Audition Success

Don Greene

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781135865696
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Acting & Auditioning

Audition Success presents a groundbreaking method that has already made Don Greene one of the country's leading audition trainers. Combining specially designed self-tests and real-life examples from the careers of two performers, Audition Success will help performers understand what prevents them from nailing an audition and give them the tools to reach their goals.

CHAPTER ONE

The Profiles

EIGHTY MILES PER HOUR

Veronica and I met in a conference room at the high school where they were conducting the final rehearsals of Rigoletto. She had already completed the survey, so I brought her profile with me. I asked her what she thought we were going to do during our session. She laughed.

“I have no idea.”

Do you have any expectations?

“You know, I don’t even think I have any expectations. I’m just very curious.”

That’s good. So please tell me about your background and how you got started in music.

“Umm…. I grew up in New England and I studied piano and theater in high school. In college at New York University, I spent my first year at the Tisch School of Arts studying drama. But I wasn’t happy, so I went to France for my sophomore year. The University of Paris has a year-long course for foreign students in French history and culture. So I did that, and I actually studied piano in Paris. Then I came back and I switched … is this too much detail?”

No, this is great.

“I switched my major to French. By my senior year at NYU, I started taking voice lessons for fun. I didn’t really expect anything from it, but I knew I had always liked to sing. But the woman I studied with was very encouraging and gave me tickets to the opera. I really, really liked it a lot because it had all the elements of things that I had always loved, languages, theater and music, all in one. Plus, I seemed to have a natural ability to do it.”

Were those lessons you took regular voice lessons or opera lessons?

“It was all classical music and opera; that was her interest. I didn’t even know anything about opera when I started. I just liked to sing. I was with her about a year, and I auditioned for a master’s program at the Manhattan School of Music. It was the Conservatory, and I was accepted. My master’s degree took three years because I had no musical education up until that point. So I just got through that, and then after I graduated, I started auditioning for music apprentice-type programs and studying all along … and that’s been for the last year and a half.”

Well thanks. Would you like to look at your profile?

“This is the scary part, I think.”

There’s nothing to fear. And besides, there’s a number of really good things on your profile.

“That’s reassuring!”

Learning more about Veronica’s journey into music reinforced what her profile would show as strengths, particularly her motivation and strong commitment to music. She was a strong-willed, enthusiastic performer who loved what she was doing, but often got caught up in the excitement of performing. I began to take her through the different categories in order to validate her profile.

First of all, your Intrinsic Motivation is very high. That’s wonderful!

“What does that mean?”

It means that your prime motivation is from within and that you’re driven as a performer. It would appear that you’re doing it for your own reasons, your own pride and the satisfaction of performing your best.

“That’s true, I’ve always been self-motivated.”

Your Commitment is also in the high range. That suggests that you are very invested in your career and success.

“So far this all seems very positive, but I know I’m not perfect. Is a high score always good?

Not necessarily. In fact, the next couple of scores, which are relatively high, may reveal what is hindering you in performances. Let’s find out what your profile says about your Activation levels.

“My what?”

Your Activation or energy levels. They’re a combination of your physical and mental energies. They’re measured before you go out on stage and while you’re rehearsing, performing, or auditioning. All of those scores are high; that means you’re probably experiencing a lot of adrenaline and anxiety before and during live performances. It says you have a high “rev rate” that you are highly activated, with lots of energy. You probably come into rehearsals or performances really ‘up.’ …

“Yes, my heart always seems to be racing just before I have to perform.”

… and I see that your Optimal Activation is very high.

“What’s that mean?”

It means you sing your best when you’re ‘up.’ Think of when you’re singing really well. You sing your best, or optimally, when you’re at a very high energy level, as if you were going 80 miles per hour. Right?

“Yeah!” Veronica laughed. “You’re not kidding.”

You’re running your engine at a high rate of speed all the time. That can be draining, and if you go a little past that already high level of 80, then you’re into redline. You sing your best at a high energy level. So if you’re already up and if something unexpected happens, you’re over the line, your cup just overflowed … and that’s when you could get into trouble.

“That tends to happen a lot. But what can I do about it?”

We’re getting to that. [She nodded.] That’s good, but you have trouble doing the reverse. Your score of average for Ability to Deactivate means that at times you may have trouble bringing your energy level or anxiety down, especially when it gets way too high. So when you need to relax….

“That’s really hard for me.”

That’s my concern with you running at an 80. If something else happens and you hit an 85, you might not be able to bring it down. And knowing that, in itself, will cause your anxiety to go even higher.

“Oh God. I’m going to explode.”

But you can learn how to control that energy.

“Good. I just get so uptight about it all.”

We’ll come back to that. Your Fear of Failure score is low. This fear is fueling your anxiety and saying, ‘I’m not sure how it’s going to go.’ and ‘What if I do this wrong?’ Just more fuel for your quick-running engine. You just dumped in some nitro fuel.

“Oh no!” She laughed.

Is it accurate?

“Yes, that’s exactly what it feels like.”

Your Mental Quiet score is also low. That means you’re thinking too much or too fast. And if you’re thinking about what could go wrong, it’s going to keep your activation levels high. That extra thinking and worrying is overdriving your revved-up engine. You can see how many of these results are intertwined.

“Yeah. Oh, wow.”

Your Performance Under Pressure score is in the average range. It means that sometimes you perform well under pressure and sometimes you don’t. In a performance situation, when you’re at an ‘up’ and positive 80 and feeling good, then you do well. But when you cross that line and get to 85 or 90, then you don’t perform as well as you can.

Veronica nodded. “That makes sense.”

Your Self-Talk score is average and says that sometimes you stay positive and sometimes you beat yourself up or chew yourself out. Sometimes you’re positive and encouraging, sometimes you’re self-critical. It probably depends on the situation.

“Staying positive is a new thing for me. I’ve only been able to do it for the last six months or so.”

How?

“Well, I was working with this one coach. He believed that where you were wasn’t important. It’s just great to be doing what you’re doing, that you’re up and going forward. He just had a great attitude.”

Did those ideas feel comfortable?

“Yeah. They felt really comfortable, and so I got used to talking to myself that way. Then one time at an audition, I had this experience where I was so scared that I was shaking. I couldn’t even breathe. So I said to myself, ‘You know, you must be a very brave person to do this. Even though you’re so scared, you’re still doing it.’ And that’s when it really started. Just being able to see how scared I was and yet do it anyway, no matter how it would come out. Just getting up there and doing it deserves … I don’t know … something.”

I agree.

“That didn’t make me feel any less nervous necessarily, it just made me less down on myself.”

It took the nervous edge off, but it left you with the same physiological symptoms.

“Right… and then my fear of failure … but there are other voices … it’s like millions of voices saying different things.

We’ll get to that. But what you’ve already done is what you need to learn to do even better. I just want to support your continuing learning of it, because it’s very critical for you to continue the process. But it hinges around how you talk to yourself and whether you’re positive or negative with your self-talk. We’ll get back to that later. Now, your score on Ability to Recover is high. That’s wonderful! It means that if you do make a mistake, you can recover and come back; it doesn’t devastate you. You can bounce back quickly.

“That’s never been difficult for me. I just say, ‘OK’ and go on.”

Your Commitment score is very high. That tells me that singing is very important in your life.

“Yes!”

Your Self-Confidence score is in the average range. That’s tied to your self-talk, or the way you talk to yourself inside your head. When you beat yourself up verbally, your self-confidence is going to go down. When you stay positive, it goes up. But right now, I need to know if you feel your profile is accurate.

“Yes. It seems right on target.”

Good. You have some wonderful stuff, like your motivation, your ability to recover and your commitment. You have some things that have a lot to do with your thinking, that can work either way. You need to learn how to use better the things that have worked for you, and use them more often. So Veronica, do you have any questions?

“I don’t think so. It’s amazing how well these profiles worked. They really came up with some good insights.”

Good. So when do you sing again?

“I might sing at the dress rehearsal tomorrow night, and in the afternoon it’s the rehearsal for the other opera.”

Would you like to get together tomorrow?

“Sure. How about after the rehearsal?”

Great. I’ll see you at the rehearsal hall.

I left Veronica with a lot to think about before our next meeting, particularly her self-talk, the need to stay positive, and her high rev rate. My next student, Brian, provided a vastly different example of a talented musician struggling in certain performances. You will see that not all artists deal with stressful situations in the same way.

BRIAN MEETS BOB

My first meeting with Brian in Syracuse was in one of the backstage dressing rooms at the concert hall. He mentioned that he had recently set up an audition with the Houston Symphony that he wanted very much to win. He needed to play well to do that, but he had an underlying concern that he didn’t audition well or play well enough to compete with the very best.

“A few years ago, I was making the finals in auditions for several major orchestras. Now I’m not even getting out of prelims, not to mention ever getting close to actually winning a job. And that concerns me, because I’m playing better than I ever have, and yet in auditions, I’m just not doing it.”

Brian, would you please tell me about your background in music?

“Sure. I went to Northwestern. I graduated in the class of ’81, so I have a bachelor of music degree. I played with the Louisville Orchestra from 1983 through 1989. I was the third horn. I played a couple of years in the Chicago Civic Orchestra, which is the training orchestra of the Chicago Symphony. Civic’s a big deal; you get to play with the CSO, but I never did. Somehow I got passed over a couple times. That’s something which I’ve never really totally gotten over. A small part of me is like, ‘How come I never got to do that?’ It’s always kind of pissed me off a little bit, but playing well is the best revenge. It doesn’t exactly hold me back anymore. So I was playing in the Chicago Civic and I was basically just freelancing.”

When did you audition for the Louisville orchestra?

“Well, first I auditioned for what’s now known as the National Repertory Orchestra. Back then it was called the CPO, the Colorado Philharmonic Orchestra. It was based in Evergreen, Colorado. It’s a training program in the summer, with nine weeks of intense repertoire, and I was one of three principals there. I won the Louisville audition shortly thereafter. But Colorado should definitely be on the resume, because that’s a big deal; the CPO and then Louisville. So I was in Louisville from ’83 to ’89, and in the summers from ’85 to ’89, I played with the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder. I was playing with players from Chicago and New York and really excellent freelancers. It was a great experience. Eight weeks of just absolutely great music and riding your bike and hiking and illicit romantic affairs … it had everything.”

I laughed along with him. Brian continued.

“I played second and fourth horn, that was my niche and that’s fine; I had a great time. As a matter of fact, that last summer in ’89, my best friend and I were roommates and we were first and second horn. That’s some of the best playing I’ve ever done in my career. In ’89, after he had gotten principal in Columbus, the third horn position became open. He said, ‘I know Brian hates it in Louisville. Let’s get him.’ So I made a decision to leave a tenured position; I hated it that much. I knew this was probably only going to be a one-...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• 1 The Profiles
• 2 Process Cues
• 3 Centering
• 4 From Your Center
• 5 Getting Better
• 6 Courage
• 7 New Cues
• 8 Getting Close
• 9 On Location
• 10 New Things
• 11 Other Energy
• Epilogue
• Centering Instructions