This turn of luck has made me realize how many times I have been fortunate enough to step into roles that I was not originally cast in. Well, I shouldn't call it luck or fortune really.... More like hard work and dedication.
WHY YOU SHOULD YES TO EVERYTHING!
I was 12 years old when I first started acting. I remember walking into the rehearsal space as a member of the ensemble in a youth production of Annie and feeling very small. The first words out the director's mouth were, "There are no small parts, only small actors. Each and every one of you is vital to this show." I took this to heart and I poured all of my efforts into Maid #1 ("Blue is her best color, no green I think!") and Ira (they cut all but two lines before rehearsals began). Ever since then I believed that the ensemble was just as important as the leads - and I still do.
When I was in high school I got high praise for my ensemble work from my teachers. I had given up on singing lessons by then and wanted to be considered a serious actress. I wanted to play William Shakespeare, Samuel Beckett, Sophocles, Arthur Miller, George Bernard Shaw, etc. When it came to the spring musical I had trouble getting cast as a lead. Although I had musical theatre experience, the choir students who lived and breathed music always seemed to outshine me in the audition room. However, directors were all to happy to cast me in the ensemble. I would pick up bit parts and one-liners along the way - creating a backstory for my "character". I remember vividly standing in a crowd scene, rehearsing for The Mystery of Edwin Drood. We were practicing moving in and out of the scene, repeating it over and over again. Finally the choreographer/assistant director stopped us. "You all look bored up there. You have no expressions on your faces and you are standing like statues," she said. This was followed by eye-rolls and sighs from the two dozen exhausted teenagers standing on stage. "Why can't you be more like Jamie? She is the only one in the moment. I can't take my eyes off of her." I remained serious even though I was smiling inside.
In my last year of college I had a big audition for The Redlands Shakespeare Festival. They were doing three show in repertory: Twelfth Night, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra. I had never taken on a project that demanding before, but I knew what I wanted - Viola. I wanted Viola so bad I could taste it. I went into the audition prepared and confident. I rocked it in there! Then I got the call - "We have cast you as Olivia in Twelfth Night, Witch #3 in Macbeth, and ensemble in A&C." My heart sank for only a brief moment. Then I thought to myself, this is the biggest project you have ever taken on! Three shows in eight weeks of rehearsal! Maybe this is what you need. Maybe this is all you are ready for. So I said, "Yes." I fell in love with Olivia at the first read-through. I thought about her every moment of every day - for two days. Then I got the call: "Jamie, we had to let go of our Viola. There were too many scheduling conflicts. Would you be willing to step up into that role?" And I said, "YES!". But that is not where the story ends. Did you know that Witch #3 has all the best lines? Well, she does. In my opinion, Witch #3 is the best witch of them all. And then something wonderful happened with Antony and Cleopatra too! I was simply member of the ensemble, a woman foot-soldier awkwardly dressed as a man. Slowly the other foot-soldiers got too big for their britches. They didn't want to make the 1-2 commute to Redlands for a handful of lines. Three ensemble members dropped the show in a matter of days. So I started picking those up too. I was given the roles of Diomedes and every single messenger line in the play. I showed up the next day with my parts memorized. I got to be beaten by Cleopatra, learned fight choreography, and gingerly help carry Antony down a flight of stairs during the final moments of the play. I hardly left the stage. It was the best summer of my life. The following year, the director of Antony and Cleopatra cast me as the lead in Measure for Measure - the greatest role I have every played.
Now I am about to play a role in Bedroom Farce that I was not originally cast in. I was considered second best at the audition, but I am going to prove that everything happens for a reason. I am going to prove that I am the right choice after-all. All I had to do was say, YES.
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