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!!!