Snow on the Beach
Jessica-Snow Wilson is making a splash playing Marcella in the new Broadway musical, Good Vibrations, which features songs from the Beach Boys. Prior to her fun in the sun days with the company, Wilson starred in Anne of Green Gables on the Canadian stage, appeared in the national tour and on Broadway in Les Miserables and most recently, made her mark as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, which ended its Broadway run in 2004. Here, Wilson shares her journey from a pale girl post-Little Shop to a bronzed beach bunny during the Good Vibrations audition process.
I don't know if every actor feels this way, but every time I get another show I feel as though it is going to be the last one I ever get. Having said that, when they announced the closing of Little Shop of Horrors on Broadway, I was devastated. My dream role was coming to an end, and I was convinced no one else would want to hire me. I'd also like to add that I am horrible at most auditions and walk out of the room feeling embarrassed and humiliated.
The only auditions I have ever felt great about, I have booked. So during the closing week of Little Shop, when I had my first audition for Good Vibrations, it was not surprising to me that I walked out of the room feeling mortified at myself. I was originally called in for the role of Caroline, the lead female character in the show. I had worked on the scenes but had not had much time to work on the music. So, I sang first to get it over with. I'm not sure whose voice it was that came out of me at that first audition, but it definitely was not the voice of a girl who had played lead roles in three Broadway musicals.
Having blown that, I read a few of the scenes and made them laugh, thank God! I left the room feeling the usual disappointment but hoping that my reading was enough to get me called back. As I was putting on my jacket to leave, the casting director came out and asked if I could come back to read for a different character. So, I did. No more singing... just read a scene for the role of Marcella. I made them laugh again and started to feel a little less like a talentless warthog.
I'm poor as a church mouse at this point, but don't think I didn't get out the credit card and hit every store I could to try to find beach attire in September. I found the perfect bikini top and skirt which made me happy, but when I put it on at home there was no way I was wearing it in front of anyone looking so pale you could see the blue in my veins. So I called around to find a place that did "Mystic Tan," which is a booth that sprays self tanner evenly over your body. You leave smelling slightly like a corn chip that may have been left in someone's shoe... but in four hours you are tanned and golden brown. That night at one of the readings I got some confused looks from the people sitting next to me, not because of my beautiful golden brown skin but because they couldn't pinpoint the nature of my scent.
At my first callback for Marcella, I felt prepared and therefore a bit more confident. I had learned the song "Warmth of the Sun" and prepared about four scenes that they had given me. Read them well, sang the song well until the musical supervisor asked me to sing it again, "treating it like a real pop song and taking many liberties". So, I sang it again... EXACTLY THE SAME WAY! I was just terrified to try something I had never practiced in front of strangers. He looked at me with slight confusion. By this point, I had showered so it wasn't the corn chip smell he was confused by. On to the scenes! Please! They went great, basically, because I am Marcella and had a lot of fun playing an exaggerated version of myself.
I got a call just a few days later that I had to come back again, to do the same material, wear the same outfit at the same place. Did I mention that mystic tan only lasts a few days and starts to come off in splotches as you exfoliate, sometimes making you look like you have some sort of skin disorder?! So I took my splotchy body back to the spray tan booth, paid another $25 for a fake tan, got more disapproving looks from my fellow theater festival colleagues and made sure I could sing "Warmth of Sun" in every possible way imaginable. I walked out of that last callback and said to myself I think I just booked that job.
A few months later, I have moved into a great new apartment, was in a great new Broadway show, singing some of the greatest music, making new friendships and just feeling blessed at how lucky I really am. Of course, I'm convinced I'll never get another job after this one, but in the meantime, I just want to enjoy the fact that I made it through the audition process and actually proved myself wrong. Good Vibrations to one and all!