Who's That Woman? (Stagelighter Review)

Who's that woman? I know her well,
All decked out head to toe.
She lives life like a carousel:
Beau after beau after beau.
Nightly, daily,
Always laughing gaily,
Seems I see her everywhere I go.*

If you substitute audition for beau, you pretty much sum up the actor's carousel. Constantly looking for work, seeking approval, trying to get noticed. A huge part of that now in today's casting world is paying to meet casting directors (as I talked about in "Opening Doors"). In the past, I have chosen to meet casting directors at classes or seminars, in person. I like the personal contact and the idea that I go in the room, do my work and that is it. Putting myself on tape terrifies me. I first read about stagelighter on Facebook (of course) and was drawn to find out more based on the people I saw associated with it. Coaches Michael Cassara, Gayle Seay and Joy Dewing leapt out at me. I also watched a sample feedback video from Duncan Stewart and was impressed by how friendly, honest, detailed and helpful it was. I liked the whole approach. I still was not convinced about putting myself on tape, though! If an audition goes badly, it's over. You leave, wallow for a little while (my length of wallowing is becoming shorter and shorter) and move on. If it's on tape, it's there forever. And as for choosing a take to submit? I'll never be 100% happy with any of them! So, although I liked the website and the people involved, I was not going to use the service. It would mean having to watch myself on tape, for goodness' sake!

Oh--

Who's that woman?

I know I know that woman,

So clever, but ever so sad.

Love, she said, was a fad.

The kind of love that she couldn't make fun of

She'd have none of.

Who's that woman.

That cheery, weary woman

Who's dressing for yet one more spree?

Each day I see her pass

In my looking-glass--

Lord, Lord, Lord, that woman is me!*

I have, however, realised that times are changing and if we do not move with that, we are left behind. I see so many of my older actor friends who are out of touch with what is happening in the business and, in many cases, it is stopping them getting work. No matter what your opinions are on the changing nature of casting, auditions, etc. you have to put your best foot forward and be willing to try. Hard as it is to watch myself on tape and acknowledge the flaws, it is getting easier. The main reason? Heidi Marshall. Taking her class changed so much for me. She's an inspiration. I still do not like watching myself, but I am so much more at ease about the thought of going on tape. The class for a start helped with that (you tape scenes every week and have several takes to watch and learn from) and, since taking the class, I am going in for many more on camera auditions.

I was starting to warm to the idea of stagelighter.  I could see the advantages: value for money, have myself of tape, my choice of coach (casting director, directors, agents...a great library of choices). I took the plunge. 

My first port of call was Heidi. You do not need to go to a coach to tape (you can do it yourself on your computer or even iPhone or iPad) but this was my choice. I prefer someone else taping me and wanted her expert eye. Then I chose two coaches: Joel Carlton (an agent) and Stephen Kopel (casting director). I thought it would be good to have different opinions from different perspectives (or maybe they would both agree that I am terrible!) of the same video. I decided to perform a monologue rather than a song. Although I sing, the thought of taping a 32 bar cut fills me with even more dread. Somehow, that seems even more artificial. It would also be more expensive because I would want to hire a pianist and a studio. For now, I still prefer the idea of a live room for musical theatre. Get in the room, sing your 32 bars (or 16...or sometimes even 8!) smile and leave!


She thought that
Love was a matter of "Hi, there!"
"Kiss me!" "'Bye, there!"
Mirror, mirror, answer me.
Who is she who plays the clown?*

I digress, I think my whole experience of musical theatre auditions deserves a blog of its own.

Once I had my session with Heidi, she emailed me the various takes and I chose one (let's not dwell on how long that took!). Then I uploaded the video to youtube (you can keep it private if you want) and submitted it to stagelighter. The whole process is very easy (even I managed) and there are very clear instructions. I knew in advance that I had chosen very busy people so I did not sit by my computer waiting for responses. The site tells you the average response time for each coach. I posted my video on the 16th of February. Joel replied on the 27th and Stephen on the 1st of March. Joel followed the list that stagelighter gives to coaches and went through everything in great detail (this is where it really started to show that it was, in general, more comprehensive than the usual in person meet and greet. He gave feedback on my headshot, resume (already made changes based on his advice), my look, my type, the choice of monologue and acting choices within that. He was friendly, helpful and clear. And I got to see his cat on the video too, which was an added bonus. It's pretty clear he is not signing me tomorrow but that is not why I submitted. That said, if there are agents you want to target, I think this could be an excellent way to introduce yourself and start a potential relationship. Stephen did not follow the traditional list from stagelighter, but it did not matter. He liked me! There is also an opportunity to ask one specific question in your submission and he was wonderful with that. I asked about the limitations of an O1 visa when working in theatre and he was encouraging and knowledgeable. No matter which coach you choose, it is likely that they will give different insight. Or maybe they will point out the same thing and then you can see it is something to work on. Submitting the same video to two different coaches was definitely helpful. Not everyone will have the same opinion about your work and that is what makes being an artist so interesting. I'm sure any of you readers watching will also have your own thoughts. Having not wanted to send to anyone, I am now sold on the whole idea.

Of course, I shall still strive to meet casting directors in person but now I see the great advantages of this service.

Monologue from "Strange Snow" submitted for stagelighter

1. You do not have to wait for when the person you want to target is holding a class. You can choose then and there and send your video.
2. The monologue or song is on tape and can be used for other coachings or submissions. I would love, however, if they could add the option of performing sides. Most on-camera auditions ask for sides and this would be a more attractive option to me than the dreaded monologues!
3. The choice of coaches includes performers. That's usually reserved for masterclasses so it's a great chance to be seen and hear advice from some Broadway veterans.
4. It's perfect for young performers. You can submit to college faculty and get a head start with meeting casting directors and agents.
5. You do not have to be in New York! 
6. Even when you take notes at meetings with coaches, it can be hard to remember everything. With stagelighter you have the chance to watch your feedback as many times as you want to.

Although I think I still prefer the adrenalin and atmosphere involved with an in-person meeting, I have to admit that I am going to use stageligher again. Who'd have thought?

Mirror, mirror!
That woman is me.
Mirror, mirror!
That woman is me!*


* Who's that Woman from "Follies"
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim 

Look at Me! Look at Me!

Look at me!  Look at me!  Look at me...*

That is my life.  Look at me.  Oh, and could you like me too?  And, even better, could you give me a job?

I go to E.P.A.s.  Sometimes I am seen, sometimes I am not. 
(Merrily We Roll Along) 
Sometimes there is just one person behind the table.
(With So Little to be Sure of)

We have all been at those auditions where the young intern behind the table seems to be examining her navel, rather than looking at us:

Lady, look at me, look at me miss, oh
Look at me, please, oh
Favor me, favor me with your glance.*

Or it could be a an important producer examining his navel:

Say, Mister producer,  
I'm talkin' to you, sir.^

That does not mean these auditions are a waste of time.  I hear so many actors complaining when they feel that the important people are not in the room.  Or feeling that the important people behind the table are not paying attention.  Of course, there are horror stories about the casting director texting, etc., etc.  BUT, we have to show up.  We have to keep going.  There are audience members who text during Broadway shows.  Stop being bitter and complaining and consider it part of your training.

Nowadays, though,it is not enough just to show up.  It is expected that actors have an online presence. A website, a reel (still a work in progress for me), Facebook, twitter and so on.  Now I know very successful actors who have none of this.  I was excited when I received my first IMDB credit (thanks to The Austin Pendleton Project) and then went to add my photo to the page.  I was told I needed to pay an annual fee for that privilege (same goes for adding bio, trivia, etc.) Meryl Streep does not have to pay to upload her headshot and resume on IMDB (I'm assuming!)  Not Miss Streep's fault, of course!  For the record, I love her.

And therein lies one of the major problems.  Emerging artists are the ones who really need the help: managers and agents to sell them because this is the point in the career where that stuff is harder.  I am guessing Judi Dench does not have a website and is not doing student films to get stuff for her reel.  She does not have to pay for an event at the Network or One on One to meet a casting director.  Nor should she have to!  She is Judi Dench.  Goddess.

But we do.  And I do.  

What do you, what do you see off 
There in those trees, oh
Won't you give, won't you give me a chance? *

Again, what's the use of complaining about the person behind the table looking out of the window?  There is little we can do.  And we also have to trust that they know.  Sit on the other side of the table if you ever have the chance.  It's a revelation.  We have to embrace the way the business is now and do what we can.  No one is going to discover us sitting in a small cafe in Greenwich village.  There are all these wonderful showbiz stories of being discovered on Youtube etc. (Telsey and Co. have even started a department especially for looking at YouTube videos).  I have not sent a video to Telsey yet.  Maybe I'll be satisfied with one of them in another 10 years or so.  We all know someone who got a big break.  Who got lucky (although for most, there is hard work in the background somewhere  -  I prefer not to focus on the ones who are pure luck and not talent).  And, of course, I dream of someone seeing my talent without me actually having to DO anything (certainly not the self-promotion stuff).

Say, Mr. Producer,
Some girls get the breaks.
Just give me my cue, sir.
I've got what it takes. ^
(lyric appears in music book "All Sondheim: Volume 1" (the yellow book), but I have yet to see or hear it anywhere else.  I like it!)

I have been told over and over again that I've got what it takes.  It is not enough.  I made some half-baked attempts at self-promotion.  Even posing for a headshot is painful for me.  And then I took a life-changing class with Heidi Marshall.  Not only is she a casting director and director, she is the most actor friendly teacher I have met.  She tweets, she posts casting notices, she has a facebook page for actor headshots and websites to help us be seen, she recommends actors to other casting directors, she understands the fragile egos we have, she blogs.

In many ways I have extra struggles being an immigrant.  I realise, though, how lucky I am that I was forced to delve into the world of self-promotion, like it or not.  I do not like it.


Say, Mister producer,  
I'm talkin' to you, sir.
I don't need a lot,
Only what I got,
Plus a tube of grease-paint and a follow spot! ^

...plus a twitter account, a facebook page, a profile on NY Castings, actors access, YouTube, a website, a reel (still waiting for more footage!), IMDB...

Paul Russell just wrote about the whole thing in this week's Backstage:


"How to Audition and Get Cast in Your Sleep"  Although I still got a lot of work to do and all the online media robs me of my sleep  -  I still love the article, Mr. Russell!)


So here I go on the self-promotion bandwagon.  Website, facebook actress page, postcards, twitter (which, as my brother - who has still to write my bio for IMDB because I think he'll do a better job than I can - points out, I'm not much cop at).  I've got work to do.  But I'm trying.

(See - crappy cell phone shot of new postcards from Twitter: my brother is right!)

I've been told I should have been born in a different era.  Born in another decade, I would be working more.  But I was born when I was born.  I am Polly McKie, runt of the litter and I've got what it takes:

Look at me.

www.pollymckie.com

* "Ah Miss" from "Sweeney Todd". Stephen Sondheim. 
^ "Broadway Baby" from "Follies". Stephen Sondheim.

Learn How to Laugh

When the winds are blowing.

That's the time to smile.

Learn how to laugh.

Learn how to love.

Learn how to live.

That's my style. *

Last weekend I saw a woman fall flat on her face as she entered the stage. It was clearly not on purpose (I know the play and the actors). Without skipping a beat, she picked herself up and carried on. Whatever was going on, it worked. She looked scared, flustered, frustrated but all as the character. One of the greatest pieces of advice I received from Austin Pendleton is to make your problem as an actor the character's problem. I have used that advice over and over again. And this actress did exactly that. On leaving the theatre, many people were discussing the fall and the consensus was that it was part of the play and that it was brilliant!

I believe in making mistakes. It seems trite to say that mistakes are how we learn. Of course we learn from mistakes, but there is more to it than that in acting. We know our lines and we know what is going to happen and what the other actors are going to say. But the trick is to keep that fresh. In real life we don't know what the other person is going to say or what we are going to say. And we want to be real in our acting. One of my favourite lines in “Friends” is when Phoebe acts as Joey's agent and gives him the honest feedback from his auditions: “They didn't believe you as a real human being”. We can critique acting with all sorts of fancy ideas and analysis, but the bottom line is that we want to see real people, real life. We want to feel something. And if the actors are not believable as real human beings, no matter how skilled they are, it will not work.


When the rent is owing,
What's the use of tears?
I'd rather laugh.
I'd rather love.
I'd rather live
In arrears. *

The whole special skill of being able to cry on cue is something I have never mastered. I do not wish to take away from the actors who can. Many directors ask for it. But I can't. And I would argue that it is not always what shows the truth. There is no right or wrong reaction. When my grandpa died, my mother came into the kitchen to tell us and my sister burst out laughing. As actors and as human beings, we should not be afraid of that. Of letting the natural reactions move in on us. Hearing the words and saying them for the first time. Otherwise, we are just robots saying lines. Anyone can learn lines. (Well, most people can.) We must be wary of saying “I always behave in this way when such and such happens.” There is no always. Every time is different and if we are not open to that, the acting becomes fake and stagnant. We cannot plan or predict our reactions in life so why should we on stage or on screen. Being able to cry on cue is a gift, but it does not magically mean good acting. Austin Pendleton (oh dear, I've mentioned him twice in this blog and I'm worried he'll get a big head!) often tells wonderful stories and one quotation that sticks with me he attributes to one of his acting teachers, Bobby Lewis:

“If crying were acting, my Aunt Rivka would be Duse”

Click on photo above to play the outtake clip

I have recently been working more and more on film and learning so many new things. But the reality is that the training is essentially the same. Focus on an objective and on the other person. And be willing to make mistakes! So often I see it (and have been guilty of it myself): trying to cry. As if that will be an impressive place. The reality is that trying not to cry is much more effective and true. The wonderful Heidi Marshall, another favourite teacher of mine, worked with me on this. So many times I have been in her class or chatting to her and she'll say something wonderful and I say “Oh, Austin says that too.” And vice versa. They both teach about what is real. And they both make me laugh. They've been known to make me cry too. But whatever the reaction is, it is real. If we are not taking in what the other actor is giving us, what are we doing? And that can never be the same. Nor should it be. Working with Heidi, I embraced my mistakes. It gives one a sense of freedom and being open and ready for anything. I make mistakes all the time. Sometimes I cry, but more often than not I laugh. And I'm learning all the while.


* "Live, Laugh, Love" from "Follies". Stephen Sondheim.

I Like to Be in America! O.K. by me in America!

First posted by Polly McKie on Friday, April 26, 2013 

I woke up today and spoke in an American accent.

Not because I have forgotten my roots.  Not because I have turned into Sheena Easton. I chose to speak this way. And I booked a job.

My journey with my American voice has been long and interesting (well, I find it fascinating, but that’s because it’s all about me.) As with many actors, I thought I had a firm grasp on what an American accent was and I could do it without any trouble. Boy, was I wrong.  I now look back and think I was some kind of combination of Fran Drescher and Miss Adelaide. I admit a little of a snooty attitude to taking speech class at HB Studio.  As a foreign student, I had to take speech with the other foreign students who had English as a second language. (Glaswegian could be considered another language, but that’s a whole other blog.) I resented it. I was wrong again.  Enter Amanda Quaid! A class and teacher who changed everything for me. For the better (no offence to the great Fran and Adelaide).

Of course, I am happy to play the Scotch Irish (please enlighten me what Americans mean by that) drunk/mother/nanny etc. Heck, I’d even play the maid! I realised, though, that if I wanted to be cast in anything other than Irish plays (most Americans think I am Irish), I needed to master a passable American and not be a caricature (I’m enough of a caricature in real life without adding a funny voice to the equation). I had to learn that pool and pull do not rhyme in American.

That’s harder than it sounds.

I realized that I needed to work.  And I worked.  I took Amanda’s class and I studied with her privately and I practised (or, if I’m speaking in my American dialect, practiced).  Any chance I had, I used my American.  Chances for me were when I spoke to strangers (a cab, a deli, etc.).  If I had attempted to try it with my family or friends, I would have been ridiculed. There is a fine, fine line when trying to embrace American culture but maintaining one’s heritage.  And when we speak the same language (essentially), that seems to make it more complicated. I argued with some of the E.S.L. students that, in some ways, Amanda’s class was harder for me.  I had to “unlearn” how to say words I had been using all my life.  After hours, weeks, months of drilling and practice and working on the key to being believable (making it sound like ME) skip to today:

First there was a callback for a character from the midwest (I am from the midwest of Scotland, but this was for the midwest of America).  I have learned, after many mistakes, and much advice from Amanda, just to start in American from the very beginning.  So I speak to the bus driver in American.  I order a bagel in American. I chat to people in the lift (sorry, elevator) at Ripley Grier in American.  Trouble is when you bump into someone you know, but I am working on that.
Biggest compliment is that no one asks me where I am from.  If I go in for something American and am not asked, then I know I have convinced them.  Or even better at one audition: I performed my American monologue. Then the casting director chatted to me.  He looked at my C.V. (sorry, resume) and asked “So what took you to Scotland?”

When leaving that first audition this morning, there was a voicemail from a casting director about a reading for a new screenplay: Hi, I received your submission for the role and want to ask you about your accents.
So, I called back.
Me (in own voice): Do you want to hear me speak in an American accent now?
C.D. (in her own voice too, I assume!): Yes, please.  If you don’t mind.
Me (in American): No problem.  I’m not sure what to talk to you about!  You can also see clips on my website from Heidi Marshall’s class and I use my American for those.
C.D. Do you mind holding the line while I watch?
Me: Of course not.
3 minutes of being on hold (seemed like 3 hours).
C.D. Well, that’s impressive.  It’s very hard to be able to hide a Scottish accent. I’d like to book you now if you’re free next Friday.