So this past weekend, I spent 36 hours in Memphis. Why, you ask? Because it was UPTA weekend!
For those of you who don't know, UPTA stands for Unified Professional Theatre Auditions. It's an annual event held in Memphis, TN each year in February. Over the course of 5 days, 850 actors audition for 80 theatres and other entertainment industry companies. Producers arrive Thursday night and auditions start at 9am on Friday and go until Monday night.
This year, I auditioned Monday morning. I was the fourth actor up. After an audition that I was relatively happy with (I sang Poor Unfortunate Souls and did two monologues, one from Scuba Lessons and one from Henry IV Part 2, for those of you who are curious), I had brunch with one of my dear friends and waited for the callback lists to be posted.
Luckily for me, I received three callbacks (a good number considering my type and the fact that about 20 companies had left before my audition). All of them are for touring children's theatres: Hampstead Stage Company, National Theatre for Children, and Prairie Fire Children's Theatre. I'd had great callbacks/interviews and would be thrilled to work for any of them.
So now, it's the waiting game. I could hear from Hampstead Stage as early as next week, but most likely won't know about any of the others until May or later. Thankfully, that's about the same time that I'll be able to start getting an idea of what DC area costume work I can line up for the season. It's exciting to think that I may be able to fill out a season with both things that I love.
On a personal note, I also got to see a lot of people I've worked with over the years, including some of my closest friends. That definitely made the weekend worth it, even before I set foot on the stage at Playhouse on the Square Monday morning.
For those of you who don't know, UPTA stands for Unified Professional Theatre Auditions. It's an annual event held in Memphis, TN each year in February. Over the course of 5 days, 850 actors audition for 80 theatres and other entertainment industry companies. Producers arrive Thursday night and auditions start at 9am on Friday and go until Monday night.
This year, I auditioned Monday morning. I was the fourth actor up. After an audition that I was relatively happy with (I sang Poor Unfortunate Souls and did two monologues, one from Scuba Lessons and one from Henry IV Part 2, for those of you who are curious), I had brunch with one of my dear friends and waited for the callback lists to be posted.
Luckily for me, I received three callbacks (a good number considering my type and the fact that about 20 companies had left before my audition). All of them are for touring children's theatres: Hampstead Stage Company, National Theatre for Children, and Prairie Fire Children's Theatre. I'd had great callbacks/interviews and would be thrilled to work for any of them.
So now, it's the waiting game. I could hear from Hampstead Stage as early as next week, but most likely won't know about any of the others until May or later. Thankfully, that's about the same time that I'll be able to start getting an idea of what DC area costume work I can line up for the season. It's exciting to think that I may be able to fill out a season with both things that I love.
On a personal note, I also got to see a lot of people I've worked with over the years, including some of my closest friends. That definitely made the weekend worth it, even before I set foot on the stage at Playhouse on the Square Monday morning.