Welcoming Vulnerabiltiy 5

The East Bay 2011 production of The Vagina Monologues opened on Saturday evening to a sold-out house!

I’m confident that my cast mates would agree that it was our tightest run yet. Everybody came in with such great energy. I think a lot of that had to do with the packed audience, which facilitated an incredible energy exchange.

Aside from rehearsals, it was my first stage performance, and it was absolutely exhilarating! And surreal.

I’ll do a complete experience recap after the show’s entire run, but I wanted to point out that this experience has really helped me embrace vulnerability and commitment in voice over.

I auditioned for “Hair,” which is quite amusing to me now because mine is so short. During my audition, however, our directors asked me perform a cold read of “Reclaiming Cunt,” and that’s the piece I was cast for.

When they handed me the script, I was mortified. I had no affinity for that word whatsoever, and it actually opened up an entire emotional can of worms to work through. I was simultaneously elated, though–I had been cast!

This experience has been a gift to my voice over and acting in so many ways. Let me tell you: knowing that you’re performing for a live audience is magic! It affords you only one shot per a show–you don’t have a second take, you can’t take it from the top or pick-up in the middle, and you have to be ready to improvise. Every show’s going to be different, but you owe it to yourself, the production, and the audience to commit and be big every time.

The same goes for voiceover; yeah, you can record multiple takes, but why do that when you could give it your all in one?

Have you ever had to cultivate vulnerability and commitment for voice over? Tell us how you did it.