Saturday, January 22, 2011

NYC!!! (part 2)

Monday was fun! I decided to audition for Mary Poppins! So I grabbed my headshot and resume, my tap shoes, some dance clothes, and headed down to the Equity Dancer call at the Pearl Studios. I was pretty early, so I was high on the Non-Equity list. I ran into Alexis Smith, who totally calmed my nerves! After a LONG wait, I was finally called in to audition with a group of mostly Equity guys and just a few non-equity guys. The audition was a blast and the dance really wasn't too hard! But, as we started learning, it dawned on me...everybody in the room was buff, beautiful, and all were AMAZING dancers. I had never been to a dance call like it! I suddenly felt very small, and I got a little psyched out! So when it was finally my turn to dance (i was in the second to last group...), I kinda blanked on a few small steps...which led to me being cut. But, hey, it was a great experience! I learned a lot from that audition...things that I can't really put into words....but I think it's important for us MDT'ers to go to a major Broadway audition before we graduate, just so we can better prepare!

After my audition, I walked around Times Square a bit, and then I saw The Fantasticks! It was just perfect! So simple, yet so beautiful! Definitely one of the highlights of the trip! It was so great to see musical theater in its purest form! No spectacle, no huge effects, just actors, simple scenery, GORGEOUS music, and beautiful story! And GREAT story-telling! That night Shayla and Cy got into town, and Shayla stayed at Kara's too! It was SO fun to see her and have us all three together again!!

On Tuesday, I spent most of the day with Shayla. I did some laundry in the morning at the Laundromat...felt like a real new yorker...haha...then I met up with Shayla. We did some walking around, worked on her upcoming callback (I hope you get it suckah....), then we got us some balcony tickets for La Cage, played tourist, had dinner, then we made our way to the show. We saw La Cage Aux Folles with Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge and Robin De Jesus!!! It was just SO SO Good!!! I loved it! Douglas Hodge was Perfection...such a fabulous actor! Robin de Jesus was SO stinkin' funny, and just brilliant. Kelsey Grammer was good! A bit flat at times, but a great job tackling the role! The Cagelles...wow...I have no words! They're dancing, singing, acting...perfect! They were just So good! I wanted to give a standing ovation after their numbers because they were just that good. The entire revival and cast was just outstanding. After the show we headed uptown in the storm to meet Cy, Matthew, Courtney, and Jeff for a little late night snack at the Manhattan Cafe. It was fun to visit, and catch up! But by the time Shayla and I got back home, we were covered in SNOW! We were pretty funny lookin!

On Wednesday, I met up with Abby and some of her friends from school to have lunch! It so good to see her! I miss her badly...sad you couldn't be there Dave!! After lunch, I met up with Matthew to try and see Time Stands Still...but since Luara Linney was out of the show for the matinee, we decided to try The Importance of Being Earnest. We were about to buy our student tickets, when the lady next to us offered us her extra tickets...her friends coulnd't show. up. Not only did she give us her tickets for FREE, but they were in the second row of the mezzanine! At the first intermission though, we moved to the second row center of the orchestra! The show was so good! The acting and direction were great! The costumes and sets gorgeous! And the Lady Bracknel...So great! After the show, I had some dinner Hailey Jones Smith and Shayla at a Thai place on 9th. It was delicious and So fun to see Hailey and catch up!
After dinner, I saw...SPIDERMAN: TURN OFF THE DARK! Let's just say it was a hott tranny mess. haha. The Book was HORRIBLE, the plot CONFUSING, the music was BORING...but the dancing was cool and energetic, the sets and the visuals were BEAUTIFUL and INNOVATIVE, and the flying was pretty darn cool...stuff you've never seen onstage before! It was just too bad that such creativity was wasted on a horrid story. STORY FIRST my friends! haha. And thus ends my rant on Spiderman.

The next day, my flight was delayed, so I went to a dance class with Shayla (Don't even worry that our teacher was a dancer in Fosse on Broadway...she's on the DVD). Then I headed to the airport. I got there a little later than planned, and couldn't board my flight. So I ended up catching a later flight. But since visibility was so low was so low and we were low on gas, so we had to BACK to Reno....ugh. Needless to day I didn't get home til 4 am.

Overall, I LOVED NYC and I can't wait to finally move there next year! Thanks to those who let me stay with them and made my trip possible!

No comments: