The CAGE audition tonight

I ran down and did an audition for The CAGE opportunity I mentioned the other day.

From the last post:

"If you're in Central Texas, you know what a force and opportunity the University of Texas College of Radio-Television-Film is. Tonight [sic, shoulda been "Thursday"], the CAGE at UT Austin is having open auditions, which puts you in the potential running for tons of their student and departmental projects. These things have screened at Cannes, Tribeca, and SXSW (which is coming up in March)."

So, yeah, an opportunity to get in front of folks who are aspiring film makers (or auteurs), and increased opportunity to be auditioning constantly. Working constantly (because I treat auditions like gigs). To put myself as a professional actor to the benefit of people learning the craft.

This was a last-minute deal, I made it at the tail end, there weren't many UT folks there when I arrived, and -- I honestly don't remember the audition.

This thing was like a theater audition -- raised stage, single spotlight, a stationary camera, and the audience somewhere "out there".

I mean, I got there, and and I was severely affected by the audition two spots before me (no monologue; just talking about something real that had happened in his life, which I would pooh pooh as an actor but hold on to as a human being). And I was irritated by the non-intimacy of the setup and the quietness of the actress who went on right before me (I have no earthly idea what she said). And I was deeply inside my back story.

I got on stage, introduced myself and my piece (my new monologue from my final "Round 1"Meisner class, which I just realized I never wrote about), ducked down to prep briefly, and then ... um ... near as I can figure, here's how it went:

(In my head)
She'scallingthecopsshewasn'tsupposedtobehere
whatdoIdoknowOhFU**she'scallingthecopsI've
gottostopherdidshejustcallmeasickBITTER
RESENTFULFU**she'sgoing--

*BANG*
.
.
.
*Silence*

Then there's this dawning realization I'm standing on stage, a vague sense I've said my lines, the last one's resonating in my skull, so I said "thank you" and ducked off stage.

I'm hoping the silence was because I was awfully good -- not just awful.

Man, Steve said things would work like this at times. Times when I know my back story and my motivation and they are living in me, and I wasn't worrying about the lines because I know them cold.

Weird.

Then it was off to Erin Marie Keigher's B-Day ("Day 1 of Many") briefly before home (I'm lately in this "run-at-6-a.m." mode).

Erin is one of the Beautiful People (in every sense of the word) with which I'm currently blessed in my life.