A Working Actor's Lament (Chapter 21)
"The Read-Thru"
Sitting in traffic on the 405 Southbound for Culver City on a Saturday morning, Sean began to think about all the preparation he had done the days before.
David, a fellow actor and writer, was sweet enough to ask him if he would be interested in doing a 'reading' of a sitcom he is working on. The actor had seen the first public reading of the first episode David had performed at the Complex Theater, a run-down building that should have been condemned during the Kennedy administration, and thought it was well cast. He especially couldn't take his eyes off the actress playing one of the office workers. The way she said her lines with conviction...breathtaking. He thanked God that she was married to him. And now, David was standing at his work cubicle requesting his talent. "Of course!!!", he heard himself say without hesitation. Could this be it? Could things be on the upswing for him?
He grab the script and began to highlight his lines with the bright yellow "Major Accent Highlighter" with fury. He couldn't believe all the lines he was given. At times he had to put down the colored implement in fear of getting Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Page after page of lines, in addition to music cues where he would possibly be singing. His wife even gave him her karaoke tapes of the songs mentioned in the script. He quickly wrote the lyrics to the side of his lines so he would not mess up when the time came to belt out his tune. How could David have given him such a role without ever seeing what he could do? It didn't matter, he was going to step up to the plate and hit it out of the park. He would show David that he was the only person for this role, and he would make it as memorable as Tom Hanks did with Forrest Gump. This was going to be an award winning performance.
He pulled into his parking spot at Audra's apartment, David's partner in crime, at 10:58 AM...2 minutes early. He thought about what his acting teacher had told him, "Don't show up too early for an audition, but never show up late." He thought, even though this wasn't an audition, this was a good rule of thumb for everything. Two minutes was good. Real good. When he got into the apartment, he mingled with the other cast members who had already arrived. He thought to himself, "They have probably been here for hours...novices!"
Everyone settled into their chairs and opened their scripts. He knew he had the first line and he was going to nail it. David looked at him and told him to start whenever he was ready. Here we go...
"Interior - Office - Day. Tom is at his desk. Bill enters"
YES!!!! YES!!!!! HE NAILED IT!!!! The looks on everyone's faces were obstructed by their own scripts in hand, but he knew they had just seen something extraordinary and were probably hiding their amazement. His next line was coming up...was he ready? Only time would tell.
"Bill exits"
THERE IT WAS!!!! Another solid delivery. He was on fire. Nothing could stop him. As he began to prepare for his next line, he remembered that he had cued the music on his portable tape recorder. Here was his big moment...he would hit play and let the intro music project him into a bombastic performance that had not been seen since the Three Tenors had come to town. He read his cue:
"SFX - Music cue"
He hit play on the tiny machine. The music came across the small two inch speaker with the clarity of a small gnat flying around one's ear. He listened as the cast took their cues from the music and read their lines. He took a big breath and was about to begin to sing when...
"SFX - Music fades"
It was too late. The others, nervous of his performance, sped through their lines. As he hit the stop button on the miniature stereo, he wondered if they had planned that. Were they so nervous to hear his Pavoratti-like chords that they sabotaged his only vocal performance of the show? He would never find out. However, the day was not over. He kept going with tenacity and driven confidence:
"Tony answers the phone"
"Pause"
"Exterior - Office - Night"
"Bill leaves the room"
He had rehearsed and rehearsed and it looked as if it paid off. As the cast got to the end of the script, he knew he had the last line...the big ending. As he took a breath, feeling confident that his preparation showed. Here it was, the final line. It was all his:
"Fade out"
As the cast closed their scripts, there was a silence that filled the room. One thought filled the actor's head; did he come close to the talent that was standing in front of him? As he shook hands with his fellow actors, complimenting them on their exceptional work, he could only pray that he did. Walking to his car, he began to write his acceptance speech.
"I would like to thank the acadamy..."
Sitting in traffic on the 405 Southbound for Culver City on a Saturday morning, Sean began to think about all the preparation he had done the days before.
David, a fellow actor and writer, was sweet enough to ask him if he would be interested in doing a 'reading' of a sitcom he is working on. The actor had seen the first public reading of the first episode David had performed at the Complex Theater, a run-down building that should have been condemned during the Kennedy administration, and thought it was well cast. He especially couldn't take his eyes off the actress playing one of the office workers. The way she said her lines with conviction...breathtaking. He thanked God that she was married to him. And now, David was standing at his work cubicle requesting his talent. "Of course!!!", he heard himself say without hesitation. Could this be it? Could things be on the upswing for him?
He grab the script and began to highlight his lines with the bright yellow "Major Accent Highlighter" with fury. He couldn't believe all the lines he was given. At times he had to put down the colored implement in fear of getting Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Page after page of lines, in addition to music cues where he would possibly be singing. His wife even gave him her karaoke tapes of the songs mentioned in the script. He quickly wrote the lyrics to the side of his lines so he would not mess up when the time came to belt out his tune. How could David have given him such a role without ever seeing what he could do? It didn't matter, he was going to step up to the plate and hit it out of the park. He would show David that he was the only person for this role, and he would make it as memorable as Tom Hanks did with Forrest Gump. This was going to be an award winning performance.
He pulled into his parking spot at Audra's apartment, David's partner in crime, at 10:58 AM...2 minutes early. He thought about what his acting teacher had told him, "Don't show up too early for an audition, but never show up late." He thought, even though this wasn't an audition, this was a good rule of thumb for everything. Two minutes was good. Real good. When he got into the apartment, he mingled with the other cast members who had already arrived. He thought to himself, "They have probably been here for hours...novices!"
Everyone settled into their chairs and opened their scripts. He knew he had the first line and he was going to nail it. David looked at him and told him to start whenever he was ready. Here we go...
"Interior - Office - Day. Tom is at his desk. Bill enters"
YES!!!! YES!!!!! HE NAILED IT!!!! The looks on everyone's faces were obstructed by their own scripts in hand, but he knew they had just seen something extraordinary and were probably hiding their amazement. His next line was coming up...was he ready? Only time would tell.
"Bill exits"
THERE IT WAS!!!! Another solid delivery. He was on fire. Nothing could stop him. As he began to prepare for his next line, he remembered that he had cued the music on his portable tape recorder. Here was his big moment...he would hit play and let the intro music project him into a bombastic performance that had not been seen since the Three Tenors had come to town. He read his cue:
"SFX - Music cue"
He hit play on the tiny machine. The music came across the small two inch speaker with the clarity of a small gnat flying around one's ear. He listened as the cast took their cues from the music and read their lines. He took a big breath and was about to begin to sing when...
"SFX - Music fades"
It was too late. The others, nervous of his performance, sped through their lines. As he hit the stop button on the miniature stereo, he wondered if they had planned that. Were they so nervous to hear his Pavoratti-like chords that they sabotaged his only vocal performance of the show? He would never find out. However, the day was not over. He kept going with tenacity and driven confidence:
"Tony answers the phone"
"Pause"
"Exterior - Office - Night"
"Bill leaves the room"
He had rehearsed and rehearsed and it looked as if it paid off. As the cast got to the end of the script, he knew he had the last line...the big ending. As he took a breath, feeling confident that his preparation showed. Here it was, the final line. It was all his:
"Fade out"
As the cast closed their scripts, there was a silence that filled the room. One thought filled the actor's head; did he come close to the talent that was standing in front of him? As he shook hands with his fellow actors, complimenting them on their exceptional work, he could only pray that he did. Walking to his car, he began to write his acceptance speech.
"I would like to thank the acadamy..."
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