Give em the old Razzle Dazzle...

Well, it has certainly been an interesting process so far at the home base. We had auditions for Chicago the second day of school. I can't speak for anybody else since I wasn't there, but I would say that auditions in general went very well. I feel like they went pretty smoothly and when I left they were only about 4 people behind (which, let's be honest, is kind of an accomplishment). So, at my high school, the theatre department is as close to professionalism as possible. We need 16 bars of an up-beat and ballad as well as a well rehearsed, memorized 1-2 minute monologue that correlates with the piece we are auditioning for. I sang "I Can Do Better Than That" from The Last 5 Years and "Easy to be Hard" from HAIR. My monologue was Val's monologue from A Chorus Line. I thought they went very well. I was SO incredibly nervous. I get nervous for absolutely everything. Even last year during Rent, I would FREAK out every night right before the second act. I had a solo in Seasons and Every single night I was like, "WHAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENS??"

Anyway, after a lot of scaredness and whatnot about callbacks, the list was emailed to us. I was called back for Velma (THAT was a huge surprise) and Mama. The callbacks were pretty much like this: We all sat there while they called all the boys in, then the Roxies and then the Velmas and Mamas. There was singing and reading of scenes. I read for Mama twice and Velma once. We sang, "All That Jazz" and "When You're Good to Mama" And then, at 7, we all packed up and had to zoof over to dance auditions. I had a lot of fun, but I am not a good dancer, so, it was a little uncomfortable, especially learning the dance. Our director is Larry Sousa, so, it's going to be a HEAVY dance show.

Well, finally the cast list was posted. I would post it all here, but I'm afraid to say names because people might get angry even though nobody reads this but Allie. So, I'll just spare myself the trouble. I'm in the chorus. I was disappointed to say the least, but after a chat with the assistant director, I felt better. Last night we had our first rehearsal. The first half or more was dedicated to the technical stuff. Contracts, costume notices, cast lists, etc. were given out. I looked at them and saw my name twice. These were scene-by scene cast break downs. I love these because they are so incredibly organized but last night, they weren't my favorite. I want to take this time to say a few things that I need to be saying to myself lately. It really doesn't matter what part I get. I had been thinking it would feel the same as Rent if I got a bigger part or if I had a solo. But it wasn't the solo that made Rent so special. What made Rent special was the people that I got to work with. We were so loving and such a big family, but I need to get over that this isn't going to be the same. We have 6 weeks to get this show up and ready. If there is one person who isn't committed, the show can't work. I need to put aside my disappointment in myself and just start working. If I look at this negatively, nothing will happen positively the whole process. So even though I'm in 2 numbers, even though I'm being made to feel like I'm not as important, even though I'm not going to be able to see many of my friends during the process, it's going to be a good experience. It doesn't matter how I feel about the show. What matters is that I'm committed to making the audience believe.

Than that's the note I want to end on.

Keep it positive :)