Guest Blogger: Micah Young

Many of us have a hard time accepting our own accomplishments. You might hear, "Congratulations!" And the knee jerk reaction might be, "oh well, I wasn't so great." The ability to achieve greets things is matched by the ability to knock ourselves down.

Somehow we equate the amount of time we've been doing something to the quality with which we do it.  Longevity does not equal competence.  I am confident we could all think of someone who has been doing their job for a very long time, and might not be the best at it.

As we advance in our given profession, we become able to tackle more complicated and difficult tasks.  When I started taking piano lessons, as many of us did, there was the beginner book, with increasing levels of difficulty.  I'd work through one book, then to the next, graduating to the next level and so on.  But are the more complex works better than the simpler ones?

How do we know if the song or scene we use for an audition is the right material? Actors who come to an audition, make the judgement call about what to prepare; unless that decision is made for them by the casting team, who might dictate what songs/scenes to prepare. So how do you know if the song you are bringing to the audition is working for you?

Mountains are daunting and awe-inspiring.  They leave us breathless and at the same time, feeling a little helpless.  How do you climb the mountain?  Every journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.

When we find a work of art beautiful, is it because we value the mechanics and technique, or the surface aesthetic?  Is it purely one or the other?  For examples: 'I love this piece of art because of the use of brush strokes and structure,' verses: 'I love this painting because it evokes emotion and is simply beautiful.'

We hope to convey a clear message of our intentions.  At least, I think we do.  In a meeting, an audition, a conversation, it's important to communicate what you planned on communicating.  In the performing arts, any number of messages can be conveyed.  Sometimes we do not have the luxury of explaining ourselves; and sometimes we shouldn't have to.

What is the goal in an audition?  You want to book the gig, right?  Who doesn't walk in the room hoping to book the audition?  That said, there are a multitude of reasons for why people audition, within that hope of getting a job.

As a child I was given the advice to do what I loved.  I suppose making music for a living is just that: doing what I love.  But there are times when I'm counting the hours, and calculating the fee, before the gig even begins; I'm thinking about the paycheck rather than the music.  In any profession, we do need to be paid for our time and talents.  But we should also enjoy the work.

Music has a story to tell.  In a musical, the music informs us of the characters, the setting and the emotional journey.  The same is true for TV and film; if you're ever watching a scary movie, and it becomes too intense, turn off the sound.  The music is what drives the emotional intensity in many suspenseful scenes.

What would you do if failure was an option?  What would you think if you didn't need to be right?  I wouldn't suggest leaping off a cliff without a parachute, but I think there is pressure in all fields, to be right and to be successful.  And who doesn't want to be successful?  More money, more power, more opportunities.  But when we are creating, or even having a discussion, being able to simply say, "I don't know" has a stigma attached to it.

It is difficult to examine a situation with clarity.  Often our passion for a project, our love for a job or our opinions about the people involved make it hard to make a clear-cut decision.  There are some situations where our own well-being is at stake; it is in these situations we have to make the hard choice of staying in the situation or finding a way to remove ourselves.

Ideas are only as good as the attention we give them.  If you come up with the next brilliant idea, then do nothing with it, it's useless.  And while not every idea is the next lightbulb invention, we need to write them down, cultivate them and brainstorm.  There is a fine balance when we start sharing the ideas and everyone in the room starts sharing their idea.

As performers we don't have the objectivity to assess our own performance. We ask each other, 'how did that go?' Or 'how did that feel?' But beyond the sensation we can instantly recall from our performance, we don't really know how we sounded.

There are a million reasons not to do something.  Going to the audition seems overwhelming: you're tired, there's subway traffic.  It's raining out.  Practicing that song, or writing that scene just seems like too much work.  But beyond the reasons you can find for yourself to not take action, there are a multitude of 'nay-sayers' in life, who casually if not directly, say "don't."

The question we might ask ourselves is: "how do you see yourself?" Actors ask this and get asked this a lot; what role do you see for yourself? As a vocal coach and music director I will ask a performer what roles they'd like to perform, as a way to understand their aspirations but also how they see themselves.

Often we think of city-life and business as impersonal and without feeling.  However, in the time-is-money culture, there is a difference between being time efficient and being cold-hearted.  After seeing hundreds if not thousands of actors auditioning for a production, it's easy for the casting room to feel like a revolving door: one actor out, the next one in.  There's little time to be overly cordial.

Whether we like it or not, appearances matter, especially in auditions. How you look, dress, walk all tell the casting team who you are and how you think of yourself. Likewise your audition book is a representation of how you view your audition.

If you rush the process, any process, your liable to miss a step or two along the way, and end up with a less than stellar product.  If it takes 30 minutes to bake a cake, but you want it done in 10, it's not going to be a very good cake.  Likewise trying to get results too quickly, without respecting the time of the process is putting the cart before the horse.  

Everyone who aspires, aspires greatly.  That is a matter of perspective, but for the individual, their goals are great to them.  Who doesn't think of their goals, and not make them the greatest goals possible?  For each person there are the expectations they create for themselves, but sometimes the expectations are in fact detrimental to obtaining the goal.