Shakespeare's back!

I had an Audition yesterday for a film/documentary adaptation of 'Romeo & Juliet.'  I really liked the concept and I've worked with the director before on a Web Series called, 'Girl Repellent,' where I had a small role in one episode, and I got to toss a drink in his face.  Simple and something every girl at some point in her life wants to do...maybe not.  After I tossed the drink in his face, I actually felt really bad, but lucky for us, we only had to do one take!  I was also in the trailer which you can see here:

Thankfully, I got the sides ahead of time, so I was able to start rehearsing my monologue this weekend.  I haven't worked on Shakespeare since college, and was a little nervous but excited about trying something different.  Very rarely in LA do I have theater auditions, let alone something like William Shakespeare.  First up was getting comfortable with the terminology and flow of the monologue.  I found a video clip of an old movie version of 'Romeo & Juliet' where Juliet was performing the monologue, so I studied her, and her diction, along with how she worked through each part.  Obviously, I was going to do my own take on it, but I wanted to have an idea, because Shakespeare is confusing if you don't know what you're talking about.  I also found a modern adaptation, that explained what each part in the monologue would have meant today.  That made it so much easier for me, so then I wrote in my intentions for each line, and after that, I felt much more comfortable with the whole piece.  I only performed it full out a few times, because I wanted to make sure I was going to be able to bring up the emotion needed for the monologue, and keep it organic and real, but I practiced reading it without emotion for two days to really get what I was saying and the flow of it down.

The audition was at Catz in Hollywood, and darn you Monday Street Sweeping.  I was glad I gave myself plenty of time to get there because parking was a pain!  I ended up parking 3 blocks away and rehearsed as I walked to my audition.  I was the first Juliet they saw of the day!  The Director, along with the actor cast as Romeo, and a camera man were in the room.  I performed the scene once full out, emotions and all, and felt very natural doing it.  Then the Director actually had me change it a little, and keep it very intimate and conversational (less theater), and what a difference it made.  Because I couldn't rely on using volume and pace, it was all about what the words meant and how they made me feel.  All my emotions were right on the surface and other than that, I can't remember the audition which is what usually happens when I get really into it.  I was definitely happy with the audition and hope I get a call-back :)

All in all, I was really glad to challenge myself with Shakespeare for a few days.  These are great exercises for me as an Actor to keep my skills sharp and to be prepared for anything!