HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU'RE GOOD?

EVERY SEASON, WHEN "AMERICAN IDOL" holds open auditions in cities around the country, thousands — tens of thousands — heed the call, all hoping to be the next American Idol, win a recording contract and make millions.

Those of us who watch delight in the thrill of discovering a new talent, of practically falling off the couch in amazement when someone starts to sing.

Then there the wannabes who amaze us for an entirely different reason, the ones who can't carry a tune, who sing in monotone and yet think they have what it takes to be a recording artist. They open their mouths and you wonder: What were they thinking? Can't they hear themselves? Are they really this self-deluded? Do they really believe they can sing?!

Others obviously have some talent, but not enough for them to make the leap to the Big Time.

So how can those in the performing arts accurately judge themselves? How do you know if you're any good? It's a question all artists ask themselves, all the time.

"I'm not sure that you ever do know," says Maureen Heffernan, who most recently directed "Dancing at Lughnasa" and "Doubt" for Florida Repertory Theatre. "You go back to the (feedback) you're getting from others, the responses you're getting. You may have to question yourself. But then again, Van Gogh sold one painting in his lifetime. We don't always know."

HEFFERNAN

As for "American Idol," Ms. Heffernan says, "Some people are in their own little world, believing they should be a star. No one's saying to them, 'You should be doing this.'"

Fort Myers actress Bonnie Grossmann, who's appeared off-Broadway, on TV and in films with Sam Waterston and Woody Allen, questions whether many "Idol" hopefuls have had any professional training. "They're cloistered in a way, singing in the bedroom or in the shower or to their friends. Have they ever sung before the public?"

Robert Cacioppo, Florida Rep founder and producing artistic director, sees a very clear-cut difference between the masses who try out for "American Idol" and those who are true performing artists.

GROSSMAN

"I think they want to be celebrities," he says. "That's very different than what we do."

He relays a story about actor and acting teacher Ute Hagen, who had a student who kept asking her, "Do you think I have what it takes to be an actor?" Finally, Ms. Hagen looked at her student and said sharply, "If you have to ask, no."

"Either you have it or you don't. In your heart of hearts, you know," Mr. Cacioppo says. "You're drawn to it… if you have it, opportunities are going to come your way."

For example, he says, he played many leads in high school and college, and was given directing opportunities beyond his years. When he was 19, he directed a show off-Broadway. He knew he was put on this earth to be a director.

"If you really listen, people will tell you," he says. "I see this as so distinct, so clear, whether someone has a voice, has something to say. I think it's a gift. I don't think it can be taught, and it can't be bought."

When he holds auditions, Mr. Cacioppo says, he can tell within the first five or 10 seconds whether the person can act. "So often, it's just instantaneous."

CACIOPPO

He recalls when actor Rachel Burttram first auditioned for him. She came to Florida Rep as a company manager, not as an actor, but when the interns auditioned, she asked if she could too.

"I had no expectations," Mr. Cacioppo says. But, he adds, "Five, 10 seconds into her monologue, you could tell she had it. She had the gift of taking words off a page and making them her own, putting them into motion."

He's since cast Ms. Burttram in Florida Rep's productions of "Rabbit Hole," "Proof," "Doubt," and "Dancing at Lughnasa." He also made her Florida Rep's associate director.

Michele Damato was a surprise, too, Mr. Cacioppos says. "She came in out of the blue to an open audition, auditioning with 50 or 100 other people. The minute she started playing a scene, I said, 'Who is this girl?' She had that something, a gift."

He cast Ms. Damato in "Rabbit Hole," "Almost, Maine," "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "Dancing at Lughnasa."

BURTTRAM

"The really good people, you say: Who are they? I want to know them. Who are their friends? I want to read the books they read. What music do they listen to?"

Ms. Burttram has been on both sides of the auditioning table. "I don't know that you ever know (if you're good)," she says. "You get to a point where enough people hire you, you get enough reviews, and people come up to you on the street."

Her mentor, Jon Jory, artistic director of the Actors Theatre of Louisville for three decades and founder of the Humana Festival of New Plays, taught Ms. Burttram that, "Satisfaction is death."

"As soon as you settle back, you think you're good enough, it's death," she says. "As far as being an artist, you can never be good enough. I'm constantly striving to be better. You look at people like David (Howard) and Sara (Morsey) and steal from them, you borrow from them."

But, she adds, "You do get to a certain point in your career… that there's a certain amount of confidence in your work. Actors are a weird breed… that strange combination of (not being) cocky, but (having confidence) when you walk into a room at an audition: I deserve this job, I'm somebody that you need."

HOWARD

Ms. Morsey, who's currently starring in "The Last Romance" at the Rep with Mr. Howard, says, "You just know (when you're good). For me, it's kind of a religious experience." On the other hand, she says, "I'm not sure I always know when I'm very good. Just when you think you've really nailed something, then someone you trust will say, 'You were a little off that night.'"

She adds, "You can't go around asking people if you're any good, other than your teachers and directors, and you can't believe what's written about you in reviews. It's all so subjective… You can't take it to heart," she says.

"You have to go out there and know what you're doing every night. The answer is in your acting partner's eyes."

Mr. Howard, who became an actor later in life, at age 30, declares, "You never really know, but you have to believe that you are good. You have to have a faith in yourself that will see you through… The operative word is 'self.' It requires self-awareness."

DUNNAGAN

Six years after he'd entered the acting profession, Mr. Howard told himself he wasn't good enough yet. But he knew he could be. So he had to rethink the way he was working and acting.

"I didn't say to myself, 'You're no good.' I said, 'You're not good enough and your process is wrong. Something is wrong with the way you're working.'"

So he stepped away from acting for two years to re-examine his life. He was asked by Brandeis University to teach, and did, while getting his MFA as an actor.

"I found out that what was missing was myself," he says. "I wasn't putting enough of myself into the character. I wasn't using enough of myself, my own personality. Stella Adler, one of the great acting teachers — she taught Marlon Brando — said, 'Acting is a two-way street. You bring the character

to yourself, but equally important, you bring yourself to the character.'"

Dallas Dunnagan, artistic director of The Naples Players, a community theater, also emphasizes the importance of selfawareness.

Acting is a two-way street. You bring the character to yourself, but equally important, you bring yourself to the character.'" - Stella Adler, one of the great acting teachers

"You have to have self-awareness," she says. "Some people do, some people don't. In theater, you win the part, you get the role. If there was a formula, if A + B = not me, then you could just know very easily. If you think, 'I'd like to try that,' then get into classes.

"I think it's a skill set. You have to have a willingness to learn and study. At some point, you might realize you're not getting any better, you're not good at it."

Ms. Dunnagan acknowledges that because she directs a community theater, her role is different than other directors. "There are two different shadings to my job," she says. "I have to cast the best people, and I have to encourage as many people as I can."

When auditioning inexperienced actors, she says, she looks for two things: fearlessness, and passion. Techniques such as projecting their voice loud enough can be taught, she adds. But if they're not fearless, then they're probably not capable of doing the job.

In the final analysis, she says, actors must ask themselves, "Are you getting enough joy out of it regardless of what people think? If you are, go for it. That's really what it's about."

Being self-aware is difficult, she adds. "Performers are the most insecure group there ever was, I believe — and shy, totally shy. Two amazing attributes, when you think about what they do. But it's true."

"This is the weirdest profession in the word," Ms. Burttram echoes. A well-known actress she's friends with is known for her skill, but always worries that she's not good enough. "She gets really worried at rehearsals," she says.

"It makes it a completely tricky profession, because everyone has an opinion. Acting is role-to-role."

For Ms. Grossmann, part of being good on-stage is "really committing and… finding something in the text. Being present is half the battle," she says. "And you need a third eye — a director, or someone who's honest and knowledgeable."

Something happens between an actor and the audience, she adds. "For me, it's a matter of feeling the energy, whether it's an audience of two or three people at a table (at an audition) or acting in front of a larger audience. If it's a comedy, obviously, you can tell by the laughter that's coming across; if it builds, you know you've got them. In a serious play, you feel whether they're restless or interested… It's a two-way communication."

And audiences differ from night to night, she stresses. "You have to be very careful not to expect a laugh out of a certain line, because it's death. Don't expect that a laugh will be there every time."

Actors who continue to grow and hone their craft are constantly learning and questioning.

"You ask yourself, 'Do I have it?'" Mr. Cacioppo says.

Of course, that "It" factor is always easier to see in others than in yourself. Some have described it as people revealing the light they have inside. They just seem to have a certain glow about them, even if they're playing a minor role or don't have a lot of time on stage.

"It's that 'It' thing," Ms. Burttram says. "I don't know what that it is. It's not necessarily a physical attractiveness. It's an attractiveness to the spirit… something about that person's soul that's intriguing. They have something to say.

"What we try to do is illuminate the human experience. So what you want is someone who can embody that and really tell the story. And if they have that about themselves already, that light, it's golden.

"That's the best actor."