portfolio pictures he’d put up! They looked one thousand times better! I guess what I am saying is, that this guy didn’t allow Wendy’s “brutal truth” to destroy him, his drive. In point of fact, it appears as if he’d taken her advice, (He later sang for us all at a bar in the hotel over the bar music and the abundance of chatter! Lol), and he’s been pushing toward his mark since.

THE NEEDY ACTOR

As actors we are needy! We go into an audition room, audition and we wait with bated breathe in anticipation for the casting directors and directors to say something to us regarding the audition. Sometimes, that need to be told from the casting directors and directors, “Very Good, thanks,” puts them in an uncomfortable position to say just that. Then we walk outside of the audition room all smiles like, “He said very good, that’s a sign,” only to wait by the phone and never get the callback. I know because I use to do that. Then we spend that next few days or weeks wondering what we could have done differently, or why didn’t we get the callback. So, ask yourself this question folks:

Which is better, the truth or a lie.

Would you rather have a CD tell you, after you audition for them, nothing at all, “very good, thanks”, or “What are you doing? That choice has nothing to do with the script! It would have been better if you’d…”

I’m sure I will have differing opinions about this. There are people who can’t handle the truth, there are people who agree with the old adage, “if you don’t have anything good to say, say nothing at all,” and there are people like me, who want to know the truth, nothing but the truth, so help me God! The truth frees me, and it sets me free. Yes, it hurts to know that I didn’t do the job I’d intended to do. I hate it when I’ve learned that I made all the wrong choices or my choices were only “good”. In this business, good is not good enough. I remember sitting through workshops that the Network East were having and watching about 30 people audition for various casting directors, including Wendy’s workshop. I remember the first time I labeled the actors in workshops; “bad” think about another career, “good”, and GREAT! In most of the workshops, (about 30 people in each), most of the people fell into the “Good” category, and only few (3-4) were great! An ephiphany went off in my head one day that I could not just have a good audition, I have to have a great one, and my acting choices have to be stand alone- outside of the box!

I say all this to say, that the brutal truth- helped me to NOT want to do just a “good” audition...

...Stay tuned for part two where Wendy shares her feelings on this touchy subject and where Wendy reveals a few helpful hints for auditioning and talks about her workshops....