Tale As Old As Time | Rejection

Exploring post-audition rejection.

So on the weekend I auditioned for a Musical. I don't particularly like this musical [maybe that was my problem], but it's professional, paying work and I was there.

I strolled in right after a rather famous Australian TV/Pop star feeling good with my top C (C6). I received a callback, three songs and two scenes to be presented in less than twenty-four hours. Standard. Fair? That's a different question.

So, I got to work, and had everything memorised until I got into the callback (which was running an hour behind...once again, standard). Firstly, I was being directed by the accompanist and asked to stand next to him. Feeling like I was hiding behind the piano, I sung the opening to this musical, which just happens to go up to A6...then he asked me to do it three times, each time getting a semi-tone higher. Loved it. But then the second song came around and it is one of those dreaded patter songs. So, I completely stuffed up the words and you say, "oh don't worry girl words don't matter", but oh yes they do when you stop multiple times. It was safe to say they didn't need to see the scenes. And it sucked. And I went to the shops. And I dreamt about it that night. So, here are some things that helped me along the path of acceptance |

1. CRY. 
    Yep, that's right...let it out my creative friend. We are 
        emotional beings. We have to be. It's literally in our job 
        description. 
        
2. GO DO SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER.
    Straight Away...in my experience if you wait for an hour or 
       more and are alone with your thoughts, it gets 10 x worse. 
       Call your mum, best friend, partner. Go paint or listen to 
       some classical bangers. Take your dog to the park and play.     
       Do the beep test (hey, I have to cater for all parties 
       here).
       
3. GET MAD.
    Let yourself get really miffed about the situation so you can     
    use that rush of hormones to go and book another audition, 
    class or to learn that song, chore block or monologue you've 
    been putting off. It is amazing how productive you can be when 
    you are feeling angry. And this way you'll wake up the next day 
    and go yeah that sucked BUT look at all of these things I did. 
    
4. BREATH IT OUT. 
    This may seem like a hippie concept but I'm serious. Breath in 
    the burning, constricting ache in your heart and whoosh it 
    out. DO it. 20 times. It's funny how well this works. 
    
5. GET GRATEFUL. 
    List the 5 things that you are most grateful for.Go on! Mine 
    are: my utterly wonderful yet ludicrous family, my equally 
    crazy man, brilliant story tellers [I'm currently listening to 
    All The Wasted Time - PARADE, and am living for those violin 
    runs], roasted veggies and my faith.  WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 5?

Yes it bloody hurts. But at the end of the day, we do this not really for ourselves but for the chance to tell incredible stories and make an impact in peoples lives. That's it. And that will always bring us back to the next lousy audition. And hey, they make for pretty great stories... maybe not while the heart is still bleeding but one day. Trust me, you'll have a book deal by the time you're 30.