Thursday, March 31, 2011

It's been a month since I've moved to New York and I finally had by first breakdown.  I knew it would come sooner or later.  Haha

Monday morning I woke up, got ready, and headed into the city for a full day of auditions.  I first went to Pearl Studios to sign up for the audition "It Should Have Been You" which was about a Jewish wedding.  Since it was an Equity (union) call, I had to sign up on the EMC (Equity Membership Candidate) list and pray that pray that they would see EMC's that day.  The monitor behind the table signing me up looked at me and told me that there wouldn't be a part for me and that I should just leave.  I gave him a look and he said that I didn't look old enough to play any of the parts and that I didn't look Jewish.  First of all, it's not his job to say wether a person is right for a part or not, he's just there to call names off in the order they signed up, and secondly, I have been told time and time again that if my hair was darker I could play a Jewish character.  All it takes is a little hair color!
So he told me I could come back if I wanted, but that there way no way I would get a part.  So I just accepted his criticism and left.  I had every intention of going back to audition just to be seen.

Then I went to the Actor's Equity Center to sign up for another audition and after the monitor called all the Equity names, he got up and left the room.  About 5 minutes later he came back and said the audition was closed and if you didn't hear your name called you wouldn't be seen.  I went up and asked him about non-Equity people and he said that he just called those names out by the elevators and since I didn't answer, I couldn't audition.  What?!?  I told him that I didn't realize that he was calling non-union names out in the hallway and he freaked out on me asking if I had EVER been to an audition before and if I even knew what I was doing and he said that's how it's ALWAYS done (which by the way, that is NOT how it's always done.  I've been to about 50 auditions in the last 4 weeks and that was the first time I had ever experienced that).
I apologized and he said he would put me at the back of the line.  So I waited.  In the meantime, the girl right in front of me kept going on and on about how good she was and that she had been a featured dancer at various different theatres, and how she was an amazing singer, and so on...  I DON'T CARE.  It's intimidating enough to audition day after day with people who are so incredibly talented and with me being new to the city.  Her self-flattery wasn't helping my nerves.

When I went into the audition room, I handed the accompanist my music and he began playing.  I started to sing and the producer behind the table refused to look at me.  He looked away for a second and then he held up his wrist and looked at his watch continuously until I finished singing.  That made me feel even worse about myself.  He gave me a quick "Thank you" and I left the room.  The producer kept everyone to stay and dance except me.  I don't know if he was in a bad mood by the time he got to me or what, but I felt defeated.  And I know I'm not that bad of a singer.

I thought about going back to the first audition I signed up for that day, about the Jewish wedding, but since the monitor guy told me not to "waste a headshot" I decided not to go and I headed home.  On the Brooklyn bound (toward Coney Island) F Train, I sat there listening to my iPod thinking about my day.  I then started to cry.  The music and my mood and everything combined tore me down completely.  This was the first time I've broken down and cried since I've been here.  I didn't care that people were staring at me.  All I wanted to do was go home and be alone.  I couldn't stop crying.  It got to be so bad, my makeup started running, therefore I pulled out my sunglasses and put them on.

The tears stopped and I was almost home when I heard an announcement over the subway speakers, "This train needs to be evacuated."  Really?!?  So we all gathered our things, exited the train onto the platform and waited for the train to be checked by officials.  They closed the doors and said that particular train was out of service.  It took off without any passengers while we all waited for the next train to arrive.  After about 15 minutes another announcement was made, "There will be no more Coney Island bound F Trains."  We were at a subway stop that ONLY HAD F Trains.  And the only train at MY stop to get home was an F Train!  Could this day get any worse??

Instead of waiting around for nothing to happen, like most people did, I chose to walk home from there.  It was a long walk, but the fresh air felt good.  I finally made it home (half an hour later) and relaxed.  Then my friend Angela called asking if I went back to the Jewish audition.  I told her that I was at home and that the monitor made me feel worthless so I didn't even attempt going back.  She then told me that there were girls there later that afternoon that looked younger than me and they didn't look Jewish at all!  And then she told me that the casting person in the room was David Hyde Pierce and that he was very nice.  She said that he shook everyone's hand.  Even if I wasn't right for the show I could have at least met and sang for him!!

David Hyde Pierce

So I have learned my lesson.  Never listen to what anyone has to say about casting a show, unless it's the casting director.  It was a pretty bad day, but I think the emotion of moving, auditioning everyday without hearing anything back, adjusting to the fast pace lifestyle of living in the city, and everything else sunk in all at once.  I'm glad that's over with.  It's only up from here!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to explore Manhattan today.  My friend Daniel asked if I wanted to see some of the city and I said absolutely!

A view of Manhattan from the High Line

We met at noon on 14th Street and ate sushi at Chelsea Market.  Then we walked around a little bit before heading to the High Line.  It was originally train tracks constructed above the city to lift dangerous freight trains off the streets of Manhattan, but now they've turned it into a park.  It's beautiful!  Plenty of seating with views of the Hudson River and New Jersey on the west side, and views of Manhattan on the east side.  It runs from 14th Street to 20th Street for now, but they are in the process of finishing 2 more sections of the High Line which will take it all the way up to 34th Street (which might take a while).

Grand Central

Later we went to Union Square to walk around the farmers market.  There were people from a 100 mile radius trying to sell their goods.  After checking it all out we stopped to grab a quick cup of tea.  Then we headed north to Grand Central Terminal.  I was talking with my aunt Laura earlier today and she told me that Grand Central should be on my list of things to see today.  So I took her advice and went!  We did the audio tour and browsed most of the station.  It was beautiful!

After that we walked to the New York Public Library.  It was huge!  And there were no books to be found!!  Haha.  Yes, there were books, but we had to climb about 4 flights of stairs to get to them.  Every seat in the library was full.  Mostly people were working on their laptops and not using actual books, but hey, it's an inside seat with internet.  :)

We rounded out the day by stopping by Bryant Park.  It's a nice place to go and hang out on 42nd Street and 5th Avenue.  It's close to Times Square, but still far enough away.

My feet are tired from 4 hours of galavanting around the city, but it was totally worth it!  All in all, a great day!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

I can't believe it's been over a week since my last post.  I guess time flies when you're having fun!

Last Saturday I met up with my friend Tim to go swing dancing!  Tim and I met in Cincinnati at the Playhouse in the Park when I was there back in 2009.  He recently moved to the city and had been wanting to go dancing, but never had anyone to go with.  When we were in Cincy, we went dancing and had a ball, so he found a West Coast Swing Dancing meet-up group and we went and tried it out.  And it was fun!!

Sunday I ventured out to do laundry and let me tell you, Sunday is the WORST DAY to go to the laundry mat!  Ever!!  I should have known, but it needed to be done.  There were 7 year olds doing laundry for their whole family!  No adult supervision.  Weird.  Those must be some trusting parents!

Monday was a big day.  Greg and I had several auditions to go to and we also had David Letterman tickets.

I went to a call for Miss Saigon where they wanted to see people of "all ethnicities", but the room was filled with mostly Asian girls.  There were only 4 white girls, including me.  Haha!  They said they were going to "type us" (which means they line us up before we sing and they say yes or no based on appearance).  Needless to say I got a no.
Later that day I went to a female call for the Lion King and 95% of the girls were black.  They gave props to us white girls for showing up and trying!  Yessss!  :)

They told us to be at the Ed Sullivan theatre by 3:30pm to line up even though the taping didn't start until 6pm.  So we chatted with a few folks in line (one lady showed us a picture of her singing with Dennis Rodman) and waited in the cold.  They opened the doors for us to come in and get our tickets and they "saw something special" in Greg and me and told us that we were "Audience Leaders."  They said to come back at 4:45pm and get in a special line.  When we came back there were about 20 people in the "Audience Leaders" line including us.  There was this guy behind me from Australia and I asked him if he knew the show McLeod's Daughter's (it's one of my favorites and it's Australian) and he laughed and said that he did.  :)
They brought our line inside so we wouldn't have to stand out in the cold and then they told us that we were going to be on the front row because of our enthusiasm!  Heck yes!!!  Greg and I were in the front row, 4 seats from the left middle aisle and I could have literally propped my feet up on the stage!  It was awesome!
Dave came out before the show started and joked around with us for a minute and some lady asked him a "Stump the Band" question.  Out of ALL the things to ask David Letterman she asked a "Stump the Band" question.  Really?!
The show was great!  The guests were Steve Martin and Selena Gomez with a special appearance by Alec Baldwin.  They did a few audience shots so maybe Greg and I will be in one of them!  The episode airs tonight (Wednesday) so tune in!  Or google it later!!

Yesterday was a lazy day for me.  I woke up exhausted and not feeling well.  I decided to skip an audition and take care of my voice so that I would be back to full speed today.  It was a much needed day at home.  :)

Today was a long day for me.  I went to an audition 3 hours before the sign-up was supposed to begin and I was was #430 on the list.  What?!  Number 430?  Do these people get up at 5am to come and sign-up for auditions??  The cut the list off at #500 and since there were so many of us they decided to type people out.  Luckily I got "typed in" which means they wanted me to stay and sing!  So I waited for 6 hours and sang.  I think it went well.  We'll see what happens.

While waiting for the subway today, two different people came up and asked for directions.  They wanted to know about the different trains coming into the station (if they were local, if it went to a specific street, etc.), so I told them which way to go and what train to take.  I am now an official New Yorker!! :)

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

I did not want to get out of bed this morning.  My alarm clock went off, and I reset it for 2 minutes later.  Now that's pathetic, but those 2 minutes were wonderful...
Greg and I had many errands to run this morning before heading to an audition for the National Tour of Wicked.  We first went to a Staples right in midtown and believe it or not they were the only Staples store in Manhattan that I had been to that didn't have computers?!  What?!?!  I needed to print something off a computer and the guy said, "Yea, we've been waiting a while to get computers in.  You could go across the street to the bus station and use theirs...."  The bus station has computers for use, but the Staples doesn't?!  I find that odd.

So Greg stayed and I ventured across the street to the bus station.  And low and behold, I almost got HIT BY A CAR!!!  The cross traffic to my right was whizzing by and there were a line of cars (trucks, taxi's, etc) sitting at the stoplight in front of me where I needed to cross, and the orange hand indicator wasn't fully on so I started to cross the street.  I made a mistake and under-judged how long it would take me to cross 6 lanes of traffic, but I was over halfway through when the cars started to honk at me.  I passed a truck and was almost back on the sidewalk when out of no where a taxi flew right at me at about 50 mph!  He slammed on his breaks and I jumped back just in time.  We were so close to colliding that I could reach out and touch his car.  He began honking and yelling at me (like I didn't know I was in the way already), and all I could do was run to the sidewalk.  I'm still a little shaky...

So in the bus station I used their computers,  but I couldn't print what I needed because they didn't have the proper software downloaded.  Awesome.  This day was getting worse by the minute!  I went back to get Greg at the Staples and we went to the audition.  It was an Equity audition so we had to sign up on an alternate list and wait.  All day.  But that's why we're here!

Lunch came and we went to Subway.  It was in a food court that had several places to eat and one common dining area.  We had finished when this group of people (they were all in their 20's or so) were wanting to push a couple of tables together and sit down behind us.  There was a random drink on one of the tables and they were debating whether to move it or find somewhere else to sit, but Greg, who was facing them, piped up and said, "It's been sitting there for a while.  I think you can just move it."  I didn't turn around to look at them.  So Greg, being the clever guy he is, told me to get up, walk around the corner behind him, and walk out like I just came from the bathroom and ask who moved my drink (referring to the one that group just moved).
So I nonchalantly gathered my things and walked around the corner and waited a minute.  When I came back around, I passed Greg without looking at him and when I got to the table where they had moved the drink to I yelled, "WHO MOVED MY DRINK?"  And I looked directly at the group of people and they were scared to death!!  They just looked at me and one guy pointed and said, "It's over there...?" and I just gave them the dirtiest look.  Then I started laughing and said that I was just kidding and I pointed over to Greg and told them I was sitting with him when they asked if they should move it.  Haha!  They all started laughing and told me how brilliant my acting was and one guy even got up and gave me a hug.  It was brilliant.
That reminds me, Greg still owes me a dollar for doing that... :)

Back at the audition we sat and waited.  I met Ben, who used to be in Noah at Sight and Sound in Branson!  Greg already knew him, but it was nice to meet another Bransonite!  We also met Angela.  She just moved from LA to NYC a month ago.  We all sat and talked for hours waiting to be seen for an audition.  The monitor finally said that there were too many Equity people there so the non-Equity people waiting wouldn't be seen.  I guess that's life in the theatre.  We waited all day for nothing, but we met some great people!

Greg and I decided to go to Blockheads afterwards, but they were so full they sent us across the street to Mother Burger.  It was good.  We were sitting there talking (and enjoying the homemade guacamole dip) and all of a sudden Todd Walker walked in!  I met him through my friend Melissa Dockum back in Branson!  Todd was in Branson doing Peter Pan and him and Melissa were really close friends so we hung out a few times.  I can't believe that in all of NYC we both went to the same restaurant!  The city really isn't as big as it may seem!!  :)

Monday, March 7, 2011

I've been an official New Yorker for one week!  And it feels good!


Life is constantly Go, Go, Go these days, but I don't mind.....for now.  :)
Today began too early (6am to be exact) and I'm not used to this morning thing just yet, but I'm here to audition and the early bird gets the worm, or a better number in the audition line-up. ;)

We had plenty on our plate today, including (but not limited to) wandering around until we found a Staples, trying to find a subway station that goes where we want it to, and running into crazies on the subway!

Over the last few days, Greg and I have ran into a problem.  We NEEDED a keyboard to practice on at home so we weren't walking into the audition room complete cold, not knowing what the accompaniment music sounded like.  So we desperately searched Craigslist for a keyboard, and behold we found one!  So we hopped a train to Queens and picked up our very own keyboard (in a large black trash bag)!  The ride home was the worst part....An hour and 15 minutes, riding home on the subway, hauling a huge bag with a piano inside (who knows what people were thinking) but it was totally worth it.
Once we got home and had dinner, we plugged in the keyboard and played/sang until we were out of music!

All in all, a good day  :)

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Up and at the audition process all over again.
This time I was too old.  But I'm not discouraged.  I knew that I was going to hear more no's than yes's, so it's only up from here!

Today was my first day without Greg right by my side the whole day.  It was different being by myself, but I survived.  I even had to run and get on the train as the doors were closing and that made me feel like more of a New Yorker.  Haha!  I can totally do this!!

I finally found a real grocery store in Manhattan!  It was a Whole Foods, which is  about 97% organic, but at least most the labels were in English!!  I'm sure there's one closer in Brooklyn, but I was starving for real food to take home and cook, so I bought a few things and went back home.

I cooked a real meal and made it an early night.  I was in bed by 10pm (which if you really know me is EXTREMELY early)!  I plan on sleeping in!!!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

First real audition day!

We were up and out of the house by 8am on our way into Manhattan.  We first had to go pick up my headshots from Staples and then we waited to get tickets to the David Letterman show.  The audience coordinator loved us so they called and gave us tickets for Monday, March 14th!  Yes!!

We then went to the Al Hirshfield Theatre to get $30 rush tickets to see "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" starring Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) and John Laroquette (Night Court).  We somehow ended up scoring front row seats!

At the audition a lot of the people didn't realize they needed backing tracks instead of sheet music (did they not read the post?!?).  It was funny to see how these people live here and do this on a regular basis and they still weren't prepared!  But Greg and I were!  Too bad I didn't fit the height criteria.  I was 3" too short.  Oh well.

After the audition, Greg and I went home and took a nap.  We were tired.  We woke up and went back to the city for the show that evening.  It started at 8pm.  I thought it was great!  Daniel Radcliffe blew me away!  I didn't know he could sing or dance.  I loved it!!  Afterwards we quickly ran outside to stand in line for an autograph.  We were somehow pushed to the front of the gate.  People are pushy around here, especially when it comes to getting close to celebrities.  Haha

John Laroquette came out first.  He was so funny and very nice.  Then the flashes started.  Daniel Radcliffe came out and over to our side first.  I got a few good pictures of him and then he signed my Playbill.  I told him he did an amazing job and he said "Thank you, sir.  I don't know who said that, but thank you."  I told him that I said it and that I wasn't a man, and we laughed and he apologized.  It was funny.  Guess you had to be there.....lol

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Greg and I slept in until about 10am or so, and we were off to get in a full day in the city!
We went to the subway station and bought our unlimited MetroCards for access to all of the subway/buses around NYC.

Our first stop was to find Chelsea Studios on 26th Street, where our first audition was going to be.  We passed a Starbucks on the way, so we had to stop in for a quick cup of Joe.  We found the studio and then proceeded to walk north for lunch at the Galaxy Diner on 49th Street.

After lunch we walked down to 42nd Street to look at everything that was going on.  We got roped into talking to this guy who was trying to sell us comedy tickets, and we weren't taking the bait, therefore he wasn't very nice when we said thank you and walked away.  Someone remind me that I never want a job like that....

We were walking towards the David Letterman theatre when Greg noticed a mob of people flashing cameras down a side street and he said there must be a celebrity over there, so we ran as fast as we could to get in on the action!  We tried taking photos over the crowd before we even knew who it was.  Finally there was a break in the clouds and it turned out to be BJ Novak from the comedy series The Office!  He was signing autographs and taking pictures before going in the stage door to the Late Show.  We didn't get close enough for an autograph, but he saw us through the crowd.  :)

Later, we found a Staples so I could print off a few headshots, because silly me forgot mine back in Branson.  We went in a few music stores and such and just had a good time looking around with no agenda.  We wanted to get back home before it got too dark because we were still new to the area, so we hopped the F Train and found our way back.

We felt like tourists all day (especially with the BJ Novak situation), but it's good to get all of that out of our systems early on.  :)

Monday, February 28, 2011

Good morning!  Today is the start of the next chapter of my life.  My friend, Greg Haywood, and I have finished packing, very last minute, and are ready to hop a plane to New York City.  We bought one way tickets and are on our way to the big city!

We left Greg's house in Kennett, MO at 6:45am heading to the Memphis International Airport for a 9:35am flight to Charlotte, NC.  We hit rush hour traffic once we hit Tennessee and I didn't think we were going to make it to the airport in time to check our bags (and my oh my did we have a lot of baggage), but we made it with about 45 minutes to spare.  Whew!

For some reason our tickets weren't next to each other on the flight, but I sat next to the nicest guy named Howie who was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY.  :)  Howie was in Memphis on a business trip for a charity function.  He owned his own business and was a hoot!  I lucked out with good company.  He even helped me with my bag that I didn't think was going to fit in the overhead compartment, but somehow he got it in there!  It was a very high turbulence flight.  I was just waiting for the oxygen masks to drop at any moment, but we survived.

Our flight from Charlotte to JFK was supposed to leave at 1:05pm, but was delayed an hour due to high winds in the New York area.  Once we got to JFK, we collected all our luggage and caught a cab to Brooklyn.  It was such an odd feeling to look around and know that this wasn't just a vacation, but a life change experience.  I usually map things out whether it's a job or an event, but this was new to me.  Just winging it.  It felt great!

We got to our apartment, which is in the middle of a busy commercial street, but yet it's quite and nice.  It's very large for a NY apartment and it feels like a home.  Our landlord greeted us, gave us the rundown on how to take care of the place and his plants and went on his way.  We ended our meet and greet by all sharing an avocado.  A peace offering.  :)

Greg and I immediately went out to find something to eat because we were starving!  We found a CVS Pharmacy just down the block, so we went in for a few groceries.  The block is filled with little grocery stores, but they're all either Mexican, Polish, Indian, or Greek.  Therefore it's hard to read what you're buying if you don't know the language.  Haha

We came home and I made spaghetti, because it was quick and easy and then settled into our rooms.  Greg took the smaller room and gave me the big room.  It had been a long day, so we went to bed as soon as time would allow, which ended up being after midnight.  All in all, a very exciting day.  The fact that I just packed up and jumped ship not knowing what was next still hasn't set it.....