puppetmaker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
puppetmaker) wrote2013-02-13 10:22 pm
puppetmaker) wrote2013-02-13 10:22 pm
LJ Idol Exhibit A Week 4
While I was in graduate school at the Yale School of Drama, it was hard to find work-study for the stage managers because of our screwy schedules. One job that was passed down from stage manager to stage manager was the janitorial duties at the Yale Cabaret. It had pretty flexible hours as long as the job got done. I was very good at that job and the cabaret manager was sad to see me go.
The other work-study job that I had was in the admissions office. That was an interesting one. It was my job to open up the applications of everyone who was apply to the graduate program at Yale, sort which department they were applying for, create a folder for them, and (once the head of admissions and the various heads of departments had gone through them) help set up the auditions for the actors and the interviews for the other departments. This is where I got most of my work-study hours in for the last two years because there were a lot of people applying for the various programs at the drama school.
Now there were at the time usually 12 to 20 spots total in the acting program. The number of applications went into the 10,000s and higher. To get an audition was considered pretty doggone good. There were auditions held in several cities and as several regional theater conferences. I did the in-town ones and let others take care of the out of town because it was very hard for a stage manager to leave even for a day or so.
I was there for the acting auditions at the YSD. We had a couple of people working these comprised of acting students, directing students, and the stage managers. Depending on where they needed me, they would either have me bring the person auditioning into the room, introduce them to the panel who was auditioning people that day, and hand over their headshot with their theatrical resume on the back. Or they would have me in the room with them for note taking. Or they would have me be the meet and greet for the people auditioning and sign them in. Either way, my opinion about each person was asked and was taken into consideration. How I was treated mattered because when trying to whittle down all those applications and auditions down to a company that would be working with each other and the rest of us for three years, it was important that they could be part of the group.
The teachers were looking for many things in the people who auditioned with us. Being able to act was a big part but they also had to fit within the criteria of the make up of the class, which included how they interacted with people outside their specific department. There had to be a careful balance created which was one heck of a juggling act and I never envied them their decisions.
There were, however, some actors that I could tell right off the bat that they didn’t stand a chance of getting in. For some it was just bad acting or just a bad audition. For others it was as simple as not being able to follow direction when given some and asked to run their audition piece again. And then there were those that thought that just because I was behind the desk running the auditions, that I was their servant or just some flunky there so they could show us how great they were. One of the heads of the direction program trusted my gut instincts about people implicitly. He taught me that that ability was one I should trust and cultivate. He said I had a knack for seeing through the words to the meaning of the person.
My time at Yale had its serious ups and downs. I will say that at one point I think everyone called it the Yale School of Trama. But my time in the admissions office and watching the process where the ultra deep field of actors was trimmed down to at most 20 was very educational and gave me insight on deal with people that I use to this day.
This was my entry this week for the LJ Idol. If you liked it, I hope you will consider voting for me when the poll goes up
The other work-study job that I had was in the admissions office. That was an interesting one. It was my job to open up the applications of everyone who was apply to the graduate program at Yale, sort which department they were applying for, create a folder for them, and (once the head of admissions and the various heads of departments had gone through them) help set up the auditions for the actors and the interviews for the other departments. This is where I got most of my work-study hours in for the last two years because there were a lot of people applying for the various programs at the drama school.
Now there were at the time usually 12 to 20 spots total in the acting program. The number of applications went into the 10,000s and higher. To get an audition was considered pretty doggone good. There were auditions held in several cities and as several regional theater conferences. I did the in-town ones and let others take care of the out of town because it was very hard for a stage manager to leave even for a day or so.
I was there for the acting auditions at the YSD. We had a couple of people working these comprised of acting students, directing students, and the stage managers. Depending on where they needed me, they would either have me bring the person auditioning into the room, introduce them to the panel who was auditioning people that day, and hand over their headshot with their theatrical resume on the back. Or they would have me in the room with them for note taking. Or they would have me be the meet and greet for the people auditioning and sign them in. Either way, my opinion about each person was asked and was taken into consideration. How I was treated mattered because when trying to whittle down all those applications and auditions down to a company that would be working with each other and the rest of us for three years, it was important that they could be part of the group.
The teachers were looking for many things in the people who auditioned with us. Being able to act was a big part but they also had to fit within the criteria of the make up of the class, which included how they interacted with people outside their specific department. There had to be a careful balance created which was one heck of a juggling act and I never envied them their decisions.
There were, however, some actors that I could tell right off the bat that they didn’t stand a chance of getting in. For some it was just bad acting or just a bad audition. For others it was as simple as not being able to follow direction when given some and asked to run their audition piece again. And then there were those that thought that just because I was behind the desk running the auditions, that I was their servant or just some flunky there so they could show us how great they were. One of the heads of the direction program trusted my gut instincts about people implicitly. He taught me that that ability was one I should trust and cultivate. He said I had a knack for seeing through the words to the meaning of the person.
My time at Yale had its serious ups and downs. I will say that at one point I think everyone called it the Yale School of Trama. But my time in the admissions office and watching the process where the ultra deep field of actors was trimmed down to at most 20 was very educational and gave me insight on deal with people that I use to this day.
This was my entry this week for the LJ Idol. If you liked it, I hope you will consider voting for me when the poll goes up
no subject
And I find it reassuring that they did seek your input. No one wants to be stuck working with a wretched diva for three years!