Picnic in the Park

Central Park Beauty!

Provider of delicious picnics since...well...you get the point.

 ↑ The Goods. ↓ (I'm talking about the food.)

And then...

What do you mean we don't look like students? ;)

Chug, chug, chug

Although I haven't done a lot of writing as of late, that doesn't mean nothing fun or exciting is happening.  In fact, just last week made it through an entire audition for Alan Menken's, A Christmas Carol, A New Musical.  I danced...was asked to stay and dance again...was asked to stay and sing...and it was the week I was sick and had no voice. Very disappointing, but at the same time, very encouraging that I was able to finally make it that far.

Ready for "Whoville" - How the Grinch Stole Christmas audition

Here Comes the Fun!

A beautiful day at The Cloisters

Falafel pita with all the fixins.  Bang for your buck at Moaz!

Won the lotto again!!!!!  NEWSIES IS AMAZING!!!!!

"It's either a diner or a strip joint."  Diner.  Crisis averted.  Delicious milkshakes after the show!

When Life Gives You Lemons

So today we're here to talk about Lulu Lemon.  What is Lulu Lemon?  Basically, it is a designer brand for work-out clothes.  If you live here and you are a dancer, if you're cool enough (and rich enough) you will be sporting your high-performance, Lulu Lemon attire.  I'm not against this by any means, I just find it comical.  I think a dancer must have been fed up one day with the fact that they never got to wear all the nice, designer, name-brand clothing that white collar workers wear, and decided to capitalize on the idea.  So now, there is designer clothing even for dancers.  (Don't ask me how dancers afford designer clothing...we're talking $100-$200 for a zip-up hoodie.)  But I suppose if you are going to see it anywhere, it's going to be New York.

Up next

Up next in terms of auditioning:

• Tuesday, September 18, 2:00pm: Flashdance, A New Musical - Short engagement tour

This one's an Equity Chorus Call (ECC) so we'll see if I get seen.  I feel like A LOT of people will come out for this.

• Thursday, September 20, 4:00pm:  A Christmas Carol, The Musical - Pioneer Theatre Company, Salt Lake City, UT

Also ECC, but I predict less people.

That's it for this week.

Highlights since we've spoken last:

Cynthia and I won the "ticket lottery" last Thursday for cheap tickets to Peter and the Starcatcher!  Only $27 for a Broadway play, and my first Broadway play at that.  That statement may confuse some of you, but there is a big difference between a play and a musical.  I, for example, have no desire to be in a play.  There is no singing, and most significantly, no dancing.  Well, dancing is what feeds my soul! ...After Jesus, of course.  With all that said, I have seen many Broadway musicals, but this prequel to Peter Pan was the first play.  It was very clever and extremely well done, but its fast pace definitely requires a lot of attentiveness.

Other goings on include:
an incredibly fun Contemporary class.  Be careful not to get too "into" throwing yourself around in the choreography. - When battling it out, the floor will always win over your head.  Embarrassing moment that I hope went unnoticed.
a long walk in Riverside Park on a beautiful day.
a wonderful sermon from the author, Tim Keller.  After my church in California and its great teaching, I really appreciate solid teaching right out of The Bible, instead of just advice on how to be a better Christian.
a Hip Hop class!  Yes, I did it.  And honestly the class was kind of a joke.  An hour and a half could have been pushed into 50 minutes if she would just get straight to it.  BUT, even though I did not take an advanced class or anything, if you give me the choreography, and give me a little time to learn it, I can even do hip hop!  Pats self on back

Ta-ta for now, ti-ti for later.

Ballet Makes Life Better

I actually did the audition for Florida's Music Man today.  Although I was not kept to sing, I felt good about my audition.  Obviously it could have been better, but I was satisfied.  After all, they were only looking for two girls.  And by the way...contrary to what I predicted a few posts down, there were still a lot of girls at the audition...a few shy of 100.

I stopped at Steps on the way home and took a ballet class.  It is easy to forget when you've been out of class for a while, but ballet just makes any day better.  My goal with dancing here is to also try to better develop my skills in my weaker genres.  Jazz and contemporary are on the list and maybe if I'm brave enough (I probably won't be), hip hop.  But ballet is always the greatest class to come back to for a sense of comfort and reassurance of my technique and training.  Here is a little glimpse into the talent at this NYC dance studio!

Steps on Broadway

My Hero, Joe

Thank goodness for Tader Joe's and his prices after trying to shop at the local markets in my neighborhood.

Paying Tribute

I wasn't seen at today's audition for Music Man.  There wasn't time to see any non-equity auditionees.  However, we were informed that there is a non-equity call tomorrow and "how come we came to this one."  Well...there is no evidence of a posting for that call anywhere.  This is great news for those of us that were there, because that means we are the only ones who know that it is happening!  So, I'll be back for the Maltz Jupiter Theatre audition of Music Man tomorrow at 10:00am.

Today marks the 11th anniversary of the September 11th attacks.  Cynthia and I headed down to Ground Zero after we were dismissed.

It was so strange to think of the state that area was in 11 years prior.  Very sobering.

Little Taste of Reality

So last night around 11:30pm, Cynthia and I decided that we were going to attend the open call for the national tour of A Chorus Line in addition to White Christmas.  So this was our day:

Leave the apartment at 6:30 am
Get in line for A Chorus Line at 7:30 am
Speed walk 12 blocks to put my name on the list for White Christmas
Speed walk 12 blocks back to A Chorus Line
Change, stretch, and audition for A Chorus Line
Didn't make the cut so...
Speed walk 12 blocks to White Christmas and just make it in time to say "here" before they close the list
Wait an hour while Equity (those in the actor's union) is seen and then the first group of non-Equity.
Sent home without auditioning with the other 9 remaining girls because they were out of time.
Bummer.  Little taste of reality.

Home by 1:45pm.  Time for a nap.

Here it Goes...

Cynthia and I finally moved into our apartment today!  It feels so nice to finally have my clothes out of my suitcases.  The cupboards are still bare, and my tummy is rumbling, but grocery shopping is an involved process when you live in the city.  Tomorrow is another day.

Speaking of tomorrow...
Tomorrow is the start of a week "full" of auditions.  For the experienced New York auditioner I think that means around 6-8 auditions, but for me, it means 3.  Here's the line up:

Monday, 9/10, 11:30 am - White Christmas, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Little Rock, AR
Tuesday, 9/11, 2:00 pm - Music Man, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Jupiter, FL
Friday, 9/14, 3:00 pm - Music Man, Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, PA

These are all dancer calls.  If I'm asked to stay, they will hear me sing.  Please pray for ease of nerves!

Back in Business

This is not in keeping with the theme of this blog, but maybe I will revamp it to keep up with my changing life and adventures.  Last big thing in my life was living in Italy for a school year.  Now it's the great big New York City.  As of now, I'm only here to get my feet wet and gain some confidence for the next two months, but it is still fun and exciting even if it is only short term.
I arrived at my friend's apartment Tuesday night, at 1:30am and she has been gracious enough to host me until Sunday, when I'll be moving into my beautiful sublet.  (Pictures to come next week)
Wednesday was spent paying rent, getting keys,  and people watching in Central Park.
I jumped right in on Thursday and had my first New York audition for Tokyo Disney.  I also did this audition in Hollywood last March, so it was great to go in knowing what to expect.  And I knew I wouldn't have to sing since it was for dancers only, which also put me at ease.  Following my audition, Cynthia (my soon-to-be-roommate and ex-cast mate from Anything Goes) and I headed over to Steps on Broadway, one of the two big dance studios in the city, to get some class info.  Well, I was there and dressed and with every type of shoe I might need after my audition, so I decided to take a class.  Why not?  Theater dance with Dana Moore.  A lot of conditioning and Fosse at its finest.  If you have no idea what that means, don't worry about it.
Last night?  No big deal...just a rooftop birthday party with a night-time view of the Empire State Building, the light pillars where the Twin Towers used to stand and other gorgeousness.  This was followed by an evening stroll down to the pier and what could make it better, but a view of a great fireworks show in the distance.  Just for me.