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[0:00] Justin Guarini: Hey, I wanted to jump on and do this quick hit with you because I heard something today when I was in my workshop for the new musical Once Upon a One More Time, which is otherwise known as the Britney Spears musical, where we sing music that is inspired by Britney's hits set to an original story written by John Hartmere that is absolutely beautiful, directed by Keone and Mari Madrid, who are just out of this world. They choreograph as well. Our creative consultant is five-time Tony Award-nominated director of plays and musicals, David Leveaux. He's come into this process, worked in tandem with Keone and Mari, and it has been this beautiful meeting of the minds where we're creating this amazing piece under their care. He said something today when we were in a note session after our first two performances, our first runs in front of an audience, that I absolutely have to share with you. So let's roll the theme music, and I'll let you know what I found out.

[0:54] Justin Guarini: Welcome to Audition Secrets, the podcast. My name is Justin Guarini, and I'm an audition and performance expert with over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry. You see me on huge television shows like American Idol, starring in national television commercials as the character Lil Sweet for Diet Dr. Pepper, on Broadway in six musicals and plays, as well as on Instagram, where I bring you success mindset coaching on the regular. Each week on this podcast, you'll learn actionable strategies, powerful mindsets, and the secrets the pros use to take the guesswork out of auditions and performances. I show you how to stand out from the crowd and increase your odds of getting the job so you can create the career and lifestyle you deserve and work so hard for each day.

If you haven't picked up your copy of the book Audition Secrets Volume 1, then all you need to do is visit auditionsecretsbook.com to get instant access to your copy. The Audition Secrets book and this podcast are your secret weapons to rising above your competition, successfully navigating the entertainment business and keeping your sanity while you pursue your dreams. Kick back, relax. Five, six, seven, let's go.

[2:18] Justin Guarini: So I'm sitting here on my bed in my hotel room in New York City and I am preparing the way for next week when I'm going live on Facebook and Instagram every single day doing my mindset makeover in the run-up to the launch of my book, the revised version of my book Audition Secrets Volume 1, as well as my Audition Secrets Mastermind. Oh, you guys, it is so cool the stuff that I have planned for you and all next week I'm going to be live and at the end of it on the 28th of October, which is my birthday, I'm launching the book and the Mastermind and I'm giving away some amazing prizes. It's so much fun. So just stay tuned for that. But in the meantime, I want to share with you what it is that I heard today from five-time Tony Award-winning director David Leveaux.

He was my director in the Broadway play of Romeo and Juliet that I did and he spoke to us today about something that he started to see as a company in our performance. The first show that we did in front of an audience was for friends and family. And when you do a show in front of friends and family, you're going to get more laughs. They're already there. They're excited. They're happy. They're there to support you. We were getting applause in places that we never would have expected it. Laughs in places we never would have expected it. And it felt like such a great way to do our first run in front of an audience. And then we had the afternoon audience, which was more producers, more industry folks, more investors, more people who are a little bit more particular and who are there to be, I don't want to say entertained, but you know what I mean?

They don't come with the same sort of walking in the door already loving it. They want to have it proved to them in essence in partly. And so what we realized and what we felt as a company was there wasn't as much laughter. The applause didn't come so easily in places. The places where we had gotten this raucous laughter or like little pitter patter of laughter in the morning show didn't happen in the afternoon.

[4:27] Justin Guarini: And when we sat down afterwards, and we're cooling down, we were all in the other rehearsal space and David and Keone and Mari got up and gave us notes. David stepped up and he said, you know, there's this virus that will sneak into a company sometimes in musicals, especially in musicals and especially in comedic musicals like the one that we're doing, where it's this thing where you fall in love with your moments. And what he meant by that is like, you find this moment where you get a laugh, or you get some applause, or you get this response, and then you fall in love with it. And the worst thing that you can do is you really sit in it, and you expect it to happen every single time. And if you've ever been in a run of a show that's lasted, even if you're in high school, and you know, you do that, you rehearse for three months, and then it's just like a weekend performance, you have like these two or three shows, and then that's it.

You'll find that each audience is different. And sometimes, you know, when I'm doing a Broadway show, and it's a Wednesday matinee, and people are just like, they're not there. It's, it's weird, you can have this audience that is a full house, and they're just not really with you. And the laughs aren't where they usually are. And the applause and just the, you feel like you're really having to like, drag your feet through mud when you're performing. And so he was telling us like, look, don't fall in love with your moments.

[6:03] Justin Guarini: And the way he really broke it down for us, and I happen to be a fan of soccer. And if you're not a fan of soccer or sports in general, don't worry, stay with me, this is gonna make sense to you. But he was saying, you know, soccer in the rest of the world is a huge sport. It is the sport. It is like football is in America, but like every other country in the world. And when you play soccer as a nation, meaning like the national, the German team, and the Brazilian team, and the American team, and the way, the way they play, the style of play is really influenced by their national identity. And so what he said, it's like, you know, the Germans, for example, the Germans, the way they play on the field is super efficient.

They'll pass the ball. And when one player passes the ball to another player, the player who receives the pass stops the ball, controls it, and then passes it on to the next player. And they'll really efficiently and precisely move forward. And then there's the Brazilians, who are arguably overall, one of the best, if not the best, soccer teams in the world. And the way they play is this really joyous dance, where as soon as the ball gets from one player to another, boom, they pass it really quickly. And then boom, they really pass it. And they don't take time to stop, control it. And no, they just, boom, they get it, boom, pass it along, boom, pass. And it's just this like, it's almost like a dance where the ball is never really stopping.

And it's just has this flow to it. And he said, you know, you can do a musical and or a show like the Germans do and stop and control the moment and then pass it on. But what we really need, especially in comedy, especially in musicals, especially not to fall in love with your moments or to wait for a laugh or to wait for applause. And even if it's momentary, it drags down the energy of a show. And it allows the audience sometimes to get ahead of you. You always want to stay one or two steps in front of the audience. Because like, you know, in a movie, if you've ever seen a movie, and you're like, Oh, I know what's gonna happen next. And then boom, it happens. You're like, God, that's not entertaining, right?

It's like, if I know what's gonna come next, that's not on the edge of my seat stuff. So he said, play more like the Brazilians, where you're just and it's not a speed thing. It's just keeping that energy going. It's not waiting for that laugh. If it comes great, that's it. But it's not falling in love with those moments falling in love with those things that may or may not happen that energy that an audience may or may not give you. And keeping the energy going keeping the ball in the air, as we like to say, and I thought that that soccer analogy was so super brilliant.

[8:35] Justin Guarini: So that's really it. I wanted to share that with you because it comes from the mouth of an extremely amazing director who has been around the block many times and who I have had a wonderful experience with and just watched him take things that were good and scenes that were good. And just with little micro adjustments, like the one you just heard, just make them outstanding. And that's the point, right? That's the same thing when you're in the audition room. You know, it's taking those moments, keeping the ball in the air, keeping it alive. And that's what's gonna make you stand out from 99.9% of the other people that come into the room. So I'm so excited for this upcoming week, starting this Monday.

This is Friday today, starting Monday. I don't even know what the date is. The 21st, I'm going to go live on Facebook and Instagram, and I'm going to do a mindset makeover. I'm going to take you day by day by day by day through an amazing formula that I have used to completely change my perspective on auditioning and my perspective on the things that have held me back and to just really achieve the goals and the things that I have wanted to achieve in my career. And it works. And it is an amazing way to create new empowering beliefs that serve you and that are the launchpad for the success in your life. So I cannot wait to share that with you. And it's gonna be so cool. And then my book and The Mastermind, there's so much cool stuff coming up. So I will see you on Monday on Facebook, on Instagram. But in the meantime, this has been your Audition Secrets Quick Hit. I'm Justin Guarini, and thank you so much for listening.