Philgreens Role In Negotiation

Welcome to Auditions! You have walked into an uncomfortable situation where you are surrounded by individuals seeking to take the role that you are dying to get. In this part of the production the director will judge on where you will be casted. Either the role of the handsome hero out to save to princess or the character that was slain in the process. To sum it up, the director (the Philgreens and Tina Ostrander) will weed out who can handle a big role or find someone suited for something lesser. Note that every role in a production is important, so even when Mr. Philgreen or Tina ask you to audition for a smaller character, put in the same effort that you would when auditioning for the lead.
Anyways, when you walk into either a play or musical

audition expect the following archetypes : nervous, even anxiety ridden individuals are practicing to get the lead;, the I- don’t- really- give- a- crap- let’s- hurry- this- up people;, and the thespians of the craft of acting. Now as a freshman, you have yet to fall into these grooves. Get to know these subgroups, they all have qualities to help in the overall process. Miss. Anxiety shows you how to work for it, Laided-Back Bro show the ways of just enjoying this, and Mr. Tom Thespian will teach to just perform the best you can.
After you have gotten to know the individuals, get ready to act.

Nothing much you can do when you get to the point, they just kind of toss you into the fire. I recall the first time I went through the audition process:. I walked into the auditorium, the stage lights turned up all way, and seating set in darkness. As I made my way up to the stage, Tina stopped me to hand me a script and said, “Just head up to the stage.” As I walked up there was a sudden wave of anxiety and nervousness that washed over me. When I finally looked back at the seats my sight was blinded by the beams of lights that shot above me. Then she just simply said, “Let’s Begin.” Twenty minutes of nervous performing and the audition was

over.
Just like what you will be doing for the next two2 months has based on that one performance. So yes, it is important that you nail this, but since you’re a freshman just remember that this is just your first audition. There is zero expectation of you to blow up the stage. So all I can tell you is just be ready to act your ass off, and try to have fun. If you think this part sucked, get excited for casting.
Casting (Sarah Miller)
As nerve racking as auditions were, waiting for the cast list to be published may be worse. You may feel as though time was slowing down, stretching itself out over the entire week. Tensions during the school day grow and you start eying the other auditioners suspiciously. Had they stolen your ideal role? Calm down, cast lists aren’t written in a day, and not everyone can be a lead role.
Luckily, you probably don’t have to worry about whether you snag a role or not; West Delaware rarely puts a cap on performer numbers. Most years, the directors will go out of their way to fit more students into specific roles, even if it means splitting dialogue, or stuffing as many extras (background, usually non-speaking characters) in a scene as possible.
Don’t be disappointed if you are an extra, especially if you are a freshman; remember, not everyone can have a lead, or even a speaking role but every piece is imperative for the performance. I have participated in six performances since my freshman year, and I have never had a speaking role which is just fine, extras have more fun anyway. As an extra, you won’t have to memorize lines (unless you tried out for a musical, in which case you’ll probably have sing, but I will get to that); however, you will have to memorize when you have to be on stage; and what you’ll be doing on stage, which may involve dancing, wondering around aimlessly, or even randomly entering a closet. Even as an extra, you’ll have to find an identity for your character: where did your character come from? Why was he/she at the event or location played out in each particular scene?
Many extras are appointed an assortment of roles; for instance, when I played in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, I played an English Person, a Running Flirt, and a Vulgarian Dancer. It may be nerve racking to take on multiple roles at once, but remember that Michelle Philgreen and Tina Ostrander, the directors, know what they are doing (most of the time), and they will avoid giving too many roles to one person. This doesn’t mean that such a situation never happens, however, and if you are absolutely positive that you cannot retain the number of roles you’ve been given, simply speak to the director; the most she would require you to do would be to find a replacement among the cast, of which there is always an abundance.
Usually, speaking roles with more that a couple lines do not procure multiple roles, and leads almost never are given more than one. The directors are circumspect about this so that those with many lines will have time to memorize them, but basically, these actors have to accomplish everything an extra would, except with lines, and a bigger spotlight.
All of this may sound pretty stressful, but don’t worry about having everything perfected by performance time; that is what rehearsals are for.
Practice (Colin Weber)
Making it to this point mentally sane is something to be celebrated after auditioning and casting finally finished up. Like I said earlier in the auditions: your auditions and depending on how you did and based on the upper classmen, you now have your role, and. Depending on the role you have you been have been granted either bliss, or back-breaking memorization. The bliss is because you don’t have to remember pages and pages of lines and pages of lines. On the other side of the coin, the memorizers have to learn lines, blocking (where you are suppose to be standing), and grow into their characters. As hard as that sounds it’s truly not. Mr. Philgreen and Tina will push you, but you will slowly start to mold into character and know just what you need to do.
If you have received a extra role or a minor role with almost no lines, you lucked out as a freshman. You must be asking “Why would anyone want a smaller role?” Well since you are a freshman you don’t know exactly what expect, and you can learn from the upper classmen. Even though I only began acting as a Junior, taking that first year with smaller roles was what I needed. Since I had no understanding of the basics of being apart of a play or musical, being able to just learn helped me my senior year.
Since, practice is what makes a play or musical it’s important you follow these rules: learn, be quiet, and have fun. If those rules are followed it will help the rehearsals run smoothly. It also helps you to have fun because it will keep Tina or Mr. Philgreen off your back. I have some of favorite memories in high school coming from practice. Back in my first year, Jacob Gasper and I developed a running gag based on the play we were in. Also, my cousin, Max, and I just messing around was some of the most fun I had during play.
As much fun as practice is, it’s equally as hard. If you break it down, there are close to one hundred variables that the director has to work to get a good production. You are as big of part of the play as anybody. I say that because you’re a variable that affects the play or musical. If you haven’t learned what you needed to learn, you affect the cast and crew. So that biggest thing you must do during the practice phase is learn.
If you don’t learn, get ready not have fun. Mr. Philgreen and Tina will be on your back to catch up because you start to hold the everyone behind. We had a guy in the cast where he had a strong history breaking this rule. As much as he was good actor, he always lagged behind enough to get the directors on his back. Even though he always found a way to pull it all together in the end, he caused so much stress for everyone. Don’t be that person.
Finally, just be quiet when need to be quite

Performance (Sarah Miller)
So far you have survived auditions and rehearsals and you have even uncovered your character’s identity, but opening night is close at hand and the nerves of the entire cast and crew are spread thin. The crew is rushing to fix broken equipment, and organize set pieces; meanwhile, you and the rest of the cast are scrambling to finish memorizing your lines, find and place your costumes, and perfect performances. The two groups collide as they try to perform their individual tasks, stressing out the directors as they struggle to keep what little control they have over the ensuing chaos. Suddenly, it is opening night, and you are at your breaking point.
Relax, having energy on and off stage is important, but the wrong type can make it impossible to perform. If you feel overly stressed, simply find a quiet place, usually the choir room, take a couple deep breaths, and go through a few energy increasing activities you learned during rehearsal. This may seem counterintuitive, but these activities can help convert your nervous energy to excited energy by distracting you from your worries, and focusing instead on the sheer fun of the performance, especially if a couple friends join in the activities.
Also, remember that everyone else is on edge as well, and forcing your frustration and distress on others will only escalate your situation. Pulling off something as big as a play or a musical takes a group effort, so try to be as kind and polite as possible as you interact with others, while finishing your tasks on and off stage to the best of your ability and efficiently.
That being said, do not fret too much if you make a mistake or accidentally skip a line; bloopers are more common in these performances that you’d expect. If you are on stage and someone messes up, try to gloss over the mistake as seamlessly as possible, the audience might not notice if you act as though the mistake was intentional. For instance, in every performance of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in 2014, the scene where the characters Boris and Goran were to hook up the character, Grandpa Crackitus Potts’, outhouse up to a blimp and carry him off to Vulgaria, was always drawn out when the cords that hooked to the outhouse became tangled. Boris and Goran (played by Austen Grawe and Sam Engelken), improvised lines, transforming what could have been an agonizingly lengthy scene, into comedic relief.
Off stage mishaps must be dealt with as soon as possible as well, and your first priority is to hide them from the audience. For instance, on the Saturday performance of Shrek the Musical in 2013, the dragon’s head accidentally ended up on the wrong side of the stage for the entire first act, but was wheeled back into place as soon as the curtains were drawn for intermission and the audience never suspected the mishap.
However, prevention is one of the preferred methods of handling problems during a performance.

It is crucial that performers do not disrupt their rehearsed performance unless they must gloss over a mistake, changing a scene, even slightly, may disgruntle the rest of the onstage actors and interfere with their performance as well. Never take a prop that is not yours or move a set piece unless specifically asked to do so. Always wear shoes on stage unless you were given permission, in which case you must be mindful not to step on a splinter, or stub your toe which could have a greater consequence than you would expect. During a scene in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, I was to canter across the stage as a Running Flirt in a bathing suit and barefoot suit with my sister; unfortunately, I was not careful enough during one performance, grazed my toe on a metal brick, and proceeded to trail blood everywhere; I was kicked off stage until I stopped the bleeding and missed my scene. You could end up in the same situation if you do not follow all safety procedures Mr. and Mrs. Philgreen

request.
In the end, the only divergence between a full dress rehearsal and a performance is the extra effort the cast and crew commits to glossing over the night’s flubs, so just remember to have fun with it!