2 More Shows!

Lovelies, Hooray! I booked 2 more shows! Hooray!

Both shows are Sisters of Swing - however one will be in late April/ Early May and it will be at the Riverside Theatre in Vero Beach, Florida and the second will be in early June in Pennsylvania at the Totem Pole Playhouse!

Now, the Riverside theatre was sort of an extension from the show that I was doing in Minnesota. The whole show was asked to come down to Florida, so I get to do the same production with all my favorite people AT THE BEACH!!!!

Awesome.

The second show I booked on my own! Hoo-freakin'-ray!!! My first "I booked it and I haven't worked with these people before and they liked me enough to hire me"! This will hopefully be the first of many!

So it's gonna be a Sisters of Swing spring, but honestly, I get my health insurance with AEA and I'm getting paid the most I've ever made for doing theatre, so I'm pretty pumped! And I love doing the show - it really is a sweet, fun show & I love when I can move people through my storytelling!

More Auditions AND an Agent appointment!

Lovelies! I've done 4 auditions in the past 2 weeks and have ROCKED at every single one! (Just sayin'...)

The first was last Monday - they were auditioning for She Loves Me at the Westport County Playhouse in Connecticut. I got to the Actors Equity building where the audition was being held fairly early - like 7:40 am. And I saw all my great friends who were all so excited to hear how my show went!

(side note: I've been ferociously jealous when other people come back and I hear everyone asking them "Oh, Hello So&So! How was your show?" or "We missed you here, So&So! Glad you're back!" and then the So&So person is like "It changed my life! I love theatre!")

And last Monday, lovelies, I got to be THAT GIRL who everyone was like "Oh, Hey, Miss Musical! We love you & missed you so much! By the way, How was your Show!?" and I got to be all "Oh, it was fantastic! Let me tell you all about how great it was over coffee next Tuesday!"

Joy, lovelies! And I'm so bloody proud of my work! And my talents! I really feel like I'm in a place where I'm grateful for what I've got, but can also recognize that I have talent and be able to acknowledge that without being too egotistical! I just feel really rockin' about myself and my work!

So yes, Monday's audition for She Loves Me rocked the casba.

Wednesday I auditioned for Mary Poppins chorus call - I've been seen for it before, but it was worth it to go in! I felt really good about the story I presented in the room and the casting director just seemed tired. However, I'm so happy that I now know there was nothing that I did wrong to make him tired. I did my bit by preparing and doing the best audition possible! Hooray for that!

I also took a class at the Actors connection with a lovely agent who runs her own boutique agency. I'd never met her before, but I felt an instant chemistry between the two of us. I just really liked her. She was fun & I wanted to know more about her! I also felt like I could be real with her - and I'm not afraid to call her, so that's always a good feeling. She said that she would call me by the end of the next week and if she doesn't that I'm supposed to call her. Love that, lovelies! (Wouldn't it be swell if I accomplished one of my 2010 goals in the first month!?)

Being a Grown Up Sucks Sometimes....

Lovelies,  there are some parts of adulthood that I really enjoy.   Like not having a curfew, being able to move where ever I want in the world, and -of course- being able to partake in alcoholic beverage consumption. 

 

HOWEVER, there are some parts of Grow-up-dom that SUCK.  (warning - this is not a happy typical "Miss Musical" blog - I'm venting a little bit)

Let me list them in order:

1. Bill Pay.  (I hate bills & paying them.  I like having an apartment, cell phone, In Style Magazine every month - but I HATE having to pay for them.  Uugh.)

2. Ownership of your mistakes.  (Do you remember when you effed up when you were young and were able to say "Oh, I'm so young & I haven't learned that yet, so you can't get mad at me for messing up!" and then you're supposed to learn from your mistake, as to avoid it in the future??  Yeah, I have a hard time learning from the past, I guess...)

3. Societal Pressures.  (Ie.  You MUST - according to society- have a job that you're "successful" at, get married, have babies and be exceedingly happy with your lot in life.  Oh, and you have to do this all by the time you're 35 or you're a failure.  Got that??  ... God, I hate the "normal" people -- and I hate myself even more for wanting to be one of them...)

4. Never Having Enough.  (This is kind of a spin on social pressure, but I feel as an adult that I never have enough.  Enough money, enough living space, enough food, enough clothing, enough furniture.... When does it end?  When will I be able to step back and say "Yeah, my little apartment in Queens rocks and I love all my clothes!"  I kinda do say this stuff already, but I secretly would love to come into loads of money -- but even then, would that be "enough"?  Or would I still crave more??  Bigger Money = bigger toys)

5. Religious questing.  (Lovelies, believe you me - I love me some Jesus, but I also don't believe in dismissing all other religions quite so quickly.  This bugs me about being an adult, too - as a teen I was spoon fed Christianity and while I love the teachings of the bible, I still think that there are loads of other good things you can take away from other religions, too!  Like the calm of Buddhists, or the devotion of Jews, or other such things...  And most adults think "I believe (fill in the blank) and that's the ONLY way to go!"which makes it hard when you can appreciate other aspects of various religions... Very frustrating part of being an adult.)

Well, lovelies, I think that's enough seriousness for now!  Onto nicer things - I gave an AWESOME audition for "A little Night Music" for my FAVORITE casting director E. Woods on Friday!  (and MatE. was playing at the piano!  Love that!)  I felt so calm & at ease in the introduction & end of the audition -- and I ROCKED it out on the song.  

Was so into the song that I was close to crying but never lost it totally until the last verse & then I had to "Pull it together" during the very last lyric in the song!!!  I got a "Excellent audition, Miss Musical" from E. Woods.  (and I kinda look a little like Kelly Price in the face - who's playing the role I want to play in London... Planting little seeds of hope, my lovelies... We'll see if I even get a callback...)

I AM AN ACTRESS - HEAR ME ROAR!!!  And it feels so great when you really feel like you've done justice to the song!  Now if I can just get one person to believe in me and think I've got the stuff to do a show here in NYC, we'll be set! 

Mamma Mia & Date #2

Lovelies,  I went to the Mamma Mia chorus call on Tuesday morning and knocked it out of the ballpark! 

For the pop/rock type of auditions I sing a certain TV show theme song which ends with a hat toss - and guess what?!  The two guys behind the table both pretended to toss their hats at the end with me!  Awesome, no?

So I felt good about that - they haven't called me yet though to offer me a callback...  Uugh.  Dating & auditioning seem to parallel in my life - when one area goes well, the other tends to follow in suit....  but last night was different!  I had a lovely date with no lovely audition.

It was date number 2 with the Engineer (not like a train conductor - like one who makes programs for computers dealing with financial analysis & things like that.)  

We were supposed to go to the Tribeca Film Festival to see "The Girlfriend Experience", but alas, we didn't book tickets in advance... SO - we got tix for "I Love You, Man" and used the Engineers iPhone (thank you Urban Spoon) to find a lovely little paella bar called Socarrat. 

 

It was AMAZING!  Although the wait was very long, the food was just fantastic as was the service!  This is what we ate:

And after our quick meal we saw I Love You, Man - and lovelies I was almost wetting myself I was laughing so hard!  Paul Rudd is so deliciously awkward!  Brilliant concept for a movie - brilliant casting.  I loved it all!

Then it was back home to Actoria to watch more Mad Men DVD's - I'm obsessed!  Just started Season One & can't wait to get the second DVD in the mail!

Summertime! And the living is... well, pretty easy!

Lovelies, spring has sprung here in NYC!  Finally!  I am giddy because of the sunshine and all I want to do is go to Blockheads open air cafe and have one of these salivating-inducing drinks!

Oh-for-freakin'-yum-er-iffic!

AND lovelies, I just did two auditions this morning that ROCKED!  (at least I felt like they rocked - I'm not so sure either company was that into me, but darn it, I did a great job!  Who wouldn't want to hire me?!)

So the first audition was 101 Dalmatians (not the Disney movie, the book version - where the female dog that's Pongo's love interest isn't named Perdita, but instead named Missus!  Shocking!  AND the place where "the Dearly's" live is the exact spot where I lived when I studied in London!)  

The main casting director WALKED OUT of the audition building 10 minutes before I sang -- WTF?!  So I had to sing for the Music Director and the lovely casting associate.  They were very nice.

And then I tried out for Westchester Broadway Theatre's production of I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change.  I sang my Mary Tyler Moore song for that - went VERY well for me, but the people behind the table couldn't give two hoots about me.  They looked like they wanted to go outside & be in the sun as much a I did!  

Then it was off to work for the Lady of the House on the UES.  I love my job as an assistant!  I got to hand deliver presents today and work on photo albums!  God bless it!  

OH, and I got this today in the pale yellow color!  (along with the matching undies!)  SOOOO cute, lovelies!  (and push-up-riffic!)

Shows & Auditions!

Lovelies! Had a GREAT day today! My scene study class was A-freakin-Mazing! I did the "Three Bedroom House" scene from Bat Boy with my supa-cool friend Blarizy! Went amazingly well & I felt like we found out some good new material!

Also, today after class I saw Blithe Spirit with Angela Lansbury! She was so funny! (Her dancing took the cake!) And Rupert Everett was enjoyable. But by far the best character in the show was the side character of the maid! A gal who was making her Broadway debut was playing her and the choices & character development she had was just wonderful! Me Gusta some Noel Coward funny plays!

Tomorrow I'm going to schlep my cookies to Telsey to audition (again) for Legally Blonde national tour. Cross the fingers, lovelies - I might just make it after all! :)

No Typing In today... Sigh...

Lovelies, I didn't get typed in today for Papermill's production of "Full Monty".  It looked like they wanted real Jersey Girls...  Of which I am not. ...Unless you could have Scandinavian girls who don't reveal too much skin populate Jersey...  

But they did let me sing and then they did callbacks.  So that was nice to get my 16 bars in!  

I also saw a TON of my girlfriends today at the audition!  That was fantastic - I am so lucky & blessed that I surround myself with positive & beautiful women who are also wonderfully talented!  

Last night the Argentinian said on the phone to me "You sound so happy!  Perhaps you don't need a man in your life??"  To which I replied "It's not a need - it's a choice."  

I'm very happy to be dating - that's fun.  But it's also time consuming & emotionally a bit draining to be concerned about another persons ego (especially in the case of the Argentinian - he is a nice enough guy, but I don't know if he's got the goods to carry on for the long term.  He's pretty married to his work.)

Hopefully I'll be able to drag myself from my bed for the auditions tomorrow morning...  It's just so freakin' nice to sleep in!

Skipping Auditions remind me of ditching classes in High School...

Lovelies, I didn't go to a dance call this morning because I chose to sleep in and get myself totally healthy.  (I'm almost there - I still cough here & there, but not nearly as bad as last week!)

I always feel a little bad ass and a little guilty when I skip auditions.  I have them all marked in my calendar, and this past week I only did one audition!  Wwaaahh! (better than none, I guess)  It was for Pittsburgh CLO - which is such a great company.  Only bummer is that the chica who casts it is not a big fan of Mama Musical.  In fact, I'd go so far as to say that she doesn't like me very much.... 

Le Sigh....

The audition itself went OK - I felt pretty good about the song I chose, but also I felt like I was working too hard.  It's like people want me to cover up all of who I am, and the joy I bring to my work in order to "fit me in" to their show.  Uugh...

BUT good news, my lovelies - I got a show!  

Now, before you all get too excited - it's one I've done before and I didn't have to audition for it. It's going to be at the History theatre in Minnesota this Christmas season, so I'm brushing up on my music, the big monologue I have during the show, and I'm trying to remember the dance moves.  

I LOVE this show, friends.  It's called Sisters of Swing and its based on the Andrews Sisters life story.  (Kind of like a Jersey Boys for 1940's music).  Great stuff and people go nuts for it.

Oh, and update on the Argentinian:  He texted, twice.  And he called, twice.  Think I'm going to sit on this one more day, as his first date behavior really bugged me.  The beginning and the end of the date sucked - but the middle was great!  I really do think I'm going to give him a second chance, as he intrigues the hell out of me - but I'm not wearing my heart on my sleeve too much with this one lovelies - the red flags are flying, but I've got my "smart girl" cap on!

Good Callbacks CAN happen to Bad Auditions!

Lovelies,  Good News!  I got a callback for Totem Pole Playhouse!  Hooray!  And guess what - I TOTALLY biffed the audition!  

I walked into the room & was confident as can be - sang the majority of my song and then lovelies, as the song is ending, I forgot that I made a cut in the music!  D'OH!  So - I kept singing the wrong part...  Then I realized what I was doing - and totally said "Wow!  Dudes I've never done that before - you're witnessing a once only event!"  and the director said "You should try again!"  and the second time was OK - I didn't mess up the end!  

And guess what - I got the FREAKIN' CALLBACK!

They're doing "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" which is quite possibly one of the funniest shows ever!  And I'm called back for it!  Exciting - and the contract is very respectable!  :)  I could totally deal with spending a month in the beautiful Caledonia State Park in Pennsylvania where the playhouse is located!  

Here's to screwing up the audition but still getting the callback!

It Comes & It Goes...

Lovelies!  I'm so proud of myself!  I gave 2 ROCKIN' auditions this morning!  Boo-yah!

The first one was for the Westchester Broadway Theatre.  They were doing Titanic the Musical and cut the freaking Chorus Call from 16 bars to 8 bars!  WTF??!!  How on earth am I supposed to show them how GREAT I am in a measly 8 bars??!!  

And get this - I ripped the seat of my pants WIDE OPEN right before I had to get in the line to audition!  Uugh!  (Thank God I had another pair of black stretchy pants in my bag!)  

But never fear, my lovelies!  I thought "Well, since I did so poorly yesterday I MUST give a good showing today!"  And I DID!  It went great!  I sang my belty-modern music theatre number and got a TON of compliments from the creative team AND the accompanist!  Hooray!

The second audition was for the Depot Theatre/ Hanger Theatre season!  I sang my Aretha Franklin "rock-it-out" song!  Went great!  My favorite pianist Marky-Mark was in the room and it just made my day better to have someone on "Team Miss Musical" in the room!  

Love that, Lovelies!  Love THAT!

Now I'm off to my friend's bi-weekly cabaret "Big Night Out" hosted by the Fabulous Miss Jennifer Wren!  

Blase is the word of the day!

Lovelies, the definition of Blase is apathetic to pleasure or excitement as a result of excessive indulgence or enjoyment. 

 This is how I felt this morning when I was doing my audition for White Plains Performing Arts Center - they were doing the musical "A Little Night Music".  

I had such high hopes going into the audition and then it all just fell apart at the end of the song when I was supposed to hit my glorious high notes!  Well, it didn't totally fall apart - I still hit the notes, I just wasn't "in the room" - kind of having a weird out-of-body moment!  Uugh.

But I think we all have to have our blase days to appreciate the great days, right??  

Popular! I'm am so Popular!

Lovelies,  I got TYPED IN for Glinda in Wicked today!  The past 3 Wicked chorus calls I've been to I've gotten typed out (so I don't get to stay & sing - they just tell me I'm not right for the show & I go on my merry way.) but today was SPECIAL!  I got to stay & sing!  Hooray!  

I've only been typed in for one other Broadway show (Les Miz for the Fantine cover) but this was over two years ago and this was such a nice boost of confidence!  And the best part was I got to actually see the "Maybe she could do this" moment that the casting director had when he picked up my picture put it into the "No" pile, picked it up again and looked carefully at it then at me and then back at my resume and put it in the "Yes" pile!  HOO- FREAKIN'- RAY!  

Walking into the room was a little nerve wracking, but I smiled, said hello to the director & the pianist, said the name of my song and started.   The charming and lovely Dup-Dup was at the piano today and he just rocks it out every time.  (Brilliant piano player - no questions there.)  I was so happy that he was in the room to help me!  I sang my up tempo soprano song and the casting director said "Great Miss Musical!  Thank you for coming in today!"  

And you know what lovelies - it sounded like he really meant it.  Not just the generic "Thanks Miss M." but his vocal tone had a genuine and warm quality to it.  And he looked me right in the eye when he said it - perhaps seems like I'm getting  a titch too excited, but they don't have to do that.

Wouldn't that be somethin' if I got a callback?!  

Secret Life of Bees..

Lovelies,  I've been meaning to read this book and was very excited when I saw it was coming to a theatre near me as a movie!  Usually I like to read the book before I see the movie, but with this there was no book-readin' before... and it was fantastic!  Hooray!

SO, last night I was planning on going to a meeting with an agent at the Hardin/Curtis Agency but had the wrong date in my calendar.  (It's tonight - d'oh.)  I left the Actors Connection where the meeting was supposed to take place and swung by the movie theatres at 42nd Street to see what was playing.  

Then I saw it - this poster:

I was totally like "I'm going to see this movie.  RIGHT NOW!"  

Was so girly & great - just what I needed.  Very smart, interesting and captivating historical fiction movie.  Just wonderful!  

And sadly, lovelies, because I thought that the event was last night and it's tonight, I couldn't attend the Wicked Chorus Call this afternoon....  I had to work to make up for the lost hours from tonight.  (by my own choice, but let's be honest here - Mama's gotta pay the rent somehow!)

Moral of Story: Movies are good, there's always another audition, and for God's Sake - Keep close tabs on your schedule or your whole week could get shifted around.  

Now go see the movie!  Or read the book!  Or both!  :)

And Everything was Ragtime!

Lovelies,  I had 2 great auditions for Ragtime!  

The Kennedy Center is doing their own production of it, and I LOVE that show and want to be a part of it SO SO bad!

I went to the Principal Audition last week and sang beautifully and they said "Lovely Job Miss Musical".  Then I went and sang my fun up tempo at the Chorus Call yesterday and they said "Miss Musical - that was excellent!"  

So I guess I have to feel good about that!  Hopefully I made enough of an impression that I can get a callback.  But we'll wait & see...  Wishful thinking my lovelies, wishful thinking....  (I WILL be going to Washington DC in April!  I WILL be going to Washington DC in April!)  Gotta keep it positive, right?!

The Word of the Day is HOT!!

Lovelies, today I had 3 special things happen:

1. I got to have coffee/lunch outside in Bryant Park with my lovely girlfriend H.Co.  She is the coolest & classiest and I just love spending time with her!  Plus it was a beautiful day here in NYC and I got to reap the benefits of having no job on one of the last days of Indian Summer.  

(is that PC to say that anymore?  "Indian Summer" - Or other such fun phrases like Feathers not Dots?  Tomahawks not Turbans..."  Hmmm... Probably not...)

2. I got a cutie patootie fall jacket at Ann Taylor Loft!  (It cost me a small fortune, but thankfully MasterCard came through for me once again!)

3. I auditioned for TARA RUBIN herself!  Usually I only get to see Eric or Merri, her two casting assistants, but Today was Special!  Tara of Tara Rubin Casting (who casts Spamalot, Phantom of the Opera, Avenue Q, Mary Poppins, Little Mermaid AND this new show called Happiness) was IN THE FREAKIN' ROOM, PEOPLE!!!  Awesome that I got to sing my ass off for the big cheese herself!  

Also, I said the word "Hot" today more times than Paris Hilton does in a week.  (that's a lot of "Hot's" to go around...)  So H. Co decided that "Hot" was my word of the day like in Pee Wee's Playhouse where you have to freak out after you say it.  Much hilarity ensued after she made me follow this rule!  

Aah (wiping away a tear of laughter) I love my friends!

This weeks Audition Update!

Lovelies...  I just noticed that I blogged about everything under the sun EXCEPT for auditions! 

SO, here's a recap of my past week.  Ready, Set, GO!

Last Thursday I auditioned for a company called Mill Mountain Theatre.  They're doing one of my favorite shows "Spitfire Grill" and I think I'm pretty great for the part of Percy.  (It's dramatic AND has a great range of well written songs - I freakin' LOVE that show...)  It went great!  I sang Mill work by James Taylor and really rocked it out in the room!  They said "Thank you SO much for coming in, Miss Musical!  You were great!"  Gotta feel good about that!

OH, and last Wed. I went to the Wicked principal audition and sang my little heart out!  (I love my uptempo Soprano song!)  My fav. pianist Marky was playing.  He's the best!  And the handsome P.Goods was in the room representing Telsey & Co.  He suggested a song for me & talked to me for a few minutes after I sang.  Wow - how GREAT to have them talk to me like I'm a human!  (But then today I got typed out of the Chorus Call - balls....)

Also, I tried out for Spamalot on Tuesday.  I think I'd make a fierce Lady of the Lake.  But I never get called back for it - and I gave a wonderful audition for Merri and she said so in the room!  (I sang my contemp. driving ballad - I just love singing it!  My imaginary scene partner is someone who I'm crazy head over heels for in real life and I get to tell him I love him in the song!  It's great!)  I also did the same audition song for Mary Poppins last week - Eric Woods said I did a great job in the room with that song!  

The compliments are nice - now I just want the callbacks! (and then to book the show!)  It WILL happen my lovelies, just not on the timeline that I want....

Auditions are fun! (and time consuming)

Lovelies, I am very proud of myself because I just did 3 auditions in 3 hours (with a 4th coming up at 4:50) and I've also got a bad case of the coughing/runny nose sort...  

And let me tell ya - I was FANTASTIC in every one of them!  First I went to the Actors Equity building to sign up for the New York Music Theatre Festival.  (as they say in [title of show] "The Festival!  The KING'S FESTIVAL?!" -- 5 points for anyone who knows the other musical that's from..) 

After that I trucked my cookies down to Ripley Greer to audition for The Little Mermaid at 10:10 - so that was fun.  Then I came back to Equity, sang at the NYMF audition and that went GREAT - I sang my song from "I Love Lucy" - it usually goes over really well because it's funny & sweet!

Then I went to Nola studios & got my time slot for the Bristol theatre company - they're doing Spitfire Grill - one of my most favorite shows.  (Tangent: I wanted to write favourite in that last sentence, the way that the British spell it.  Isn't that so much nicer than plain-jane American favorite?  I think so.)  

And finally it was off to the York Theatre company where they're doing a musical called "In Transit".  I sang well, but the director was not that into me.

Que sera, sera - you can't win 'em all!  (but you sure can try to have fun at them!)  Here's to auditioning when your sickly!  (cough, cough...)

The week of Birthday Continues....

Lovelies, I just had my audition for Hairspray!

I sang GREAT, looked GREAT, but sadly I guess explaining my cut in the music to the pianist wasn't great... and well, it didn't go quite as I planned...  He kind of stopped playing half way through.  I'm sure I didn't do the cut right, but I was so sure that it was clearly marked...  He joined in with me again at the end.

But I still rocked it out!  (It was the Splish Splash song that I did in my pop/rock class the other week!)   It's such a fun & up beat song to sing and when things started to go down hill all I could think was "I didn't wake up at the ass crack of dawn to come in here & do a bad audition.  No way man.  Not today!"  So I pulled it together and carried on!  Felt good to just do my job.

Last night was the last pop/rock class.  Sniff, cry...  I love that class and am so sad that I won't get to rock it out anymore!  And my last Cassara class was on Sunday night...  No more classes...  AARUGH!!!  Where am I going to get my creative groove on?  (hopefully the show-lette in MN will be a good outlet for that!)

Time to get back to work!

Every Girl LOVES a Little Blue Box...

Lovelies,  

Today has been a rockin' day so far (and I'll re-cap on my crazy week, too!)  I got up, auditioned for And the World Goes 'Round - got a CALLBACK!  (Boo-yah!)  So that's exciting enough...

 And when I got to work today I found this waiting on my desk:

And there was a card with MY NAME ON IT!!!  

Of course I started jumping up & down with delight!  The card read "Happy Late Administrative Assistants day!"   I opened it up and this was inside:

OH! Clappity-clap-clap!  

Sheer delight, my lovelies...  Sheer delight!  It's called the Paloma Picasso Loving Heart Pendant and it's so pretty and simple!  I LOVE IT!  (Lady of the House, whom I work for, done good.  REAL good!)

So I'm back to work after a 2 day absence of worshipping the porcelain god.... I think I puked from 4 am Wed. morning until 8 pm Wed. night and Thursday my body was just getting used to being back to normal.  

Great part was -I lost about 5 pounds (fun, eh - maybe there's more to this bulimia thing than people think... Hmmm....)  Bad part was that I wanted to slit my wrists and end it all most of Wednesday while lying on the cool tile of my bathroom floor and praying that the need to puke would go away and I could just go back to bed & watch Oprah... (which was a REALLY depressing episode on Wednesday - what's up with all those OCD people anyways?!  Crazy stuff...)  

Other than that my week has been great!  Just work & auditions AND my friend Miss Hall came to visit me - I love her!  She's such fun!  We went all over the city last week and had many fun adventures!  (my favorite was when we ran into Spike Lee giving directions to a guy while we were on our way to brunch at Alice's Tea Cup.)   Pure NY moment....  

Now back to admiring my new necklace -and work - mustn't forget work....