This article will focus more on my roommate Jadd's experience auditioning for the Shenandoah Shakespeare EXPRESS company in 1993. It did have an impact on me in the way I view actors I've known, past and present, so that's why I'm going to go into a lot of detail here.
I first found out about the SSE when Jadd was talking on the phone with someone. He said he had discovered information about this traveling Shakespeare company from Virginia that went around and did scaled-down productions at high schools across the country. He appeared to be very excited about it and wanted to audition. After he got off the phone, he went into more detail about it with me. He told me that if he was selected for the company, he would be traveling with them for a year and would have to move out.
After he sent in his application and resume, he started the process to prepare for the audition. He did vocal exercises at the apartment every day. He went to the library every night and read the plays the company would be performing in repertory the next season. I would hear him acting out monologues. Out of all the actors I had known in my life, whether they were in high school, college, that production of "The Three Musketeers" I worked on in Denver, or the two episodes of "Denver Diner" that I performed on, no one came close to putting this kind of effort into their audition, let alone a performance. It made me feel a little ashamed to consider myself an actor.
(Actually, Bid probably put in this level of effort into auditions once he got into the real world and saw how competitive it was to try to make a career as an actor. I'm certain that all Toilethead would do was show up and just do a cold reading at a Shakespeare audition if he had decided to pursue that path. I suddenly realized how lacking the Theatre Department at ENMU was. I mean, there were productions in which Theatre students were permitted to phone their auditions in at the beginning of the school year because they showed up for classes a few days late.)
About a week before the audition, I picked up the phone when the SSE called for Jadd. They wanted me to let him know that since he had played the lead in that production of "Romeo and Juliet" for the San Diego Shakespeare Festival, he was automatically qualified for the callback. That meant that he didn't need to go to the cattle call. They said he could go to the cattle call, but he'd likely be wasting his time because they were going to call him back anyway. He was excited to hear about this because it meant he could spend an extra day with his family on the East Coast.
But I have to say, I would have found this rather distressing if I was an actor going to that cattle call. I would have spent the day studying all the competition. And if I was lucky enough to make the callback, I would arrive to find at least ten people who I didn't see the day before. This would have thrown me completely off my game. I would have to evaluate the competition all over again.
When Jadd left to go to the airport, I told him that, because of all the hard work and dedication he had put into it, I knew that he was going to pass the audition and become a part of the company. That meant I had to prepare to move out very soon.
A few days later, Jadd called me to inform me that he had indeed been selected and that I needed to turn in my 30 day notice to the landlord. While I was fully expecting him to be cast, I still didn't want to have to go out and find a new roommate.
Upon his return, Jadd told me about how the audition went. Even though he was very excited to be a part of it, he expressed some disappointment because the company didn't quite meet his expectations. He was anticipating that the cast would consist of young energetic actors, like himself. But the majority of the of the other members was in their 30s and early 40s. At 26, he was the youngest. Many of the members had been with the company for the last few years and saw no need to move on and make way for younger players. As part of the audition, he'd gotten to see the cast perform a production. He was very impressed with what they were able to accomplish, but knew that it was difficult for the older actors to make artistic connections with high school students.
I asked him if he saw anyone at the audition who was clearly out of their league. He hadn't seen the cattle call, where the most incompetent were likely to appear. But at the callback, there was one actress who simply could not perform Shakespeare without a British accent. That was the only one he knew for certain was not going to make it.
Later, I browsed through his SSE paperwork. (Yes, without his permission. I know this was wrong, but I was very curious.) I saw the cast lists for the plays that they were doing in repertory. He did not get a major role in ANY of them. On top of that, I saw the same actors doing the major roles. This didn't make sense. Why didn't they spread the major roles across the cast? Each member could get a major role in one play and minor roles in the others. I could see this added another level to his disappointment.
After Jadd and I moved out and squared away the deposit refund, I never got to talk to him again or find out about his experiences with SSE. I don't think he stayed with them after that one year commitment. But it wouldn't surprise me to find out that they had tried to get him to come back for another year by dangling the promise of a major role for him. Most young actors I know would turn that down, but most older actors would go ahead and take it. This would explain how they got some of the members of the cast to stay on longer than anyone had anticipated. I can see them getting comfortable with the situation: They're making their livings as actors and get to perform Shakespeare all year long. Some actors dream of that kind of security after they hit 30. I just know it wasn't for him.
Since then, the SSE has morphed into the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, VA. It now has its own theatre for large scale productions.
After I had posted my articles about Jadd last week, I sent him an e-mail in an effort to re-connect with him. I hoped he was going to e-mail me back and give me some more information for this article, but he never replied.
We're just never going to be friends.
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