I’m going in tomorrow with 8 other women for a mini-workshop/audition for the colt Joey. The female puppeteer on it also doubles as a French woman in the show. After the workshop, they’ll also have me read the scene as an actor.
The actor part is significantly harder for me because she is, um, French and I don’t speak any at all. When they asked if I spoke French, I said, “No, but I can totally have it by January 1.”
She laughed.
“No, really. I say this in all seriousness. I’ve taken Bengali, Manderin, Italian, German and Icelandic. I can definitely pick up French with six months warning.” Heck, Bengali was a six week cram — granted, I remember none of it now but with six months? No problem. Besides I need to learn it anyway for Glamour in Glass which is set in French-speaking Belgium. See how nicely my writing and theater careers coincide?
Anyway, they are very kindly letting me audition in English but I’m going to work with a friend who is a native French speaker so I can (hopefully) produce some French sentences tomorrow for them, just so they know I can make the sounds.
At the moment though, I’m mostly focused on the fact that this means I didn’t suck yesterday. Woot!
As the French say, “Yippee!”
I’ve never auditioned for anything, but I imagine an audition callback being on the same squee level as a request for a partial.
Congrats! Knock ’em dead.
Yes, it’s very much like that.
Woot indeed. Well done!
Woot! (I mean, wut! That’s French, right?)
Congratulations! I’d hoped that your tweet was good news about WarHorse, and it was. Woo hoo!
Yay for more workshop goodness. This is fascinating to me because it involves interests, aspirations, and skills that do not overlap with my own in the *slightest*. And yet, I think I understand how you feel. Good writing, you.
Excellent news, Mary!!! I’ll be holding my breath (in French) for you!! 🙂
Way to go, Mary! Going to pick up a beret tonight by chance?
Ha! Perhaps not.
Congratulations!!! This is exciting!
Out of curiosity, how do you go about learning a language in six months? I’ve learned Latin (don’t remember anything) and Japanese (halfway now to literate!), and I’m curious if you have a system that works really well for you or if you’re one of the lucky ones gifted with languages…
I just cram the language and by “learn” I mean that I can hit a point of being able to read smoothly and carry on a short conversation, not that I am fluent.
Thanks, gang! I’ll keep you posted. And now I am off to work on the scene.
Wondrous news! I can speak a bit of French … but that helps you not a lick. So, um, give ’em hell!
Ooo! I knew you were handy.
I can now say the whole scene phonetically but won’t try to act it in French for tomorrow.
Yay!! Congrats!
Bonne chance, mon amis!
France French, or Canadian French? The distinction’s darn important when you’re dealing with the language. I was mortally confused the entire time in my “beginner” French class in uni…the teacher would keep saying “And they say it this way in Quebec, but they say it THIS way in France. I want you to learn both because you will use the Quebec way in normal conversation but I will test you on the France way!” And the two ways would be NOTHING alike, as well…oiiii. She did tell me I was doing great, since “beginner” French in Canada still assumes you’ve had 12 years of it in grade school, and I came in with Spanish, lol. But yes, it’s an important distinction to make especially when you’re assuming a character role…lends authenticity.
Oh man, this is awesome news though. AWESOME. 😀
It’s French French but I’m not worried about regional pronunciation distinctions for the audition.
C’est magnifique!
I would ask if there’s anything you can’t do, but I already know the answer is no. 🙂
Oh, there are plenty of things I can’t do, I just avoid doing them.