Bil - A Handy Guide to Dream Theatre Company's Auditions for "Downward Facing"

Despite cold weather outside and a construction site inside, Dream Theatre is sallying forth this week.  On Wednesday is a reading of our 2011 Season opener, Mishelle Apalategui's "Downward Facing" (which "Theatre of Women" fans should recognize).  Thursday and Friday are actual auditions.

I know there's a lot of audition advice out there for actors, and I'm sure some of it's good, but because we're about to audition a specific show at this specific company, let me throw out some specific advice that really will help...

• Bring a headshot and resume.  I know it seems like a no brainer, but there are a surprising amount of actors out there who actually have no brain.
• Reach out to Dream Theatre Company in advance.  Facebook is a great place to start.
• If there are sides available ahead of time, read them.  If you are able to read the whole script ahead of time, do so.
• If you have a monologue, be prepared to show all your intensity AND all your subtlety in one go.  You will only have one chance.
• If you have a monologue, be emotionally prepared to not get a chance at all.  Again, read those sides in advance.
• Connect with the director.  If the director gives you direction, use it.
• Impress the director.  If the director gives you direction, go above and beyond.  If the director does NOT give you direction, do something different anyway.  Show some range.
• Leave your ego at home.
• Leave your dog at home.
• Do not talk about Fight Club.
• Understand the English language.  The dialogue in "Downward Facing" is both transcendentally poetic and absurdly hip.  It's not like a Shakespeare play, where language is heightened upwards, or a Mamet play, where language is smashed downward.  It's more like "Juno," where language is shifted to the side a bit.  It's different from everyday language, but the emotions behind the words are all very human.  If you have questions about what something means, ask someone.
• Talk about how handsome Jeremy Menekseoglu is.
• Bring enough chewing gum to share with everyone.

Don't be this guy.

Break a leg, everyone.  We're all very excited to meet the cast, whoever they may be!

Bil Gaines: A Blog is Born

Attention blogosphere: you are entering a world of pain. This here blog is going to steal all your brainpower and recycle it into the collective consciousness of human existence.

That's right.

Dream Theatre Company now has a blog.  And it kicks ass.

And it's not just one person blogging.  It'll be a collective effort from the cast and crew of our upcoming or current production (depending on whether we're in rehearsals or running a show).

Hot on the heels of the completion of the Agon Trilogy, Dream Theatre is preparing for the biggest, craziest, bloodiest children's show you've ever seen.  You thought you liked the blue blood spilling out of Company Member Rachel Martindale in "Electra?"  Jumped at the red blood sprayed into the face of Company Member Anna Weiler in "Orestes?"

Just wait until you see what color comes out of the German children in "Devilish Children & the Civilizing Process."

...Actually, it'll probably be red, just like in "Orestes."  But there will be much more of it.

This is a cautionary blog, friends.  It's a show about cautionary tales.  Take caution, it might frighten you into being a good person.

Auditions for this show are coming up next week, on August 25th, with callbacks on the 26th.  Check out the website for more info!