Well, it's time to go home - I actually am very, very sad to leave. I've gotten attached to the city and my friends that live here. I will miss them, especially my little baby Olive (the dog).
I'm sitting here at LAX, waiting for my flight to depart and I'm reminiscing about all the fun I had - the more I look back on it, the more I'm impressed with what I was able to accomplish.
Wed
Arrived - Dinner at Jaime and Brian's w/ Joel and Annika
Thurs
Disneyland and California Adventure!
Fri
Audition
Cha Cha Bar
Fred 62
Sat
Santa Monica Promenade
Santa Monica Pier
Game Night @ Joel and Annika's
Sun
Tour of LA - Pasadena, NoHo, Grove/Farmer's Market, LACMA
Dinner at Joel and Annika's
Mon
Lunch @ In & Out Burger - Animal Style ;-)
Oy, I'm getting a little choked up, I really had a blast. I'm gonna remember this trip for a very long time! Thank you, thank you, thank you Brian and Jaime!!!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Last Day...
Today Brian made Jaime and me breakfast - homemade Eggs Benedict, Snider Style. It was fantastic! We then got ready to start the day. We took a tour of Pasadena where we went to a fro yo shop called 21 Choices where I had the Mayan Chocolate Fro Yo with bananas and raspberries mixed in. Afterward we went over to the NoHo arts district, which is starting to take shape - but right now, it's pretty boring, because there's not really anything there. Then we went down to The Grove/Farmer's Market where we had lunch/dinner at a greek restaurant where I tried, for the first time, whipped salmon caviar - DELICIOUS! Then we headed over to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art where we explored the Asian Art building, the LaBrea Tar Pits and the Modern Art Museum. If you're down in LA right now please see the YOUR FUTURE IS BRIGHT exhibit in the Modern Art Building. It is really quite breath taking. One installation that I thought was very provocative was by a Korean artist who shot video of herself standing with her back to the camera in different locations all over the world (Yemen, Rio Dejaniero, Israel). There were people passing by at these different locations and you can see their reactions to her. She's staying perfectly still. People wonder if she's real, or what the camera is doing... it's very interesting. But the most staggering part was watching the men of Yemen react to this woman, face and hair exposed. Some stare, some verbally confront her, at one point a man takes out a knife and begins to dance in front of the camera - then the screen goes black. Please see it, if you have the chance.
Then we went over to Joel and Annika's for a delicious Lasagna dinner that Annika cooked up - complete with a little side salad and olives imported from Israel. To top it all off, we had root beer floats and played another game of Balderdash!
This is my last day in LA - not forever, but for a while (at least). This trip has been everything I wanted and more, from great friends to museums to Disneyland - it really has been awesome.
Thanks to everyone who made this trip possible, especially Brian and Jaime for being so accommodating and wonderful - what gracious hosts! Now we play the waiting game, to see what lies ahead for me this coming year ;-)
Good Night and I'll see you tomorrow.
Then we went over to Joel and Annika's for a delicious Lasagna dinner that Annika cooked up - complete with a little side salad and olives imported from Israel. To top it all off, we had root beer floats and played another game of Balderdash!
This is my last day in LA - not forever, but for a while (at least). This trip has been everything I wanted and more, from great friends to museums to Disneyland - it really has been awesome.
Thanks to everyone who made this trip possible, especially Brian and Jaime for being so accommodating and wonderful - what gracious hosts! Now we play the waiting game, to see what lies ahead for me this coming year ;-)
Good Night and I'll see you tomorrow.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Santa Monica & Game Night
Yesterday was absolutely beautiful. Jaime and Brian (and Olive the dog) took me out to Santa Monica yesterday morning - I totally fell in love with that city and it made me want to move there... So, don't be surprised if I don't come back ;-) We walked around the promenade and looked at the shops, we stopped in an amazing architecture and art book shop Hennessy + Ingalls and we all found a little slice of heaven in there. Brian found a Frank Lloyd Wright book. Jaime found a blank journal that had little cartoon owls on the front. I found a book of Japanese Goldfish (I've decided I want that to be my next tattoo). Olive is a huge people magnet - she made dozens of new friends, Jaime said I could borrow her to meet girls and I told Jaime I'd fly Olive first class to Seattle.
After a perusing the promenade, we walked down to the beach front - Ocean Ave. The hotels and restaurants are staggeringly beautiful, a touch of art deco meets ultra sleek modern. We walked all the way down to the Santa Monica Pier. This place was such an eclectic mix of everything, awesome street performers, kitchy souvenir shops, artists (ones who sculpt your likeness into a piece of clay), Bubba Gump's Shrimp Restaurant and carnival rides. We took a few pictures along the pier and ate Dippin' Dots. Yum. We walked along the beach front, stopping by the original location of Muscle Beach - there were men showing off their skills on a huge jungle gym for grown ups. It reminded me of Larry the Lobster on Spongebob Square Pants. I turned to Brian and Jaime and said "I should just run up there and try to jump up on the jungle gym but just completely biff it, I think that'd be really hilarious." Jaime snickered "Yeah, but you'd have to take off your shirt first." I quickly replied "Yeah, um - no thanks." Hahaha.
We headed back up to the car and we swung by the book store so that Brian could pick up his book. Once in the car Jaime took the scenic route back home, Santa Monica Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard. What a cool city to live in!
On our way back to the apartment, Jaime suggested that we have a game night with Joel and Annika. I was game (haha, lame) so I picked up my phone to call Annika. I noticed I had a missed call from her. I called back.
"Hi Annika, did I miss your call?"
"Yeah, where are you guys?"
"Heading back from Santa Monica. Jaime thought that we should have a game night tonight."
"Haha, that's why I called you - Joel and I thought we should have a game night. At our place."
"Hahaha! Well boom. It was meant to be."
"Cool, how about 7pm ish?"
"Sounds great, should we bring anything? Costco Pizza!?!"
"Ooh, yeah. See ya soon!"
We got to the apartment and we were all pretty exhausted. Jaime, Olive and I took naps while Brian curled up with his new book. 6:45pm rolled around and we headed out to Costco to buy a pizza and then headed over to Joel and Annika's. We played Balderdash. Have you ever played that game? It's pretty freakin rad. I loved it - and I have to say, I think LA has brought out the little comedy writer in me. Here are some of my favorites:
In response to a peculiar person - Harry Williams
I wrote: "The forearms of comedian Robin Williams"
In response to the movie title - Below The Belt
I wrote: "The Ivana Trump Story"
In response to the movie title - Beginning of The End
I wrote: "A documentary following the life of Kurt Russell after 'Big Trouble In Little China' through 'Captain Ron.'
Today we're heading to Historic Filipino Town - then Joel and Annika are having us over again for dinner!
After a perusing the promenade, we walked down to the beach front - Ocean Ave. The hotels and restaurants are staggeringly beautiful, a touch of art deco meets ultra sleek modern. We walked all the way down to the Santa Monica Pier. This place was such an eclectic mix of everything, awesome street performers, kitchy souvenir shops, artists (ones who sculpt your likeness into a piece of clay), Bubba Gump's Shrimp Restaurant and carnival rides. We took a few pictures along the pier and ate Dippin' Dots. Yum. We walked along the beach front, stopping by the original location of Muscle Beach - there were men showing off their skills on a huge jungle gym for grown ups. It reminded me of Larry the Lobster on Spongebob Square Pants. I turned to Brian and Jaime and said "I should just run up there and try to jump up on the jungle gym but just completely biff it, I think that'd be really hilarious." Jaime snickered "Yeah, but you'd have to take off your shirt first." I quickly replied "Yeah, um - no thanks." Hahaha.
We headed back up to the car and we swung by the book store so that Brian could pick up his book. Once in the car Jaime took the scenic route back home, Santa Monica Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard. What a cool city to live in!
On our way back to the apartment, Jaime suggested that we have a game night with Joel and Annika. I was game (haha, lame) so I picked up my phone to call Annika. I noticed I had a missed call from her. I called back.
"Hi Annika, did I miss your call?"
"Yeah, where are you guys?"
"Heading back from Santa Monica. Jaime thought that we should have a game night tonight."
"Haha, that's why I called you - Joel and I thought we should have a game night. At our place."
"Hahaha! Well boom. It was meant to be."
"Cool, how about 7pm ish?"
"Sounds great, should we bring anything? Costco Pizza!?!"
"Ooh, yeah. See ya soon!"
We got to the apartment and we were all pretty exhausted. Jaime, Olive and I took naps while Brian curled up with his new book. 6:45pm rolled around and we headed out to Costco to buy a pizza and then headed over to Joel and Annika's. We played Balderdash. Have you ever played that game? It's pretty freakin rad. I loved it - and I have to say, I think LA has brought out the little comedy writer in me. Here are some of my favorites:
In response to a peculiar person - Harry Williams
I wrote: "The forearms of comedian Robin Williams"
In response to the movie title - Below The Belt
I wrote: "The Ivana Trump Story"
In response to the movie title - Beginning of The End
I wrote: "A documentary following the life of Kurt Russell after 'Big Trouble In Little China' through 'Captain Ron.'
Today we're heading to Historic Filipino Town - then Joel and Annika are having us over again for dinner!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
MulHOLLAnd!
Good Morning!
Last night I hung out with Joel, Annika, Jaime, Brian and Kiki. We went to this great bar called The Cha Cha, the sign outside of it just read: "Bar" and the building was painted a dark color and was pretty nondescript. The minute you step inside that bar, you're transported to a kitchy 70's mexicana/bayou world where paper skulls, sombreros and rows upon rows of red christmas lights intertwined with lights shaped like eyeballs exist as the decor on the ceiling. The walls were covered with black velvet paintings of half naked ladies, scary cartoon dogs, wolves, bull fighters and Stevie Wonder.
I was having a discussion with Joel and Brian, I asked them what the average price of a cocktail was in LA - Joel mentioned that they can range anywhere from 7 - 15 bucks, depending on where you were. Our waitress comes by and explained that they are having a special on Sailor Jerry's Spiced Rum and that drinks made with Sailor Jerry's were only $2. "$2!" Joel and Brian said together.
After some reminiscing about the time I slept in a window sill in a hotel in Vancouver BC and our favorite rides at Disneyland/California Adventure, we ordered another round of drinks and then proceeded to a restaurant called Fred 62 - A diner style restaurant. For me, well - not for me, Joel mostly - had a strange case of the Twighlight Zone. Apparently my "Sliding Doors" twin was just outside the restaurant and was heading in. I think it scared Joel a little. This guy looks like me if I still had my hair from 8th grade, was 5'7", was a bit darker and maybe 20 pounds heavier. Everyone agreed - except for me that is. I wasn't convinced, so I decided to walk over to the restrooms and then walk by his table and get a closer look. Once I got to the restroom I pulled out my cellphone and was gonna take a picture of this "Dan Darryl Riviera." I walked by - a little too fast - the picture didn't turn out and I didn't think he looked like me. But from across the restaurant his profile was an uncanny likeness of myself.
I tried to sleep in this morning - but I ended up waking up around 7:30am. I haven't been keeping my suitcase well organized so I decided to straighten that up before I begin today's festivities.
Last night I hung out with Joel, Annika, Jaime, Brian and Kiki. We went to this great bar called The Cha Cha, the sign outside of it just read: "Bar" and the building was painted a dark color and was pretty nondescript. The minute you step inside that bar, you're transported to a kitchy 70's mexicana/bayou world where paper skulls, sombreros and rows upon rows of red christmas lights intertwined with lights shaped like eyeballs exist as the decor on the ceiling. The walls were covered with black velvet paintings of half naked ladies, scary cartoon dogs, wolves, bull fighters and Stevie Wonder.
I was having a discussion with Joel and Brian, I asked them what the average price of a cocktail was in LA - Joel mentioned that they can range anywhere from 7 - 15 bucks, depending on where you were. Our waitress comes by and explained that they are having a special on Sailor Jerry's Spiced Rum and that drinks made with Sailor Jerry's were only $2. "$2!" Joel and Brian said together.
After some reminiscing about the time I slept in a window sill in a hotel in Vancouver BC and our favorite rides at Disneyland/California Adventure, we ordered another round of drinks and then proceeded to a restaurant called Fred 62 - A diner style restaurant. For me, well - not for me, Joel mostly - had a strange case of the Twighlight Zone. Apparently my "Sliding Doors" twin was just outside the restaurant and was heading in. I think it scared Joel a little. This guy looks like me if I still had my hair from 8th grade, was 5'7", was a bit darker and maybe 20 pounds heavier. Everyone agreed - except for me that is. I wasn't convinced, so I decided to walk over to the restrooms and then walk by his table and get a closer look. Once I got to the restroom I pulled out my cellphone and was gonna take a picture of this "Dan Darryl Riviera." I walked by - a little too fast - the picture didn't turn out and I didn't think he looked like me. But from across the restaurant his profile was an uncanny likeness of myself.
I tried to sleep in this morning - but I ended up waking up around 7:30am. I haven't been keeping my suitcase well organized so I decided to straighten that up before I begin today's festivities.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Wowee Wowee!
Disneyland and California adventure were AMAZING!!!
Kiki, Jaime and I managed to get on 12 rides in a short 9 hour span of time. We were totally efficient! Both Kiki and Jaime kept everything in check and we had THE best time. Here's what we rode:
California Adventure -
Mulholland Drive
Maliboom
Tower Of Terror (Um, fantastic ride. Boom.)
California Screamin' (Fast Pass - this rollercoaster is flipping AMAZING!)
Maliboom (AGAIN!)
Disneyland -
Pirates of The Caribbean
Thunder Mountain
Matterhorn Mountain
Autopia
Roger Rabbit's Taxi Spin
Splash Mountain (No Fast Pass - We went during the fireworks show, hardly any line)
The Haunted Mansion
I have a couple reaction videos on the rides - they're pretty fun, except for the ones that put you in darkness for like 2 minutes... then it's boring. ;-) I'll put a couple up soon.
And now the moment you've been waiting for -
My first LA audition was AWESOME!
I get to my audition and I go through my sides (I've started writing down my lines, it helps me memorize them so much faster) and my songs. I hop out of the car and cross the street to the studios. Screenland Studios to be exact, I seem to be in the middle of a bunch of entertainment related businesses. I enter and there are two guys sitting in what looks like a mini kitchen area - on the walls are autographed headshots of celebrities like Charlie Sheen and Ben Vereen and everyone in between (boom). The guys are talking about how they may have met before, like at an audition. I sit down and begin to review my notes. They kind of hush up and move out of the kitchen into the waiting area. Typical. haha. A beautiful girl walks in and asks me my name (she's totally LA) and I tell her, she returns with a stats sheet. I fill it out and while I'm doing so, one of the guys returns, I break the ice:
"So, are you from LA?" I ask.
"No, I'm from Vegas." He smirks. "If I get this gig, the trip will be worth it. Haha, if not - I'll just write it off."
"Haha. Right?... I'm from Seattle."
"Oh really!? That's cool!"
"Who are you reading for?"
"Captain Hook." He pauses. "I'm Zack."
"I'm Don - nice to meet you. I'm reading for Pain."
"Haha, that's great."
"So, these are the final call backs right?"
"Yep."
In comes the beautiful girl and she grabs my stats from me. She tells me to follow her, cause I'm up next. I follow her down a quick hallway and stop at a giant door. She tells me to wait as she sneaks into the room. I wait for what seems 20 minutes but was probably like 3 minutes, I steal a quick sip of water from the water fountain next to me... I quietly go through my songs. My heart begins to race and I can feel it beating especially in my hands. The door latch clicks open and the door is open to reveal a panel of some familiar and not so familiar faces - and what seems to be my face too... My headshot to be more exact. Allison Narver is waving it at a woman seated in front of the panel's table. We all say our hellos, Allison actually gets up from the table and gives me a hug. I meet everyone (the musical director, another casting agent, Allison of course and Ron.) Ron asks me to sing a song I prepared. So I go over to the pianist and give him my music - I point out the double flats and notes that are waaay off the staff (I marked everything out for him), he looks at me and says: what an odd arrangement. I smile. I walk to a spot far enough from the panel so that I don't blow their eardrums when I start belting. I sing and they find it a little funny - A little asian man, singing a black woman's song. I belt my face off. After the song, they smile. During the song my hands had gone numb - So I began shaking them profusely after I finished singing, I giggled and said - "I can't feel my hands, all the blood is rushing to my head." They laugh, I shake out my hands. Ron looks at me and says: "So, did we send you the Pain and Panic sides?" I tell him yes, and Ron looks at me - wondering if I have a paper copy to read from. I just smile back and he gets up from the table and begins to read. Little did the panel know I'd memorized my sides and went balls to the wall without even carrying a paper copy - just in case. I did my sides. They seemed very happy about my performance. So they sit and chat for a second, then the music director asks me if I have anything to sing in contrast to Dreamgirls. I pull out You Were There from Rocket Science. I put it in front of the pianist and smile, I say it's from a new musical - he smiles. Tempo? I give him one. Excellent. Ron asks: "What song are you singing?" I tell him You Were There from Rocket Science, A new musical. They tell me to go ahead, I sing quietly and act my face off. Once I was done, Allison and the music director said: "That was so beautiful - who wrote that?" And with a smile on my face I proclaimed Stephen Weiner, Jason Rhyne and Patricia Cotter! They gush on "that is a really beautiful song." The music director then turns to Ron and says: "I'd like to have that on camera." Ron instructs said beautiful girl to record my singing, she does. Allison follows suit: "I'd love to put him on camera too." Ron and I perform the sides again. Boom.
Many thanks are thrown around the room, I thank them for inviting me down to LA to see them again and Allison asks me what I'm working on next, I tell her - If You Give A Mouse A Cookie at SCT and she says, "Ah, Rita's directing right?" I nod. She smiles and says "See you back in Seattle!" I laugh and say my 'nice to meet you's' etc etc, I smile and leave the room.
I gather my belongings from the kitchen area, it now seems there are a bunch more guys at the call backs - they're all wearing solid color polos with jeans and dress shoes, I'm wearing a very Seattle outfit, black v-neck tee, boot cut dark wash denim, gray chuck taylors and a big blue, gray, black and white checkered long sleeve polo with the sleeves rolled up and the front unbuttoned. I smile and at everyone and tell them to break a leg, they smile back - they're all skinny and tall. Surprise. hahah ;-)
Time for a quick nap and then another rendezvous with Joel, Annika, Brian and Jaime.
Kiki, Jaime and I managed to get on 12 rides in a short 9 hour span of time. We were totally efficient! Both Kiki and Jaime kept everything in check and we had THE best time. Here's what we rode:
California Adventure -
Mulholland Drive
Maliboom
Tower Of Terror (Um, fantastic ride. Boom.)
California Screamin' (Fast Pass - this rollercoaster is flipping AMAZING!)
Maliboom (AGAIN!)
Disneyland -
Pirates of The Caribbean
Thunder Mountain
Matterhorn Mountain
Autopia
Roger Rabbit's Taxi Spin
Splash Mountain (No Fast Pass - We went during the fireworks show, hardly any line)
The Haunted Mansion
I have a couple reaction videos on the rides - they're pretty fun, except for the ones that put you in darkness for like 2 minutes... then it's boring. ;-) I'll put a couple up soon.
And now the moment you've been waiting for -
My first LA audition was AWESOME!
I get to my audition and I go through my sides (I've started writing down my lines, it helps me memorize them so much faster) and my songs. I hop out of the car and cross the street to the studios. Screenland Studios to be exact, I seem to be in the middle of a bunch of entertainment related businesses. I enter and there are two guys sitting in what looks like a mini kitchen area - on the walls are autographed headshots of celebrities like Charlie Sheen and Ben Vereen and everyone in between (boom). The guys are talking about how they may have met before, like at an audition. I sit down and begin to review my notes. They kind of hush up and move out of the kitchen into the waiting area. Typical. haha. A beautiful girl walks in and asks me my name (she's totally LA) and I tell her, she returns with a stats sheet. I fill it out and while I'm doing so, one of the guys returns, I break the ice:
"So, are you from LA?" I ask.
"No, I'm from Vegas." He smirks. "If I get this gig, the trip will be worth it. Haha, if not - I'll just write it off."
"Haha. Right?... I'm from Seattle."
"Oh really!? That's cool!"
"Who are you reading for?"
"Captain Hook." He pauses. "I'm Zack."
"I'm Don - nice to meet you. I'm reading for Pain."
"Haha, that's great."
"So, these are the final call backs right?"
"Yep."
In comes the beautiful girl and she grabs my stats from me. She tells me to follow her, cause I'm up next. I follow her down a quick hallway and stop at a giant door. She tells me to wait as she sneaks into the room. I wait for what seems 20 minutes but was probably like 3 minutes, I steal a quick sip of water from the water fountain next to me... I quietly go through my songs. My heart begins to race and I can feel it beating especially in my hands. The door latch clicks open and the door is open to reveal a panel of some familiar and not so familiar faces - and what seems to be my face too... My headshot to be more exact. Allison Narver is waving it at a woman seated in front of the panel's table. We all say our hellos, Allison actually gets up from the table and gives me a hug. I meet everyone (the musical director, another casting agent, Allison of course and Ron.) Ron asks me to sing a song I prepared. So I go over to the pianist and give him my music - I point out the double flats and notes that are waaay off the staff (I marked everything out for him), he looks at me and says: what an odd arrangement. I smile. I walk to a spot far enough from the panel so that I don't blow their eardrums when I start belting. I sing and they find it a little funny - A little asian man, singing a black woman's song. I belt my face off. After the song, they smile. During the song my hands had gone numb - So I began shaking them profusely after I finished singing, I giggled and said - "I can't feel my hands, all the blood is rushing to my head." They laugh, I shake out my hands. Ron looks at me and says: "So, did we send you the Pain and Panic sides?" I tell him yes, and Ron looks at me - wondering if I have a paper copy to read from. I just smile back and he gets up from the table and begins to read. Little did the panel know I'd memorized my sides and went balls to the wall without even carrying a paper copy - just in case. I did my sides. They seemed very happy about my performance. So they sit and chat for a second, then the music director asks me if I have anything to sing in contrast to Dreamgirls. I pull out You Were There from Rocket Science. I put it in front of the pianist and smile, I say it's from a new musical - he smiles. Tempo? I give him one. Excellent. Ron asks: "What song are you singing?" I tell him You Were There from Rocket Science, A new musical. They tell me to go ahead, I sing quietly and act my face off. Once I was done, Allison and the music director said: "That was so beautiful - who wrote that?" And with a smile on my face I proclaimed Stephen Weiner, Jason Rhyne and Patricia Cotter! They gush on "that is a really beautiful song." The music director then turns to Ron and says: "I'd like to have that on camera." Ron instructs said beautiful girl to record my singing, she does. Allison follows suit: "I'd love to put him on camera too." Ron and I perform the sides again. Boom.
Many thanks are thrown around the room, I thank them for inviting me down to LA to see them again and Allison asks me what I'm working on next, I tell her - If You Give A Mouse A Cookie at SCT and she says, "Ah, Rita's directing right?" I nod. She smiles and says "See you back in Seattle!" I laugh and say my 'nice to meet you's' etc etc, I smile and leave the room.
I gather my belongings from the kitchen area, it now seems there are a bunch more guys at the call backs - they're all wearing solid color polos with jeans and dress shoes, I'm wearing a very Seattle outfit, black v-neck tee, boot cut dark wash denim, gray chuck taylors and a big blue, gray, black and white checkered long sleeve polo with the sleeves rolled up and the front unbuttoned. I smile and at everyone and tell them to break a leg, they smile back - they're all skinny and tall. Surprise. hahah ;-)
Time for a quick nap and then another rendezvous with Joel, Annika, Brian and Jaime.
Today's The Day!
I'm about to get ready for my audition. Making some final choices on sides and singing through my songs. Just incase you were wondering - I'm wearing my New Voices 7 Oufit... Sans glasses.
My songs are: And I Am Telling You from DreamGirls and You Were There from Rocket Science!
Here we GO!
My songs are: And I Am Telling You from DreamGirls and You Were There from Rocket Science!
Here we GO!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
The Happiest Place On Earth
LA. :-)
Yesterday Brian, Jaime and I went to Costco to pick up some food for dinner - I walked by the liquor aisle and was like screeecch! Liquor? At Costco? Gallon sized liquor at COSTCO?! Whoa. Jaime reminded me that you can buy liquor in grocery stores. So, Brian picked up some cod and Jaime picked up a medley of teeny tiny potatoes.
I was a tad bit hungry from having not eaten all day - and Brian was hungry too... and we figured since we were at Costco we might as well hit up the "restaurant" so I had a polish sausage and Brian had a piece of pizza - don't worry, he gave the crust to Jaime. :-)
I am having so much fun here!!! Last night, I had an amazing meal with amazing friends - Joel, Annika, Jaime and Brian - my classmates from Cornish. Let me just say, Brian and Jaime are amazing cooks. Brian made a wonderful roasted cod and Jaime made THE best mashed potatoes ever and to top it all off - Banana's Snider (Foster) with vanilla ice cream. I know. Amazing. On Friday, the plan is to go to this sausage place for dinner and possibly poker at Joel and Annika's and on Saturday the girls are having their own lunch, while the boys (and Annika's mom Mary) are having lunch at Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles. Ok, yes - I know I'm a chubby kid... but seriously - how can you possibly pass up the possibility of chicken AND waffles... together. I may have to vlog my experience.
The company and food were just so great - it really is a trip to be down here. LA.
So today's the day. Disneyland! I'm going with Kiki and Jaime - In the two years Jaime's been here, she hasn't been so, today's the freakin day! I really can't wait.
Off to score some breakfast.
p.s. I just spent a half hour trying to fish Brian and Jaime's dog out of their box spring.
Yesterday Brian, Jaime and I went to Costco to pick up some food for dinner - I walked by the liquor aisle and was like screeecch! Liquor? At Costco? Gallon sized liquor at COSTCO?! Whoa. Jaime reminded me that you can buy liquor in grocery stores. So, Brian picked up some cod and Jaime picked up a medley of teeny tiny potatoes.
I was a tad bit hungry from having not eaten all day - and Brian was hungry too... and we figured since we were at Costco we might as well hit up the "restaurant" so I had a polish sausage and Brian had a piece of pizza - don't worry, he gave the crust to Jaime. :-)
I am having so much fun here!!! Last night, I had an amazing meal with amazing friends - Joel, Annika, Jaime and Brian - my classmates from Cornish. Let me just say, Brian and Jaime are amazing cooks. Brian made a wonderful roasted cod and Jaime made THE best mashed potatoes ever and to top it all off - Banana's Snider (Foster) with vanilla ice cream. I know. Amazing. On Friday, the plan is to go to this sausage place for dinner and possibly poker at Joel and Annika's and on Saturday the girls are having their own lunch, while the boys (and Annika's mom Mary) are having lunch at Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles. Ok, yes - I know I'm a chubby kid... but seriously - how can you possibly pass up the possibility of chicken AND waffles... together. I may have to vlog my experience.
The company and food were just so great - it really is a trip to be down here. LA.
So today's the day. Disneyland! I'm going with Kiki and Jaime - In the two years Jaime's been here, she hasn't been so, today's the freakin day! I really can't wait.
Off to score some breakfast.
p.s. I just spent a half hour trying to fish Brian and Jaime's dog out of their box spring.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
I've Just Turned On The Fasten Seatbelt Sign
Here I am folks! Hollywood!
I made it here all in one piece but boy, the trip wasn't without it's hiccups.
I woke up around 5am this morning and made sure I had everything I needed for my trip and that everything was packed away nicely blah, blah, blah... So 6:05am rolls around and I'm just getting into the car when my mother turns to me and says:
"You didn't check in."
"I can do that from the airport. My flight is at 7:30am."
"You should check in."
"Okay, fine."
So we get out of the car and my sister is sitting on the computer - she literally checks me in as I stand there and watch her. It turns out my flight is at 7:15am and by now it's already 6:15am and I live 20 minutes away from the airport.
So we grab the home printed boarding passes and hop into the car. My father is driving, I'm in the front seat - and my mother silently judges me from the back. :-) My father is booking it to the airport because I still have to go through security - which, they say you should give yourself ample time to get through - especially at peak travelling hours. I end up getting to the airport around 6:40am, thank god there wasn't any traffic. I run to the security line, which has already wound itself around the terminal. I think to myself that I might possibly miss my plane. Crap.
The line starts hustling a little bit - but there are quite a few pilots and flight attendants who are getting priority from our check point. I finally get up to the check point - he looks at my papers, looks at my ID, looks at me - stamps my papers and lets me through. Ok, so I'm almost there (it's 6:54am by this point) I get to the bin area and put my laptop in one and my shoes, bag and liquids in another. I slide my things to the conveyor belt and step through the metal detector. Oops, I forgot my cellphone was still in my pocket. I throw that into the bin and hustle through the detector again. The man at the other end stops me and says "I'm gonna have to pat you down sir. Hold on to your waistband - so that I don't pull your pants down." Um... yeah, he totes said that. So he does so and lets me go to the end of the conveyor belt. The woman sitting scanning the items stops the belt and says "Hold on." I think, oh no... I'm doomed. It turns out a woman in front of me has an ice pack and that HLS wants to hold her for questioning and they want to test it's contents. "It's just ice!" she says as they whisk her away to a separate part of the security terminal. I see my stuff coming through the conveyor belt and I'm about to reach for it when it suddenly starts to move backwards. The woman scanning the items squints at the screen - advances my items and points to them. A HLS officer rushes over and throws something over my items. It's a ziplock bag - quart sized. I used a gallon sized bag. "Quart sized sir, not gallon." They let me go.
By this time it's 7:02am. I grab my shoes and bag and transfer the liquids to the other bag and head towards the screen of departures because I didn't know where my gate was. MY LAPTOP! I run back to the security check point and grab my laptop and stuff it in my bag. I run back to the screens - Seattle to Oakland - 7:15am NOW BOARDING. B8. B8?! Where's B8!?! I check the signs around me. B gates this way. I run frantically toward the glowing sign and find that I'm at gate B1. Cool, only 7 strenuous gates to go. I hustle my self and my belongings towards the gate. I get to the gate at 7:08am. They're not boarding yet. Phew.
I get on the plane - there's a crying baby a few rows ahead of me making sure everyone knew how unhappy he was to be on the plane. We take off, and the baby cries. We reach our cruising altitude. He cries. I pull out my music and begin to mark difficult areas with a pencil. I loose myself in the music and end up falling asleep. I wake up to the flight attendant asking me what I would like to drink. I order a Dr. Pepper, she gives me one. I put my music away, downed the entire contents of my glass, ice and all and I fall back asleep. I wake up as we begin our final descent into Oakland. The baby cries. I was stuck in a seat where I couldn't really see out the windows very well... I knew we were descending but, I didn't know when we were gonna touch the ground. It scared the living crap out of me. The baby cries.
We all leave the plane in a sluggish manner. It seems that my connecting flight to LA is at gate 22... I have a leisurely 40 minutes till my plane departs though, so I'm pretty sure I can do a little blogging before I get on the next flight - nope. I literally have to run (once again) to my gate. It seems that the gate is on the opposite end of the airport. I get there in time for the pre boarding speech and they begin boarding. This flight is short - a quick hour and 20 minutes.
I arrive in LA around 11:20am. I receive a text message from Jaime.
Jaime: Are you here yet?
DDR: Just touched down. I'm afraid I'm gonna miss my 11:30 shuttle. I'll probably be there around 12:30ish?
Jaime: Ok - Keep my updated so I know when to leave for lunch.
DDR: Cool. I'm so overwhelmed right now.
Jaime: Totally, I understand. Did you find where the shuttle picks you up?
DDR: Totes. OHMAGAH I'M IN LA! HAHAHA
Jaime: Haha! Land of Dreams.
The shuttle finally comes and picks me up around 12:05pm and then proceeds to stop at every freaking terminal to pick up more people. We get out of the airport by 12:30pm and hit the road. I was supposed to meet Jaime around 12:30pm. I text her.
DDR: Looks like I'll be meeting you after work, I just got on the road now.
Jaime: I would feel bad for you to just hang around the mall for 3 hours.
DDR: Seriously, no worries. I'm a big boy - I can handle it. :-)
Jaime: Well, Here's what I'll do. I'll take a late lunch and if you get in before it's done, I'll take you home.
DDR: Ok cool. But seriously, no worries. I don't wanna take you away from break or work. I'll text you when I get close.
Jaime: It's really no problem!
So I end up getting to Union Station around 1:oopm. I run down the grand stair case - buy my ticket at the ticketing station and hop the red line up to Hollywood and Highland. I've never taken the subway before - ever. It has a distinct sound, one that strikes fear in my teeny tiny heart. It's frightening people! Anywho, I get off the subway, climb a couple escalators and end up on the Hollywood Walk of Fame right across from the El Capitan Theatre. I call Jaime and she meets me. 1:30pm - I made it. Without even getting lost... That's quite the accomplishment, since I'm perpetually lost.
Tonight I'm having dinner with Brian and Jaime and Joel and Annika. Ah, good times.
Tomorrow? DISNEYLAND with Kiki! ...i think.
I made it here all in one piece but boy, the trip wasn't without it's hiccups.
I woke up around 5am this morning and made sure I had everything I needed for my trip and that everything was packed away nicely blah, blah, blah... So 6:05am rolls around and I'm just getting into the car when my mother turns to me and says:
"You didn't check in."
"I can do that from the airport. My flight is at 7:30am."
"You should check in."
"Okay, fine."
So we get out of the car and my sister is sitting on the computer - she literally checks me in as I stand there and watch her. It turns out my flight is at 7:15am and by now it's already 6:15am and I live 20 minutes away from the airport.
So we grab the home printed boarding passes and hop into the car. My father is driving, I'm in the front seat - and my mother silently judges me from the back. :-) My father is booking it to the airport because I still have to go through security - which, they say you should give yourself ample time to get through - especially at peak travelling hours. I end up getting to the airport around 6:40am, thank god there wasn't any traffic. I run to the security line, which has already wound itself around the terminal. I think to myself that I might possibly miss my plane. Crap.
The line starts hustling a little bit - but there are quite a few pilots and flight attendants who are getting priority from our check point. I finally get up to the check point - he looks at my papers, looks at my ID, looks at me - stamps my papers and lets me through. Ok, so I'm almost there (it's 6:54am by this point) I get to the bin area and put my laptop in one and my shoes, bag and liquids in another. I slide my things to the conveyor belt and step through the metal detector. Oops, I forgot my cellphone was still in my pocket. I throw that into the bin and hustle through the detector again. The man at the other end stops me and says "I'm gonna have to pat you down sir. Hold on to your waistband - so that I don't pull your pants down." Um... yeah, he totes said that. So he does so and lets me go to the end of the conveyor belt. The woman sitting scanning the items stops the belt and says "Hold on." I think, oh no... I'm doomed. It turns out a woman in front of me has an ice pack and that HLS wants to hold her for questioning and they want to test it's contents. "It's just ice!" she says as they whisk her away to a separate part of the security terminal. I see my stuff coming through the conveyor belt and I'm about to reach for it when it suddenly starts to move backwards. The woman scanning the items squints at the screen - advances my items and points to them. A HLS officer rushes over and throws something over my items. It's a ziplock bag - quart sized. I used a gallon sized bag. "Quart sized sir, not gallon." They let me go.
By this time it's 7:02am. I grab my shoes and bag and transfer the liquids to the other bag and head towards the screen of departures because I didn't know where my gate was. MY LAPTOP! I run back to the security check point and grab my laptop and stuff it in my bag. I run back to the screens - Seattle to Oakland - 7:15am NOW BOARDING. B8. B8?! Where's B8!?! I check the signs around me. B gates this way. I run frantically toward the glowing sign and find that I'm at gate B1. Cool, only 7 strenuous gates to go. I hustle my self and my belongings towards the gate. I get to the gate at 7:08am. They're not boarding yet. Phew.
I get on the plane - there's a crying baby a few rows ahead of me making sure everyone knew how unhappy he was to be on the plane. We take off, and the baby cries. We reach our cruising altitude. He cries. I pull out my music and begin to mark difficult areas with a pencil. I loose myself in the music and end up falling asleep. I wake up to the flight attendant asking me what I would like to drink. I order a Dr. Pepper, she gives me one. I put my music away, downed the entire contents of my glass, ice and all and I fall back asleep. I wake up as we begin our final descent into Oakland. The baby cries. I was stuck in a seat where I couldn't really see out the windows very well... I knew we were descending but, I didn't know when we were gonna touch the ground. It scared the living crap out of me. The baby cries.
We all leave the plane in a sluggish manner. It seems that my connecting flight to LA is at gate 22... I have a leisurely 40 minutes till my plane departs though, so I'm pretty sure I can do a little blogging before I get on the next flight - nope. I literally have to run (once again) to my gate. It seems that the gate is on the opposite end of the airport. I get there in time for the pre boarding speech and they begin boarding. This flight is short - a quick hour and 20 minutes.
I arrive in LA around 11:20am. I receive a text message from Jaime.
Jaime: Are you here yet?
DDR: Just touched down. I'm afraid I'm gonna miss my 11:30 shuttle. I'll probably be there around 12:30ish?
Jaime: Ok - Keep my updated so I know when to leave for lunch.
DDR: Cool. I'm so overwhelmed right now.
Jaime: Totally, I understand. Did you find where the shuttle picks you up?
DDR: Totes. OHMAGAH I'M IN LA! HAHAHA
Jaime: Haha! Land of Dreams.
The shuttle finally comes and picks me up around 12:05pm and then proceeds to stop at every freaking terminal to pick up more people. We get out of the airport by 12:30pm and hit the road. I was supposed to meet Jaime around 12:30pm. I text her.
DDR: Looks like I'll be meeting you after work, I just got on the road now.
Jaime: I would feel bad for you to just hang around the mall for 3 hours.
DDR: Seriously, no worries. I'm a big boy - I can handle it. :-)
Jaime: Well, Here's what I'll do. I'll take a late lunch and if you get in before it's done, I'll take you home.
DDR: Ok cool. But seriously, no worries. I don't wanna take you away from break or work. I'll text you when I get close.
Jaime: It's really no problem!
So I end up getting to Union Station around 1:oopm. I run down the grand stair case - buy my ticket at the ticketing station and hop the red line up to Hollywood and Highland. I've never taken the subway before - ever. It has a distinct sound, one that strikes fear in my teeny tiny heart. It's frightening people! Anywho, I get off the subway, climb a couple escalators and end up on the Hollywood Walk of Fame right across from the El Capitan Theatre. I call Jaime and she meets me. 1:30pm - I made it. Without even getting lost... That's quite the accomplishment, since I'm perpetually lost.
Tonight I'm having dinner with Brian and Jaime and Joel and Annika. Ah, good times.
Tomorrow? DISNEYLAND with Kiki! ...i think.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Mere Hours
Just a few hours before I jump a plane to LA. I've just finished packing - and I'm feeling really good about this trip. I've packed super light and I'm not checking any baggage in. The last thing I need is an airline loosing my clothes and my music. I'd be up you know where without you know what.
Seriously - I've packed 5 days worth of travel in an itty bitty 20" piece of luggage. I will be bringing my Flip Cam with me so I may even do a little Vlogging.
Oh yeah, did I mention - I built my entire musical theatre book today? Here's what's in there:
*And I Am Telling You (I'm Not Going) - Dreamgirls
*You Were There - Rocket Science
Awaiting You - Myths and Hymns
Gaston (Reprise)- Beauty & The Beast
Love Can't Happen - Grand Hotel
Heaven's Light - Disney's Hunchback
I Want A Place - The Gypsy King
Chip's Lament - Putnam County Spelling Bee
Out There - Disney's Hunchback
Proud Of Your Boy - Aladdin
Prayer Of The Comfort Counselor - Putnam County Spelling Bee
Santa Fe - Newsies
This Is The Moment - Jekyll and Hyde (This is my riffing song. Ha!)
In Short - Edges (Full song)
Chip's Lament - Putnam County Spelling Bee (Full song)
I've super prepared the ones with the stars for my audition.
Alright - it's off to Caety's to go through my songs - she wants to hear them all before I leave. I gotta check in with the boss before I go. haha. :-)
Seriously - I've packed 5 days worth of travel in an itty bitty 20" piece of luggage. I will be bringing my Flip Cam with me so I may even do a little Vlogging.
Oh yeah, did I mention - I built my entire musical theatre book today? Here's what's in there:
*And I Am Telling You (I'm Not Going) - Dreamgirls
*You Were There - Rocket Science
Awaiting You - Myths and Hymns
Gaston (Reprise)- Beauty & The Beast
Love Can't Happen - Grand Hotel
Heaven's Light - Disney's Hunchback
I Want A Place - The Gypsy King
Chip's Lament - Putnam County Spelling Bee
Out There - Disney's Hunchback
Proud Of Your Boy - Aladdin
Prayer Of The Comfort Counselor - Putnam County Spelling Bee
Santa Fe - Newsies
This Is The Moment - Jekyll and Hyde (This is my riffing song. Ha!)
In Short - Edges (Full song)
Chip's Lament - Putnam County Spelling Bee (Full song)
I've super prepared the ones with the stars for my audition.
Alright - it's off to Caety's to go through my songs - she wants to hear them all before I leave. I gotta check in with the boss before I go. haha. :-)
Adventure Awaits
It's morning? Already!?
Well, it's the morning before my trip to LA for my final call back for Disney and my heart is already starting to beat out of my chest. I've never been to LA, let alone traveled outside of Seattle to audition and it's so exciting. With each passing minute, this trip seems to get more real and the tension is building... Here we are at what would be the middle of the story - I guess I should start at the beginning right?
It's July, and it's a day like any other. I'm on facebook - chatting away with friends, when a chat from Matt pops up.
Matt: Howdy!
DDR: Holla!
Matt: Are you doing the Disney audition on the 17th?
DDR: Disney audition?
Matt: Apparently it's for the cruise ship, check it out on TPS
So, it turns out Disney is coming to Seattle to audition people for a new show they're developing with Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen ([title of show]) and Seattle based director, Allison Narver! It's a show that revolves around the Disney villains.
I'm browsing the casting breakdown - and it seems they're looking for 2 actors to play Pain and Panic - the two goofy, yet lovable sidekicks to Hades in Disney's Hercules. Well, you can guess who they'd probably want to see me for.
A few days pass, and I forget about the audition - until the 16th. I am hanging out at the Hula Hula (Seattle's BEST karaoke hot spot) with my friend Diana, who just got back from a 10 month internship with the Milwaukee Rep. Our friend Shermona (we did High School Musical together at SCT) was there and asked if we were auditioning the next day. I said I wasn't gonna go because I have a couple shows coming up and that I don't want to break those contracts. She told me that I should go for fun anyway, she's very persuasive - so I decide ok. For fun. In the midst of all this, somehow I convinced Diana to also go to the audition and I said I would come along, for fun.
The next morning, Diana and I arrive at the audition together to sign up for a time slot. We sign in and wait, there's about 60 people there sprinkled in with a few of our friends, including Shermona. In comes the Director of Global Casting for Disney Ron LaRosa. He explains that we're auditioning for a new show that Disney is developing for their cruise liner The Disney Magic. It's a 13 month contract on a boat that spends time in: the Bahamas, the Mediterranean and the Baltic Sea. It seems they're looking for 19 actors to form a repertory company. Disney had never been to Seattle before, but since Allison Narver is based here - they decided to make it the first stop on their audition tour (which included Toronto, New York & LA). Out he goes and the adventure begins.
The audition monitor takes groups of 10 out into the hallway right outside the audition room. The audition-ers, pop in and out of the room. Some of them are given sides (a small portion of script to learn) and some of them without. Some auditions take all of 2 minutes, some take 15 - 20. I'm in the 3rd group to go. I stand and wait for what seems like an eternity - but it's finally time for me to head in there. I open the door and smile. We say our hellos and I settle in. The song I've prepared for the audition is Gaston (reprise) from Beauty and the Beast. I finish and they begin chatting - I stand there smiling and they continue chatting. I can't quite make out what they're saying, but a few gestures and a couple smiles later they ask me to sing another song. So I sing Heaven's Light from Der Glockner Von Notre Dame - aka Disney's Hunchback. I finish and stand there... smiling. They smile and hand me some sides. It's for Pain and Panic. Surprised? I think not. Ha! They tell me to go back into the other room, learn the sides and come back whenever I'm ready.
About 10 minutes later I head back in. Disrupting the flow of auditioners. I perform the sides and finish. They ask me to do it again. So I do. They begin to chat again. I stand there. Smiling. They look up from their chat and tell me to stand by the pianist. So, I do. The pianist sneaks a peek at my extra resume in my music binder and asks me if I was in the Wizard of Oz at SCT with his friend Peter. I told him yes and that he is one of my favorite actors and that we just finished doing I Was A Rat! together at SCT. Allison and Ron call me back to the table. They smile and tell me good job. Ron gets up from the table and says, now - I'm gonna teach you a quick combination. We head over to the wall of mirrors in the audition room and he teaches me a quick combo consisting of some ball changes, 3 step turns and double pirouettes. He nods to the pianist and says GO! and I'm off dancing like there's no tomorrow. A double pirouette later I finish. He stands there. Smiling. He then gives me a hi-five and says, great job! (Dude. I just got a hi-five.) He tells me to go stand next to the pianist again, and that him and Allison are gonna talk about me. Good things, he says. Some whispers later he tells me that he's gonna video tape me, so that he has something to show the Disney people in New York. He whips out a Flip Cam, with what do ya know, mouse ears on it. He hands the mousey eared camera over to the pianist and I perform the sides again. I finish and I hand back my sides. Ron then gives me a more detailed rundown of what Disney Cruise Line is and how the contracts work etc, etc. He throws in the phrase Final Callback in the mix... They thank me and I thank them profusely. We all exchange handshakes and smiles and I'm outta there.
Apparently I was in the room for a good 20 minutes, cause when I stepped outside people looked kinda impatient. Whoops.
So A few days later, I got a call from Ron LaRosa asking me if I'd like to come down to LA to do a final call back and meet the rest of the creative team. I told him I would be delighted to come down, after all - I've never been to LA before and there's no reason why I wouldn't go. After receiving that call, I talked to my twin Caety. She suggested I call up Brian and Jaime who were in our class at Cornish and who just got married (holla!) and who just happen to live in LA. So, I called them up and they were so happy and excited to hear from me and they are letting me stay with them! THEY ROCK!!! I'm also meeting up with a bunch more Cornish kids whom I haven't seen in a while. It'll be an exciting trip. New city, old friends and awaiting adventures.
So, I decided that I would share some of this exciting adventure with you - so stay tuned because I'll be updating this daily. Maybe even twice a day ;-)
California HERE I COME!!!
Well, it's the morning before my trip to LA for my final call back for Disney and my heart is already starting to beat out of my chest. I've never been to LA, let alone traveled outside of Seattle to audition and it's so exciting. With each passing minute, this trip seems to get more real and the tension is building... Here we are at what would be the middle of the story - I guess I should start at the beginning right?
It's July, and it's a day like any other. I'm on facebook - chatting away with friends, when a chat from Matt pops up.
Matt: Howdy!
DDR: Holla!
Matt: Are you doing the Disney audition on the 17th?
DDR: Disney audition?
Matt: Apparently it's for the cruise ship, check it out on TPS
So, it turns out Disney is coming to Seattle to audition people for a new show they're developing with Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen ([title of show]) and Seattle based director, Allison Narver! It's a show that revolves around the Disney villains.
I'm browsing the casting breakdown - and it seems they're looking for 2 actors to play Pain and Panic - the two goofy, yet lovable sidekicks to Hades in Disney's Hercules. Well, you can guess who they'd probably want to see me for.
A few days pass, and I forget about the audition - until the 16th. I am hanging out at the Hula Hula (Seattle's BEST karaoke hot spot) with my friend Diana, who just got back from a 10 month internship with the Milwaukee Rep. Our friend Shermona (we did High School Musical together at SCT) was there and asked if we were auditioning the next day. I said I wasn't gonna go because I have a couple shows coming up and that I don't want to break those contracts. She told me that I should go for fun anyway, she's very persuasive - so I decide ok. For fun. In the midst of all this, somehow I convinced Diana to also go to the audition and I said I would come along, for fun.
The next morning, Diana and I arrive at the audition together to sign up for a time slot. We sign in and wait, there's about 60 people there sprinkled in with a few of our friends, including Shermona. In comes the Director of Global Casting for Disney Ron LaRosa. He explains that we're auditioning for a new show that Disney is developing for their cruise liner The Disney Magic. It's a 13 month contract on a boat that spends time in: the Bahamas, the Mediterranean and the Baltic Sea. It seems they're looking for 19 actors to form a repertory company. Disney had never been to Seattle before, but since Allison Narver is based here - they decided to make it the first stop on their audition tour (which included Toronto, New York & LA). Out he goes and the adventure begins.
The audition monitor takes groups of 10 out into the hallway right outside the audition room. The audition-ers, pop in and out of the room. Some of them are given sides (a small portion of script to learn) and some of them without. Some auditions take all of 2 minutes, some take 15 - 20. I'm in the 3rd group to go. I stand and wait for what seems like an eternity - but it's finally time for me to head in there. I open the door and smile. We say our hellos and I settle in. The song I've prepared for the audition is Gaston (reprise) from Beauty and the Beast. I finish and they begin chatting - I stand there smiling and they continue chatting. I can't quite make out what they're saying, but a few gestures and a couple smiles later they ask me to sing another song. So I sing Heaven's Light from Der Glockner Von Notre Dame - aka Disney's Hunchback. I finish and stand there... smiling. They smile and hand me some sides. It's for Pain and Panic. Surprised? I think not. Ha! They tell me to go back into the other room, learn the sides and come back whenever I'm ready.
About 10 minutes later I head back in. Disrupting the flow of auditioners. I perform the sides and finish. They ask me to do it again. So I do. They begin to chat again. I stand there. Smiling. They look up from their chat and tell me to stand by the pianist. So, I do. The pianist sneaks a peek at my extra resume in my music binder and asks me if I was in the Wizard of Oz at SCT with his friend Peter. I told him yes and that he is one of my favorite actors and that we just finished doing I Was A Rat! together at SCT. Allison and Ron call me back to the table. They smile and tell me good job. Ron gets up from the table and says, now - I'm gonna teach you a quick combination. We head over to the wall of mirrors in the audition room and he teaches me a quick combo consisting of some ball changes, 3 step turns and double pirouettes. He nods to the pianist and says GO! and I'm off dancing like there's no tomorrow. A double pirouette later I finish. He stands there. Smiling. He then gives me a hi-five and says, great job! (Dude. I just got a hi-five.) He tells me to go stand next to the pianist again, and that him and Allison are gonna talk about me. Good things, he says. Some whispers later he tells me that he's gonna video tape me, so that he has something to show the Disney people in New York. He whips out a Flip Cam, with what do ya know, mouse ears on it. He hands the mousey eared camera over to the pianist and I perform the sides again. I finish and I hand back my sides. Ron then gives me a more detailed rundown of what Disney Cruise Line is and how the contracts work etc, etc. He throws in the phrase Final Callback in the mix... They thank me and I thank them profusely. We all exchange handshakes and smiles and I'm outta there.
Apparently I was in the room for a good 20 minutes, cause when I stepped outside people looked kinda impatient. Whoops.
So A few days later, I got a call from Ron LaRosa asking me if I'd like to come down to LA to do a final call back and meet the rest of the creative team. I told him I would be delighted to come down, after all - I've never been to LA before and there's no reason why I wouldn't go. After receiving that call, I talked to my twin Caety. She suggested I call up Brian and Jaime who were in our class at Cornish and who just got married (holla!) and who just happen to live in LA. So, I called them up and they were so happy and excited to hear from me and they are letting me stay with them! THEY ROCK!!! I'm also meeting up with a bunch more Cornish kids whom I haven't seen in a while. It'll be an exciting trip. New city, old friends and awaiting adventures.
So, I decided that I would share some of this exciting adventure with you - so stay tuned because I'll be updating this daily. Maybe even twice a day ;-)
California HERE I COME!!!
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