Auditions

Renee Glaze has a talent for being creepy. She puts on a shrill voice and bugs her eyes out, pretending to cuddle a baby in her arms. In this gloomy economy, Glaze, 47, is glad her talent can lead to a job, any job. That's why she joined nearly 300 other applicants Monday to audition for temporary work portraying monsters at Knott's Berry Farm's annual Halloween Haunt. Most of the jobs pay minimum wage and call on the characters to don costumes and makeup, scaring guests at the park.

CALL it "Korean American Idol." Soo-Man Lee's search for the next big Korean star brings him to Los Angeles to watch young performers flip their hair, swivel their hips and do their best Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake impressions, almost entirely in English. "The language doesn't matter. We can teach them that," Lee said. "What we need is people who understand American culture. That is what will make them stars in Asia." Lee's view may seem counterintuitive, but it appears to work.

As was entirely predictable, the New York City stop of "American Idol" produced a packed-to-the-rafters two hours of trying-too-hard-to-be-crazy drama queens -- a chorus line of borderline personalities with itchy fingers on the hissy-fit button. That said, there is something compelling about watching summer stock dropouts play out the poles of their emotional range. If we didn't enjoy high drama, we probably wouldn't be watching "Idol" in the first place.

Phillip Vint wants to be a Blue Man. That's why the stocky, 29-year-old drummer for a local funk-reggae band made sure he was at the front of the line last week for open auditions to become the newest member of Blue Man Group. "The first time I saw the show, I said, 'I have to do that,' " he said. "I'd go anywhere they wanted me to. I'd move to, like, Bakersfield."

Sometimes when the universe closes a door, it opens up what's behind showcase No. 2. Having recently flown from "The View," Rosie O'Donnell confirmed via her personal blog that she is meeting with producers soon about the possibility of succeeding Bob Barker as host of CBS' "The Price is Right." Officials at CBS were unavailable for comment, but the network has struggled to line up a replacement for the iconic Barker, whose 35-year run ended Friday.

Thousands of people hoping to be the next Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson or even Sanjaya lined up outside Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego on Monday as auditions for the seventh season of "American Idol" began. Some brought makeup kits, Starbucks cups filled with throat-clearing salt water and even karaoke machines. Others came before dawn, armed with sleeping bags and pillows. "Why wouldn't I get here early? My No.

Since moving here from Miami 18 months ago, Barbie Perez has suffered the indignities that befall many a struggling actor. She's gone out on auditions for leg cream commercials and worked without pay in an off-Broadway show. But as she waited inside a crowded dressing room of a midtown theater on a recent Saturday morning, Perez had a reason to be hopeful: She had made it through the first screening of a television network casting call.

Reality television is headed for Broadway. Sometime in the middle of its 2006-07 season, NBC plans to air auditions for the lead roles of Sandy Dumbrowski and Danny Zuko in a new Broadway production of "Grease." The stage production, to be directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall, is slated to open in June 2007. The TV show, "You're the One That We Want," will be produced for NBC by BBC Worldwide Productions.

In an enormous empty parking lot under a full moon at 4 o'clock in the morning, a pretty blond is practicing a few dance steps in front of a bank of cruddy blue portajohns that look like a panel of inscrutable judges. This can only mean one thing: "American Idol" has returned to Los Angeles.