Getting Back Into the Sing of Sings

This afternoon I dashed out of job #1 a little early and headed up town for a quick and much-needed voice lesson. I had been away for so long that I felt like I was going to rust up and forget everything that I had already learned. I was truly excited for today's lesson - even though it would just be a quickie - I really needed to do this for myself.

Given the time crunch, I made sure to come prepared with music in hand as well as a list of music I needed to cover for some upcoming auditions. As I've said before, my teacher has a veritable library of music in his apartment. He's got everything! For months I've been trying to figure out the name of a song so that I could ask him for the music - well, what a waste of time that turned out to be when as I discovered all I needed to do was sing less than 3 bars of the song and he knew exactly the one I was talking about!

Ask and you shall receive! I must have come out of my lesson with sheet music for another 9 songs (not including the pdf file for Sondheim's "Another Hundred People" which he just emailed me tonight.

After all of the song stuff was out of the way, he took a listen to "A Way Back to Then". It's definitely getting better & it felt good to sing it for him again. The one area that I'm having trouble with is the high "kick" - but he showed me a few tricks to get over that little hump & I think with a little more practice, I'll be golden. The high non-belt is coming along quite nicely though. I also was trying to remember to smile through the song. Unlike the incomparable Heidi Blickenstaff, I was not blessed with high cheek bones - so I have to make a concerted effort to look pleasant when I'm singing. It's not hard to smile when I sing this song because I really love this song.

It's good to know that even when times are a little tough, I can still find something to smile about.

See Me, Hear Me!!!

Now that the weather is getting warmer, more and more folks are beginning to emerge from hibernation. What does this mean for us actors? Well, for one it means a heck of a lot more of us turning up at Open Calls. During the colder months people are far less likely to roll outta bed bright and early to sign up for slots - why, I remember just a few months ago feeling a fool to get my ass over to Actor's Equity as soon as the monitors opened up the sign-ups because hardly anyone was around. I probably could have slept in an extra hour and still had my pick of times. Well dear readers, those days are over, for today when I arrived around 9am to a call at The Public, I was almost surprised to find that I was one of hundreds who had flocked to the call. Equity and non- Equity alike flooded the lobby of the theater patiently waiting for a number. It wasn't before long that I overheard some actors talking about how some of them had gotten in line ad early as 6:30 in the morning! Whaaaat??? So that's what it has come to. Seeing as all of the Equity time slots had been filled & they were into the two-hundreds on the standby list, I left & headed up town to another audition. Unfortunately by the time I arrived the future looked just as bleak. All of the slots had been filled and so I put myself down on the standby list and headed into work.

It just wasn't to be this afternoon, however I had one last audition to check off my list.

One of my favorite musicals of all time is "Tommy". One of the regional theaters in Brooklyn is putting it up & I was chomping at the bit to give it a go. I left my post at the telesales job early so that I could make the 45-minute trek out to Prospect Park. The audition went pretty well. I did about 20 bars of "White Rabbit" and then the director asked if I had anything else - "I have 'Smash the Mirror', I replied. "Let's hear it!" he said.

I left the audition satisfied that after my third and final attempt, I was seen and heard. We'll see what happens from here.

Submission for Maude-ition

Tonight I submitted a newly fashioned headshot and resume to the Upright Citizens Brigade for their upcoming sketch team auditions. They're in need of a few good actor/improviser/impressionists for a couple of new teams they're putting together - so I wanted to throw my hat into the ring. I've got a handful of descent impressions & I've been through their training program, so hopefully that will warrant an audition slot. One can never be too sure with these things. I dropped my carefully crafted improv resume off this evening and seeing the pile of actor submissions they've received thus far made me realize that it's another gamble. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that some how this I'm holding the winning ticket!

Singer Review

I've been doing a lot of self-evaluation of late. I suppose it's only natural for one to look inward and reexamine themselves after encountering a few roadblocks along the way. This afternoon I did some soul searching and net surfing. I found myself watching youtube video after youtube video of singers and Broadway performers belting out beautiful songs. I wanted to see what the popular kids are up to. What is really out there in cyberspace is almost as important as what's out there on the Broadway stage. It seems to me that so many people gain popularity and notoriety over the Internet these days. I plan to make more of an aggressive move to make my web presence known by singing at more Open Mics and posting videos of the performances. I'm a little shy of doing this type of thing because it really makes you vulnerable to those who make a hobby out of mocking others. On the other hand, there's a good chance that people might just like what they see and hear.

That 70s Faux

This afternoon I youtubed some 70s Game Show - mostly I found myself watching old clips of "Barker's Beauties" from The Price is Right...creepy! When I had had gleaned quite enough information and inspiration from the web, I rummaged through my closet in search of the most 70s-like frocks I could find. I proved to be the right person for the job because I emerged with not one but three dresses, two of which are actually vintage dresses circa 1970s. Not only that, in my most recent shoe binge where I purchased four fabulous pairs of Steve Madden shoes at 15 bucks a pair, I had the forethought to scoop up the most amazing pair of white patent leather, oh-so-seventies wooden platforms. Fifteen dollah! Top that! They were too good to pass up and to my credit I knew that I would find a use for them. No time like the present when dressing up for the past! That's what I always say!

Apparently there is no end to my & array of costumes because I even managed to produce a long, blond polyester wig from the back of a drawer stocked with odds and ends.

When I arrived to the venue in the Village - the guys running the show were pretty impressed with me, but I will say that I was definitely a little overly prepared. Sadly the gig wasn't quite as cool as I had hoped it would be. The performance space was a tiny 11 by 20 foot room lined with cruddy old leopard-print carpeting in the basement of a bar. Having participated in a number of bringer shows and independently run improv shows in the past, I've performed in some pretty crappy spaces, but this one was especially dismal. Despite all of the warning signs that said tonight's show wouldn't be one for the books - or the resume, I embraced my role as the bimbo game show gal and proceeded to change into my costume which consisted of a faux pucci metallic dress, polyester wig and the patent leather platforms in the shady unisex bathroom. I got a few sideways looks from the upstairs bar patrons while prepping my wig, but oh well, I thought - I'm a performer!

When I emerged from the bathroom/changing room, it was show time - but we still had an empty house and no comedians. I sat awkwardly at a table while the host went upstairs to drum up some unwitting audience members. The nonplussed cocktail waitress warned me to watch my wig around the candles. Everything in this room wreaked of sadness and desperation. In fact the whole room just plain old wreaked! Moments later when the host returned with the first two audience members that he had plucked off the street he instructed the waitress and I to applaud "for the first new people of the night." Ay yay yay! Welcome to Awkward Town, Population: me! I was instantly reminded why I had parted ways with the standup community so long ago. People were reluctantly straggling in from the bar, performers were canceling at the last minute less than 10 minutes before the start of the show... sheesh!

I felt sorry for the guys running the thing - and when the standup comics started making fun of the thing in their sets, I started feeling even sorrier for myself! I wasn't sure how I was going to get through this show with my own dignity in tact, but it wasn't as if anyone but my boyfriend knew who I was, so who cares if I'm just making a fool of myself?

Initially the agreement was for the guys in charge to buy me food and drinks, but at the last minute they decided to throw me forty bucks! Sweeet!

I had had my fill of the place, so I took the money and ran! It wasn't the best gig ever, but it's the first one I've been paid for in a while - so I'll take it!

Marching On

Another Friday the 1 and another less than stellar day... but I'm hanging in there in every sense of the word!

When I didn't hear anything from the AWP about my resume submission, I decided better to be safe than sorry, so I gave them a call to inquire within.

Thankfully I reached the contact person immediately and she opened up my email and examined my resume, pointing out a few needed corrections and making them for me herself.

"This is a good resume and I'm going to submit you for this position. It was smart of you to call."

Apparently her in box lit up like a pin ball machine with responses to the listing. There were 58 submissions in all and I was a fortunate one out of a total of three people that she was going to submit for consideration.

"You may get a call today," she said. My whole body started to tremble with anticipation. I never would have imagined that I would reach the point where a day job would make me quake with excitement. The pay isn't even that great, but it's a 9-5 or 10-6 job and they're even forgiving of those who need to go on an occasional audition here or there. Also, there's health benefits! Right now, this is my dream job!

Throughout the day I kept fantasizing about getting this job and what it would mean to me: being able to pay my bills &rent with more money left over at the end of the month to put away in a saving's account and pay off more of my debt. I'd finally be able to call up my parents that I got a "real" job. In the meantime, I'd still be able to keep auditioning for shows and if and when I got a gig, they would hold my place for me by hiring a Temp!

I mean, could this job be any more brilliant?!?

Unfortunately I didn't hear a peep from anyone today in regards to setting up an interview and so needless to say this put a real damper on my mood today. I returned to my telesales job feeling quite deflated and to top it off, barely managed to make a sale all day.

Tonight after my shift, which usually ends at 7:30 on Friday, I unwittingly volunteered to man the kiosk inside the theater

Ah well - I'm not giving up hope yet. I think I may give the AWP a call on Monday morning just to see if they have any other clues as to what I should expect.

In the meantime, I'm going to try and enjoy my weekend...yes! another weekend has arrived

Picking Up Pictures

Due to my new and not-so-improved hectic schedule it wasn't until today that I was actually able to pick up the duplicates of the headshots that I had ordered last week. They came out as well as I had expected. They are really good shots - they're just black and white - so they show their age because of it.

I wish that I didn't have to feel like I'm committing a Federal offense by handing a Casting Director a black and white photo - but until I scrape a few extra dollars together, that's just the way it has to be!

I wish that my new job seemed more profitable, but it's just the way it is. I've just gotta stick with it until something better comes along. Speaking of which: right before I left my office job to go to my telesales job I found a listing for a new job in my Actors Work Program newsletter. I quickly attached a resume and sent a reply to the posting without missing a beat! I'm not completely sure what this job entails, but it seems like it could be promising.

Keeping my fingers crossed for like the fifth time this week!