by Alec Brown. @brownta3.
NEW YORK, NY - Horror stuck Ripley Grier Room 16P this past Friday as local actress Summer Watson, who brought along an acoustic guitar to her audition for a regional production of Shrek The Musical, was actually asked to play the guitar, distressed sources confirmed.
“I’ve brought my guitar into, like, forty rooms before, and I’ve never once been asked to play it,” noted Watson as she fixed her makeup in the bathroom after crying in a locked stall for 25 minutes. “Like, just because I list Basic Guitar in the special skills section of my resume doesn’t mean I can just play a G-chord, or any other chord, on command.”
Casting Director Marshall Langston, who was running the audition, found himself baffled by Watson’s panicked state.
“We saw the guitar and thought ‘well that’s fun’, and just wanted to hear something,” Langston said. “We assumed that Ms. Watson wanted to show off her playing skills. She also listed tumbling, aerial silks, and hand to hand combat on her resume. I’m glad I didn’t ask to see any of those.”
Michelle Phillips, Watson’s self-proclaimed best friend who received her BFA in Musical Theatre from Western Carolina University, claims that Watson has brought her guitar with her to every equity chorus call this audition season.
“She definitely doesn’t know how to play it,” claimed Phillips. “She understudied the role of Rose in Dogfight during our junior year and claims she learned guitar in case she had to go on. Honestly, I don’t even think she’s carrying around a guitar in that case most of the time. I’m pretty sure sometimes it’s just full of snacks for the holding room and her Olive Garden uniform.”
Since the incident, Watson has updated the special skills section of her resume to include the following: Standing, Breathing, Blinking, and Licensed Driver, with her “really hoping” that nobody asks to see the last one.