Tuesday, July 15, 2008 by John Robison.

It seems like a long time since I’ve done a scripted show… although I did two last year. However, it’s been since August of 2007 since I directed and acted in “The Complete History of America, Abridged.” The other show of last summer was “Basehor The Musical 2,” which I was commissioned to write by the Basehor Historical Society. Writing a show is something that I really enjoy and detest at the same time. I love the process of creation, but don’t really like the fact that I am pretty well cut off from society and my family for large chunks of time. I seem to write best when I do a lot at once.

To date, I’ve written three full length plays, a musical, a one-act play, and now a one-act musical based around a couple’s love for the musical “Mamma Mia.” This last one just got finished this past Sunday. It was kind of a rush job… I had about a week to write it, and we’ll have a week to learn it before performing it this weekend. Just as with most of my others, I’ll be the writer, director, and male lead. It’s not that I think I’m all that, but it’s really tough to find a talented male actor of the right type that not only can sing, but is available at the right times.

So, this is the reason for the abbreviated and/or absent blogs of this two to three week period. I’m desperately trying to memorize lines (another love/hate relationship), learn songs (which I love), and learn choreography (mostly just a hate relationship).

This is why I don’t do scripted shows very often anymore.

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Thursday, March 27, 2008 by John Robison.

Having been in the performing arts for so long, I’ve seen a ton of auditions. I’ve learned a lot from them, and the auditions I hold now are lots different from the auditions I used to hold.

In the beginning, there would be a page-long form, a set rehearsal schedule, photocopied cuttings from the script with highlighted parts, multiple readings and pairings, etc. That was probably appropriate back then… I was less experienced, and I needed that level of intensity.

Nowadays, with more experience under my belt, I honestly can tell everything I need to know in about 10 minutes, and many times even less.  Ninety percent of the preparation work I used to do has gone the way of the (insert extinct animal here). When I first figured out that I could be this efficient, I held quickfire auditions for a show, and it worked great. People were in and out, and I had the whole show casted by the end of the two-hour time slot. I called people back that night, and started rehearsals the following week. All this efficiency had an unintended consequence, however. It freaked people out.

After filling out their form, grabbing a script to read from, and then being sent home after 10 minutes, I accidentally destroyed the egos of the very people I was hoping to use in my show. Maybe I didn’t have as much experience as I thought… When they came to the first rehearsal, they told me they were convinced they hadn’t made it in, when in fact, I loved them… I just saw their talent from the very start.

I had two auditions over the past couple weeks. One for the Imps, and one for a musical I’m directing this spring. They incorporated the audition modification I’ve been using lately: everybody stays until I get the feeling from them that they’re satisfied they’ve shown off their abilities. Probably good for the musical… but I haven’t been surprised yet by anything all of a sudden bubbling to the surface after 20 minutes. But, it makes the auditioner feel better to stick around.

This is more important for improv auditions. I have everyone stay together and do scenes together as a group. This is vital, and I’m glad I thought of it before I even thought about directing an improv group. A lot more variety is necessary for your average improviser than for your average stage actor.

Even so, for me, casting an actor for my group is very simple, and has surprisingly little to do with improv. The good news: If you’re looking to be cast in a group I direct, here’s how you can do it.  The bad news: You can’t fake these things, and I can tell if you are trying. The things I look for in an auditioner are people that have positive attitudes, have good on-stage energy, are able to think at least moderately quickly, and at least attempt any directing that I do during the audition. The most important for me are the first and last.

A positive attitude is vital, because the culture of the groups must remain positive and trusting. I’ve turned away people with good experience because they came in with a holier-than-thou attitude, or because they didn’t laugh even once at anyone else during the audition. “Holy crap! You mean you watch us even when we’re not on stage?”

Surprise!

As for taking direction… you would be surprised how many people hem and haw when you ask them to speak with a British accent, sing a song, or crawl around on the ground - all things you will probably do eventually as an improviser.

Also in the beginning, if there was someone I really loved, I would invite them to join the group with no audition at all. That was important when I was trying to build the group. Now that there’s an established group, it’s vitally important to be able to keep the group dynamic relatively the same. How many times have you had a job ruined by some person you absolutely couldn’t stand? No more free passes… for my group now, Jill Bernard herself could waltz in (which she probably would) and she’d still need to at least come to a workshop to find out how her energy would affect the existing group. (By the way… Jill, if you ever relocate to KC, I cordially invite you to come play!)

There’s so much more going on at an audition than meets the eye; so much more to consider than just “was this audition good?”. I, for one, am exceedingly glad they don’t roll around every day. Every six months is plenty often.

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