SURPRISE!!!

Thursday was a huge success!!! I have been having such a tough time not posting anything on here about Clay's Surprise Birthday Party! But now that it's over I can...

I spent Thursday around the apartment researching, a little cleaning, and a little helping with the surprise party set up. Lauren (one of my roommates) spent so much time and energy putting together her boyfriend Clay's surprise party. (I met Clay and Lauren at my first summer theatre job). Lauren was cooking, cleaning, and decorating at our apartment for two days straight. Murph and I had fun icing nearly 60 cupcakes made by Lauren from the world-famous Magnolia Bakery cupcake recipe. All the hard work really paid off, the party was so much fun!

Clay was so surprised! We attacked him with silly string and confetti party poppers when he got to the apartment.

I met a bunch of new people and we all had fun playing games like "Celebrity." (It's a sort of modified charades game.) Loved it.

After the party I got to talk on the phone to some friends and family in Oregon which really made my night. I'm so thankful for such wonderful family and friends.

Fast forward to Friday...

Friday was my first semi-crazy, run around town day. My itinerary (roughly):

6am: Wake up

7am: Leave for Wicked National Tour Audition.

7:30am: Arrive at audition location.

7:32am: Get off elevator, step into a sea of people (literally) and sign your name to a Non-Equity Standby audition list in the hopes of being seen sometime today. (I was #47 on the list)

7:33am: Get back on elevator to avoid suffocating from the heat generated by a ton of bodies in a small space.

7:35am: Sit in the main lobby of the building where the audition takes place. Contemplate leaving since there's nothing to do but wait and wait and wait.

7:36am: Get ear chewed off by fellow auditioner who decides to tell you her life story complete with details as to how amazing an actor/singer she is. ha ha.

8:30am: (Yes, nearly an hour later.) I left for my job interview. Started the 6 block walk.

8:45am: Board the 7 train to 42nd street/Grand Central Station.

9am: Begin search for Graybar building for interview.

9:15am: Eventually find Graybar building. Enter, register at front desk, find interview office.

9:45am: Enter Temp Agency office.

INTERVIEW!

10:45am: Begin Temp Agency's required computer skills aptitude test.

11:45am: Finish extremely stressful computer skills aptitude test.

12noon: Leave Agency as the newest member of their temp staff. uhthanku.

12:10pm: Walk through Grand Central Station, temporarily become a tourist, take pictures.

12:15pm: Travel to audition site again.

12:30pm-2pm: After receiving the news that you won't be seen at the auditions today, hand the equity monitor your headshot and resume then sit and nonchalantly watch/listen in on equity auditions and make keen observations. Take a brief moment to giggle at the models arriving for the HSN (Home Shopping Network) screening audition next door.

2:20pm: Arrive back at apartment.

2:21pm-12am: Eat, go to the gym, research more auditions, watch T.V., talk on the phone to your very excited Dad back in Oregon, email prospective vocal coaches, hang with the roomies and have a good night.

So that pretty much sums it up! Overall, the day was a success. I got a job and I learned a ton about being an equity actor.

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Wednesday in NYC

I got up at 7am this morning for my second audition! This one was further uptown but started sign-ups at 9am so I needed to get there earlier to get a decent time slot for my audition. It was an audition for a new musical called "Silver Dollar." It was open to both equity and non-equity actors so I knew there would probably be a lot of people at the audition.

So I got up, got ready, and ate breakfast. While I was eating breakfast our slacker "super" finally showed up to fix our AC and the drains in the bathroom. It was 8am and my two roommates were still asleep. He rang the doorbell like crazy and I wouldn't have guessed there was a grown man ringing the bell. I opened the door and there was this bumbling mumbling burly man with a thick accent. Apparently, that's the super of my building. Yikes.

I warned my previously sleeping roommate that he was coming to fix the AC, so she woke up early. Nice. Can I just say this goof was supposed to come YESTERDAY morning "between 9 and 10am" as HE SAID he would. He never showed! But how nice of him to finally show up a day late and an hour earlier. Seriously. Needless to say, the AC still isn't working and the drains aren't draining. Yay.

Ok, on to the good stuff. I got to the audition site on west 54th and was the 40th person to sign-up. I got an audition time in the 11am hour and waited around and warmed up before then. I was a little put off when I noticed the only people they were calling back from earlier time slots were tiny blond girls. Uh, I would've sworn the character breakdown didn't call for only small blonds. Who knows?

I went in to the audition room, it was this great big rehearsal room with three people at a table on the opposite end of the room. There was an amazing view of the city directly behind them that was only slightly distracting.

I gave the best audition I could with 16 bars of "Children Will Listen" from Into the Woods. It went very well. The accompanist was great. Thank God. The auditioners were very nice and complimentary of my voice. I appreciated that. They asked me about some of my previous roles and then the audition was over.

Shall I even say it? I didn't get called back. Guess who did? Yep, the little blonds. haha. Oh well, at least I know it wasn't because my singing was bad. All in all, another good audition experience. Wow; two for two, not bad.

Alright, next I took the subway to Union Square. I really like Union Square. There's always something going on there. Today there was a huge farmers' market. It was great! It was your typical farmers' market with lots and lots of fresh (relatively) cheap produce. I did a little shopping. And a little sampling.

Next I made a stop over at the Union Square Trader Joe's. I love me some Trader Joe's. haha.
The great thing about this store is that even though it's in the heart of NYC it's priced just like it is in Oregon.(And in some cases, it's cheaper here!) I was so relieved. I can't keep dropping tons of money on groceries. So I didn't. I got all sorts of good stuff for 16 bucks. Thank God for Trader Joe's.

Only down side to Trader Joe's in Union Square: it's about a 20 minute commute from where I'm staying. I was afraid to buy frozen food. I did anyway and it survived the long, hot commute. I think.

Next I ate a late lunch, watched part of "Never Been Kissed," and went to the gym. I like it there. It's my air-conditioned mecca. haha.

Let see, the rest of the day....I basically just looked up more auditions. I'm on a roll!

Audition...

I woke up early today and went to the gym. (My calves are reeeeeally sore. ) I tried to get that out of the way early because the "super" of our building was coming over to fix a few things. He never showed. Nice.

I watched a few episodes of Project Runway (season 1) and got ready for my audition. In spite of the muggy weather I decided to wear my favorite audition outfit: Black pants, long sleeve white button down shirt (rolled up sleeves), and my black buttony vest.

Today my audition was with the Chamber Theatre Company. (Professional but not officially Equity) They are putting together adaptations of 19th century literature for an educational tour this fall/winter. If cast, rehearsals would begin very soon in Boston and the different adaptations will be performed all over the US up until Christmas time. There's good pay and housing and health care benefits are provided. I thought I'd give it a shot.

My apartment mate Lauren told me I should get to my audition even earlier than I had planned because, "every one's back in NY, and they're crazy about when they get to an audition." Okay...

So I got ready and left my apartment at 12:45pm. Took the yellow line to 42nd st/Times Square and walked 6 blocks south to the "Ripley-Grier Studios" on 8th Avenue. I was actually surprised how I wasn't completely melted after my long walk in the heat. I think it was a combination of the weather not being too humid today (relatively) and God's grace. Truly! I should've been a sweaty mess. haha.

The building I ended up at for my audition was fancy. I had to sign in and have my picture taken (for security) to enter.

I got to the 16th floor, found my audition room and sat down to hold my spot. I got there at around 1:15pm. My audition didn't start until 4pm. I was a little too early. I guess it's better than being late! I sat around, listened to music, and enjoyed watching the actors who were rehearsing for a touring production of "Evita." They were a lively bunch. It was fun listening to them rehearse a big group number. I could tell it was their first rehearsal with it because it was a little off key at the end. (I blame the Soprano 1 section. haha)

Finally at 3:30pm someone showed up to run the audition. There was a nice younger guy auditioning people and a lady who served as the "monitor." She told us when to go in and what to do. I got signed up and was the very first audition. At about 4:05pm I went in for my audition. I did two monologues, one from "Othello" and the other from "Cannibals." I've done them both about a million times so I felt good about how I did. The auditioner gave me some "sides" to familiarize myself with when I had finished my monologues. "Sides" are lines from the script(s) you will be asked to present again to the auditioner. That was a good sign that he gave me sides. It meant he liked me and wanted to see me read for specific characters. Sweeeet.

I worked on the sides for about 30 minutes and realized only two other people had been given sides. I felt pretty good about that. I finally went in to read for the guy again and I read for 5 different characters. (Another cool thing, means my odds of getting cast are better). The characters where two different narrators, two different middle-aged women, and Katrina from Sleepy Hallow (i.e. Christina Ricci's part in the movie). haha.

I felt great about my reading. The guy worked with me on some stuff, I'm sure to see if I was directable, and I just had fun playing with the roles as I got more and more used to the sides. He was very nice and we got along well so all in all I felt great about the audition. It was a lot of fun.

I'm glad I was able to have such a good first professional audition experience in the city.

I don't know when I'll find anything out from the company but I'll keep you posted!

A glamorous day...

So, the big excitement today was...

No, it wasn't my spending $15 on toilet paper and paper towels.

No, it wasn't working on my monologues...close....

Nope. Not the gym.

It was that my roomie Murph found out that, through the temp agency we use, she will be working at Glamour Magazine tomorrow! She will be putting together gift bags for a "Fashion Gives Back" event and will also be answering phones. We are both very excited for her!!!

We secretly hope there will be gift bag leftovers. he he. I hope there are more cool jobs like that for when I start work with the agency!

The job will be at least 2 days and it is in Times Square. How very glamorous.

Wish her luck!

Tourist vs. New Yorker

Sunday in the City...

I accidentally overslept and missed church. I was going to go with Murph and Lauren to Apostle Church on 51st. Bummer. I'll definitely make sure to get there next Sunday.

When I finally got out of bed I went to the gym. I discovered a new machine that I like. It's just a variation on the elliptical. It does feel a little awkward with your arms and legs flying all over the place. I could tell I was getting a good workout though. I was up on the second floor of the gym, enjoying the view, watching some VH1, laughing and getting a great workout. The workout started out great but then a VERY attractive guy got on the machine next to me. I went from limbs flying, laughing, and sweating profusely to acting as cool as I could on the stinkin' machine. So I still got a good workout but I'm already sore from how long I was on the machine subconsciously trying to impress the guy. He did smile at me at least. haha.

I also went on an adventure to Times Square. In short, I learned never to go to Times Square on the weekend because it's packed with tourists. You know you're in an area with lots of tourists if you get ran into A LOT. New Yorkers are aware of their surroundings. Tourists aren't so you get ran over or bumped into by them. Funny afternoon.

I also walked to a bunch of theaters to see if I could get rush tickets to anything. No luck. I guess I'll just have to wait till summer's over or wait until a weekday when there aren't 5 kazillion people wanting theatre tickets.

Today was a walk around and explore day. I don't think I'll have too many more of those in the near future though. Either that or I won't shower before I go. The heat and humidity is just miserable and walking around outside for long periods of time is silly.

Tomorrow I'll be working on my audition material for upcoming auditions that are on Tuesday and Wednesday. (More on that later.) I'll be at the apartment most of the day because I'm expecting a giant box of my stuff to arrive. I don't want to miss it and have to pick it up at the post office 5 blocks away. It's too heavy for that.

Also! Tomorrow (hopefully) I'll be setting up an interview with Lori from Atrium Temp Agency. I'm gonna go ahead and check out temping. Lots of people have recommended this place so I look forward to my interview. Well, I guess as much as one could look forward to a job interview. haha

You know you're a New Yorker when...

My first full day in New York: Time to spend some money.

After I received my suitcase (finally) I threw on some clothes and went to find a gym. (Not just any gym, the "Strive Fitness" gym.)

It was located right down the street from me, at E 59th between 1st and 2nd. Few blocks, no big deal. I took a tour of the gym. In true NY fashion it was cramped. It was a very long space but the width was only about 20 feet. It had three stories with LOTS of great workout equipment.

I really liked what I saw and it turned out to be the cheapest gym membership I had heard of in the city. So, of course, I bought it. It ended up costing me only $4 more per month than the gym I went to back in Oregon. And it had no "start up" fee. I was pretty amazed. It is a very nice, well-kept, state-of-the-art, gym. Plus, it's never busy. Apparently there's a lot of competition for gyms in NY so the gym memberships have to stay competitive. Works for me! I made sure to read the "fine print," though. The gym and membership just sounded too good to be true. But it's not. I guess I'm just used to being skeptical, it is New York City.

I am so glad I have a gym to go to!

After working out for a while I went to buy my first groceries. I went to the "Food Emporium" on E 60th. Food is SO expensive. I expected to pay more than at home but this is just silly. I rooted around for a while and ended up spending nearly $40 on some food I thought would sustain me for a while. Or shall I say, food that WILL sustain me for a while. I won't be paying that much for groceries bi-weekly. The up side was that they had a real classy looking grocery store that had just about every food and drink item you could imagine.

After that I came back to the apartment, got cleaned up, ate some lunch, and took a brief nap.

Later on I walked to Central Park East & 5th Avenue with my roomie Murph (about a 1.5 mile hike, who needs a gym right?).

We met up with Clay, Lauren, and Lauren's co-worker Theresa at a free Central Park Movie Night. In the summertime the Central Park Conservancy plays free movies on a huge screen for the people of NYC. This was their last movie night and they had the audience vote for which movie they watched. The choices were Barefoot in the Park, The Way We Were, and Hitch. The audience chose Barefoot in the Park. I had directed that play with Clay and Lauren as the leads two summers ago back in Kentucky so watching it with them in Central Park was really fun. It brought back fun memories. Plus, Robert Redford is very attractive in that movie, I must admit. There was free popcorn and the night was a lot of fun.

After watching the movie we walked back to the apartment. But I had to stop off at the local "Duane Reade" store (like a Walgreen's) for a new toothbrush. My old one took an unfortunate dive into the toilet earlier that evening.

At the apartment, Lauren, Murph, myself, and my new friend Susan (whom I met through Lauren) all played a board game called "Imagine If". It was a riot. In a nutshell I found out that my friends think that if I were a gift I would be a box of chocolates, comfy slippers, or a gift certificate. Hard to explain, just play, it's fun.

Now I'm off to bed. I have to beat this jet lag soon, it's killin' me!

The little black suitcase that could.

It finally found me. I got a call from the delivery man this morning at 9:30am EST. My big black suitcase is finally here! Now I can start my day off right.

It's Saturday morning. I think I'll go buy some groceries and see about a gym membership. Gym memberships are about the only reasonably priced thing in Manhattan. Who knew?

I'm finally here!

Well, after a brief stay in Detroit, I have made it to Manhattan.

The journey was an interesting one. Read on, if you dare...

NW Airlines canceled my flight into the NY area because they didn't have anyone to fly it. I had a heck of a time getting re booked. I talked to three to five different NW employees just to find a different flight I could get to NY on. The first guy said, "go see this guy" the second said, "I don't know what to tell you, every thing's full." I had two airline workers try and tell me that my flight was canceled due to "inclement weather" so, (Now pay attention to this part, it's a trip), the airline was not responsible for rescheduling me or finding me a place to stay. WHAT!? I didn't even begin to take that for an answer. I made about five phone calls, ran around the airport and FINALLY found a very kind NW employee named Carlotta who was very helpful, God bless her. She helped get me on a flight to LaGuardia in NYC, the next day. Also, I had a room at a local hotel that the airline would be paying 1/2 the cost of. Yipee.

Carlotta also sent out a "baggage alert" to try and get my luggage on the same flight I was on. That, she told me, was not guaranteed. Great. No luggage when I get to NYC. She told me I'd have to pick it up when it finally got to an airport in the NYC vicinity. Yeah right. But I thought I'd cross that bridge when it came.

So it turned out that I would be spending the night in Detroit. Or shall I say Romulus, Michigan, the real city the "Detroit Airport" is in. I was put up in the lovely Crowne Plaza Hotel. It was charming and complete with "lavender linen spray." That's great but can I have a toothbrush and some clean clothes?

Then came dinner. My options were: overpriced room service, McDonald's across the busy street, or gnawing my hand off. I chose Mickey D's. (I only do that when I'm desperate.)

Jet-lagged, dirty, and minus my luggage, I spent an INCREDIBLY boring night in "Detroit." There was nothing but news on T.V., nothing. (If you missed the news on the 23rd, I'd be glad to recap it for you verbatim.) The highlight of my evening was a chat or two with my parents back in Oregon. Thank God for them!

I went to bed at about 9:30pm. I don't think I've gone to bed that early since I was 3 years old. I could tell that I wasn't used to a dinner feast of McDonald's because I had horrible nightmares all night long. I'm pretty sure I dreamt that I beat the crap out of somebody in my dream. Whoa.

In the morning, the EARLY morning, I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. Must've been the nightmares. I took a shower, reluctantly put my dirty clothes back on, and checked out of my hotel.

One interesting shuttle ride later,(The driver insisted on telling me how easy it would be to blow up an airport if someone really wanted to. COME ON!), I ended up at the "Detroit Airport" AGAIN with the hopes of catching a flight into NY's LaGuardia Airport. They moved my arrival airport to LaGuardia, which I liked. That was a highlight. I like LaGuardia, I'm more familiar with it.

I ate an overpriced breakfast and sat at my departure gate. After an hour and thirty minutes had passed we were told our flight was delayed. After the entire section of future passengers moaned in dismay I wanted to stand up and scream, "You ain't seen nothin' yet! Just wait! We'll all be here tomorrow!" I decided against it.

I walked into a "Border's" bookshop, that was maybe 10 yards from my departure gate, and had a look at the books. A few minutes later I happened to glance over at my gate only to see that all the seats where empty and not a single passenger was left from my flight. I had a little panic moment and sprinted over to my gate.

Apparently everyone had boarded the flight. That's funny! I didn't hear a boarding announcement! Well I got on the flight, thank God. What happened was they decided to load all the passengers onto the plane for the duration of the flight delay. GREAT IDEA! Pack a whole bunch of people onto a HOT plane while we wait for the "okay" to take off. Bad Bad BAD idea. The plane must've been 100 degrees on board and no one wanted to sit around on the tarmac like we did for about an hour.

We finally took off. In the air they sent our flight on a "holding pattern" meaning we couldn't fly into our destination airport just yet. We had to fly around and wait. After an extended flight we finally landed in LaGuardia.

At the baggage claim, you guessed it, neither of my two bags came out on the conveyor belt. I wandered around trying to find out where I could "file a claim" for my "delayed" luggage. I came upon a makeshift corral of unattended luggage and spotted one of my suitcases! I nearly jumped up with delight. I must've looked like such a nerd just cheesin' away in the airport all by myself simply because I came across my luggage. I ran into the NW baggage claim center and could hardly stand still while I waited in line to take my suitcase. I finally got to the front of the sad, frustrated line and found out that I could have my little green suitcase. YAY!

But where the heck was my big black suitcase? "That one ended up in Newark." OF COURSE! Sending one person's luggage to ONE airport is too easy! However, I was told that I would have the bag delivered to me at my residence on east 63rd street. That was an upgrade!

I went outside and waited 45 minutes in the humid NY afternoon for a cab. (There were about a million people in line to get a cab. Hence the wait.)

I heckled a stubborn cab driver into taking me to a nearby subway station. They try to get you to want a further off destination; hence a larger fare. No thanks, been there, done that. The jerk finally took me to the Astoria/Ditmars yellow line subway station. Much cheaper, gotta think like a New Yorker.

I got into Manhattan in 10 minutes, (it was rush hour on the highway into Manhattan. A cab into town would've cost me my right arm. Thank you, thank you.) After a long, sweaty walk around the Upper East side of Manhattan, with my little green suitcase, backpack, and purse, I ended up at my destination. Finally.

I caught up with my good friends Murph (Meredith) and Lauren. They will be my roommates for 5 weeks. We ate some NY style pizza, I got my bed made, (With new Bed, Bath & Beyond bedding), and now I'm off to sleep. What a trip!

All the craziness aside, I'm here! Thank God!

PS.
I have yet to see my black suitcase and it's 2:30am EST, Saturday, August 25th, 2007.