Soaring, Part 2

So after a year of dramatic improvement after the awakening, I finally was sent crashing back to earth after my failure in My Three Angels.  I was disappointed, but there was no use dwelling on it.  I swallowed my heaping helping of humble pie and moved on.

I had a break of a few months before I attempted my next audition.  I pursued a role in the Playhouse production of The Underpants directed by Carl Beck.  This was my first audition for Carl since the awakening and I thought it would be a good test of my newfound powers.

I came to the Playhouse and saw I would be going toe to toe with some of the heavyweight regulars of the Playhouse.  When I got up on stage a most wondrous thing happened.

I was able to keep pace with the heavyweights.

I was on.  I was having the time of my life up there and it was funny and it was working.  No matter how this audition turned out, I knew I could leave with my head held high.  A few days later, I got the rejection slip BUT there was a twist this time.  Carl had actually taken the time to write a little note in the margins and it said:

Chris,

That was your strongest audition.  Lots of confidence.  Good work.

Not a bad second prize at all.  And it helped to rebuild the confidence that had been lost by the debacle of My Three Angels.  I rode this confidence into my next audition which was Starkweather over at the Circle Theatre.

This play was based on the infamous serial killer, Charles Starkweather, and had been written by Doug Marr, one of the Circle’s founders.  Doug had actually asked me to audition for the show and I gave a fairly good showing of myself at the audition.  I didn’t hear anything for several weeks and decided that I must have been rejected.

In the meantime, I had read a play called Biloxi Blues which was going to be the season finale in the Howard-Drew Theatre over at the Omaha Playhouse.  This was an unusual cast because, with the exception of one or two characters, the cast is comprised entirely of young people, and I mean really young.  The characters are teenagers and I was 28 at the time, so I didn’t think I had much of a chance.

On the other hand, I was unusually young looking.  Even today, I still have a babyface, even though the gray in my temples has hopefully neutralized it to an extent.  As you read in part 1, my “young look” often cost me roles that I was actually old enough to play in years, if not appearance.  At the eleventh hour, I decided, “What the heck?”  I had absolutely nothing to lose in the attempt.

The show was guest directed by Susan Clement-Toberer, the artistic director of the Blue Barn Theatre.  I had actually auditioned for her twice before, but neither audition was much to scream about.

My first audition for her had been for a show called The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and it occurred during the time frame I was suffering from depression.  It was actually one of my stronger auditions during that period, due to the fact that I was auditioning for a character nearly as depressed as I was, but it still wasn’t that great.

The second time had been for a show called Three Tall Women over at the Blue Barn and my audition bombed.  It was the only time I had ever choked during an audition.  I had brought my own monologue and when I got onstage, I grew very self-conscious and flopped on my face.

With my new confidence in my powers, I was ready to turn that around.

And what a turnaround!!

For the first, and only, time in my avocation, it was me and everybody else.  I was quite clearly in a class of my own and could not be touched.  Susan would have me read pages at a time and forget to stop me because she “got lost in what I was doing”.

When I had signed up for the audition, I had, again, limited myself to just 2 characters.  After I had read a couple of times, Susan asked me if I were willing to consider other roles.  I saw the message instantly and told her that I would be open to other roles as they were all interesting.

Shortly thereafter, I got my first proper callback.  The callback was more hotly contested, but I considered myself in the upper echelon of things.  When I finished, I thought I had a really good shot at getting cast.

While I was waiting for a response, I suddenly got a message from the Circle Theatre regarding Starkweather.  It turned out they had wanted to cast me the entire time, but forgot to offer me a role!!!  I told the theatre that I would let them know after the weekend as I had auditioned for another show and I wanted to hear how that would turn out.

On Sunday, Susan offered me the role of Don Carney, the wannabe singer, in Biloxi Blues.  I politely declined the offer from the Circle and was ready to embark on what would be a grand adventure.

To be continued. . .

Chasing the Dream, Part 3

Yes, thanks to Alan Klem’s kind words, I found the strength to try my hand at theatre for a little bit longer.  I had promised myself one final year auditioning for community theatre productions and if I failed to get cast after that time, then I would call it quits.

In truth, I had discovered community theatre in February of my senior year.  The Omaha Community Playhouse announced that they would be holding auditions for Dracula and I wanted to play the role of the insane Renfield. . .and I also wanted to show Creighton’s theatre department they had made a big mistake in never casting me.  The years of rejection had caused me to develop a bit of a chip on my shoulder, so I went into this audition with my focus not entirely on the proceeds.

I look back on my read for Renfield and I laugh because my audition was so laughable.  I knew Renfield was crazy, but my audition was just weird and not in a good way.  I didn’t get cast, but I did meet Carl Beck, the Playhouse’s artistic director, who would go on to play an important role as I walked this road.

A couple of months later, I auditioned for the Playhouse production of Moon Over Buffalo and I gave a better showing of myself than I had in Dracula, but still not enough to get called back or cast.

Not long after that audition, Alan paid me the compliment recounted in Part 2 which gave me the fortitude to try for one more year.  The first audition of my potential final year was Tons of Money directed by M Michele Phillips.  Michele has the most relaxed audition style I have ever encountered.  Instead of getting up in front of people and performing, Michele simply had us sit in a circle and read the play.  It took a load of pressure off of me and I had a solid audition.  And, truthfully, I was not expecting much.  After all of the rejections, I simply assumed my defeat as a matter of course.  After 2 weeks of not hearing anything, I thought I had been proven right.

And then I got the call.

Michele called me at work and apologized for the delay.  She said she had been agonizing about casting the play and then offered me the role of Giles, the gardener.  I wanted to do backflips down the hall.  FINALLY!!  After all of the trials, tribulations, and frustrations, I had finally had my perseverance rewarded.  I immediately accepted the offer and looked forward to this grand adventure.

Of course, now that I had landed a role I had only 2 fears about acting:  that I would hate it or suck at it.  I’m grateful to say that neither would be the case.  I wish every performer could have the type of cast I had for his or her first show.  All egos were checked at the door and everybody liked everybody.  We went out all the time and that sense of fun and community really showed forth in our performances.  To this day I still maintain strong friendships with Michele and Kay McGuigan, another member of the cast.

For a guy with little experience, Giles was a fine first role.  The difficulty in playing him was that he didn’t talk a lot or emote a lot.  And to be that stonefaced while all of this comedic insanity was erupting around me was quite a challenge.  At points, I had to bite the inside of my cheeks to make certain I didn’t break out in a smile during rehearsal or a performance.  I even garnered a good review in a local alternative newspaper, The Reader.  Of my performance the critic said, “Chris Elston could not have a less arduous role with which to make his acting debut.  Imagine a role where you rarely speak, but you get to chase everyone around with a pitchfork and give the old auntie a cucumber.  These were some of things Chris did as Giles:  a character so stonefaced, he makes Buster Keaton seem vivacious by comparison.  Even Olivier had to start somewhere.”

I felt a real sense of triumph at finally succeeding in theatre, but there was still a final test to be made.  Could I do it again or was it a one time fluke?

The answer came that January as I auditioned for the dramedy, The Mask of Moriarty.

I am a Sherlock Holmes nut.  I own the entire Granada series with Jeremy Brett, all of the official stories, plus a slew of pastiches.  I’ve also taken part in a couple of mystery weekends with the famed sleuth.  Boy, did I want to be in this show.  Carl Beck helmed this one and, unfortunately, I gave a pretty weak audition.  But I ended up having a saving grace.  I had asked Carl how he saw a character named Bunny St John Manders in a certain scene and he advised me that the character was so drunk, he was weaving in and out of reality.  I tried to utilize Carl’s direction and managed to do it to a slight extent.  But because it was clear I was interested in the plot and because, as Carl later stated, “I seemed friendly,” he gave me a shot in 2 supernumerary (bit) roles.

I played deathtrap designer, Sheamus O’Shaughnessy, who could do nothing except cough and a nameless sailor who gets into a bar brawl with a hunchback and tries to trap Holmes.  I only had a couple of lines, but I sacrificed them for a terrific bit.  There was a scene where a vengeful tavern owner tries to send Holmes plunging down a trap door, but didn’t know the door was actually under his feet.  The gentleman playing the tavern owner (Dennis Collins) had recently had his ankle fused and didn’t want to risk it doing the bit, so they gave me the bit and my lines went to another actor.  Ironically, the trap had been designed by my other character, so in a sense I killed myself.

And that’s how I finally got involved in the acting game, but little did I know what further adventures this business would have for me.

But, again, that’s a story for another time.

NEXT TIME:  Our hero gets an opportunity at his dream role, but will a battle with depression derail his hopes once and for all?