Okay, so that whole "be better at blogging" thing starts...now! After my introspective last post I figured I'd put something a little more fun on the interwebs. I think I've touched on it a few times in the past, but when I was in high school I was a theater kid. And a chorus kid. Basically, if there was singing and a story, I was all about it.
Then I went to my undergrad, and while I loved it there and wouldn't trade it for anything, I stopped singing in organized groups. It had been the first time I wasn't in some kind of choral setting since I was in the fifth grade.
That "no chorus" streak continued into...well, this year (for those of you keeping track, that's 2007-2015). Then, while traveling back to Salem, I decided to look into community theaters to see if auditions were happening for anything interesting. I danced around my hotel room for a while when I found that a theater around twenty minutes away was doing Into the Woods...and that auditions were the day I was supposed to get back from my holiday shenanigans.
So, I rooted through my vast array of showtunes hoping to find something that would be a suitable audition song. I had a very good idea of which part I wanted, so I picked a song that would probably be sung by my character if she were in that musical.
One of my goals this year was to do something fun that was outside of work, because I love my coworkers, but everyone needs an escape. I also wanted to do something that was just for me, as a lot of last year focused on me taking care of other people.
I went to the first night of auditions armed with twenty to thirty seconds of a song and a universe's-worth of excitement to try-out for something that I love (Into the Woods, consequently, is one of my favorite musicals). I got there, and...
...everyone had sheet music. I had no sheet music, as I hadn't put that much thought into it. I almost turned around, but asked the nice registration lady if I could just go up there and wing it. She checked, and I was clear to sing a capella.
I waited for about half an hour as other people went ahead of me. Then, one of the directors came out and called my name. After I took a deep breath, I went through the creaky double doors and...immediately cracked a joke.
You see, I tend to do this when I get nervous. It's a terrible habit (or an awesome one, you decide). Anyway, about fifteen minutes before my audition, I'd gone to the bathroom and was washing my hands when another lady walked in. We did the awkward you're-here-too-I-should-acknowledge-your-existence head nod, and I left.
So, I walk into this auditorium and one of the directors also happens to be the lady I ran into in the bathroom. Naturally, I blurt out, "OH, YOU'RE MY BATHROOM BUDDY!" at this poor woman. I got a laugh out of everyone in the room, which was probably a blessing and a curse. My "bathroom buddy" quipped that she's a frequenter of the bathroom, to which I replied that I, too, qualify for this title.
At this point, my brain really wanted my mouth to stop talking, but there was no way to derail the train. They asked me what I was going to sing, so I told them, "My New Philosophy." Someone said that they hoped I wasn't going to sing the whole song, to which I replied that I could sing both parts if they wanted (which would have been interesting).
If I hadn't already lost their attention, it was fading fast. So I finally stopped talking and sang.
My bathroom buddy almost fell out of her chair as she scrambled over to the piano, and, by the time I was done, everyone in the room had huge smiles on their faces. They asked me if I knew any of the part that I really wanted (which is a mystery for this post haha), and I told them that I did indeed know that part.
I wound up singing a bit of a character's song...right into the Director's ear, 'cause she was playing the piano. I projected like my life depended on it, and hit the notes as precisely as I could while I freaked out on the inside. I apologized for yell-singing into the Director's ear after we were done, and she laughed it off.
I left the audition hoping to get a callback. There was a second night of open auditions a few nights after mine, so I waited all week to get an email about my fate.
Said fate-email arrived Friday and...I GOT A CALLBACK!!! I pretty much ran laps around the building on Friday after the email came because I'd only ever had ensemble parts in musicals, so being called back for a role with a name --- any role --- was/is pretty awesome!
Our callback was yesterday, but if you really want to know what happened you'll have to check back on the blog tomorrow :)
Until then, I'm going to go back into the woods...
