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[0:00] Mo Brady: You're listening to The Ensemblist, the only podcast that shows you Broadway from the inside out. I'm Mo Brady.

[0:13] Mo Brady: It's time for a moment of levity, friends. And what better way to forget your troubles and get happy than by listening to somebody else's troubles? Today, we bring you stories of auditions, both those that are truly wonderful and truly, truly terrible. First up is a story from Megan Sikora. A veteran of ten Broadway shows, most recently Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn, she shares two stories, one of mistaken identity in the audition room and the second of an important companion named Reginald. Enjoy.

[0:59] Megan Sikora: Hi Mo, thanks for having me on The Ensemblist. All right, audition stories. Well, there's the one. It was after I had done The Nance and I was the standby for all of the ladies. And I don't remember what I was auditioning for, but I was in there and I was singing. I did my song and I was feeling good about it and I read my sides and whatever. And then I realized they thought I was Jenny Barber. They started talking to me about my performance in The Nance and how amazing it was. And I was just like so stunned that they didn't know the difference between the two of us. I didn't say anything. I just was like, and I left. I didn't get that job. I don't know if Jenny did, actually. But my absolute favorite audition story was from my first year here in the city.

And I was auditioning for Fosse and I went to one of like the giant cattle calls with over 300 people. And they only kept two people from that entire day. And I was one of them. And I was like, oh my God, I'm gonna be on Broadway. Oh my God, I got this. It just felt so right. And I was convinced that I had gotten the job. I had to go to the callback. It's just like, oh my God, there's only gonna be a few people there at the callback. No, I was invited to the invited call, which where there were another hundred some already Broadway dancers, amazing, incredible people who are now a lot of them are my friends, which I'm very grateful for. But I instantly got cut from that. I was so intimidated by the whole room.

I sucked. And I got cut first time around. But I was so mortified. I went with another friend who got cut to Ariba Ariba and got shit faced on two mama margaritas. And at that point, I was like, I can't go home alone. I don't want to go home alone. So I went to the pet store that discount pet supply that used to be on 50th and eighth. And I bought a tree frog. His name is Reginald. And I continue to take that frog with me on every regional job that I did over the next two years. I loved him. Ask around. There's a lot of pictures of me with that frog during a certain moment in my life, all because of Fosse.

[3:20] Mo Brady: Thanks, Megan. Our next story comes from Groundhog Day's Vishal Vaidya. I will preface this story only with the statement that the voice memo he sent me was titled Hot Dance Call. Enjoy.

[3:31] Vishal Vaidya: Hey, it's Vishal Vaidya. I'm up in Washington Heights right now in quarantine. I don't know that this is actually terrible, but it was circumstantially kind of terrible, but also hilarious. Two years ago, there was a dance call for a show. I don't know that I need to name. I'm going to keep this anonymous, because that's fun. People who know will know, because there's only probably 60 people or 80 people that experienced this exact thing. So two years ago, I was in DC during the show, and we were in tech. I got an audition for this show in New York, and I came up. I'd actually already done the reading of this show, but as with many, many shows, you do the reading. And then they're like, everyone's going to be a dancer now.

So we had to dance. So I came up to dance, and so they had the dance call at this new studio in Flatiron, I think. So I came up from DC, and I was like, I think I had a couple hours to kill. I had coffee with one of my friends, and then I went to this studio, and it was a brand new studio. I'd never heard of it. I haven't been there since. So it was new, which brought up two problems. The first was there was no AC. The other problem was that it was so new that it was maybe not finished. It was very dusty, and shall we say open concept. Maybe not finished construction. I'm not quite sure. There were probably 30 of us in there, and it got really, really hot. It's a movement call. It's going to get warm, but this was like the end of Bikram yoga, but the whole time, level hot.

And it was a movement call. Let me clarify. I'm not a dancer dancer, but it was a movement call. But we were kicking and turning and jumping, and it was pretty intense. And I just remember my beads of sweat in my hair just soaked, which was fun because then I didn't have a place to go, because I was then waiting around to go back to DC. Yeah, it was one of these weird things, and there was no one to blame. I mean, it was this new studio that the casting company was trying out, and it was the same casting director of the show I was doing in DC. And so he came to our opening night, and he was just mortified because it wasn't actually his show, but he was just attending the auditions to make sure there was someone from the office there.

I just remember, he didn't choose that. No one wanted it to be this thing, but it was just sort of like, we've trapped all these people in this hot studio, and people that were dancing. I'm sure it was really rough for the choreographer and the associates and everyone who was just having to sit there and just inhale the sweat and BO of 30 people dancing.

[6:29] Mo Brady: Who cares what other people say? Thanks, Vishal. Our final guest for this episode is Erica Dorfler. Most recently in the cast of Broadway's A Christmas Carol, she shared with us a story about how she almost made her mainstem debut a decade earlier.

[6:44] Erica Dorfler: At the end of 2007, I came off tour. I was lucky enough that my first equity contract was the Mamma Mia tour, which was a production contract tour. I jumped to it straight from a non-equity bus and truck tour. So the difference in what the union was and salary and everything, that was amazing. So I did a 15-month stretch out on the road. And when I came back, the next couple of years I spent trying to get my Broadway debut. I booked some regional things. I booked my first show in New York, which was the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. But I was working really, really, really hard to get on Broadway. So I finally got called in for the Hair Revival. It was one of their first replacements that they were looking for.

It was for the Abe Lincoln track that understudied Dion. And I had never been in for the public before. And I went in for my initial audition. It was something where they needed somebody very soon. I got called back. I got called back again. Those couple of rounds, I met basically the entire creative team. I met Tomar, the dance captain, who I would work with later. And it was great. And I had that young, naive, I am meant to be in the show. The show is perfect for me. I am so excited. And after my third round for the music director and the producers, I was waiting for the call. I think it was like a Wednesday. And the person was starting Monday on rehearsal. So I was waiting for the call. And I remember I was standing in Columbus Circle.

And my agent called and said, okay, so there's another call background. And I said, excuse me, what? And oh, well, the director wasn't actually there. And I didn't really know who Diane Paulus was. And I didn't really know what it meant. There were just 12 people in a room. So I thought, okay, okay, one more round. I have to gather all my hippie magic together. It's going to be amazing. Next day, I get to then Chelsea Studios. And I'm early. I'm waiting. It's pouring down rain outside. But I'm still in my big flare jeans and my halter summer top and sandals because hair. And I'm waiting and nobody's in the room. And my audition time is coming up. And there's nobody there. And then Candice Marie Woods shows up. This is the first time that we met at this audition. And she's wondering where everybody is too. And we both call of our agents.

[9:25] Erica Dorfler: And we find out that the audition studio got changed, but we weren't told. So we had to get from Chelsea Studios to Ripley Greer Studios, which isn't very far unless it's pouring down rain and you're wearing hippie clothes and sandals, and there's no good way to get from one to the other in the rain. So Candice and I decide to share a cab, and the whole way, we're not the happiest. You know, this is a huge letdown. We are ready, prepared, so much about auditions is the mental preparation. I just kept saying, you know what? We have to be positive. I am meant to get this job. I'm going to get my Broadway debut. This is going to be amazing. So I get to Ripley Greer, and even though it's already been the longest day and I'm 45 minutes late for what my actual audition time was, I'm there.

I'm going to book this job. When I get there, they say, okay, Erica, you're going to go in next. So there was a problem because of the weather. Diane couldn't actually get down here. Her flight was canceled. So she's going to be watching on a laptop. In 2008, it was not normal. I had never experienced that before, and I was like, okay, great. She's on Skype. Oh, but there's another complication, Erica. Actually, the sound on the laptop, I don't know, we can't get it to work. So she's going to be watching you over Skype, but she's going to be listening to the auditions. Someone's cell phone is going to be on speaker. So you'll do the material, and then we'll see if she wants to hear. And I almost lost it.

I was like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I was at the wrong studio. It's pouring down rain. I'm super late. Now someone's watching me on a computer, but listening to me over a cell phone. Great, great. I'm going to book this job. I'm going to book this job. The next day, I'm waiting for the call. I felt good about my work. The magic of that audition, it was pretty much gone. But I felt solid about my work, and I waited for the call. And the call came, and my agent said, so this is a really big decision, so they're going to take another day. Which all of my positivity about this audition went out the window, because it was a beautiful, sunny day this next day. And I thought, if you're going to take extra time, why don't you just come down, and we could do the audition in person.

And then you could meet me, and all the stars could align as they are clearly meant to do. That's not what happened, and I did not book the job. And that was the first time that I had that true heartbreak. When you are younger and more naive, and you think when something is meant to be yours, that it will be. Sometimes you're lucky and that happens, but this was not that time.

[12:35] Erica Dorfler: But of course, we can't leave you with only stories of embarrassment, so our last story is one of success. Another from Erica Dorfler about the moment she finally booked her Broadway debut three years later. Enjoy. So in 2010, I was working at my first open-ended job in New York City, which was at Avenue Q at New World Stages. I was an offstage swing. I understudied Gary Coleman and Kate Monster, and the second-hander track, and the little ensemble parts. And I was trying still to audition for Broadway shows. I had been in for a bunch, unsuccessfully, including auditioning for Shrek, where I had to tap, and I'm not a tapper. And the only other person that I tapped with in my group didn't even have taps on, so everyone found out I was not a tapper.

So I'm at Avenue Q, still auditioning for things, and I get an audition for a vacation cover at Memphis the musical. Memphis had just won the Tony Award that June, and I had been in for it before. I had been in for Memphis before it went to Seattle and didn't get anywhere, and I was ready. They were looking for a singer, not a super dancer track, but you would have to dance, you'd have to do all the things. And I show up for the audition, and I don't recognize most of the Black girls there, which was concerning because at that time, it usually meant that they were dancers. I knew the singers that were my age, but the dancers I didn't know as well. And I show up, and there are these dancers warming up, doing bar warm-ups for their auditions.

And I'm a decent dancer for a singer. So I do a warm-up and finally start to see some people that I recognize, and I think, okay, this is better, this is better. And we get into the room, and Jermaine, who's the dance captain and casting, they let us know there are two tracks being looked for today. One is a super dancer track, and one is a singer-actor track. But we're all going to be doing the same dance call. So they split us into groups, and they had the dancer-dancers go first, and the singers cheered them on. And then when it was the singer's turn to do the same combination, which I believe was one of the combinations from Everybody Wants to Be Black on Saturday night, the dancers were so lovely to us.

The callbacks were the next day, and I was called back, which was great. And I remember my agent calling me that afternoon and saying, okay, so your time tomorrow is 10 a.m. 10 a.m., you are going to be singing for the entire creative team. You have to sing your own material because it was a short-term vacation cover. So even though the track that we were going in for covered Felicia, Montego Glover, they didn't need us to do any of that because it was going to be a month-long contract just doing that ensemble track while Montego was on vacation, and Danielle Williamson was going to be going on for Montego. So sing your own thing, 10 a.m., then you guys will change, and you'll do the dance combination again for Sergio Trujillo, and that'll be it.

So I remember thinking, okay, I got up at 6 a.m., I did a workout in my apartment, I warmed up, I got there, I was dressed, makeup on, heels, dress, and I go in and I sing my favorite song, which is I Got Love from Pearlie, which I still to this day sing for 90% of my auditions. And I nailed it. You know when you just nail it, because sometimes people want to see style and sometimes people want to see whale, and this song is really great in giving you both. And I thought, if I can land this at 10 a.m., that's going to be impressive, right? And I walked out of that room, and I thought, holy crap, I did that. I might have done it. I might have done it. And we did the dance for Sergio, and he gave us notes to do and things to make it better, but I worked so hard to do it.

And I took the train home, and right when I walked into my apartment, my phone rang, and I saw it was my agency. And by then I had learned that my agency really only called when there was really good news. If I didn't get something, I usually got a text or an email. And so I opened my phone on speakerphone, and they were in a conference room, both of my agents. They said, you booked it. You got it. You're going to be doing Memphis. And I screamed in my apartment, and I started crying, because even though it was only going to be a month, I did it. I was going to finally be on Broadway, and it was amazing. And a lot of times now, if you start a contract, you just show up for a day of rehearsal, and the company manager has contracts for you to sign.

But because this was my first time, my agents got the contracts ahead of time, which were standard. There was nothing fancy in them, but they brought them to the office, and they brought me to the office. And I did my hair and put on a cute shirt that was like, oh, I happen to be this cute today. I'm not trying too hard, and signed my contracts, and took pictures. And I still have those pictures, and it was really amazing.

[18:05] Mo Brady: Special thanks to Erica Dorfler, Megan Sikora, and Vishal Vaidya for sharing their stories with us this week. The Ensemblist was produced today by Jackson Klein, Evan Alexander-Smith, and me, Mo Brady. There are two great ways you can be helping The Ensemblist right now. One is by leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, and the second is by becoming a Patreon member, which you can do at patreon.com slash The Ensemblist. Please follow The Ensemblist wherever you listen to podcasts, whether that be on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or our home of Broadway Podcast Network at bpm.fm. You can also follow us on Instagram. Thanks for listening. Until next time.