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