Friday, April 27, 2007

I thought I Had It Bad.

This past Monday night I found myself in downtown Naperville at the Comedy Shrine. I was attending a general audition for the West Suburban Theatre Connection. These types of auditions happen all over the place, all the theatre companies in the WSTC get to send a representative and actors perform monologues, songs and various other pieces to as many companies as they can. I wasn't there to audition (thank, God) but as a rep. for Greenman Theatre Troupe of Elmhurst.

It's always interesting what people put on their resumes, but when it comes to acting resumes, pretty much anything goes. Actors will often list that they have a valid drivers license, adding that they can operate stick and automatic. Hey, there are lots of car commercials out there. You will also see a lot of horseback riding, juggling, various sporting abilities, foreign languages, etc. you never know what the role will require, might as well put it all on there.

One girl listed that she could squeal like a monkey. Guess what? One of the people attending asked her to do it. She did at proudly, which I give here props for. If you have it on your resume you better be able to do it and do it well.

I also saw something I had never seen before. One guy listed his college GPA. I know I said "anything goes," but rarely is a part given to the highest GPA. Plus, it was a 3.4 in a 4.0 system. Better than mine, but hardly worth calling attention to.

What really got me was this one poor guy. He had a solid list of credits in his resume and performed his monologue well, but his name was Jim Hendricks. Yeah, that's right, Jimmy Hendricks.

My last name is Hendricks. I can speak for every Hendricks on the planet when I say, the first time we heard the joke, "Any relation to Jimmy?" the joke was already old. But this Hendricks can't even laugh it off. I can't imagine how many times he has walked into an audition and had people make some joke like, "You don't look like what we expected." Or, "Can you play the guitar?"

I never got a chance to talk to him about it, but I feel a part of his pain.

Jim Hendricks

8 comments:

Bacon Lady said...

He looks like a terrible kisser. I wonder if he'd put *that* on his resume.

michelevil said...

I went to high school with a Jim Morrison.

Unknown said...

Would it kill him to think of a stage name? Chuck Berry?

Moderator said...

I used to work with a guy named Michael Bolton. He never changed his name either, insisted on being called "Michael" because he had it first. And he hated when people asked if he liked Michael Bolton's music. He was way into rap.

don'tneedtoknow said...

Actually, he looks a little like Treat Williams.

Jenny Jenny Flannery said...

I think his inconvenient name is the least of his problems.

Foofa said...

At that point I would just get a stage name. Elizabeth mentioned Treat Williams. He is awesome.

Doc said...

He looks like the guy who hosts the Ohio Lottery Game Show. Poor guy.

Doc