The Tale of the Two C's

Some opportunities you get just once in a lifetime. I got two, each happening within weeks of the other. I call them the Two C’s: an audition to become a cast member for Utah’s equivalent to Saturday Night Live, Studio C, and an audition for a full-ride scholarship to the Cleveland Playhouse Master’s Degree Program.

When you’re an actor going for two PHENOMENAL opportunities at the same time, sometimes you’re filled with so much optimism that you fear the dreaded possibility of having to choose between them. I was 100% convinced I would eventually have to choose between a comedy career now or a theatrical career three years from now.

The Studio C audition really separated the men from the boys! I submitted a comedy reel and then heard back from Studio C that they were looking for comedy writers as well as performers, and would I mind submitting some material. I literally came up with two comedy sketches that day and sent them in. A few days later, I heard back from Studio C granting me an audition!! My audition would be THE NEXT DAY. And it could be anything I wanted to show them, as long as it was between 10-15 minutes. So, I had LESS THAN 24 HOURS to prepare an audition for them.

Fortunately, I was armed to the teeth in characters and other material I’d workshopped in countless improv performances over the years. I decided to create a one-woman show entitled ‘Misstress-piece Theater,’ starring my old, reliable bad advice panel character - Dame Ethyl Lady Lady. Throughout the show, she portrayed a variety of other characters, like Britney Spears, Fluttershy, and Sister Wilcox (a very pushy neighbor always bringing over brownies), each with a wig change. And the entire sketch finished with a BANG with Dame Ethyl performing her rendition of “All That Jazz” while becoming more and more painfully arthritic the longer the song went on before finally collapsing on the floor. I KILLED. The producers thanked me for being so prepared and complimented me highly for the clever way in which I weaved all of those characters into an entertaining narrative. They even said I had a ton of arrows in my quiver and they never met someone oozing with so much talent! I was absolutely ELATED. I ran down center street in Provo like Charlie Bucket finding the golden ticket. I couldn’t WAIT to rush home and tell my husband the great news!

I spent the recent months working overtime on tightening my acting chops for a once-in-a-lifetime audition for Cleveland Playhouse’s Master’s Degree Program. It was a full-ride scholarship with a housing stipend! I got my letters of recommendation sent in, I wrote a killer admissions essay and received an audition slot soon after applying. :) I was over the moon! I prepared two PERFECT monologues (a Classical Shakespearean monologue from King Henry VI and a contemporary monologue from Alchemy of Desire: Dead Man’s Blues) and was even working with an acting coach who recently graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London! She taught me sooo much and I felt so ready to knock their socks off.

My solo trip to Cleveland was blessed every step of the way with angels. I found the hotel quickly and easily, and there was a dozen red roses waiting for me in my hotel room from my amazing husband! I was nervous, but super excited to take this next step to hopefully change the rest of my life. :) As I sat on the bed preparing for the next day, I thought about Studio C. I worried, “What do I do if I get both? Which do I pick? Which is the better road for me?” In the midst of my fears, I received a new email notification on my phone. I tapped it and saw AN EMAIL FROM STUDIO C! This was it!!! I excitedly opened the email, which read:

“It was such a hard process to sift through so many talented auditions and submissions, and we realize this may come as a blow, but we have decided you will not be continuing in the casting process with Studio C. We wish you luck in your future endeavors and thank you for your submission.”

….Uh….what?

I received a form rejection letter from Studio C. After all of the praise, after all of the laughs, after NAILING my audition. I later learned that practically no one from Utah made Studio C - they extended the casting net to include submissions from L.A. and New York. It may as well have been an audition for SNL. Good grief.

Well, at least I didn’t have to choose between two incredible offers anymore! I could concentrate on my Cleveland audition with all my heart and nail it.

I found the audition venue easily the next day. I walked there from the hotel with my luggage in-tow. I joked with the sign-in gal that I was moving in. She and I had a great conversation and I found out she was a current student in the Cleveland Playhouse Master’s Program! She gave me some great audition tips and I was able to go in with guns a’blazing.

It turned out to be the most FUN and AMAZING audition I’ve had in a long time! When I walked in, I was met by three people: Don Carrier, the director, Kevin Inouye, the movement teacher, and Laura Kepley, the text and special projects teacher. They were all so warm and friendly! They immediately greeted me with “This is Jamie!” It was all awesomeness from there. :) Don said I looked familiar and asked me if I attended the open house. I said no, I just flew in - all of my luggage was right outside. They laughed and we had GREAT rapport! I went straight into my audition pieces. I felt SO alive as I performed the pieces! They laughed out loud throughout my contemporary monologue, and the more they laughed, the more my heart soared and my confidence grew. I felt GREAT about the Shakespearean monologue, too - I felt I delivered it with a genuine strength and deliberation. The whole time, I could feel the entire panel watching me intently. I was STOKED! After I finished my audition pieces, I glanced at the panel. Each of them had HUGE smiles on their faces. Don broke the silence by exclaiming, “What a character!” He then proceeded to coach me in my Shakespeare monologue! He had me do it two more times - once with more grounded volume to my voice and once with fewer pauses between my lines. I happily took the direction and applied it the best I could. Then, they asked me to sing my song, which was “Whatever Happened to My Part?” I blew the ROOF off with that number. :) It was a fantastic audition - one that I was very proud of. We chatted some more, I asked and they answered a few questions, and then it was done. I successfully auditioned for Cleveland Playhouse’s MFA Program! :)

The real miracle was how I got home. There was a HUGE blizzard grounding flights in the mid-west, and as a result, a lot of my flights were delayed. We couldn’t even land in Chicago (my layover) because of the storms, and had to be re-routed to Michigan twice! When we finally landed in Chicago, it was HOURS later, with everyone on board missing their connecting flights and having to find last-minute accommodations in Chicago. But I checked my Salt Lake City flight… it was DELAYED! I hadn’t missed it! Because the plane they were using had been delayed coming in from Minnesota! I was literally the only one on my flight who didn’t miss my connection! I prayed and thanked the Lord above for my tremendous fortune and safety. I arrived home a little after 1 in the morning and held Tanner tightly in my arms upon landing.

I was a nervous WRECK in the following months. I couldn’t WAIT to hear word back from Cleveland! Supposedly, they would notify everyone of their status by April (my audition was in January), but could notify chosen students as early as February or March. Throughout the long months, I waited. And waited. And waited. February came and went. March came and went. Even April came and went! No word. Once April passed, I considered it safe to reach out to Don Carrier regarding my application status. He replied back:

Dear Jamie,

I am reaching out as we have finally concluded our recruitment process. We saw over 900 candidates this year, so it has been more challenging than usual. It's always a major task to put together a class as you might imagine. The final makeup of a class is not my sole decision as there is input from faculty and Cleveland Play House artistic staff. 

Unfortunately, we will not be able to offer you a place for the class of 2022. You delivered a strong audition and I am hopeful that you will have other options in choosing a training institution. We were impressed by your work, drive and commitment.

Once again, I wish you the very best and I hope that you find the training that best serves your needs.

Due to the huge volume of candidates auditioning, I am unable to give individual feedback. Again, I wish you the very best for your future artistic pursuits. 

Sincerely,

Don Carrier

I was zero for two in the life-changing opportunities department. But that’s showbiz. That’s always showbiz. You can do everything as well as you can and still not get it. They can be blown away by your audition, and still not choose you. By all accounts, it makes no sense. But what makes even less sense is to try to make any sense of their decisions…make sense? I could at the very least chalk it up to fantastic feedback given from both Studio C and the CPH director. One thing I learned is you NEVER have anything to regret if you give your all in an audition. Another thing I learned is it’s best practice to audition for more than one MFA program at a time. You do have to cast a wide net to increase your chances in getting something. The same can be said for auditions, I suppose. Audition for anything and everything. Give it your all, do your best. Eventually, you’ll get something. You’ll get an opportunity that was lying in wait just for you. Never give up. Never surrender.