This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[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.

[0:19] Mo Brady: Today we bring you three stories of unlikely success in the audition room, tales of booking the role, of not booking the role, and somehow stories that are both. First up is a story from Josh Lamon, host of Josh Swallows Broadway on the Broadway Podcast Network. He shares with us the story of his very first New York audition. Enjoy!

[0:40] Josh Lamon: Hey, Mo, this is Josh Lamon. So my best and worst audition story is sort of the same one. It was before I moved to New York. I was still living in Philadelphia. I came up on the Chinatown bus to audition at the Equity Chorus Call for the first national tour of Urinetown. You know, I didn't know what I was doing. There were so many people that it was sort of a situation where it went from, okay, you could do 32 bars, but now you can do 16. I was doing the song Bigger Is Better from When Pigs Fly, originated by Broadway icon John Tracy Egan, my personal big boy hero. I did that. Bigger is better, take that tip, and I'm gonna find her. And then I went back to Philadelphia. I got my first callback for like a big, big show, for a big fucking show.

And this was back in the day, like, it was on my answering machine. Laura Stancic from Binder fucking Casting was on my answering machine. What? This was back in the day when it was like, oh my god, but you have a 267 number. That's not good. You have to have a New York number. Anyway, so I got to go back up to New York, and I was really, really, really, really, really, really nervous. And New York just seemed so big and so scary. I remember every time I would take the bus and we would get out of the Lincoln Tunnel, and it would take you up to like 42nd Street and Port Authority, just how big it seemed. Like Philadelphia was big to me, but then New York would just dwarf it. I remember there was a little tiny waiting area before you actually go into the audition room, and there were a few people in there.

There was a woman who was dressed impeccably well, I guess, impeccably like someone who would be auditioning for a musical. Her hair was blonde, perfectly curled, and I remember thinking like, wow, she looks like she has been on Broadway. She looks just like you're supposed to look when you're auditioning for a Broadway musical. And there was a guy there that just seemed very confident, and he knew what he was doing, and I just felt so out of my league. I remember getting called in to the room, and it was just Laura and the pianist. I went over to the pianist. She asked me to sing first, and I sang my 32 bars of Bigger is Better. Bigger is better, take that dip and life keeps getting finer. At the end of the 32 bars, she goes, okay, that was really great.

Could you do the whole song? And I didn't know what to do. The whole song? I thought I was only supposed to do 32 bars. Oh, shit. Yeah, I mean, I know the whole song, I think. I love the song. I'm sure I know it. Yeah, yeah, I could do that. So I run over to the piano, and I look it over real quick, and I go, great, go. It's going okay, and then I just start shaking, and I forget all the words. Tears just start forming in my eye. Laura stops me, and she goes, hey, how you doing? Are you really nervous right now? And I was like, yeah, yeah, I am. I'm really nervous. And she was so kind. She was like, that's okay. That's okay. You know what? Why don't we just, let's do the sides. Is that okay?

And I was just a mess, and I was like, yeah, yeah, that's okay. Thank you. And I remember my hand was shaking, the hand holding the paper, so it was like a... I did the first side, and I was very nervous, and she was like, that was great. Why don't we do it again and do it like this? And I did it again. She said, Josh, thank you so much for coming in. I really appreciate it. I got my stuff, and I left, and I knew that I was terrible, and I knew that I should have known to know the whole song, and I was like, Josh, you're so fucking stupid. Why didn't you know the whole song? I got on the bus back down to Philly, and I felt so defeated and so stupid. It was actually years later, I think, that I really realized how wonderful she was to me.

I never got to audition for her again until about, I don't know, maybe 14 or 13 years later, and that's when she cast me as Addison in Stephen Sondheim's Roadshow at the Signature. And on opening night, I got to give her a big hug, and I got to say, listen, you probably don't remember this, but years ago, you brought me in after seeing me at a chorus call. It was my first real big audition, and I just bombed, and I just was so nervous and practically was crying, and you were so kind to me, and I've never forgotten that kindness. And thank you so much for being so kind to me when I was just such a scared kid, and I finally get to thank you just for being kind. And so, that's why it's one of the best audition experiences, too, because sometimes people aren't so kind, yeah?

Laura Stanczyk, if you're listening to this, thank you again. I'm always going to be grateful. You are one of my favorite casting people for that reason. Much love. And remember, girls, life is like a paycheck. A generous figure's always nice.

[6:37] Mo Brady: Thanks, Josh. Next up is a story from Ellyn Marie Marsh about how she almost made her Broadway debut in Crybaby. Almost. So, the year was 2008. Yes, it was 2008. And I was auditioning to replace in the smash Broadway musical Crybaby. And I knew the tone of the show really well, and I was a big fan of the movie. Believe it or not, my parents let me see John Waters movies when I was little all the time. So, I definitely understood the tone and the camp of the show. I was going to replace for Mona Hatchetface, and I was so excited.

[7:30] Ellyn Marie Marsh: And I just remember thinking, Ellyn, you have to make them laugh. You have to do what you do best and you just have to go in there with like a story and an idea. So I ran the idea by my friend Steve Wilson. So here was the idea. The idea that I threw out was that I was going to sing "Could Have Been" by Tiffany and I acted it out. So I had this paper bag full of props and they always say don't bring props to an audition, right? And I was like, well, I'm not a big rule follower, so forget about that. I sat there in a chair. I got a chair and I sat really melancholy and I said, the flowers you gave me are just about to die. And I picked up out of my bag a bouquet of, I don't mean dead flowers, I mean a step beyond dead, like brown, like I was drying them and it went awry.

So I have these deader than dead flowers. The line goes, the memories of our loving. And I turned around the bag and the bag just said memories. And so you can see where the story is going. So I just kind of like acted out the story and I thought it was hilarious and I was so excited. So I called my friend Steve who, you know, he's a funny guy and he was like going to weigh in and he was going to tell me how brilliant the idea was. Well, he goes, do you want my honest opinion? And I was like, oh God, no one ever wants someone to say that to someone. Yeah, I guess. Yes, please tell me your honest opinion. So he goes, danger, Will Robinson. And I was like, wait, seriously? Because I just think that's like putting a hat on a hat, Ellen.

And I don't, I just, what if they're not on board? They don't know you. They're going to think that you're just like out of your mind. And I remember thinking like, oh my gosh, I am so off base here. I thought this was a really funny idea. I really planned on selling it and you know, they're producing "Cry Baby." I had seen the show. They've got to be in the mood for a laugh. Right. And I just remember thinking, I think this is really funny and I'm going to go out on a limb. So I bring my bag of props and I'm ready to go into the audition. And I remember sitting down going, you know what? You can just bag this and just sing "Don't Rain on My Parade" and it'll totally be fine. And I remember thinking like, go big or go home, go big or go home, go big or go home.

And I truly didn't have anything to lose because I had already auditioned for the show originally and didn't get it. And they brought me back in to replace. So I was like, well, you know, maybe they like you a little bit. I don't know who's to say, but I went into this audition shaking like a leaf. I was like, you're not funny. You're not talented. They're going to boo you out of the room. People are going to tell this story at Thanksgiving about the girl who came in and thought she was so funny and bombed. So I started the song and I was like, just get that first laugh, Ellen. If you get that first laugh, you know, you've got them on your side. I did the just about to die saying that the flowers were just about to die.

And I pulled out the deader than dead flowers and they lost it. And I was like, OK, here goes. And I booked it. And the director came up to me and he shook my hand and he said that was a very, very funny audition. What happened later was I booked Mona Hatchetface in "Cry Baby" on Broadway and it closed the Sunday before the Tuesday I was supposed to start. So I still never got to do the role, but I booked it.

[11:28] Syndee Winters: Thanks, Ellen. Finally, here is Syndee Winters, a recent Nala in Broadway's "The Lion King," about when she first auditioned for the role more than a decade ago. Enjoy. In 2008, I was still in college. I got the call that Disney was looking to find a new Nala in "The Lion King." And I was like, oh, my gosh, I want to be Nala since I was like nine years old. Not kidding. Serious, very serious. And went to my instructors, did the material. I wore like this audition wardrobe. You know, you wear the dress with the stockings or character shoes, you know, what they tell you to show up in auditions for in general, which is now we know completely the wrong information. I went in for my audition for "The Lion King" and it absolutely did not get a callback.

So that happened. I didn't get a callback. Life went on. I auditioned for other things. I got a job singing in a wedding band for a while and that was sweet. And about three years later, I was just finishing up college and "The Lion King" called and said they were looking for a Nala again. And my name came up and I really thought that it was a case of mistaken identity. I was like, I was terrible. I was terrible. And the day before I was going in for my audition, I had lunch with a friend of mine named Derek Ferguson. He's also been in a few shows on Broadway. So he's like, what are you going to wear? And I was like, oh, I'm going to probably wear like the regular audition clothing, the dress with the shoes.

And he was like, what? What are you wearing that for? I was like, that's the regular audition clothing. He's like, no, that's not. You're going in for Nala. Nala doesn't wear a dress. So she's a lion in the desert. So you want to make sure that you're representing yourself as best you can. And at the time, my hair was completely shaved on one side and the other side was like a little mohawk situation, frohawk situation. So I was like, you right, you right. So I went back home. I got myself together. I put on my outfit, which was the staple outfit was like a black turtleneck, black leather jacket, leggings, black boots, ready to kick some shit. You know what I'm saying? So I went into the audition and I remember Mark Brandon looking at me and he goes, Syndee, oh, what happened to the girl that came in here?

And I was like, oh, she didn't make it. She didn't make it. I just knew from that moment that like even stepping into the audition more even so as myself and closer to myself in the character was considered to me as a great audition.

[14:12] Mo Brady: Special thanks to Josh Lamon, Ellyn Marie Marsh, and Syndee Winters for sharing their stories with us today. The Ensemblist was produced today by Jackson Klein 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 bpn.fm. You can also follow us on Instagram for all of the latest episodes. Thanks for listening, guys. Until next time.