Oh My...

The more auditions the circus holds, the more I question whether or not it’s normal to ask people to assist in the job hiring process of those who will be replacing them. It seems a little cruel, doesn’t it?

Anyway, today I got to sit through some pretty… special… auditions. And this isn’t just me being bitter and trying to make myself feel better. Oh no. Every single person in that tent, be it technician, acrobat, musician or kitchen staff, had a look of sheer WTF on their face when all was said and done. Most people were left speechless. Eyes were wide, cheeks were puffed out, and long, drawn out sighs could be heard from every direction.

The first guy did some kind of acrobatic monologue. It started with a lot of banging in the wings and was followed by some stylized falling down. Then there was the monologue. The text itself might have been good, but I couldn’t always make out what the guy was saying and he had a kind of one note delivery. The entire piece culminated with him stripping down to a Jesus t-shirt and walking into the audience to give someone a hug.

I have no idea what I was supposed to make of that.

Then came his ‘handstand’ number. It was maybe two minutes long, had no music, nothing to tie any of the movements together, and from what I could tell, no concept. There were one or two respectable figures, but he didn’t hold them very well and I wanted to scream at him to straighten his legs and point his damn toes.

Did I mention he’s the director’s nephew?

Ha! And the night before his audition he had the gall to sit in the kitchen with us after the show and decimate our work. Seriously, after a rant like that, to come to an audition so ill prepared and with so little substance… I’ve rarely seen such arrogance.

The second person to audition was a girl whom I would describe as a clown/manipulator of objects. Now she was well prepared. Everything from her costumes to her props were put together with obvious care and she had clearly put a lot of thought into what she was sharing with us.

The only thing is, I kind of felt like I was watching the end of year presentation of a clown student. She had an incredible amount of material to show us. Each act (there were many) had to have been at least eight minutes long. And I think that it if she were to trim it all down by about half, she might be onto something good. I feel that with some direction and further character development, she could really have something. But for now, it still seemed a bit lacking in precision and unfortunately, technique. Ripe with potential though she may be, she just doesn’t seem ready to be on such a big stage.

And this one goes to everyone who has auditioned so far: please stop spending so much time with your back to the audience. Also, on the occasions where you are facing the audience, could you perhaps look at us rather than the floor? Thank you.

It brings me great pain to say this, but so far, cyr wheel guy is the one to beat.