Los Angeles, CA. It was a thrill to be ranked fifth out of 110 actors in a recent monologue competition. The contest is called ‘Monologue Madness’. The organization celebrated its 10th anniversary and made its West Coast debut this January with open call auditions. I was particularly excited because the monologue I selected was a serious dramatic piece and most recently, I’ve been honing my comedic skills by working on standup and improv. Still got my serious acting chops! The judges for the competition were stellar, as you can see below.

The LA competition was judged by Dionne Audain, @iamdionneaudain (Actress, SAG-AFTRA, AEA, I Love Dick, How to Get Away With Murder), Maria Breese, @mariabreese (Actress, Untogether, Electric Love) , Sam Weiner (CD, CITY MEDiA ENT: Love Island, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, Hell’s Kitchen), and Michael Sanford, @msanford777 (CSA, Sanford Casting, 2012 CSA Artios Award for his work on the Oscar winning film The Artist, 2013 Heller Award for Commercial Casting Director of Year.)

The competition was held in West Hollywood at The Actor’s Company LA.

The audition room was overseen by Dr. Gail Humphries, Dean of The College of Fellows of the American Theater, and Louis Stancil, celebrity acting coach and founder of @lsactingstudios .

“I couldn’t ask for a better panel of judges for the launch of Monologue Madness in LA”, says Producer Edward Daniels. “Dr. Gail Humphries has directed over 180 productions and Louis Stancil just opened his latest studio in Hollywood and was behind the table with us in Atlanta a few months ago!”

Those of us who made the cut also prepared our best comedic, dramatic, and classical monologues for a chance to win $1,000. While I didn’t win first place in the finals (and the $1,000), it was a huge honor to have my work as an actor get such terrific feedback–very validating!

There’s more info about the competition at www.MonologueMadness.net.