The latest audition

I went to another audition Thursday night.  I almost didn't go, for several reasons:

• This company tends to cast young and I'm well over 30;
• I'm neither a hoofer nor a belter;
• I didn't really have an audition  piece ready.

The audition piece was the biggest problem because my voice has been in transition since I've been working with my latest teacher.  That's not a bad thing, but it means that right now none of the audition pieces I've used before feels comfortable and I haven't yet worked up anything new.  I ended up using something I've used (unsuccessfully) before, but about a fourth lower so that it sits squarely in my chest voice.  Naturally, "Last-minute Linda" here didn't really start working the song in the new, lower key until a couple of nights before the audition.  As a result, as late as dinnertime Thursday I was debating whether to go.  I did go, though, and a good thing, too.  A friend was there ahead of me in the order and stayed until I finished.  He told me I sang my piece with better resonance than when I did Carruthers, which was encouraging.

But the really encouraging thing was when they called me Friday to say I was being called back for the ensemble so the choreographer could put us through our paces.  Unlike the disaster that was my last dance audition, this one was fun and funny, and I remembered all of it.  The demographics were typical for community theater - 3 men and 11 women.  They didn't say how many ensemble members they're looking for.  ("How many people does he need?  How many boys, how many girls?")  I imagine it will depend in part on how their music is scored and therefore how many people they'll need to cover all the parts.

My friend was called back too, for one of the principals.  There are 4 possible outcomes: he gets cast and I don't; I get cast and he doesn't; we both get cast; neither one of us gets cast.  They promised we'd hear one way or the other by Wednesday night.  Now I just have to distract myself with my sewing and my voice lesson "homework" while I wait.

Audition update

So, that "lovefest" audition.  I got a very lovely response with a lot of positive feedback.  I shared it with my voice teacher and with a friend (himself a voice teacher and performer). All of us were very impressed with how much feedback they gave me - not just "nice voice but not what we're looking for".  And to think they did something like that for every single one of the people they didn't cast!

I also auditioned for a production of The Wedding Singer.  I've auditioned for this company before and gotten nuttin'.  I'm guessing it's because a) I can't belt (yet) and b) I'm over 50.  Got the "thanks but no" call last night.  Not a surprise.  Not only did I go into it expecting not to be cast, but I crashed & burned on the dance audition.  The chunk they tried to teach us was complicated and FAST!  I remembered the beginning, the end, and the occasional scraps scattered thru the middle.  "Good for my humility," as a college roommate of mine used to say.

 Now I'm focusing on a sewing project, then it's back to hunting up auditions for fall shows.

A different audition experience

Friday I auditioned for the Christmas Revels on my way out of town for the weekend.  I was first given a name tag and ushered downstairs to get my picture taken.  I was then sent up to the mezzanine to learn the dance combination, which turned out to be a piece of an Irish set dance, complete with a couples turn.  That part was fun - it had been much too long since I'd done that sort of thing and I had to restrain myself so I wouldn't throw my partner & me into a wall or another couple. :D  We ran that sequence several times, then I was summoned back to the main floor to sing my two a cappella pieces.  Each of us went in individually, so unless you listened at the door, you didn't hear how anyone else did.

The singing was enjoyable, too; very "live" room, unlike some, where you can't hear yourself so it's easy to oversing and go off pitch.  No, I knew exactly where my pitch was, and the room seemed to be just the right size for my voice, which was feeling pretty good.  It certainly didn't hurt that the young woman who seemed to be there in an assistant capacity had a big smile on her face the whole time I sang, and the music director pulled one of those "not bad!" faces.

After everyone in my group had done our solo pieces, the whole group was called in to do the dance sequence.  We ran it once, then were told to do it again while talking with each other: "This is a social dance, after all!"  Then again, "and this time make some noise."

They gave us a few minutes to catch our breaths before having us do a little group singing.  The MD gave each of us a copy of a section of a 3-part kyrie, assigned each of us a line to sing, went over each part, then had us sing together.  There were 6 of us, so 2 on a part, and we seemed to be pretty well matched.  I thought we sounded pretty good, anyway.  The MD then had 2 of us switch parts, then we all sang the kyrie again.  It was a very pretty arrangement; I wouldn't have minded singing another repetition or few, but we were only the first group of the evening and they had to move things along.

For the last part of the audition, two of us chose the option of reading a few lines, available ahead of time, "in your best Irish accent".  Considering that I'd never attempted an Irish accent before, I won't vouch for how well (or poorly) I did, but at least they didn't laugh me outta there. ;)

The unusual part was how everyone treated us.  I had auditioned and been cast once before, but had to withdraw when I got assigned an extended business trip.  That was 7 years ago, yet the couple who are the life & soul of the local Revels organization both remembered me and even recognized me, despite my weight loss and hair cut!  They and everyone else working the auditions was very welcoming and encouraging, wishing everyone good luck. 

But what impressed me the most was Mrs. Revels' response when I asked when we might hear back.  She told me we should all hear by Wednesday, with the Yeses hearing last.  This was because she started with the Noes, giving each person feedback!  They anticipated 70-80 people auditioning; I don't know how many they'll cast.  Even if they cast 40, that's still a LOT of individual feedback emails!   Every other company I've ever auditioned for notifies the Yeses first; those not cast usually get a form email.  Which is fine; it's certainly better than not hearing at all.  But feedback on an audition?  That NEVER happens!

Auditions can cripple!

Or so it would seem after this week's round.  I auditioned (unsuccessfully) for a musical.  The dance combo included a little sequence in which you came down on one knee, then reversed and came down on the other.   Repeat that sequence several times, with quads that are not used to having to work that hard, and it's no wonder that I wobbled out to my car afterwards.  In fact, my quads didn't stop swearing at me until yesterday; musta gotten tired of it, though they still mutter a lot, especially when I go up or down stairs.  In an effort to ease my seized-up muscles, I made myself take the stairs instead of the elevator, get up more often to top up my water, or take the longer route when going from point A to point B.

However, it seems I still managed to do something wrong.  Thursday I noticed I was getting an occasional twinge up (or down?) the back of one leg.  By yesterday, it was much more pronounced (woke me up at 4:30 a.m.!) and pretty nearly constant, so that I was afraid I might have torn something.  My doctor told me it was my back (!); turns out I managed to give myself sciatica! 

Now I've got a set of back exercises and stretches I need to do, recommendation for a body pillow, and orders to swim.  First, though, I've gotta find out where all the local pools are, what their hours are, whether any have an adults-only swim period...  Today I got as far as picking up a flyer from the (outdoor) pool that holds a Saturday farmer's market (where I also got some lovely veggies).  Maybe I'll go back tomorrow and actually swim, or at least walk in the pool.

Choreo rehearsal goes 21st century

I was surprised to see at auditions that the choreographer was using her iPad to play the music for our dance audition.  She's been using it for rehearsals too - teaches a chunk, plays the music, videos it, then sends us the youtube link so we can study up between rehearsals.  I hate seeing myself klutz through things I haven't learned yet, but I do love being able to SEE what I'm trying to learn instead of trying to figure out what on earth I meant by this or that notation.  Better, she often gets good shots of someone who knows this chunk or that sequence better than I do.  I also get the music that way, and can rerun a particular sequence over & over to drill it.

I bought my iPad for portable e-mail and web access during a recent work travel marathon but it looks like I'll be using it for rehearsals too...

Catching up

So, I thought I was going to have 3 auditions in a week a coupla weeks ago. I ended up with just one. I auditioned for Guys & Dolls and got a call the next day: "We don't need to call you back - we want you to play Gen. Cartwright and one of the Hot Box dancers." Which means I get to save sinners and to be one! :D

Had my first 2 choreo rehearsals this weekend. Our choreographer was throwing it at us fast & furious, and the dance break at the end of "Take Back Your Mink" is blink-and-you-miss-it FAST! Yesterday was slightly less crazed, but I still felt like an achey, footsore mass of jelly by the time I got home. I was tired and happy; I'd forgotten just how much fun this stuff is!

I also remembered that character shoes have a VERY low tolerance when it comes to keeping your nails trimmed; no more "oh, it'll wait until tomorrow" until after the show closes.

"Who are you?!?"

The Chief took me to a Moroccan restaurant Saturday night for my birthday. We both enjoy Moroccan food, we got a table right next to the dance floor (do you see where this is going?) and we got to see not just one but two dancers! And the best part was that the first dancer got me up on the floor with her so I got to "play"! Got a chuckle from the audience when I stopped at one point to remove my heels, which I was wearing for the first time.

As we were getting ready to leave, I stopped by the table where the dancers were sitting to tell them how much I'd enjoyed the show. The first one, who'd gotten me up to dance, commented that I obviously knew what I was doing; "Who are you?!?" In other words, how is it you can dance like that and we've never seen you before? :D

As always, the evening had me thinking I need to get back to dancing - love the music, the "toys" (finger cymbals, veils, canes...), costumes - great excuse to wear some really over-the-top jewelry and other bling - what's not to love!

Very interesting rehearsal

This is my first show with this company, first non-singing chorus (Greek chorus), first tragedy. Last night was another first - we had our first rehearsal with the choreographer who set one of the choral odes in its entirety and most of a second, out of 4. Very interesting when the text is the music. The first one she set has me just standing in one place while everyone else moves around me, with all the movement cued from a word or phrase in the text in lieu of music. I quickly saw that the speaker (the lines are divvied up among the women in the chorus) can help the "dancers" by slowing or speeding up her delivery to accommodate the movement.

So far I have just one bit I'll want to work on: at one point the women fall to the ground. No big deal, except I'll be wearing a skirt and we'll be performing with audience on 3 sides of us. I'll need to find out what kind and length of skirt I'll be wearing so I can practice doing that move without flashing the audience.

The further along we get in this process, the more I like it. It was obvious almost immediately last night why our Director wanted us off book last week, before we started choreography or blocking. Much easier to do without a book in one hand and pencil in the other. Now I understand why our Creon told me he "loves" working with this guy.

Adventures in blocking

Yesterday was our first blocking rehearsal and our director decided to start out with some movement since, as she noted, auditions hadn't included a dance or movement sequence. A little bit of grapevine, then a bit of very basic charleston, in groups small enough that she could watch everyone in them. I was doing pretty well, but the soles on my character shoes were obviously slicker than I realized, as my left heel suddenly shot out from under me. It must have looked like something right out of an old cartoon - felt like my heel went forward and up! I landed on my left, er, padding and caught myself w/ my left hand. Hurt like crazy at first, but after a while I was OK. I took something for it last night and again this morning, just in case.

This afternoon, though, the wrist started getting a little achey so I stopped by a drugstore on the way home to get a brace. Nothing serious - no metal strips or anything like that - just enough to provide a little support and remind me to baby the wrist for a bit.

Who says rehearsals are boring? That little pratfall certainly got everyone stirred up! All the more reason to replace my character shoes, which have always made my feet hurt anyway. Next weekend's To Do list just got "Buy new character shoes" added to it.

A woman of many parts

Soon to include "Hungarian pronunciation coach". A local theater company is doing Chicago and a friend volunteered me (with permission) to help them with the Hungarian dialogue. Not that I speak Hungarian, mind you, but when I was with a Hungarian folk dance troupe, we had to sing in Hungarian while we danced. That meant lots and lots of pronunciation drills led by the group leaders, who did speak Hungarian.

One more oddball credit for my theater resume, along with having sewn a 25-foot muslin cyclorama and coached members of a Patience cast in the playing of finger cymbals. Come to think of it, I've contributed finger cymbals to two Patience productions, along with a tambourine or two. You just never know when it'll prove handy to have a bellydancer in your cast. ;-)

That's not how it's supposed to work.

Had an audition this afternoon for a musical review, warmed up in the car on the way over. I was nervous about the singing only because it's tree season, my worst for allergies. My voice was actually cooperating as I started to warm up, but by the time I got there, my throat was starting to feel tired and the voice was feeling clogged. Warming up isn't supposed to make my voice worse! Sure enough, when I went to sing, my voice just didn't want to cooperate. The directors didn't cringe or run screaming from the room, but I'm sure they've had a lot of practice at smiling politely while thinking "Get the hook!" No, I don't really think I was that bad, but I certainly wasn't singing anywhere near my best.

On the plus side, they did seem quite impressed with the "party trick" I also brought along, since the audition notice said they were looking for specialty acts. I dug out my old dance "sword" and balanced it on my head for them, doing a few belly dance moves and even turning w/ it on my head. When I added that I could also dance with other props (finger cymbals, cane, veil), the director scribbled it all down.

I don't expect to get anything but chorus based on how I sang today, but if they can work it in, I wouldn't be surprised if they ask for a sword dance.

"Stupid welcome dance" *

The Grand Duke includes a wild & crazy welcome dance about halfway thru Act II. We set it last night, tweaked it a little this afternoon, will probably continue to tweak it once we have everyone present. It includes a little "walk like an Egyptian", a bit of cancan, a little "Grecian urn"... Pretty energetic, and will probably leave the audience, especially the patrons in the first rows, stunned into silence. "What on earth was that?" "I don't know, but let's hope that was all of it!" It's fun!

* "Stupid welcome dance" is how the director described it. The stage directions call for it to be "wild" and "reckless", leaving all the dancers exhausted at the end. "Stupid" because our characters are a bunch of actors who fancy ourselves to be dancers, not real dancers, so what "we" come up with ends up looking kinda dumb.

Blown away!

(NB: If there's a chance you'll be reviewing the show, read no further.)

Follies opened last night and all I can say is WOW! I was able to sit in the house for most of it and was blown away by the much-deserved audience response. Every number got a big hand and the production numbers were all very enthusiastically received. I suspect the only reason no one got to their feet at the curtain call was that they were too tired by then from the waves of talent washing off the stage, because they were certainly making enough appreciative noise! The show was not without its glitches, but they were minor; they certainly didn't seem to detract from the audience's appreciation.

This company has the luxury of a big stage - the whole floor of the building where I did Pirates last year could probably fit on that stage 3 or 4 times over; more, if you include the wings. Plenty of room for the cast of 45, and plenty of overhead, so they could put the showgirls with their 3-4-foot-tall headdresses on the top steps and they'd not seem the least bit cramped. The lighting designer did a masterful job of making the changes, features and highlights seem natural and flow smoothly, and some of the special touches do a brilliant job of enhancing the story-telling. And this from someone who always notices costumes first and lights last, if at all.

This is essentially a one- or two-set show, depending on how you count the large pieces that get moved in and out depending on the scene. The orchestra overwhelmed a couple of the soloists in a few places, but not severely, and their internal balance was very good. The singers are quite good, and there are a lot of "star turns" for several of the "Weiseman Girls" which are all very well delivered. The production numbers are incredible - beautifully executed and costumed - and the Act I bolero was like a scene from any of a number of old dance movies. Wonderful! In fact, all the choreography is the most ambitious I've ever seen in a community theater production, and generally well done.

And omigosh the COSTUMES!!! Some of the showgirls' headdresses are full of ostrich feathers and as much as four feet tall! The costumes are just as over-the-top. The Busby Berkely-style costumes for 2 of the production numbers reminded me of some of the first musicals, as did the choreography. The former Follies girls are generally in beaded or otherwise glam dresses, the wigs that most of the cast (even the men in one of the production numbers) wear at one time or another suit the costumes well - it's an incredible accomplishment and makes for an eye-popping stage picture.

My own contribution seems tiny in comparison - I'm doing the make-up for just one of the former Follies girls (she's legally blind). I have to age her a good 30 years or so, and am getting to be a dab hand at the age lines and creases. I'm still getting the routine down - each night the make-up designer tells me I need more shadowing or I've forgotten to line her forehead - but I joked with "Heidi now" (as opposed to "young Heidi") last night that by the time we close, I'll have it down to a science.

More dancing for lawyers

This is one of the reasons I keep my eye on Facebook - it seems the Washington Post article on Saphira a friend directed me to prompted NPR to do a feature on her too. It comes out in the NPR interview that her school has nine instructors - that's a big dance school!

All of which is just feeding the itch I've already been feeling to get back to dancing myself. A belly dance class would be so much more interesting than the gym at work, more fun (better music!), more social, and great for flexibility to counter "Arthur". And unlike working out in a gym, it's also a performing art, where I get to boogie down to fun music in some pretty spectacular "glad rags". What's not to love? :D

"Belly dancing for lawyers"

... is the title of the article I found thanks to a link on a friend's site. Nice, lengthy, positive article about a lawyer-turned-dancer in the Washington Post that also has some footage of one of Sapphira's classes. (Her studio looks tiny!) I've danced alongside many a lawyer myself, so I'm not surprised, and I'm pleased to see that her studio seems to be doing well - 300 students, to that she's hired instructors to help out.

Arthur is a pain in the neck.

Learned last night that the chronic pain in my neck, which I always thought was from my sleeping position, is actually from arthritis! The doc had me get my neck x-rayed to be sure; yep, osteophytes (bone spurs) on at least 3 cervical vertebrae! The blasted things like to bear down on a nerve or few, causing tingling and pain to radiate into my hand & fingers.

So now I wanna know - when is medical science gonna come up with a permanent cure for both osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis? This Arthur stuff is for the birds - it's already keeping me from dancing (my knees are not loving the tiny little bit of low-impact polka I do in Merry Widow).

Another audition

Threw together an audition this afternoon for shows that don't actually run until February and March of next year! Not sure why the company's auditioning so very early, but I dusted off "I Hate Men" and trotted off to sing it for the audition panel. The panel consisted of the directors & MDs for both shows (Music Man and Iolanthe) and the Music Man choreographer.

I had only planned to audition for Iolanthe, as Music Man runs opposite another company's Merry Widow, which I'd love to do again! (I love the music in that show - Lehar's a genius!) However, the Music Man MD teased me about that - "what, you don't care about Music Man?", as did the director, so I told 'em that, well, I would love to play Eulalie McKechnie Shinn (the mayor's wife).

The accompanist was good - followed very nicely, didn't have a lick of trouble with the music, both of which I've learned not to take for granted. I thought I sang pretty well, considering I'd settled on my audition piece maybe 2 hours before I got there and that the air quality the past several days has had my lungs full of crud. The room had cinderblock walls, which seemed to make it pretty "live" acoustically - great fun to sing in. On the whole, I'm actually satisfied with how I sang.

The dance audition was another matter. This was a comeuppance for me, as I generally fret about the singing but take it for granted that I'll be able to hold my own in any dance audition not designed for trained dancers. I can usually get most of a combination, but not this time. Maybe because it started on the left foot, but when it came right down to it, I forgot the first step or two, which put me behind, and I completely messed up the final bar of the combination. Worse, the choreographer only ran it once after she had us do it on our own, so I didn't get a chance to redeem myself. I walked outta there rather taken aback that I'd actually screwed up a dance audition. That's never happened to me before, and I've had some pretty fancy footwork thrown at me in dance auditions.

I requested the Fairy Queen in Iolanthe but don't expect to get it, simply because of the caliber of the mezzos who tend to audition for this company. I also don't expect to be offered chorus, since they've tended to cast 20-something women and it's gotta be a pretty big house for me to read that young. I don't expect to be offered Eulalie, either, for the same reason. If they offer me chorus, I won't take it because if it comes down to chorus in Music Man or Merry Widow, it's no contest - Lehar wins, hands down. And because Iolanthe opens only a couple of weeks after Music Man closes, people can't do both shows, so the directors may find themselves doing a bit of horsetrading in their casting meeting.

The Chief and I were discussing this over dinner tonight (when we weren't lamenting the food and the service). The Chief repeated what he's said before, that I should audition for plays as well as musicals. I reminded him that I've already done one play and a non-singing, non-dancing role in a musical, and showed him my spreadsheet of shows I'm considering auditioning for - plays outnumber musicals 2 to 1.

Trying to do too many things at once?

Probably. I'm in rehearsal for Pirates, adjudicated 2 more shows this past weekend, entertaining my folks this weekend out at the cabin, preparing for Holy Week and Easter, trying to see other people's shows, taking voice lessons, oh, and keeping up at work. So what do I do when my former belly dance teacher offers me a 3-minute slot in her student recital, less than 3 weeks from now? Why, grab it, of course!

The biggest challenge to be met? - finding time to practice! Not having danced in years, I definitely need to work on my stamina, and I'll need to redevelop the arm and hand muscles for playing finger cymbals. Then there's the challenge of finding music - she wants everything on CD, but all my dance music is on cassette and vinyl! (I picked up this dance habit rather a while ago.) At least I have a costume that still fits; I just need to figure out where the matching hip scarf has hidden itself and dig out the flashy silver heels I bought to wear with the dress.

The Chief is all for this - he'd love to see me start dancing again. Which is a relief - when I first mentioned doing this, he looked at me like I was crazy and asked me whether I'd have time to do it. Now he thinks it's a great idea, is all set to come along and sample the food (it's at an Indian restaurant that's laying on a buffet for the occasion), and probably have fun watching all the dancers, though he didn't mention that part. Maybe he'll want to tech... :D

Fabulous Fifty

Turned fifty on Sunday - happy birthday to me! We had a multi-birthday dinner out Saturday (my 50th, the Chief's July 60th, and Dad's pending 80th), but Sunday Mom & I fixed dinner. Started out simple - "I'll just slide a chicken into the oven" - but got more & more involved. Not to mention the fact that we trotted out a nice tablecloth, linen napkins, silver, good china, crystal - all the "good stuff" that makes for a fancy, festive table. I made a nice apple cake, too. Mom teased me that having to make my own birthday cake reminded her of my comment once that one of the drawbacks of being a grown-up is having to make your own chicken soup when you're sick. Not in this case, though. I'd been meaning to make this particular cake for a while, especially as our neighbor E, who loves it, had his birthday on the 7th. Sort of a "mutual" birthday cake, I guess you could say. That, at least, is what I told him when I took some over on Monday. :)

My kinda quiz

Finally, a quiz I can believe in. :D I don't disagree with my results, but do wonder if my answer to the last question might have skewed them. Looking at the other possible results, I'd say I also have a lot of cabaret and folkloric dancer in me.

What Kind of Belly Dancer are You?

You are a Classic Belly Dancer. Your idol is Samia Gamal, and you long for the days of the Cairo greats. You're saving up for your first Madame Abla, and after that it will only be a matter of time before you star in your first Cecil B. DeMille style epic choreography. Your one regret is that the photographer they hired for your student recital wouldn't shoot you in black and white.

Take this quiz!