National Institute of Dramatic Art...

    This time last week I was in the middle of my NIDA audition. I had performed my first monologue, from Stephen Sewell's 'Dreams in an Empty City', to Darren Gilshenan, and it had gone relatively well. Although I thought it perhaps could have gone a bit better, I was far from displeased with it. Darren gave me some direction and I performed it again to his direction and again it went really well. I had then had a break, sitting in the courtyard with the rest of the actors auditioning. After that break I performed my second monologue, Edmund's monologue from Shakespeare's 'King Lear', to Jennifer Hagan in a different room. I was extremely pleased with how I performed this monologue. I sat down after performing it, my work done, and watched the other actors perform their second monologues.

     This time last week I was sitting in the courtyard at NIDA, surrounded by around 30-40 other actors, nervously awaiting the news as to whether or not we were going to be asked back to perform our third monologue. The NIDA audition process runs like this: The day's group of actors meet in a rehearsal room and are taken through vocal and physical warm up exercises by two NIDA students (a first year and second year student). This large group is then split in two, half performing their first monologues to one panel member, the other half to another. There is a break, and then the groups swap rooms and panel members and perform their second monologue. Then the two panel members decide if they want to call anyone back to see their third monologue (usually about 5-10 people) and then out of those people, they decide who they want to call back to another day of auditions. This continues until about 3000 people Australia wide is culled down to 16.

     We wait for about an hour (although that is mainly because the other group is quite late coming out from performing their second monologues) and then finally Darren and Jennifer emerge from the rehearsal rooms, holding a pile of application files. We gather around, desperate to hear the news. It is an odd feeling. I feel like I'm witnessing the finals of Australian Idol or something. I'm not as nervous as I expected to be, probably because I had no expectations of getting a call back. NIDA hardly ever takes people straight from school because they like you to have at least one year of life experience. You have to be beyond mind blowing to be accepted straight from school, so I had no expectations of getting through and so very little need to be nervous. Jennifer read out the names of the people who they wanted to see again. My friend Jade got a call back, which was really exciting. The list of names continued. There were about 10 in total. The last name was read out. I was not one of them. I knew this would be the case already. About 30 of us start to gather our bags to leave - I didn't feel like I'd failed because I was really pleased with how I performed (unlike with Sydney Theatre School after which I felt awful) and I was really pleased and excited for Jade.

     Darren calls out, "Oh, and before the rest of you go, I'd also like to talk to..." I turned around. He said my name. My name and two other people. I was intrigued and suddenly excited that he had called out my name. Everyone else left as the three of us walked up to Darren. He said that he just wanted us to know that he was really really impressed with our audition and that the only reason we weren't getting a call back was because we were too young, but to please come back and audition again next year.

     I was thrilled, over the moon, ridiculously ecstatic!! I still am! My profile is being put on a list of people they definitely want to see again next year! It's the best possible outcome I could have hoped for, because I knew I wasn't going to get in this year because I'm straight out of school. Darren said that he had the exact same thing said to him when he first auditioned for NIDA straight out of school, and he came back and got in (and now he's on the audition panel!) To have someone who isn't a relative, friend or teach, but someone from NIDA notice me and be really impressed with my acting has pretty much validated my life thus far xD In short, my current level of happiness is ridiculously high.

    I've got a callback for NIDA! It just so happens that my callback is next year. And I couldn't be happier!

Of Sculptures and the Ocean...

     On Sunday I went on first family outing in what feels like forever - one of the many perks of having finished the HSC!! We went to Bondi for Sculpture by the Sea - an annual display of a HUGE variety of sculptures that line the landscape of a coastal walk from Bondi to Tamarama beaches. It's incredible the array of scultpures they have and how cleverly they inhabit the landscape! However, what's even more incredible is the sheer mass of humanity that manages to flock to Bondi!! It took us 2 and a half hours to get to there (granted, there was also track work on the day we went...) but it was definitely worth it! It was such a good day, made even better by the fact that I was able to spend a day with my family, out of the house, with no guilt or worry whatsoever that I should have been doing something else!

     I'm even going back there in a couple of weeks with some friends from school. I'll write more about it and my favourite sculptures after I go with them, as I'll have more time to see everything and take it all in (I didn't end up being able to spend a lot of time there with my family because we had to get back for Youth). I'm really excited to go with my friends - it'll be such a fun day!! Until I write about this year's Sculpture by the Sea, you can see some photos of some of my favourite sculptures from previous years and you'll know what I'm talking about :D
 

My Worst Audition Ever...so far...

So. Sydney Theatre School audition. You have no idea how much I was hoping to get to writing this today and be barely able to contain my excitement about how well I thought I went and how the audition panel seemed to really love it etc etc. Well, let me start from the beginning.

     I'm at Central. My audition is at 11:30, the current time is 11:05. Excellent. Time to grab a quick coffee and drink it on the way as I mentally calm myself. I enter a 7/11 shop for a ridiculously cheap albeit average coffee (I don't really care what it tastes like when it is $1 and a caffeine hit) and the coffee machine has an 'out of order' sign strung across it. Fine. No coffee. The walk to Sydney Theatre School from Central is about 5 minutes (although, admittedly, I do walk quickly), and I confidently stride off...in the wrong direction entirely. Now you have to understand that I am never late to an audition. Ever. I'm the 'arrive an hour early if need be' type person. I figured a 5 minute walk from Central, leaving me around 20 minutes to make sure I was at the right place, sit and breathe and go over my monologue in my mind, would be plenty. And so it would be, if I realised I was going in the wrong direction after 5 minutes instead of 15. As angry with myself as I could be (or so I thought) I pick up the pace (at my walking speed now, most people would be half jogging) and pray continuously that I arrive on time.

     The strap on my bag breaks. In the mindset I am in I almost throw the bag across the street and keep going, rid of the burden, but I hoist it up under my arm and keep striding on. I arrive at 11:35. I'm late and I hate myself for it. I'm never late to an audition, let alone one that could determine what I spend next year doing. The image I had conjured up of me walking into the audition room, oozing calm confidence, ready to blow the panel away with my talent was smashed. Instead, I apologised profusely, out of breath, hair a sweaty mess, feeling and looking like a 15 yr old hoping to get a role in a school play. A part of me dies.

     "I hope you didn't have any trouble finding us" sounded like a mean jibe in my current state, but I put on my smile, desperately trying to get myself together. I tell them I will be performing the Serpent Monologue from George Bernard Shaw's Back To Methuselah. They offer me a drink and time to collect myself. In between trying to catch my breath and drink at the same time, I manage to inhale some water, sending me into a spluttering coughing attack. I finally manage to pull myself together and perform my monologue.

     It was every type of fail.

     One of the men on the panel, a director, gives me some direction on how to perform it again. I clearly didn't get his drift because he stops me about three lines in and gets me to do something else. This time he seems pleased. My utter disgust at how poorly I had performed turns into a determination to show this man that I can do whatever he wants me to. He gives me another way of performing it and I perform the hell out of it. This one is good, I can feel it. The man likes it. He's finally found a reason to not give me up as a lost cause. I still feel sick with embarrassment and disappointment and can barely look the two men on the panel for the interview. That's where my real acting skills come into play - smiling and talking to these people who have every reason in the world to think that I have no business trying to get into an acting school. We talk about my past experience - my only saving grace, being that the list is rather extensive with community theatre and school and other acting courses I have done. They ask me if I want to pursue acting as my career. This is the worst. I tell them that the only thing I have ever wanted to be is an actor. It sounds sickeningly weak following the disastrous display of ineptitude these two men had just witnessed. They said "That's really great", but I wouldn't have blamed them if they had laughed instead.

     "You take direction really well, we're really impressed with that" is the only reason I still feel like I may be accepted. It's great that I take direction really well, I have always been able to do that fantastically - every director I have ever had has made that comment - but I can't help but think, wouldn't it be nice if just once, just once, I could be amazing and blow people away BEFORE they have to give me any direction?

     Now I can't shake the feeling that I have no place auditioning for NIDA or WAAPA. My worst fear is people thinking that I think I'm good when I'm not. I can recognise when I was atrocious, but I just hope they knew I knew it was terrible. Ah well, I have a week before my NIDA audition to fully focus on being brilliant again. I can do this, today was just a really bad day. Really bad.

The Taste of Freedom...

I won't lie...I spent a couple of hours yesterday morning trying to figure out what to do with myself and generally feeling like I was at a loose end, however Day 2 and I think I'm getting used to this now HSC thing! I have been spending yesterday and today working on my audition monologue for Sydney Theatre School (audition is tomorrow morning!!) and I'm feeling confident with it...well, at least I'm happy with it! Hear's hoping the audition panel feel the same!

     I have recently acquired Season 1 of Packed to the Rafters, possibly my favourite TV show ever and definitely my favourite Australian show. I only started watching it on TV when they were up to about Season 3, though, so I'm loving going back to the very start and seeing how the characters started off and how they've grown up and developed since season 1, especially Rachel - I had no idea she had such a rough and intense start to the show! I've also gained Season 3 of The Big Bang Theory (my favourite sitcom) and so I've been working my way through that as well :D Yes, this is what I do when I've got nothing else to do. I'm going to read back over this in a couple of years and feel sick at how sad and pathetic this is xD 

     Something else I do in my free time is trawl through youtube for interviews with actors - I will, and I think I probably have, sit for hours and watch interviews with actors (real interviews with real actors...I'm not sitting here watching Robert Pattinson talking about what he ate for breakfast...) If you're like me - I highly doubt there is anyone as obsessed with interviews with actors as I am - but if you are, check out this one I found today with Cate Blanchett (ok, so most of the interviews I watch are with Cate Blanchett...what of it?) and Richard Roxburgh talking about Uncle Vanya - a Chekhov play that the Sydney Theatre Company put on last year. You may find it really boring, but I just love sitting and listening to actors talking about their craft!

     Tomorrow I will update you on how my Sydney Theatre School audition went - hopefully with all good news :) I won't know if I've been accepted or not until mid/late December, but I'll tell you how I feel about it! I don't even know if anyone reads this, but if you are, let me know about anything exciting coming up in your life! Are you an actor like me with upcoming auditions or maybe you have a job interview somewhere? Or maybe you're going somewhere in the Christmas holidays that you're really excited for? If you've already left school, can you remember when you finished Yr 12? What did you do in the first couple of days after finishing? Did it feel as weird as it feels for me?

     I'll leave you today with another song that I absolutely love at the moment - last time I showed you 'Pack Up' by Eliza Doolittle and today I'll show you another of my favourites at the moment, and that's 'Set Fire to the Rain' by the simply amazing and stunning Adele. I could list her whole album up here, but I'll just choose this one - enjoy!! 

Until we type again,

Xavier Cooper.

Fin.

     

     

     You will be pleased to know that you no longer have to endure any more HSC related posts due to the ridiculously amazing fact that I am done with it forever!! Who would have thought the day would come?! My final exam was yesterday afternoon and I cannot describe the feeling of freedom I have right now!! I don't have to worry that I should be studying, I don't have an assignment or major work that I should be working on, I don't have an essay that I should fix up - I can just do whatever I want to do completely guilt free!! It.Is.Amazing. I can FINALLY focus 100% on achieving everything that I want to achieve in my life. I can put all my efforts into my acting and pursuing that career - I have been waiting SO LONG to be able to do that without feeling guilty because I should be doing school work instead.

     And also....I got the Front of House job the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre/Q Theatre!! I have quit McDonalds and had my last shift there last Saturday. I am so excited about this job! It pays better than maccas and is a WAY better environment - I mean, I'm working in a theatre, not a fast food restaurant! Plus, if I'm ushering during my shift, I get to sit in on the shows :) I've also got an audition at Sydney Theatre School for their one year Diploma of Theatre Performance course this Saturday. Hopefully all goes well - I'll let you know how it goes! I'm also auditioning for NIDA and WAAPA this month, but I'm much more confident that I'll get into the Sydney Theatre School course because it's not as selective and prestigious as NIDA or WAAPA (which are almost impossible to get into, and they hardly ever take people first year out of school). It's basically designed to train you to audition for NIDA and WAAPA again at the end of next year, and it's a part time course so I'd be able to work and audition for roles at the same time, which is really good.  I'm really excited for what God has in store for my future now that I'm completely finished with school, and at the moment it is looking good :)

   I've recently been constantly playing this song - I heard it on the radio a couple of days ago, bought it because I liked it so much, and it's been constantly playing since :)