One Door Closes. . . .

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>It's not a secret that the life of a performer is a life filled with constant rejection. There's rejection from colleges and many more rejections once you start auditioning in the "real world." I just wanted to share a quick story.</p>

<p>One of my very best friend's is a sophomore at UCLA in the BA MT program. They had auditions for the musical, A Chorus Line, back in February. My friend was very excited as she is a great dancer and loves the show.</p>

<p>The audition consisted of LOTS of dancing. Cuts were made after each type of dance. There was no singing or acting at the auditions. They waited to see that at callbacks. My friend made it all the way to the end of the night. They were told that callbacks would be posted the next day.</p>

<p>The next day rolls around and my friend discovers that she is the only person who made it to the end of the dance call who DIDN'T get a callback. She was devastated. She called me and we talked about it for about an hour. There were a lot of tears. I tried to comfort her and remind her that we have to get used to rejection and that this doesn't say anything about her talent. She just wasn't what they were looking for this time. Something else will come along.</p>

<p>Today I got another phone call from her. She let me know that she was just cast in a professional show! This is her first paid gig and she landed a role in an original musical. She wouldn't have been able to take this opportunity if she had been cast in her school's production. </p>

<p>Basically I just wanted to write this to remind everybody that when one door closes, another one opens. Rejection hurts, but with every rejection, you are one step closer to success.</p>

<p>Hope this encourages somebody who needs it!</p>

<p>It could also be interesting to hear other stories like this! (:</p>

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<p>I think CC could use a “like” button for posts like this!</p>

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<p>That’s a great story JustConfused. Thank you for sharing. :0)</p>

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<p>Awesome Story! Its very true - you never know what’s around the corner.</p>

<p>VT</p>

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<p>Very true! My D auditioned for one of the little girls in “Fiddler” at a professional theatre here, and wasn’t cast. The part went to a good friend, but she was very disappointed, of course.
However, the next month she was cast as the Little Girl in Ragtime in another professional show, and she had an amazing experience (while her friend in “Fiddler” was having a not-so-great experience). She felt like she should thank the other theatre for not casting her in Fiddler.
And there is the famous story of Julie Andrews thanking whoever it was that didn’t cast her in the My Fair Lady movie, so that she was able to be in The Sound of Music movie instead.
It may sound trite, but I do think – especially in our theatre experience so far – that things work out for the best.</p>

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<p>A similar thing happened to my D who was not cast in the school musical only to land her first professional PAYING acappella quartet job a few days later and a 2nd independent contractor job a week later! She wouldn’t have been able to do either if she had been cast in the school show. Things do happen for a reason.</p>