Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are Made Of...

...If your dreams are made of trips to Bed Bath & Beyond. Almost every day. (Bet you're glad you clicked on this post, huh?)

So here at the end of this week 3, I'm going to attempt to catch you up on weeks 1 & 2! So hopefully by next week, we'll be in REAL TIME. (There's a lot going on here in real time. Fasten your seat belts.)

After making it past move-in day, the rest of our time here has been GLORY. Yes, it's been a transition, yes there's been homesickness & yes there's been a realization of the power of budgeting... but truly, we are so fully aware of how much our cups our overflowing, and we love this little apartment we call home! Alekza & I were just talking about how we can't believe Sunday was only our 3-week friendaversary! Living underneath someone's loft bed (or the "downstairs" as we like to call it) bonds you quicker than you'd think! But if there's anything that has bonded us most in our time here so far, it has been the renovation of our home & what that looks like in this city.

It looks a lot like this.

But if you were to zoom in a little closer, you'd see that there came a point where we couldn't tell the difference between the pouring rain & our pouring sweat. Sorry for the visual. Also you'd see that I'm carrying a trashcan full of rain & 3 bags of groceries. And additionally, it always requires walking from the Times Square subway station to our apartment...so like, through Times Square. Where people are all taking group photos, sprawling across the sidewalk and waiting in line to get their caricatures drawn. (But honestly I don't even mind anymore because when you're holding a trashcan full of groceries, you get these looks from tourists like, "wow...they bought groceries. this homely girl must be a new yorker..." Until, of course, we stop on the sidewalk & ask a young girl to take a picture of us.) Really cool, right?! ;)

So besides registering 3 different emails for Bed Bath & Beyond coupons, drilling a stand-alone pantry into our wall (thanks tiff & ken!), & making 3+ trips to Time Warner Cable to get wifi & cable (why did no one tell us that would be SO HARD?), we've been doing a lot of other really fun things...

...liiiike making pic collages, mounting decorative deer heads & building Alekza's loft bed from the ground up -- the most rewarding task I have ever completed:

This is an old pic...but look at that bed!

The makings of our living room collage!

P.s. While assembling Alekza's bed while she was at work & Rachel was at class, I headed down to the nearby hardware store (I randomly have become a pretty frequent visitor) and - if you read my twitter, you already know - THAT'S when I ran into Zachary Quinto - Mr. Spock himself. I did the ultimate double-take and then actively reminded myself "be cool...be cool...you're a fellow artist, right?! it's just a normal day..." (pitch perfect, anyone?;) But anyway, here he is in Glass Menagerie on Broadway right now - which absolutely rocked our worlds, by the way! Victoria, Karina, Rachel & I could not recommend it more highly!

Photos Courtesy of "The Glass Menagerie" website!

And here we are at the show!

Yes, this was a snap chat;)

...to match Victoria's photo with Zachary Quinto

^^ This morning involved waiting in line catching up with these amazing friends, savoring our last moments with Karina before her ToUr DaYz, & grabbing bagels at Junior's - yummmm.

Other fun things we've done... that night we finally got to catch up with our precious friend from Springboard - Jackie Reynolds! Jackie just moved to "IN THE HEIGHTS!" (Washington Heights), and she, too, is going after that theatre dream! :) So naturally, we all decided to grab Shake Shack since Rachel & Jackie had never been! But we decided to head down to the cute lil Shake Shack in Madison Square Park (home of time warner cable). It finally started to get chilly, so this made for the perfect night - in addition to having a blast catching up with Jackie!

Our cutie friend Jackie!

Hmm...what else have we done...
Oh, yeah! Some AUDITIONS!

So, in preparation for moving to NYC, I spent most of July & half of August applying my BRAINS out for jobs in Journalism/copywriting/copyediting (can't remember if I've already mentioned this...) but when none of those brought many results, I decided that maybe that was God's way of telling me to focus in on auditioning while scoring some sort of sweet nannying gig or things of the like! So I immediately started looking out for auditions, and the first one I set my sights on was Oliver at Papermill Playhouse in New Jersey. I was so excited to find out that the audition was at Pearl Studios on 36th St. - a mere 7 blocks from our place! (And also incredibly ironically the same building that my new job is in! ... But more on that later;)

So anyway, there's this amazingly helpful site (thank you thank you, Laura Wetsel, for this golden treasure of information) called Audition Update that has different sections where people give their opinions on working with certain theatre companies, people update when shows have announced callbacks/casting, and - most helpful - people at auditions give play-by-plays of how the morning is panning out: how long the line is, if they're seeing non-eqs, etc. WHAT? It's brilliant, I know! So I read up on how long the Oliver line was & jetted over to Pearl Studios around 7:30am. It was kind of exciting to show up & recognize SO many girls from the Newsies auditions. I gave a few small smiles & nods at some of the girls I recognized - totally smooth - and felt sooo seasoned (as an auditioner, that is;). And who else did I run into? My friend OWEN from Springboard! It was so so good to see a familiar face & catch up with such a fun friend. (Lucky for Owen, the male auditions weren't til 2, so he was like, you know, #20 on the list...whatever.)

Kinda like a sleepover, right? Or a lock-in...in broad daylight...

So I killed time with clif bars, Shauna Niequist's Bittersweet, and when they said they were only at #20 (I was #135), a few girls left to grab some food & I even got to go home & chill for awhile! And YES, twas a very sweet thing. So I came back about 45 minutes later, they collected the first 140 girls' headshots, and then by the grace of God, I was in the last group of 10 that got seen that day! PHEW! After 5 hours, I gave my best 30 seconds of "Blow Gabriel Blow" from Anything Goes, & just like that, I went on with my normal day, ha! But the girls at this audition were incredibly cool, & I got to enjoy some awesome conversations - with mostly recent post-grads! We shared in each other's trials & victories. And gabbed over water & throat lozenges.

Then, the NEXT day (or the day after?) Rachel agreed to attend an audition with me! We went out for "Musicals Tonight" production of Smile about a pageant, and when we arrived at the Actors Equity building (3 blocks from our place!) we realized they were also having auditions for Seth Rudetsky's new show "Disaster! The Musical" so we signed in for that, too! We signed our names in & they told us to be back at 10am...so we went home & napped. Oh yeah, and we ran into this on our way home:

A Katy Perry pre-show on Good Morning America!

When we came back to the audition at 10am & saw how long the wait would be, Rachel & I decided to act like we knew what we were doing & head to Madison Square Park to hit up time warner cable & a few other errands in the meanwhile. When we got back to the audition, we made some friends & waited around for another hour, but eventually our odds looked futile, so most people headed out! (Plus, I had a job interview to be at!) But nonetheless, it was so fun to finally have a friend to do the audition thang with:)

Don't worry...this was pre-nap ;) Make-up DID enter the picture later on...

So anyway, besides these bigger happenings ^^ we've mainly just been exploring our new hood,  trying out every thai restaurant in Hell's Kitchen (especially "Yum Yum" thai...mainly because there are 3 of them on one block?), visiting amazing churches, meeting awesome Baylor Theatre alum at Karina's going-away dinner at the Frying Pan (a boat on the Hudson. um. so cool.) & bonding as roommates over things like...TLC...and PB&J sandwiches... :) Oh, also, our rooms don't have light switches, sooo the mood lighting makes every conversation that much more beautiful... ;) But seriously, we're having the best time. These 3 weeks haven't been without their difficulties, but we are constantly looking at each other in disbelief over how apparent God's provision, goodness & faithfulness has been in our lives. He is continually reaffirming how much we're supposed to be here, and we fall more & more in love with our new home everyday. At church yesterday, we literally almost cried! It's silly, I know! I think so too!

There's still so much more that's been going on that's so exciting! Like how to [attempt to] make friends in nyc, how to visit a gazillion churches & how to use self-control at the Brooklyn Flea Market -- oh wait...we haven't figured that out yet.

Sweet Lekz bought me a cookie from Schmackary's to celebrate
being newly employed! I have a boss! ... Rach was at class :(

Ordered chinese food to our door for din (seamless.com!
oh-ho-ho yes) & watched "You've Got Mail" for Rachel
& Alekza's FIRST TIME! ... 'twas a good night.

But there are just a few updates of this crazy September, & there are more to come!
Most notably: my new job!

Until next time,
Kelsey

Move-In Day & Easy Stuff Like That...

(That whole title was such a big lie.)

So, part of me is excited about beginning this post of hilarity & chaos, but part of me does not even know how I can begin to fully describe the events of Sunday, September 2nd. So here goes nothing...

Moment #1: Driving the Penske...without dad.

I woke up that morning around 8:30am and waited for the signal from the future roommates - Rachel & Alekza - that they were ready for me to begin my 30-minute trek from Queens to Brooklyn. Alekza was a live-in nanny for an awesome Brooklyn family this summer, and our first step was to load all of her stuff into the truck before heading into Manhattan. I was so afeared of driving this dinosaur-of-a-vehicle that I couldn't even bring myself to pull into McDonald's for breakfast. That's right...I went without breakfast & coffee...by choice.

Dumb decision #1. 

So I loaded up the rest of my stuff, locked up the truck and climbed into the driver's seat. Luckily, dad had allowed me to practice driving a little bit the day before so I was feeling quasi-qualified for the task. After a semi-terrifying 20 minutes of playing the Penske-driver AND navigator, I was finally on the home-stretch to Brooklyn. Big moment #2: realizing that the streets of Brooklyn are the width of a peanut. So I popped in the mirrors, said a prayer and sucked in, hoping on my LIFE that I wouldn't hear any scratches. Big moment #3: I spotted a SINGLE parking spot on Alekza's street big enough for the truck. I began to wedge myself into the spot in perfect parallel parking form...until I heard a squeak. The side of my truck was rubbing elbows with the bumper of a car.

Oh. The. HORROR.

I literally had no idea what to do. I mean, what do you do?!? No one taught me how to handle these adult-life situations!!!! So I did what any calm, cool & rational adult would do. I got out of the car & started directing angry New Yorker traffic, "I'm stuck! Just go around me! I'M STUCK, OKAY?" ... Not one of my prouder moments.

Big moment #4: Luckily, I'm a decently sensible driver (I know you're thinking, "HA, WHAT?" But I promise, I'm pretty okay;), so I managed to maneuver myself out of that situation, get into that parking spot and then walked over to check out the damage. And there was none! Praise the LORD! The Penske was scratch-free, and the owner of the other car was the most chill. She came out, shook my hand and we were able to wipe the yellow Penske mark right off her bumper. I'm telling you, the Lord was so with me in that 5 minutes of panic. The girl then re-parked and allowed us to have enough room to load our truck. Everything was going to be okay! (It wasn't until this moment that I was able to realize how tense my body had been for the past 45 minutes. So. Tense.)

And luckily for Alekza...her first time meeting me was in this state of absolute certifiable insanity. But she was able to see past that. ;) (P.s. Meanwhile, Rachel & Alekza had been signing the lease...& little did I know, due to a "This paper isn't notarized!" issue, we almost didn't get our apartment...so, bullet dodged, am I right?)

So we loaded up our truck and headed towards Manhattan! After about 15 minutes of "recalculating," we eventually made our way to the Hugh L. Carey tunnel toll station where they then spotted Rachel's lack-of-seat and asked us to remove a passenger before carrying on our way. Remove a passenger. Yeah, okay, no problem. (Do you know how long it took us to get here!?!) :p So poor lil Rae had to be dropped off at the nearest subway station to meet us at our destination. But if we're gonna be honest here, I left her with the statement, "Trust me. I would rather be getting on that subway right now than staying here in this truck." And oh-ho-ho did I mean it.

We got back on the road, showed the toll workers our "Penske papers," and FINALLY Alekza and I were making our way through the tunnel & onto the island of Manhattan! This was a good moment. We began passing through Lower Manhattan, Greenwich Village & then Chelsea, and besides playing the "get to know you" game, the only sounds that could be heard in our truck were "Oh my gosh! Is this real life? Wait, we live here! HOLY COW, look at all the little New York people!"

^^ This photo was taken by a very relieved and joyful version of myself! Even while still driving that Penske thang! So now for Moment #5: finding our final parking spot. The good news - at least so we thought - is that Sunday parking is free in most places in the city. The only problem attached to this good news is that everybody knows that...so everybody came out to park! It was like...a parking party! And let me tell you, not many oversized trucks are invited to the parking party...

So we finally made it to 43rd & 8th (OUR STREET CORNER!) and were forced to drive around the block when our greatest fear was realized: there was no parking available. & I couldn't tell if Alekza & Rachel fully realized the depth of that unfortunate news at the time. But luckily, about 15 minutes later, we stumbled upon a slightly illegal "unloading zone" space. But I mean...we were unloading, so why not?!

And if any heaven-sent blessings had fallen upon us that day, the most heavenly of all was that our truck was able to remain parked in this spot - for the next 4 hours! Still insanely grateful! Thank you, Lord! The other heaven-sent blessing came in the form of Alekza's two friends from church - Casey & Casey. These guys were native Texans who, also, had recently made the move up north. And they offered to help us move in! I know without a shadow of a doubt that they had NO idea (nor did we) what they got themselves into that day. But they stuck it out, and we quite literally would not have moved in that day without them...& if they're reading this right now, they're thinking, "I know das right." 

I mean, have you ever moved a Penske truck full of furniture to a 5th floor walk-up apartment?

Sounds kinda hard but "like, totally doable," right? Well, apparently it IS, in fact, doable, but it involves the pain and heat of a thousand suns. True, I was able to survive Faith Christian School athletics ;) but even so, this may have been the-most-difficult physical task any of us have ever completed. Even a bag of vitamins can feel like the anchor of a ship when being carried up 5 flights of stairs on a hot day. Rachel was even inwardly chanting Scripture to stay alive. 

"I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH... 

I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH... 

I mean, RIGHT?"

About two hours, 5 water bottles & buckets of sweat later.......we still weren't done. (I had you going there, didn't I?!) It was like The Myth of Sisyphus up in here.

Theatre History & Masterworks sHoUt OuT.

No matter how much stuff we brought up, somehow the truck seemed all-the-more packed! A little discouraging. But then some shirtless man (potentially homeless, but we can't say for sure) who had been unicycling up & down our street all day (come to find out, this is a pretty regular routine) came over & offered to carry something up. We were kinda like, "Oh, no, you don't have to-- BUT OKAY, SURE." Seemed as though he had something to prove, so we handed him some hefty furniture & up he went! Both of the Caseys agree that we might never have finished if not for that man carrying up even just a few pieces of furniture. So, back to the grind we went!

Roundabout 4:15pm, I started getting nervous because I knew the Penske truck either had to be dropped off by 5pm or I'd have to find an overnight parking space for it (in my mind, that wasn't even an option). So we tried to get everything out of the truck & up the stairs fast as possible, but it just wasn't happening. Around 4:55pm, I said "to heck with it," & began brainstorming for parking ideas. Then, around 6pm...

We did it. I mean...We REALLY DID IT!
That truck was empty. 

It was like we all sat there & thought..."Surely this is a mirage?" But it was real life!

All that was left was the sweet, sweet sight of furniture pads.

As we sat peering into our new place dreaming about the Shake Shack we'd eat for dinner that night, I thought, "Surely I can't possibly be stuck with this truck tonight. Surely there's a way out of this." So I made a few Penske phone calls (one of those being a phone call to my dad...who was even more frantic about the overnight-Penske situation than I was, sorry dad!). And I decided to forego Shake Shack and take a gamble: I went to the Penske truck yard anyway! And right as we pulled up to the location, sweaty, weary & praying for this small-but-life-changing-miracle, the miracle of all miracles became reality:

The man was locking up literally the MOMENT we pulled in!

I couldn't make that up if I tried. It was as if God made us move in until the last possible minute so that our arrival to the Penske lot would be that much more of a blessing. AND IT WAS! I'm not kidding...I could have weeped there in that lot. Rachel & I attempted to express to the man what a miracle this was, but I don't think he could ever know! As I dropped those keys in his hand and stepped into a taxi cab home (we were too weak to walk;), that's when I finally knew it. We were moved in, and we were New Yorkers! (Okay, so maybe I forgot to give him the keys to the trunk, so I ended up having to go back the next day, but STILL. It was basically official.)

^^ Recognize this picture? Now does it hold a little more meaning (and possibly a few tears)? That was the taxi ride of glory! We went on to eat our first meal of the day (stupid. decision. I. know.) at 6:30pm, and 2 salads & Alekza's 1 shake shack burger later, we were sitting in our living room. 43rd & 8th ave. Brainstorming about our little place & enjoying the new sounds of our city. Our city.

...And basking in the fact that we'd never have to re-live this day again...

Because we decided we're never moving out. 

So thanks for listening & I hope you can now more fully enjoy sitting in your home at your moved-in-furniture. Now, go grab yourself a soda. You deserve it!

Heck, I deserve it too. Love,
Kelsey

Now for some pics:

yeah, yeah, go ahead & judge me...

Our teeny tiny & sweet little apartment full of so much love & God's faithfulness!
(That was the first night! It's much more organized and home-like now...
but we'll save that for another day, another blog post. ;)

And On The Seventh Day...

...the Lord allowed us some REST. Can I get a PTL? Holy smokes. I don't even know where to begin, nor do I know how many blog posts it's going to take. So let's start...at the end! I'll let you know where we are NOW & get into the shambley deets later.

Guys. We made it.

Starting last Thursday morning at 6:15am, my dad & I began our 24-hour journey from Colleyville, TX, to Manhattan, New York. (Can I just take a sec to say that my dad is getting a "dad of the year" coffee mug for like the next 12 years?) So roundabout 7pm, we pulled into Nashville, TN - that was a good moment. My dad got settled in his hotel, and I waited anxiously in the lobby as my best friend - Mrs. Molly Bolton - and her husband (HUSBAND? Crazy.), Jeremy, picked up my dad & I and took us to an out-of-this-world burger joint called The Pharmacy. I then spent the rest of the night basking in the preciousness of their newlywed home (Jeremy built their headboard, table, bench & coffee table. What? I know, whatever.) & catching up after what seemed like years of separation from Molly Kat.

(My little 5-foot bundle of best friendliness.)

The next morning around 6:45am, Moll handed me a cup of coffee & a batch of cookies (H-O-M-E
M-A-K-E-R), & dad & I were on our way! After one Waffle House trip of heavenly waffledom and about 5 hours of dad's "secular oldies" tunes later, we made it to Dixie's Cafe in Virginia!

(No, Texans, this isn't heaven...this is called "the Northeast.")

Then, about 7 hours of my song choices [and more of dad's Amy Grant & Bread albums] later, we made it to Gabriella's Italian restaurant in Pennsylvania. The preceding conversation went something like this:

"Dad, are you sure we're dressed nice enough for this place?"
"Ha! Kelsey, in this 'seedy' area? I'm pretty confident we'll be overdressed..."

Right. Who knew Gabriella's Italian Ristorante was THE birthday/anniversary/celebratory dinner location of Harrisburg, PA. Well, after about 5 seconds in the door, WE sure did. I have never felt so out of place. I had to go in the bathroom & put my hair in a somewhat coiffed bun situation just to feel like I was high class enough to order off the appetizer menu. I then came back to my dad talking on his CELL PHONE to my mom. At the table. I was like...yes, let's draw more attention. But anyway.

(Not pictured: dad's camo cargo shorts. I won't even show you what I was wearing.)

With about three hours left to go, we passed through PA & New Jersey (where, HELLO, they pumped our gas! In fact...if I'm not mistaken, it is illegal to pump your own gas in New Jersey. Thanks a lot, Texas;) Then around 11:30pm, our night really began: we entered Manhattan, New York. I will never be able to relay to you - on social media or otherwise - the stress that entered my life when our Penske truck crossed the New York state line. I'm typically a pretty cool-headed navigator, but having to guide my dad through New York without letting on that we were "recalculating" every 4.5 seconds officially removed - WITHOUT question - at least 3 years from my life. And don't even get me started on the $13+ TOLLS. People, you ain't seen toll prices til you've driven a truck through the Lincoln Tunnel. (We tried to take a second to enjoy the "Elf" references involved in crossing thru the Lincoln Tunnel, but there was far too much stress involved for me to even relish in that moment. Sorry, dad.)

But just so you know - if you don't have enough cash for the tolls, you can pass through & get billed later. Boy, do I wish that completely common-sensical thought had passed through my brain as I frantically searched my bag chanting, "This is not good! This is not good!" Again, sorry dad. But just you know, saying "It's gonna be okay, Kels!" does not automatically translate in my mind to "We can just get billed later!"

You can never be too specific, people. ;) 

But anyway, we made it! We made it, we made it, we made it. Due to my dad's increasingly aggressive driving habits, I've always promised myself I will only marry a man who is "cool" behind the wheel. But I will say... I have never appreciated my dad's driving skills more than on this trip. He navigated those Times Square streets (yes, a Penske in TIMES SQUARE at midnight) with more grace & skill than I could've dreamed. If we're gonna be honest here... I think my dad was made for the driving streets of NYC. But alas, twas a short-lived reign of glory.

We finally arrived to our Pan American hotel in Queens (I'll spare you the details of the "where do we park this beast" saga ... never a dull moment), said a prayer of THANKS that we were still alive and slept a sweeter sleep than I had in months. 

"So, Kelsey, were you even happy?"

Okay, now that that's over, I know it sounded like a roller coaster... but I have to tell you, this road trip was one of the best things we could've ever done. I had such a good time! I do have a good relationship with my dad, but there's still something to be said about sitting in the cab of a truck with your dad for 24 hours, listening to his music & hearing about what moments in his past made those songs hold so much importance. I know I'm a pretty outgoing individual and love a good chance to talk, but a lot of the time I am much more at ease when I can get someone else talking for awhile and I just get to sit and listen (you might notice me doing this with you every once in a while;). And that's what this trip was like for me. And honestly, it's probably the best thing that could've happened to my dad and my relationship before I left home for good. And for that, I am so so thankful!

So anyway, the rest of our weekend trip was spent looking around with my dad at my new 'hood, imagining how many times I'd get coffee at Lenny's (my FAVORITE coffee shop when I was here for Springboard) & the 84 surrounding Starbucks's (Starbuckses? Whatever.), and then finally taking dad to SHAKE SHACK. Which is a whole half block from my place. #Danger.

Literally popped his collar. MY dad. You gotta do
what you gotta do to avoid that sunburn;)

We ended the night at a delicious restaurant overlooking 3rd ave called Anassa Taverna - aka, my last nice dinner for awhile ;) and then headed back to the hotel to catch the end of the Baylor game (SIC 'EM) & a couple episodes of "King of Queens" ... we watch it every night, but it's a lot more exciting when you're actually in Queens!

Dad headed off to the airport at 5:30am the next morning, and just like that, I became a full adult! But boy, did I have a DAY ahead... "Move-In Day."

(These were happy post-move-in tears...if you can believe it.)

I'll save ^^ that story and SO MUCH MORE that has happened this week for next time! Hope you made it through this one;) And thanks for reading!

Your "finally-a-new-york-blogger!",
Kelsey

All the states we saw! A combo of stress & nighttime caused us to miss the
New Jersey & New York signs... but we'll have other chances. ;)

Big Apple Summer || The 2nd Audition

So this wasn't actually on "Audition Day" - this was at Cafe Grumpy in Chelsea -
but mom's grumpy face was just too pitiful to leave un-posted. ;)

The 2nd Audition: The sequel to The Audition.

Alright, people. So I have the feeling (& high hopes) that this blog post illustrating Audition #2 will make me sound far less naive and much more like the woman of the world that I am. ;) (That ended up sounding a lot weirder than I expected. But I'm going to leave it because it makes me sound edgy.)

So Tuesday's audition was, as I said before, the Newsies' EPA - Equity Principal Auditions. So for me, this was the big fish. The big "kahuna," if you will. Not that it wouldn't be a dream to be in the chorus itself, but Katherine Plumber is one of my top 5 dream roles. It would be hard to explain to you the amount of "Seize the Day" renditions my shower head has experienced. I can't imagine many roles that would be more fun for me! It has the music of my childhood (minus Christian Bale), an amazingly-talented-almost-all-male-cast & she has one big dance number: and it's TAP. That's a caps-lock of pure happiness, my friends. But OKAY, back to the audition...

Because of the aforementioned importance of this day, I woke up right at 5am with intentions of arriving at MTC around 6:30am - we even grabbed tea & oatmeal in our hotel to avoid the extra trip to sbux. But this morning had some trials of its own... Because of the tired & weak-like-a-baby state of my voice the previous day, I decided I needed to warm up this time, but the clerk at the front desk of our fancy schmancy hotel (I won't name any names) told us we'd have to pay to use one of their conference rooms. Even for 5 minutes. At 5:45am. 

...Okay, front desk clerk.

So there seemed to be only one practical option ... Ride the elevator. That's right. My unbelievably sweet and selfless mom rode the elevator with me as I warmed up, pressing the "door close" button as I abruptly silenced myself at each floor arrival, and skillfully choosing floors that didn't have people waiting to get on. (PTL, am I right?)

I'd like to say it looked kinda like this.

But I guess it kinda looked more like this.

And just like that, after some light belting & screlting, my voice was warm! Mom kept assuring me that would make for a great "rookie story" someday - but I gotta say, I didn't even mind it so much at the time. Heck, I'd do it again! #foolproofplan

So 20 minutes, a Quaker to-go oatmeal, and a hug from mom later - I arrived at the Manhattan Theatre Club - and at 6:30am, I was about 6th in line! Score! About 5 minutes after that, a hilarious young guy from California who I'd met the day before shows up...with a mission. He is determined to make sure our 6:30am non-equity line was respected as apparently he'd experienced some troubles with that at the previous day's audition. He reassured me, "We do this all the time at LA auditions." So who was I to call his bluff? Go for it, my friend! ... And he did! He created a "non-equity sign-up list" of his own, and about 3 hours later the man at the front said, "You got a list? Sure, we can use that, why not?!" And just like that, Cali Disney audition boy became the non-eq hero of the day. (Non-eq newbies - take note!)

I forgot to mention, on this particular day, I came PREPARED. I mean, I had a BAG. I plan to make an "audition necessities" post later on, but just for kicks I'll mention just how prepared I was. ;) I brought a curling iron, brush, hairspray (like, what?), two books (read about 3 posts in Jesus Calling - I recommend it so highly), a change of clothes AND shoes, an extra pair of character shoes, an apple, a clif bar...I even brought an extra binder! I'm telling you, people, I was a changed woman. 

Oh, this is exciting:

I was apparently so put-together (ha!) that I even had a mom come up to me and ask what her daughter should expect "because I look like I've done this before." I don't know WHAT gave her that impression, and, granted, her daughter was probably 12 years old, but whatever - I diary'ed that so fast. 

"This lady thinks I know what I'm doing!"
Photo courtesy of Skyy Pamilton & my own swallowing of pride.

Even more exciting than that ^^ ("WHAT could be more exciting than that?" you ask) was that - like all these other people - I finally got to see a familiar auditioning face, too! To my pleasant surprise, a friend from Baylor Theatre arrived - Joshua Gonzales! Josh had just gotten back from a tour with Theatreworks USA (where he received his equity card!), and he had been super helpful all summer by answering all my questions about theatre, NYC, equity cards, etc. and was incredibly encouraging. (Which I so appreciated!) Because Josh is now equity, he had the liberty to show up after 9 - although he still arrived before 8, kudos to Josh - and sign up for his own auditioning slot. Thus, he was in & out before 10:30! (P.s. Check out Greyman Theatre Co. run by my friends Josh ^ & Matt Tolbert & show them some love!) He chose to have his audition in the morning, but many equity members would show up to sign in, and then go about their normal day and show up for a late auditioning slot. How nice! 

My jealousy only emerged when - at this particular audition - there were several young boys auditioning for the part of Les. Many of whom were below the age of 10. And their resume could eat mine for lunch. But whatever, I'm sure they fully realize how fortunate they are... right? ;) But true story, Cali Disney boy & I had been gawking over this precious young blonde boy, and after his mom shushed his squealing he literally said, "But mom... You know I must practice my craft!" HE SAID CRAFT. Cali Disney guy thought this was the most hilarious & endearing thing he'd ever seen. And I...well, I gave a little giggle but spent the rest of the day asking myself WHO taught him that word? #babydiva

Okay so now for the actual 45 seconds of "audition room" time - 

Before they can get to the non-eqs, they first filter in all of the "EMC's" - Equity Membership Candidates. These are performers that have not been given their full equity card, but they have earned points towards their equity card - and once they reach enough points, they can become equity members! Thus, they are considered below equity members but above non-eqs. It's a great place to be. Congrats. After filtering all the EMC's in between equity member auditions, we heard the words, "We will now begin auditioning non-equity members. Listen for your name." Well, I was #6! So my ears were on high alert! I was so excited. My voice was feeling so much stronger, and I finally got to sing the 16-bar cut that I had wished to sing the day before. Yesterday, I had been full of nerves & insecurity, but now I truly could not WAIT to get in that room! And that was a great feeling! (And a little bit of a relief to be honest.) Also, because of the nature of our theatre dept. at Baylor and how large it is, I honestly couldn't have felt more prepared. (Sic 'em, BUT!) It truly felt similar to a BU musical audition... & I loved those. The faces behind the table just looked a little different this time. 

Another comforting thing was how kind everyone around me was. I forgot to mention in my last post, but at the first audition, I made friends with an Australian post-grad who had attended AMDA in new york & was hoping to stay in the US for a couple more years. Her name was Karli, and we became instant friends after I agreed to sign her in while she ran over to her Matilda audition. (Gotta admit...it felt kinda like a Full House episode where later I would reap the consequences of my seemingly harmless deed...but I later found out, it really wasn't a big deal. I'm such a newbie.)  Needless to say, all the gals I had met were super cool! And we all felt equally unexperienced and thus equally supportive and encouraging...that was nice.

So finally, it was my turn to go in! 

I fixed my bangs for the millionth time, took one last swig of water & then it was time! They filter us in & out so quickly that, quite frankly, we hardly have any time to even say our names. So I tried as best I could to greet them right as I walked in and squeeze in a little interaction on my way to the piano. Unfortunately, the pianist didn't want to play the intro written and preferred for me to just start singing it cold - no intro, no nothing - surprise! (So good thing I didn't actually want time to say my name before singing... that would've been so mainstream...;) So, I did what he said! I got up there and POUNDED that first note. And I gotta say... I didn't hate it. ;) No no no... what I mean is I actually felt really good about this audition, which was a huge change from the day before! Once again, the men at the table were so kind and made me feel like a million bucks. But more than that, I was so glad to be able to leave the room (by 11:30am, might I add!) feeling completely confident in my performance without an OUNCE of regret or "I should've done this or that." It was a great day.

Don't we look like we're having a great day?

So, the aftermath: I wasn't - and I'm still not - hanging all of my expectations on this one audition. I left there knowing that there was the possibility I could hear from them for Newsies, the possibility I could hear from one of them for another job or the possibility that I might never see those men again! And I was seriously okay with all of these options. DUH, I want to be cast as Katherine Plumber in Newsies ;) But it is so comforting to know that I can only do what I can do. I can only be myself and sing as well as I can sing, so hopefully one day (& hopefully soon!) that'll be just what they're looking for! But as they taught us over & over at SpringboardNYC - never let any audition be THE audition. Never let the stakes be so high over ONE audition that you end up psyching yourself out or worse - completely letting yourself down.

So since then, I've moved on with my life and have been enjoying a wonderful July & August in Colleyville, TX. But in a mere 8 days, I am finally heading back via penske truck to the Big Apple! I am feeling so many emotions - and I'm not gonna bore you by listing all of the things that Kelsey could possibly be feeling. ;) But I will say that I am so excited and about 92% ready. The Newsies auditions were such a good experience and a SUPER kind entry into this world of auditioning that's essentially about to be one of my part-time jobs. I am so thankful for that experience and so glad that I can now say my first NYC auditions are behind me! The journey has officially begun!

Thanks for following along with me, and I hope I haven't lost you yet. 

Also - please check out a blog by a friend of mine Francisco Lopez - Cisco in Chicago - and follow his exciting theatre hap'nins in the midwest. (Trust me, you'll want to know of this guy. ;)

And so I leave you...with a verse & a pic! Enjoy. :)

Found this verse the day of audition #2. What a comfort.

aaaand a carousel at Central Park, happy wednesday!

Your semi-successful auditioner,

k-mart