2008 Was Great (Let's Make 2009 More Fine!!!)

New Year's Resolutions 2009
A list of my wishes and ambitions for the coming year...

1. Write More - (songs, stories, plays, MUSICALS)
2. Read More - (books, plays)
3. See More Shows - (particularly On and Off-Broadway Productions)
4. Hone My Skills Through Voice, Acting, Dance and Audition Classes
5. Get Paid to Perform - (Improv and Theater, Corporate Gigs)
6. Be Less Afraid of Failure and More Open to Taking Risks
7. Meet New People and Network More
8. Stay More Connected with Old Friends and Family
9. Keep Finding Ways to Market Myself Better In Order to Get an Agent
10. Go To More Auditions
11. Get A New Job or Internship in the Theater Industry
12. Take Better Care of Your Physical Self - Gain more confidence with my fitness level: eat better and work out more)
13. Get Up EARLIER More Often!!!
14. FOLLOW THROUGH ON YOUR GOALS!!!
15. Be More Decisive and Stay Focused!!!
16. Be A Do-ER and Don't Make Excuses
17. Create More Opportunities for Myself
18. BOOK A SHOW ON BROADWAY!!!

Seeking A Song

Now that I'm back in town and almost through all of the holiday hullabaloo, I'm trying to put some more things in order - especially given the fact that the start of 2009 is staring me straight in the face.

There's no better time to prioritize and reexamine one's priorities at the end of an old year. Out with the old and in with the new, I say! Yes, I'm ready to leave some of the muck of 2008 behind and welcome in 2009 with open arms and an open mind!

One of the things on my platter today, aside from my search for a headshot photographer, was to find a few more song options for my friend Terry's rock show ETV.
Before I went away on vacay, I had requested one of my favorite songs of the 80s, Laura Brannigan's "Gloria." Terry wrote back requesting a different selection, since that one had mostly keyboard and synth - which meant little or no guitar for him to rock out. Fair enough. "Back to the drawing board," I said.

Since I do a pretty decent Gwen Stefani impression he suggested a No Doubt song. Not a bad idea. There's no doubt that no one can rock out like No Doubt. I youtubed a bunch of their videos today and narrowed down my many choices to "Magic's in the Makeup" and "Just A Girl."

My nunmber one choice for ETV is "Magic Man" by Heart. It doesn't get any better than this for guitarists who want to wail on their axes...does it?

Headshot Search

After the feedback I received from my audition in front of four agents a couple of weeks ago - I have launched a new search for a new headshot photographer.

Fortunately, I had attached an older shot from a previous session to my new headshot - and the agents liked that one so I am tempted to return to that photographer for another session. As a repeat customer I would also be eligible for a sizable discount. How nice would that be?

The only trouble with those older shots is the fact that I have blond hair in them. (Not my natural color.) A couple years ago I got it in my head that blonds had more fun and so I started down that unfortunate road of highlighting, dying and bleaching. What a dreadful headache that turned out to be! I became a hair dye junkie - having to go to the salon every few weeks as soon as my dark roots started creeping in. Ugh!

I wish that I had thought all of that through before committing to the blond. Since returning to my natural hair color, those good expensive headshots have been rendered unusable. I need a new set of good shots STAT!!!

Musical Mammories

I have been hatching a plan to write a musical for several months now and have been collecting a number of stories and ideas for a project of my very own. I often look to others as a source of inspiration, so tonight I attended a show called "Girl Camp."

The 30-minute musical was written by a couple of friends in the improv community and performed at the UCB Theater as a one-off. The turnout was terrific and the show irreverent and hilarious. I would certainly be surprised if they weren't offered the opportunity to put the show up for a longer run.

I was inspired by their production. They kept it simple, short and sweet. In truth, it left me wanting more!

I think that in order to attck a project of my own, I need to start small. All too often I get an idea in my head about something, but there are too many parts or components for me to tackle on my own. I need to start small and let it grow. Start small. That is the key.

The Big Showcase

Tonight was the night of the big agent showcase! The last three weeks had all been leading up to this moment - and I wanted so badly to knock the socks off of the four agents who were invited to sit in on our auditions.

I put on my pretty new "vixen" red "Butter" dress and was ready to dazzle the room with my vocal prowess.

Since it had been such a supportive environment the whole way through, I was appreciative of the fact that ll of us were going to be allowed to sit in the room and watch each other during our individual "auditions."

Watching those ahead of me - I was surprised that I didn't feel nervous, but entertained by their performances. After each performance, everyone received verbal feedback from each agent individually.

They were pretty tough on some people - less so on others. It was interesting to see the reactions and impressions that were made.

When it came my turn - I felt exhilarated! I was ready to rock and roll!
I sang my little heart out on "Journey to the Past" and tore up the room with "Smash the Mirror" - I felt good.

The agents reactions? Not so impressed.

"You need to energize your body a bit more." said one agent.
"I think that there wasn't enough contrast vocally in both of your songs." said another.
"You need to drive the rhythm forward in 'Smash the Mirror' more - don't let the accompanist drag you along." said the third.

"Put that in your pot and smoke it," I said to myself.

All in all, I wasn't walking away with representation tonight. Ah yes, It seems I have some really serious work to do. I wanted them to all love me! Really, really LOVE me!
"But, didn't you like anything at all?" I wanted to ask them?
I felt so utterly exposed. An icy chill ran up and down my spine. Not a single complimentary word graced their lips. I searched each of their faces for a reassuring smile.
Nothing.

When they were finished with their critique of me, I returned to my seat and tried to act normal. "That was supposed to have gone much better," I thought to myself.

What was worse - there were still a few more people that had to go up for their time in front of the judges. I had to sit there and watch them while trying to resist the impulse to run screaming from the room. I kept wishing that I could turn back time and do it all over again. But that was that. I sat and watched and listened to the remaining women in the class, trying to clear my head of the negative, self-critical words that were swirling through my brain. UGH!

Once all of the auditions were through, we had a brief Q&A with the agents. They threw out a few names of teachers and coaches in the city, several of whom I'm going to look into. I need to be a better auditioner. I don't have it down to a science quite yet. If I'm going to have the kind of success that I am after in this industry, I need to get better at auditioning.

On the written feedback sheets that all of us received on our way out, the agents remarked that I performed the songs well, but if it were up to them, I wouldn't be cast in a principal role on or off-Broadway. (sigh)

The best I can hope for now is for them to lose my headshot and resume so that when I get up in front of them - or those just like them again in another six months or so, they will see what they were missing.

This was a very important wake-up call, indeed! Back to the drawing board I go! I may not have wowed these folks tonight, but I'll be back with a vengeance - (poor choice of words, perhaps?) You'll see - this isn't the last of me!

Open Mic Might

Tomorrow night is the big Agent Showcase!!! I'm getting pretty psyched and a little on edge about the whole thing. I just wanted to sing again in front of some people to get myself a little warmed up and ready for the big shebang. An Open Mic seemed like just the ticket.

I had accidentally happened upon an Open Mic at the New World Stages on my home from class a couple of weeks ago. That was the night that I was sick and had to strain to make any kind of sound come out, so I wisely chose to skip it.

Tonight however, was the night for such performy activities! After work I marched myself over there and found a small crowd of five or six others gathered inside the little lounge. The Emcee and her sidekick accompanist had already started warming up the crowd with a few pop tunes. I had Tori Amos on the brain. Unfortunately I didn't have my book with me - but I was pretty sure that the last time I had scoped out the place, I had spied a Tori book on one of the tables.

"Do you want to sing something?" The emcee asked from behind the mic?
Before I even had a chance to peruse any of the other selections, I knew that I wanted to sing "Winter."
"Sure!" I shouted enthusiastically.

I hopped up and sang my Tori - starting somewhat of a trend, as the next two people who followed sang "Silent All These Years" and "Mother."

After a little while I took the stage again with the Carole King tune, "So Far Away." It felt good to sing these tunes again. I felt satisfied after getting up in front of a few strangers tonight. Tomorrow is gonna be a big day, and you can bet I'll be mighty good and ready!

Cleaning House

I gleefully stayed in doors for much of this bone-chilling Sunday, only venturing out of the apartment a couple of times to get some food and do a little impromptu Christmas Tree shopping (yes, this little Jewish girl went trolling for trees.) It's not going in my apartment, but in my boyfriend's for our second annual Tree-trimming party in a couple of weeks. It's good clean fun.

Speaking of clean, my boyfriend spent the day cleaning up his apartment and doing good productive things that he had been putting off, which inspired me to do a little catching up of my own. I had fallen a bit behind on recording some of my blog entries, so I finally sat down to write, write, write.

Now I'm on a roll and I want to make a pre-New Year's resolution to not allow myself to fall behind again in my blog. I'm also going to resolve to do some more writing outside of this blog so that I can get the ball rolling on other projects that I've been keeping on the back burner.

In the meantime, I'm trying to enjoy the here and now. The holidays are going to come and go before I even know what hit me - and I find that writing in my daily blog is a great way to review what it is that I've done with my day, and helps to keep the weeks from flying by too fast and turning into one great big indistinguishable blur.

Here's to keep up and keeping my life from flashing before my very eyes!

Getting Dresses For Successes

Now that I'm going to more and more auditions these days, I want to make sure that I always look my best. I've been seeing more and more girls wearing dresses to auditions. No one will argue that a form-flattering dress is more often than not, the way to go - especially if you are going in for the role of an ingenue.

A friend of mine and fellow improviser always has the most adorable dresses. I've complimented her on them on more than one occasion. The line of dresses is called Butter by Nadia. I couldn't think of a better kind of dress to get for auditions and performances, so when my friend told me that they were having a sample sale this weekend in Red Hook, Brooklyn - I said, I'm there!

The dresses which are normally priced in the mid $100-$200 range, were between $50 and $125. Considerably more affordable for us starving artists, although still a bit of a splurge. After about an hour of trying on everything that I could get my hands on, I ended up with a "vixen" red "Convertible Fanny" and a "Signature Wrap" in "evergreen."

What's absolutely fabulous about these dresses is that you can tie them up and fashion them is all sorts of different styles. It's like having 12 different dresses in one!

I have that agent showcase coming up on Tuesday night and I plan on wearing my red dress to that. I can hardly wait to wear my pretty dress! I feel like such a girly girl!

Holiday (N)ACEs

Tonight we five principles from the cast of "The Spotlight" climbed into a mini van and headed out to the promised land of Lyndhurst, New Jersey - more specifically, The San Carlo, for a very special "Holiday Spotlight with Sean Taylor."

This was our very first corporate gig for Spotlight - and hopefully the first of many. We brought along a couple of cameras to document the thing and hopefully capture some decent footage with which to assemble a promotional video for future paid gigs. I mean getting opportunities to perform improv is really sweet and all - but getting paid to do improv takes things to a whole other level. We were psyched!

When we arrived we discovered our audience of Corrosion Engineers and their wives tucked away in a small room on the lower level of the catering hall. What I had failed to realize was that there would be a few members of our audience who were under the age of 5. Uh oh! Better keep it clean guys!

Despite having to compete with the sounds of stomping of feet and Top 40 music happening in the rooms above ours, we managed to pull off quite a successful show! The kids (ages three and-a-half, four and four) ended up making precious little guests for the second half of our show.

A fine time was had by all and we were told that they would happily bring us back next year!

And The Award Goes To...

So I didn't win "Best of Show" for my video at tonight's "First Annual Slicey Awards of Pizza Month 2008" - but I'm not a sore loser. Here's the video that won...

Everything went very smoothly from start to finish and fun was had by all. Before the ceremony I assembled the Slicey Award with my own two hands with some hot glue and a lot of crazy glue. Despite almost gluing my own hands to it's smooth silicone body, it came out quite well!

It seems that Pizza Month 2008 is finally behind us, but the warm fuzzy memories of delicious pizza shall remain!

Pre-Slicey Preparations

Today I did a bit of research on dance classes in town. I need to get my butt in gear by strapping on some dance shoes. I've never been an amazing dancer, but I figure that if I'm going to be considered for a part that requires any type of movement at all - I had better be able to shake my tail feather without looking like a total quack. I'm considering taking lessons at this place.

I mean, it has the word Broadway in it. I take that as a good sign!

In other news: Tomorrow is the big day for our Pizza Month 2008 Awards ceremony where the best of the best pizza joints in town will be crowned! That is also when the rest of the Pizza Month videos will be screened. Exciting!

Today I went to Bed Bath and Beyond to make a couple of purchases for the "Slicey Award." This is going to be our little trophy that will be given to the editor of the best Pizza Month video.
We wanted to make something in the vein of an Oscar with a pizza cutter, so this is what I picked up...

Pretty cute, eh?

May the best "slicer" win!

Getting Back Into The Sing of Things

I returned to my audition class feeling a bit brighter and more energized than last week. I brought back my ballad and up tempo with much clearer results. The Casting Director gave me some really helpful feedback too. One thing he has helped me realize - and I don't think that anyone else has ever pointed this out to me before, other than my mother that is: I need to smile more when I sing.

I think that I have a naturally somber looking face, so much so that people on the street have said to me, "Hey, it's not that bad! Smile!"
This usually prompts me to tell them to want to fuck off - I'm fine, dammit! But, it turns out, they were right all along. Guess I owe all of those random dudes on the street an apology.

"Let us see you enjoy singing the song" the CD told me.
Wow! I think I had one of the biggest revelations I've had in a long while!

Everything is really starting to come together for all of us and it's overall been a very positive experience. I'm going to be sad to see this class go, but hopefully some of us will keep in touch and I'll have some friendly faces to run into around the city when I go on auditions.

I'm incredibly excited and nervous for our agent showcase next week. I'm going to be keeping my fingers crossed. I just want them to like me! Really really like me!

Patient Practice

I've been battling back this cold all week long and while my voice is mostly back - I still have what feels like residual residue hanging out in my little gullet. Yech! It's nothing I can't sing through. A few more cups of tea and bottles of water should do the trick. My tea and water consumption was at an all time high a few days ago, but I have since dialed it down a notch. My bladder needs a break already.

Anyway, tomorrow night is my last "class" session for the musical theater audition seminar - yikes! These past few weeks sure have flown by! Today I've been gearing myself up for it by working on my songs, especially now that I have my voice back.

What's most important is that I get a good night's rest tonight so that I feel ready and fresh as a daisy for tomorrow's class. I think I'll be okay.