By Seth Rudetsky
25 Aug 2008
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| Loretta Ables Sayre in South Pacific |
| photo by Joan Marcus |
Back to Bloody Mary. Loretta told her husband that she wasn't going, and there was only half an hour before the audition. Her husband said that whatever bad feeling she'd get about auditioning, it wouldn't be as bad as wondering for the rest of her life what would have happened if she went. She then told him that it wasn't even an option because they sent her a packet of music and scenes to prepare and she didn't work on them. He told her that he'd drive her to the audition so she could learn them on the way. She said that he drove, and she belted out the songs in the car/looked at the scenes, but when she got there she was terrified. She finally calmed herself by telling herself that she could only be who she was. She didn't have a vast amount of acting or vocal training, and that was the reality. All she could be was herself. Joe was very nice and had her sing so he could film her for the creative staff to see. Right after she sang "Bali Ha'i," he asked her to do the ending in head voice, instead of belting it. She was devastated and thought that she blew it, but he just wanted to show the creative team that she could do it. He explained that it would take several weeks for everyone to see the video, and then she'd hear whether or not she had a call back. Two days later, she got a call telling her that they were flying her to New York for her call back! She had six weeks to prepare, and then she and her husband flew to JFK. As she was describing how momentous the trip was, she started crying and said that, "What are the probabilities of a Filipino girl who grew up in Hawaii flying to New York to be seriously considered for a Broadway musical?" Her audition was at Lincoln Center and, walking to it, she passed big posters with pictures of Yo Yo Ma and Beverly Sills, and she was so overwhelmed with feelings that people who worked in a place like this would take the time to see her. It didn't matter to her if she got the job, she was just so moved by the fact that they thought she could possibly do it. She was told that she'd have one audition for the creative team, and then she would have one more for all the Lincoln Center higher ups and the representatives from the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization. She was incredibly nervous/panicking as she sang and read for the director, Bartlett Sher. She said she couldn't breathe and had total dry mouth (see me running into Cheyenne Jackson). Her phrasing was a mess because she couldn't breathe. She was positive that she had blown it with the director. She spent that night sobbing through dinner but finally calmed herself down by doing what she did before the first audition. She told herself that they didn't ask if she had Juilliard acting training, they didn't ask whether she had 20 years of vocal lessons. All she could do was be herself. The next day she had a work session with the director, where he took her in every direction dramatically, and she loved it. He asked her to try the character in many different ways: angry, desperate, vulnerable. She now realizes that he was trying to see how directable she was, but at that point she just loved it because it was like a master class. She showed up on Monday for her final audition and sat outside the rehearsal room, terrified, holding a shrunken head (!) that someone made for her before she left. The whole cast of the last play she did gathered in her dressing room before she left and gave it kisses, blessed it and sent it love. Right before 4 PM, she began thinking of her father. She told us that he was a field laborer with a sixth grade education. He learned how to write by lining up grains of rice on a plate.
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| Seth in Lancaster, PA |
My final trip last week was to Lancaster, PA, to do my comedy show, Deconstructing: The Good, The Bad and the Headache-y at the Fulton Theater. It went over amazingly! I've never done the show outside of New York (let alone in Amish Country), and I'm so glad to know that it works. I've now decided to tour all religious enclaves. Next stop: Salt Lake City.
My final comment is: What's with someone taking the time to review my audio book just to give it one star!?!?!? I got a slew of five star reviews and then someone not only gave me one star, but said that the narrator (played by me) was one of those people who are like (direct quote) "Hey, if you don't listen to me, I will just become louder and more annoying until you do listen to me!" That is my subtext in life, but how dare he write it! All I can say is, if you like the audio book, please counteract his review by writing something not as honest…I mean, cruel. Go to www.audible.com/broadwaynights to bring my rating back up to five stars and/or read how much Steve from Arlington hated it. I'll be back next week…the start of September and the premiere of my new/updated/crazily amazing website!
(Seth Rudetsky is the host of "Seth's Big Fat Broadway" on SIRIUS Satellite Radio and the author of "The Q Guide to Broadway" and the novel "Broadway Nights." He has played piano in the orchestras of 15 Broadway musicals and hosts the BC/EFA benefit weekly interview show Seth's Broadway Chatterbox at Don't Tell Mama every Thursday at 6 PM. He can be contacted by visiting www.sethsbroadwaychatterbox.com.)
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| Jeff Roberson (Varla Jean Merman), Nell Snaidas, Seth Rudetsky and Mark Cortale
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