Back in LA after two different vacations, I was ready to be auditioning, so I set to submitting for parts. Last weekend, this began to pay off. I had five auditions over the weekend.
A principios de este mes, regresé a Los Angeles después de dos viajes. Tenía muchas ganas de audicionar para papeles, así que empecé a enviar mis fotos y CV’s. El fin de la semana pasada, empecé a ver resultados. Tuve cinco audiciones ese fin de semana.
Two of the auditions were of particular interest. First, I got called back for the role of Rolf in a production of the Sound of Music. True, the role would have been unpaid, and I would have needed to drive a good thirty miles each way every day. But I always wanted the part, and Rolf’s song is right in my sweet spot vocally.
Dos papeles me llamaban la atención en particular. Primero, me llamaron para una segunda audición para la obra “the Sound of Music” (el Sonido de la Música). No pagaban el papel, y me habría tocado manejar 60 kilómetros de ida y de vuelta, todos los días. Pero siempre quería ser Rolf, y su canción es muy apropriada para la tonalidad de mis voz.
But the night before the callback, I got a call from my agent to audition for a pizza commercial the next day.
Pero la noche antes de la audición de Rolf, mi agente me llamó sobre una audición el próximo día para una propaganda de pizza.
My heart wanted to go to the callback. When would the opportunity to play Rolf come up again? But I have a commitment to my agent. If I do not show up at an audition, this makes him look bad. He also has a rule that if a client misses three auditions for non-emergency reasons, he will no longer represent him.
Mi corazón quería ir a la audición de Rolf. ¿Cuándo tendría de vuelta la oportunidad de ser Rolf? Pero tengo un comprometimiento con mi agente. Si no me presento para una audición, se daña la reputación de él. Además, sus reglas dicen que, si sus clientes pierden tres audiciones por razones que no sean emergencias, él ya no los representa.
So I compromised. I called the play’s casting director to see if I could audition at another time; they said they understood my predicament, but that the times were quite fixed. All the kids auditioning to be Von Trapp children could not stand by while I had my fifteen minutes with the director.
Así que traté de maniobrar la situación. Llamé a la directora de casting de la obra de teatro para ver si pudiera audicionar en otro momento; dijo que se simpatizaba con mi situación, pero que las horas de las audiciones estaban muy fijas. Los muchos niños que tenían que audicionar no podrían esperar mientras yo tuviera mis 15 minutos con el director.
Knowing this, I tried to audition for the commercial early. I saw a posting at the location for a pizza commercial, and I thought “score! This is going to work out!” When I looked closer, though, the posting was for “Masterpiece Theatre” guys in their fifties or sixties. The commercial’s casting director emerged and confirmed that I would need to be there at my call time.
Al saber esto, traté de audicionar temprano para la propaganda. Vi una hoja en la locación para la propaganda de pizza, y pensé “¡éxito!” Pero cuando miré de cerca, la hoja hablaba de hombres de cincuenta o sesenta años de edad. Cuando se asomó la directora de casting de la propaganda, confirmó que tenía que venir al mismo momento que la otra audición.
Then I drove as fast as I could to the callback in case something miraculously changed, but no dice. I waited as long as I could, but the Von Trapp children hadn’t even started when I needed to leave for the pizza audition.
Manejé lo más rápido posible a la audición de Rolf, en caso de que algo se cambiara milagrosamente, pero no tuve tanta suerte. Esperé todo lo que podía, pero los niños ni habían empezado cuando tuve que salir para la otra audición.
I made it back to the pizza audition. I think I did pretty well, but I didn’t get the part. The victory I see in the day is having stuck with my commitment. But I would have loved to play that part!
Llegué a tiempo para la audición de pizza. Pienso que me fue bien, pero no me dieron el papel. La victoria que veo en el día es que fui responsable. Pero, ¡Señor! ¡me habría fascinado tocar ese papel!
I was home to Wisconsin over the holidays, and time was too short. I saw my whole family and my best friends, and before I knew it, two weeks were gone.
This was my second time home since moving to LA, and counterintuitively, it was harder to return to LA this time. Nonetheless, I am now more resolved to remain in LA than ever. In the last year, I have learned about decisions. My friend Minna told me “dreams not fully pursued lead to regrets.” And my own experience is simply that one is more likely to go far if one chooses a simple goal and keeps at it.
Hence, my Los Angeles timeframe has changed. When many first consider moving to LA, they think “I will go give it a try for a year.” For me, it then turned into “one to two years” and then, on my friend Jason Husby’s advice “two to three years.” I finally feel I will be here either for five years if things don’t go too well, or else a lot longer. If I have not accomplished much in five years, I plan to move on to something else. I believe in common sense, so I hear what people mean when they say “acting is a long shot.” But I also think I was given a life, and I ought to live it.
I am back in LA after two weeks of Christmastime in Wisconsin. I saw my family and most of my friends, and I had the third good New Years Eve of my life.
As the New Year begins, my goals include eligibility for the Screen Actors Guild, beginning to book commercials and ultimately, to begin earning my living as an actor.
Each of these goals is a tall order, but I have decided to aim high. God help me.
