As for today's auditions, well...
It was a pretty good batch of actors and actresses. However... Well... Let me put it this way...
A young man walked up to me at the briefing and asked if it would be OK if he gave me some handwritten music. He was concerned that I wouldn't be able to read it. He had just picked a new song a few days ago (Red Flag #1), and transposed and written it out himself (Red Flag #2). I asked him if he had given it to someone else to read, and he said, "No, since I just did it." (Red Flag #3)
-Well, just let me look at it now and I'll tell if I can read it. And he did. And it was readable. So...
A few hours later when it came time for his audition, he put the music in front of me on the piano. He asked for the first pitch, and then we would start together. Well...
I hit his first pitch. He started singing on that pitch. I started playing the accompaniment. Hmmm, something sounds really interesting. Am I missing an accidental? Is this some sort of jazzed up arrangement? After what seemed like the longest 30 seconds in the world, he finished singing, I finished playing, and he started his monologue. And I was trying to stifle a giggle and some rolling eyes. Then after closer inspection, I realized what had happened...
The original key of the song was C-Major. He wanted to sing it in a lower key, the key of A-Major. A-Major has three sharps (#s) - F#, C# and G#. When he wrote out his "transposition", he put the new key signature, but did not bother to lower the actual notes by the required minor third. In essence, all he really did was slap a new key on the existing music. So...
He sang in his key. I played in my key. And never the twain did meet.
