“Whatever, Man!”
This past Thursday, September 21st, I had an audition for the workshop of a new musical called Whatever Man. I was contacted by the casting director, Meghan Ritchie, after sending in my headshot & resume, and given an audition time of 6:20PM that night. I was to prepare 16 bars of a contemporary, rock/pop song, and as always, “be prepared to sing more…”
So, it was my first time ever having to prepare something in the rock/pop genre for musical theater and I was stumped. I asked all valuable sources and spent a few hours at the Colony music store. I ended up leaving with a book filled with the sheet music to The Best of U2! I was going to sing their “With or Without you.”
I get home. It’s THE day of the audition. I download his song just to hear it again, because it’s been at least a year, I go the keyboard to bang out a few notes, and it’s then I realize that Bono is apparently a woman and/or has had his testicles removed, because the notes were pretty high for most of their songs. Now, given some time, warming up, and in my best health, sure, I can belt some A’s or even Ab. Whatever. But, I was fighting the on-set of a new undiscovered disease, and the audition was literally in a few hours. I was screwed. So, I yanked my favorite 16 bars out that I always sing. It’s “She Cries” from Jason Robert Brown’s “Songs for a New World,” which is SO NOT rock/pop, nor am I sure it’s even considered contemporary?
So, I get ready and hit the streets of NYC which at this hour was even more crowded than usual. Needlesstosay, at about 6:21, I’m running out of the subway, running into the Ripley Grier studios in Chelsea for my 6:20 audition. Everything in me wanted to just turn around and say, “forget it!”
But, I went. I sang the song. They laughed. I laughed. Good times. Then, they asked what I was dreading… “Do you have anything else you could sing, a little more rock/pop?” Ahhh! “I was afraid you were going to ask that!” I said, with sweat pouring down my face as I look like an utter retard in front of all these people in such a enclosed, small room! Either they had the smallest room in the building for this audition or it was just another side effect of a very hectic day!
I continued with, “Well, I love that Melissa Ethridge song, but I don’t know all the words!” Can you believe that? Hahaha! Can I dig my hole any deeper of this so “gone wrong” audition!? They were so sweet, and humored me, and told me to go ahead with it and hum through the parts I didn’t know.
And so, I sang it. And not only didn’t I hum, but I made up my own words. Something like “Cuz I’m the only one who’d walk across the fire for you. And there’s some words that go right here, but I don’t remember and I don’t care. And so I’m gonna sing what I want. I’m the only one!” I kid you not. Something like that.
Well, they laughed some more. I laughed. (And cried on the inside lol) And we said our goodbyes.
Well, ladies & gentlemen, I got a call yesterday from Ms. Meghan Ritchie, the casting director that went a little something like this. “Hey, Mike. Loved your audition! Please give us a call back and we can talk about roles and rehearsals…” I got the job!
Go figure 