The Audition, Part 1

As previously noted, I decided it was better late than never and that it was time to fulfill my 2009 goal of "go to an audition"... I've always kept watch of local theatre auditions, but never found one that I thought I should give a shot, until I saw an online posting from a local theatre company called Pickwicks Players for their upcoming production of "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat".

Never saw the show, but the listing said to prepare a 1-2 minute song and provided an email/phone # for more info... I emailed, stated how I have zero theatre experience, and they replied "no problem!" They consider themselves an educational theatre company, so having no resume whatsoever was not a problem. 

With my audition booked for Tuesday at 7pm, I started practicing to a song I knew very well... "All That's Known", from Spring Awakening. I found that it was comfortably in my range, and I love the show/song, so it was a good fit. Ordered the sheet music from Amazon, made a copy, and brought it with me. When I got to the audition, no one else was there yet, as you only show up for your time - you're not waiting around and watching everyone else. But since I didn't have a resume, I needed to fill out a quick form. While I did that, two girls came in with their resumes and headshots and each gave their audition. I didn't see, but I could hear from where I was waiting in the lobby... and they were really good and very theatre-voices. Also, a little Asian girl came in to audition too (around age 8 or 9), and even she had a headshot! So I felt unprepared, but I went about filling my form until they called me into the room. 

I gave my music to the accompanist as instructed, and he asked "so what tempo would you like me to play this?" I didn't know I had an option... so I believe my exact response was "Uhhhhhhh... the normal kind." What I didn't consider was the fact that this song isn't your typical audition song. It's not like "On My Own" from Les Mis, or some upbeat Broadway showcase song that everyone has heard before. Nope, I went with a song from the rock musical with swear words in it... at least this song is made to be played on the piano, so that worked. 

Singing to a live accompanist is a LOT different than just singing along to the CD... he started off much slower than the recording, so I had to adjust my singing on the fly to keep in step, meaning I had to think about my steps rather than just singing on autopilot. The song is normally 2 min even in length, but it dragged at the pace he was playing... my bad for not knowing, but now I know for any other future auditions. (I'll probably choose a different song though.) Anyways, I finished (hella nervous and shaky as I was) and they thanked me. As I walked away from the stage, the guy escorting me to the door told me "so they would like you to come back tomorrow." I'm guessing as my back was turned they gave him the secret signal of "yes", haha.

So that was night one. I wasn't expecting there to be a night two (which happened tonight - but more on that later), as my main goal was already accomplished just by showing up and doing it. And I'm so glad I did! I've missed this scene, and I'm happy to have put my fears aside. Officially crossed off the list! 

Touch me...

Touch me

Just like that

And that, oh yeah

Now that's heaven

Now that I like

God, that's so nice...

But not lower down, where the figs lie. (Heh heh heh.)

I can now check off my new thing for month, as I had my very first massage this morning. It wasn't on my agenda for the weekend, but I'm so glad it went down. It all started on Friday afternoon when Jordan and I were trying to see if Brit wanted to join us at Chevy's later that day for happy hour. Brit said she couldn't hang until much later, after her massage, and she was like "do you guys want to get massages too?"

Cue me and Jordan singing a line from "Grease": Tell me more, tell me more, like... Well, everything about it, really. We'd never gotten massages before. So Brit gave us the deets, which were agreeable to us TGOs, and she called up the place to see if they had any extra openings that evening. Sadly, they didn't, but Brit booked three sessions for us on Sunday morning. Brit ended up cancelling her spot, but we still wanted ours.

So Jordan and I arrived to The Knot Spot, located in a nice little shopping center in Hillcrest. It was a very clean Zen-like place. The waiting area had this little neat little water stand that had cucumber slices floating in it, and we joked that I should get one of those for the apartment. We filled out the necessary paperwork, and then went off with our different masseurs.

Emily was nice, but I probably could've said to use a little more pressure (I checked off "moderate" on the forms, to play it safe). It was relaxing enough - the time moved fast, and I'm glad I wasn't as ticklish as I thought I would be. Especially when it came to my feet. I liked the upper back/shoulders/neck portion the most, so I think I'll request more time on those areas next time. Definitely down to go back again. Maybe make it a monthly thing. So I also figure I should keep working out and making my muscles sore - and then heading back here to get my relaxation on.

All the cool kids are doing it.

I remember telling Chris and Jordan on one of our Coffee Tuesday outings that because "photography" was # 3 on the 3hree 6ixty 5ive list that I would treat myself to a nice new digital SLR camera when I started my new position at work.

Well, I started the new position at work this week (technically last week, at least on payroll)... and with the Disneyland trip coming up this Sunday as well, I thought now was a good time to pull the trigger.

And I did. While watching American Idol, I logged onto Amazon.com and ordered the Canon Rebel XS. It should be here Friday, so I may get to log my first photos at the Rascal Flatts outing.

I'm excited. :)

In other news, I've now finally seen two out of three "Lord of the Rings" movies... and I think I can handle walking around the office a little better tomorrow. I didn't exactly follow the directions given to me by Dr. Andrew and Dr. Mercedes (from work), but the ankle feels much better than last night. Many thanks to Andy and Jordan for helping me through that.

I also have a short amount of time to possibly prepare an audition piece... I keep checking this site and the La Jolla Playhouse is having general auditions. I may just give it a go - I have nothing to lose anyway, and it'd be a fun way to get my feet wet. Musical theatre has become a new "happy place" lately... Watching "Grease" on Sunday made me jealous all over again, wanting to get back on the stage (oh those high school days), and I know I'll get that exact same feeling when we see "Rent" this weekend... I've seen "Rent" before, and the production is SO much better than the movie. Now if only I could see "Spring Awakening" next week, somehow...

Music, theatre and Disney... this weekend's gonna be awesome, I feel.