Watched the American Idol season premiere on Wednesday, and was reminded of an actor whose audition I’d seen during my theater days. This was a mass audition — anyone could pay a fee and sign up for two minutes in front of representatives from all the area’s companies. At one point, a gentleman walked in who seemed made for a tough-guy character role: tall, a bit on the beefy side, and balding. After he introduced himself, he turned on the small tape recorder he had brought with him …
… and out came the music to “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina” from Evita. In the original key, which was much higher than this actor’s natural range. This, unfortunately, didn’t stop him from trying to sing it, with less than impressive results. It didn’t help matters that during his audition, he stuck his arms inside his sleeves (to make it appear as if he were wearing a straitjacket, I guess) and writhed slowly on the floor.
I mention all this because, as I watched Idol the other night, I realized that the “Evita” auditioner might’ve fit right in with some of the unfortunate and woefully untalented souls featured in the premiere. I also felt a little more sympathetic towards Simon Cowell. If I had to endure off-key singing and hapless dancing for hours on end, I’d be nasty too.
Leave a Reply