September 18, 2008
I may have mentioned that I didn't think I was quite up to the roles in Flora Dora Girls. I might have been able to pull it off, but even I could see it would have been miscasting. This is the New York market of actresses, and I was among about 20 called back for nine roles. I read for two of them, an ex-stripper and the rejected uptight sister of the lead character. I'm always pretty good at rejected uptight sisters, but I had a wonderful time reading those ex-stripper lines. But this time I was reading against a roomful of the genuine article.
The two roles I read were Italian-American older ladies. All the women in the room reading for those roles had black curly hair, brown eyes, and attitude to spare. I overcame my natural soft-spoken, modulated Southern accent to speak as shrilly and with the best New Jersey accent I could manage, but I wasn't fooling anyone. Every woman in the room had that kind of voice and that accent, for real. It was as if I'd moved to Dublin and auditioned for a local production of Dancing at Lughnasa. I did the play in Alabama, but my accent would probably not pass muster in Ireland, although I might have a better shot than with this production because there is no doubt I am of Irish extraction.
I'm here to tell ya that Flora Dora Girls is going to be great fun to watch, and that it'll be a hit in Hoboken. I'll keep you up to date as we get closer to the time, and maybe we can all meet there for a laugh. There are a lot of old-Hoboken jokes, On the Waterfront jokes, and probably a Frank Sinatra joke or two.
Here's what my rejection email said, "We were looking for a specific dynamic and look for the characters, I'm regretfully writing to let you know we did not select you for the cast of 'Flora Dora Girls'. We think you are super fabulous and a wonderful actress so continue to come back for Gaia auditions.
We would like to work with you for our future productions at Gaia so please do come back!"
I'll be back, girl friends. I'll be back.
2 comments:
So you did not get the part...I kinda thought so. Could ya see actor Joe Pesci trying to play a part in a Shakespeare play? Never happen. Another part will come along...best suited to you...THATS SHOW BIZ
:-) Oh Mary Lois you'll never lose your sparkle.
. . . anyway I don't know about Joe Pesci but didn't Cagney play in a midsummernight's dream?
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