Hey everyone,
I know it's been a really, really long time since you've heard from me-but I promise, its been for a good reason! Actually, 4 good reasons!
On with the show...
That's right! I picked up 4 shows in 9 months! To say I'm thrilled would be an understatement, and to say I'm exhausted would just make me laugh. Here's how everything's been going:
After the children's show ended, I did take a little bit of a break, after all I had just gotten over nodes and wanted to give my voice pleanty of time to heal itself. And heal itself it did. Not only did my speech therapy work wonders, I was back at another musical audition by the end of the year.
The show? "Into the Woods"! I couln't believe it, I've wanted to be in this show since I first saw it at age 3 on television. It was at a theatre I had never worked with before, and to say I was a bit nervous around the people there would be an understatement.
I played Jack's mom, and was able to really get into her and her reasonings and everything like that-and of course sing my face off! I learned a lot from the experience, and to date is as close to professional theatre as I've come.
During "Into the Woods", I picked up another show. A new play called "Home front: Between the Lines", about a mother and son going through her father's WWII letters back and forth to his family and revealing a family secret. We played one weekend and 3 shows before the theatre (not the theatre company, but the actual, physical theatre), asked us to leave and not come back. Long story, won't get into it here so don't ask me to. There's no politics in theatre!
A few weeks later, I saw a post on my friend's facebook. All it said was "RENT ensmble still needed, if you're interested let me know." My heart stopped. I read it a few times. It couldn't be real! RENT! As in, Jonathan Larson's RENT. And they were looking for ensemble members! This is my show. I know everything about that show inside and out, have done in depth character studies on all the characters, and have physically BEEN to 11th street and Ave B in the village where the show takes place. I knew I had to do it.
Long list of e-mails, phone calls and a Skype audition later-I'm told I'm in the show and where the rehearsals are and everything! WHAT WHAT?! I got RENT! I couldn't breathe and immediately began trembling and took to facebook to speak to friends who I knew would calm my fried/excited nerves.
RENT went off with a bit of behind the scenes drama that I quickly learned from, adapted to, worked around, and laughed about when the final curtain went down on closing night. I learned a lot from RENT, I learned a lot from the experience, I learned a lot from the people, and I learned a lot more from the show, being on the stage instead of in the audience admiring the work. I became the token RENThead of the cast, and even the director would sometimes ask my approval of things to make sure they looked and sounded right. It made me feel good to know I could bring justice to the piece.
Not long before RENT closed, that same theatre company decided to do a concert. But what concert would we do? Some ideas were thrown around and eventually we landed on a show. Well, the show had to be changed for behind-the-scenes reasons, and we ended up doing a tribute to Mr. Cole Porter.
I'll let you in on a little secret--I didn't really know a whole lot of Cole Porter before this, but I was pretty sure I wasn't a huge fan of his music. But, I agreed to do the show, and do the show I would. Rehearsal lasted about 3 weeks and we went up for ONE night only. Again, things were learned, fun was had, and it was a wonderful night!
So, now here I am--show less for the first time in almost a year. In the time it took all of this to happen, I lost a job, got a new one, read 2 books, started taking some acting classes, and have continued my singing lessons.
Now that I'm show-less, I find that I want to go back to my other projects that have been on the back burner, such as working on the play I've been writing since college, and writing a book based on my experiences as a temp--and many,MANY other projects I put off.
C'mon, you guys know me by now! Did you really think I'd just sit at home and wait for the next auditions?! Never!
Until next time....
