"Now that you’ve found another key, what are you going to play?"

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Here is the post about auditioning. I mentioned wanted to audition for ten things this year.

So last Sunday I went up to Tucson to audition for Little Shop of Horrors. I was excited because I love the show, and it’s in the genre of shows that Tucson does very rarely. I guess you could call the genre “musical theatre, but not classical, golden-age, Rodgers and Hammerstein musical theatre,” but that’s a little wordy. I was also excited because, though I haven’t seen one of their shows yet, I believe the theatre company producing it is a quality one.

Anyway, my initial audition went well; I pretty much sang and left. I sang “Inside Your Heart” from Bat Boy, which almost seems as though it was taken right out of Little Shop. The next night I got a callback from the director, so I went up again on Tuesday night to attend the callbacks.

I could go into great detail about the callbacks, but to make a long story short- I had probably one of the best auditions of my life. The dance call was fun, and I totally rocked it. And then we sang, and I did great with that as well. Unfortunately the next morning when the cast list came out I wasn’t on it. They decided to do the show without an ensemble (it could potentially be done with one or without one), so only four girls and four guys were cast.

I kind of figured I wouldn’t get cast, because the musical director (who was running the singing part of it) did not get my name while we were cycling through different combinations. I knew I sang well, but I figured that later on he would have forgotten me, and I think I was probably right. I’m not saying there isn’t a possibility that he just didn’t like my voice, but I don’t think that was the case.

Later that night I had the opportunity to talk with the director about my audition, and she mentioned that I was one of her favorite dancers. I think a major part of not being cast was the fact that the girls who were cast have done previous shows with the company, or were at least known by the director from other productions. This presents a difficulty for me; I want to be as involved in Tucson theatre as possible, but I’d rather not sacrifice my family time for a production that I’m not completely psyched about. SO, it makes it hard for me to pay my dues in less exciting shows, so that I’m more likely to get cast in the shows I’m most interested in when they come along.

So for now I’m just going to play it by ear, as audition notices come out. If something sounds exciting, I will definitely audition, and if something sounds less exciting but like a good networking opportunity, then I will make those decisions on a case-by-case basis.

The good news is that some of the best performers in Tucson were at that audition, and I more than held my own next to them, so that makes me happy. It would have been fun to have been in the show, but it was my first audition in over a year, so at least it was a good experience. AND, even just by auditioning you get yourself out there and can network and be noticed by directors.

So ten auditions is the goal for this year. Little Shop was one, and I’ve already emailed a lady about another one, and there are two or three other possibilities coming up soon. And in March or April should be the Millie auditions, which is what I’m taking my tap class for (more on my dance classes next), and in which I would just love to be in the ensemble, if nothing more.

Honestly, I’m just dying to be part of theatre that doesn’t suck. The Millennium shows are the most quality theatre productions I’ve been in since moving to Arizona, and I’ve been here for going on 4 years now! My plan for having children would have us starting to try again this November, so the window of time is not large to do something fun, challenging, and fulfilling. Here’s hoping!

I did, however, complete two auditions so far this year. I sent in an audition tape for Survivor!

And before I close this post, I’ll tell you about my dance classes and a few other thoughts.

Last week I used my gift certificate from Christmas for four dance classes, and I LOVED THEM ALL! It made it difficult to decide. I tried hip hop on Monday, and that was really fun. I’ve hardly taken any hip hop, but I kept up and really enjoyed it. Cynthia came with me to that class and commented on my ability to “be ghetto.” I thought she knew me… Then on Wednesday I took adult tap, which is fun because the class is so small (only 5-7 people have showed up both times I’ve been so far), and it’s challenging enough to not be boring. Then on Thursday I took Jazz and Contemporary. The jazz was a good level to push me to be better, and the contemporary was great to learn new choreography. So I’m taking tap for now, and I’ll probably take something different next semester.

My other thought is this: I really feel like I’m becoming a true blue triple threat. I have a good acting background that I’ve been expanding on in past years, with more challenging roles and classes; I’ve always sung, so I have the musical background, and just this past year I’ve learned from Daniel how to belt. I realized that I’ve sung in my head voice my entire life (which is a strength for me, because my higher head voice is way stronger than most, and now that I’m learning to belt, I’ll be unstoppable). So I struggled with the new concept of belting for a little while, but I feel like I just woke up one day a few weeks ago and could belt all of a sudden. I was singing and suddenly could belt Cs and Ds… Sweet. So now I’m working on making smooth transitions from belt to head voice and pushing my belt to be more consistent on the higher notes. And as for dance- granted, among a group of “dancers” I would probably look fairly weak, but among a group of musical theatre people, I am very strong in every style. So that makes me feel good, and it’s nice that I have the opportunity at present to be improving my skills in all three areas.

And my last comment is this: I’m now teaching two dance classes on Fridays, in St. David. We started last week, and I had seven people in my teenage class, which was so much fun! We’re doing all different styles, and they are some of my favorite people, so it’s good times. I’m really looking forward to continuing with them and strengthening their skills and expanding their knowledge of different styles. And it’s nice extra money for us, too!

So my challenge to you, dear reader, is to think of something you want to improve on and go out and do it! Find a class, join a club, whatever you need to improve your skills and feel better about yourself!