*When* is that audition?

I just realized tonight that one audition is next week, not 2 weeks away as I'd thought.  Less time than I thought I had to learn this new piece; I need to get busy!

Lesson learned: Use scissors!

Yesterday I was opening a warehouse-club bundle of toilet paper.  The usual method is hook a thumb under an end flap and pop open.  Not anymore:  yesterday all that popped was my thumb - ouch!  EARLY this morning I was in my HMO's after-hours care, getting said digit x-rayed, prodded, probed and taped.

Next time, I'll either make the Chief open that package or use scissors - no more sprains, please!

First fruits

Or rather, first fruitcake.  I've rather come under the spell of the King Arther Flour (KAF) catalog lately - bought eggnog extract and eggnog cake mixes at Christmas, sent one sister & family gluten-free pancake mix and other gf goodies, bought a "king cake kit" that I'll be using tomorrow (cake will go to work on Tuesday), some gf flour I used for my first attempt at gf baking from a recipe, not a mix... And a fruitcake mix, which I finally made today. 

The fruitcakes were supposed to be Christmas gifts to neighbors.  Valentine fruitcake, anyone? This particular mix calls for nearly 2 pounds of dried fruit!  I brushed one with simple syrup (and a touch of that eggnog extract) for a neighbor who can't have alcohol, and used Grand Marnier on the rest.  This takes a bit of time; marinate the dried fruit overnight in syrup or liquor, then after the baking (in a slow oven, so longer cooking time), you have to let it cool completely, then wrap it up and let it sit at least 24 hrs before serving.  In other words, I'll be making my fruitcake deliveries tomorrow.  This has been quite the process.  If the results are good enough, though, I may do this again.

Getting the fruit was more involved than I expected.  I didn't like the look of the dried fruit available in grocery stores, so I went to Whole Foods and bought 6 or 7 different kinds of dried fruit, nearly all of which had to be chopped into bite-size pieces, and bought a pound of glazed cherries online to get the 10 oz. the recipe calls for.  (Tip: spraying your knife with Pam before you start makes things go a little more quickly.)  I'll find out tomorrow whether the dried fruit combo - apricots, dates, mango, blueberries, cherries and 1 more - was a success.  However, I'm optimistic - when I called the KAF baker's hotline to ask which of the fruits I'd bought would be best to use, the gentleman who answered thought they all sounded good, and was particularly intrigued that I'd found dried blueberries.

Plotting & planning

... for more auditions.  Decisions, decisions:  Next week, Ragtime - trying to decide what to sing.  Next decision: do I want to audition for Six Degrees of Separation?  And I almost don't want to get cast in Ragtime so I can audition a few weeks later for a Cole Porter show I'd never heard of.  I haven't heard the music yet (it's on order), but it's Cole Porter - what's not to love, right? ;)  If I don't get cast in any of these, then it'll be late fall before I'll be able to do another show.  I'm missing doing a musical - not sure if I want Ragtime (I'd be seriously chuffed (and quite surprised - I expect LOTS of competition) if I were cast as Mother) or want to take my chances on the Cole Porter.  It has only 2 roles I'd be considered for, and one of those is iffy.  Would I take ensemble?  Depends on how much singing & dancing they'd let me do - the more, the better!

In the meantime, I'm gong thru music, planning to cover my gray, trying to get my voice back into training, and looking forward to singing & dancing a few bars for people.  (My last audition, while not a disaster, wasn't all that great; I knew I'd be getting one of those "thanks but no thanks" e-mails.)