Ready for the Audition Rep Matchmaker’s patented one-step process to attaining a beach body?!?!

Step 1.  Take your body to the beach.

There is no step 2.

Boom.

Beach body attained.

Now, I know this is not new information. Memes with this very message abound across the internet.

However, given the HUNDREDS of messages we receive each day that our bodies are not acceptable as they are, I think it bears repeating.

ESPECIALLY this time of year.

‘Tis the season of street harassment and body shaming, when temperatures rise as self-esteem falls!

Plus, if you’re like me, as audition season grinds to a halt if you’re probably antsy for a new project.

Something you can control and fix.

How about your body?!

That seems like a good place to direct all your frustration and anxiety!!!!

Right?!?!

…right?

In my experience, this does not make for the most enjoyable or productive summer…

Here are five gentle suggestions of things other than your body...

Audition season can be tough.

Sometimes you just need a meme-able burst of inspiration to keep pounding the pavement in those tattered LaDucas!

So these are for you, all my Broadway dreamers!!! 

WE GOT THIS!!!!!!!!

1. Not to get biblical right away, but these first two quotes always remind me of Matthew 7:7. "Ask, and it shall be given to you..."

2. "Seek, and ye shall find." 

3. So, go ahead and ask for what you need!

4. A reminder that the answer you're looking for may be right in front of you.

5. Or it could come from the most unlikely place!

6. So, don't be afraid to put yourself out there to the community.

7. And never hesitate to look to your elders for wisdom.

8. They challenge us to ask the important questions.

9. This quote gets misattributed a lot, but I believe it was either Uta Hagen or Ben Franklin who said it first.

10. For when you need to really OWN it.

11. When you need a reminder that sometimes, it's okay to say "No."

12. Because self-care is...

I don't know about you, but as the days get shorter and colder I am STRUGGLING with motivation. 

I look at my to-do list in the morning and the temptation to open a new browser and watch a YouTube video or two (or five) is great. 

I put off the thing I need to do, I berate myself for putting it off, make myself a cup of coffee, I check my Instagram, berate myself some more, and then before I know it it's noon. 

But here's the wild thing:

Once I'm doing the activity I'm supposed to be doing, it's not that hard. 

I rarely find myself ten minutes into a yoga class saying to myself, "Why am I doing this?! This is soooo haaaaaarrrrrd."

(Note: I don't do hot yoga. That could very well be a different story...)

But truth be told, I have this experience with 99% of the activities I put off doing.  

The activity itself isn't painful—Getting started is. 

That's where the five minute rule can help us!

Last week I did an...

Hi.

My name is Sara, and I'm a recovering perfectionist. It's been about 33 minutes since my last nit-pick.

Sound familiar? Welcome to Perfectionists Anonymous.

I used to wear my perfectionism like a badge of honor. Perfectionism meant I was prepared. I was diligent. I was SERIOUS about my craft. I thought it made me competitive.

In reality, perfectionism was killing my career.

Perfectionism is the voice that advises, "You should really wait until you have a solid double before you take class at BDC."

It protectively whispers, "Once you lose ten pounds, you'll be ready to pursue representation."

It sagely warns, "If you go out for that show, they might call you back to dance. You're not ready for that. It's probably safer to stay home."

Perfectionism is NOT your friend.

Perfectionism is a toxic boyfriend that says, "I love you, babe. But no one else will. Stay home with me."

Perfectionism may feel safe and familiar, but in an industry that values vulnerability and risk, it is...

Alright, folks.

I know we spend a lot of time talking about how to be our best selves in the audition room, but I think it’s time we back it up a step and talk about…

The Holding Room.

Allow me to take you there.

The room is small and windowless.

The fluorescent lights perfectly highlight the girl in the center of the room casually stretching her center split… at a singer’s call.

The air is perfumed with the smells of sweat, burning hair, and—wait is that actual perfume? Who is wearing all that perfume right now?!?

You close your eyes and take in the sweet sounds of nature:

• The man furiously muttering his monologue to himself
• The belter “That’s Mine, THAAAAAAT’S MINE”-ing to the heavens
• The gaggle of recent college grads loudly discussing the callbacks they have this week and the fact that they heard this show is already cast

Just when you think you can take no more, another sound pricks your ears…

The monitor is...

It’s time for me to come clean.

The rumors you’ve heard are true.

I am a double dipper.

Now before you uninvite me to your birthday party, let me explain.

I am not some kind of monster who returns a tortilla chip into the communal salsa after taking a bite. The double dipping I’m referring to is in regards to my time-management style.

Hip millennial that I am, I spent most of my weekend arranging Post-it notes around my room in a series of goal setting exercises. I set up a giant makeshift calendar on the floor so I could set about the task of scheduling my weekly routine. (You can tell I’m quite a hit at parties.)

It’s a back-to-school ritual of mine that has stayed with me long after graduation day.  The problem I was trying to solve this year was the same one I’ve been dealing with most of my adult life:

There aren’t enough hours in the day.

It’s a platitude that used to drive me crazy. Over the years I’ve dealt with...

How do I know if I should  add this song to my book?

As a rep coach, I get asked this question ALL the time. We all have those songs. The ones we flirt with forever, but ultimately keep in the back of our book or in the front pocket of our binder. Why the fear of commitment, people?! Put a ring on it, already! (Or, at the very least, a sheet protector.) I think people over-complicate this issue.  They ask themselves the wrong questions. They obsess over whether a song is “overdone,” or “range-y enough”, or “type appropriate.”

And why are these questions particularly maddening?

Because YOU can’t answer them.

These are all questions that attempt to read the mind of a casting director. The unspoken beginning to each of the above questions is: “Will a casting director think this song is…” And if there is one thing I’ve heard from every casting director I’ve taken a class with in this city it’s,...