Time sure flies when you're busy.

So life has been complicated to say the least. I'm in the midst of moving apartments, I just got back from a month in GA (surgery for those who aren't in the know) AND I'm about to start a new job.

I've had a few auditions but nothing memorable enough to rant about. I've missed all the good ones when I went home in March, but it's for the better.

I'm going to keep up with what I can, but there aren't very many to choose from, and I really feel the need to get into some dance and acting classes or things aren't going to change for me.

So here I am, committing myself to be a better actor and actually be proactive about my career, because until now I've been lackadaisical about it. Sure! I'm in NYC, I audition regularly, I take voice lessons, but obviously its not enough. So now I'm going to push myself to that next level. I hope I can count on your support.

Here goes nothing!

Jillian

Rain, rain go away.

7. I've been in sort of a funk lately and not wanting to audition. Maybe it's the weather, or the lack of sunshine, but I haven't had much motivation. Today I woke up to go to a call for the Arizona Broadway Theatre. Their season? Why Sunset Boulevard, Grease and Tarzan. Odd I know, but I secured an appointment and decided I should go.
It has been raining all day.
Not even simple rain, like icky mist rain with wind blowing it everywhere. Not to mention I put on my heavy rain boots that make my feet sweat and as we all know if you put on heavy rain boots and walk around NYC the rain is going to stop.... and it did.
SO ANYWAY!
I trekked to Ripley-Grier to the audition, and checked in with the monitor. Apparently they had communication issues, because even though they sent me an appointment confirmation e-mail, I wasn't on the list. It's cool though, the monitors were awesome and I was seen at the appropriate time.
So I went in to sing my uptempo numbers and the pianist was an acquaintance so that was cool.
I sang my first number and they laughed and asked for my second. The second was a newer piece but I thought it went well.
They thanked me and that was it.
DONE
I have some more auditions so we'll see. I am running out of headshots though. Oh well, until next time.
Always hopeful,
Jillian

Another Callback, another day.

6a. So today was the big Phantom callback. Well this entry will be short.
I arrived at Nola, changed and signed in.

Chatted with some other auditionees.

Girl in front of me was singing for Christine, they had her sing 3 different songs and then read.

My turn.

Sang 16 bars again. Didn't ask for more. Read the Carlotta sides. No direction given, and no re-reading of the sides.

"Thank you Jillian. That was a great audition"

Fin.

HIGH D!

6. I'm going to ASIA! Ok, ok ok... so I'm not going yet, but I WILL book this tour. It's The Phantom of the Opera, but not the Weber, or Yeston version. It's a new version and very much more operatic.
After a night of unrest-able-rest I awoke at 630AM sharp! (Well maybe I hit snooze.... :P) I always forget that Nola doesn't officially open till 8:30AM but I have to sign up on the list so that I'm not waiting around all day. I was number 33 on the list which is early and surprising since I didn't get to Nola till 8.
The monitor called everyone at 9 to make sure everyone was there, and then transfered our unofficial list to an official tour list.
After I confirmed my name with the monitor I went to rent a studio to warm up with. Nola is such a rip off!!! They only let you rent by the hour and it's 20 bucks! RUDE! All the other studios rent you 15 mins for $5 dollars, so Nola needs to learn.
ANYWAYS! I went into my overpriced warm up room for 55 mins and while in there I made a last minute decision to switch songs. I just had this feeling that instead of singing Prima Donna I should sing something more dramatic, which of course was my go to psycho song Never. Plus, it sounded a heck of a lot better and more operatic than Prima Donna, which for some reason was just not coming out right.
So after my extended, overpriced warm up I went outside to wait. I chatted up some fellow auditionees and prayed my high notes would come out alright and I would be alright with my acting choices.
29 people and 1 hour later my name was called and I found my way to the line. So I waited, and waited and all I really wanted to do was sing and get home to take a nap. While I was waiting a girl 3 people in front of me went in and sang Prima Donna, so thank goodness I decided to NOT sing that song.
So here I go, into the audition room. I kindly hand my music to the pianist, sing through the piece so he can get a feel of the tempo and point out the tags. I then walk to my mark and one of the directors is on a cell phone so they ask me to wait a second. After he's finished the other one tells me my shoes are fabulous and that I can go ahead.
Well I sang, it sounded good, but I was completely off with the pianist who was playing a bit faster than I anticipated. No matter, I sang and finished without him and held my own.
After I sang, the director gave me a few notes. Basically, he told me to be as crazy as I could and to just let anything happen that I felt and then take relieve in the last 'Die' that I sing as if its the better choice than what the song is about.
I began to sing again and I kicked off one shoe in my fit of rage and halfway through the song what happens? I kick my other shoe straight at the director and it hits his foot! Score! I was done for sure I was thinking, but lo and behold the director was impressed with my commitment and invited me back for a callback on Monday.
YAY! Callback! I'm booking this role, it's awesome. Year long tour to Asia HERE I COME!
Until Monday!
Always Hopeful!
Jillian

Cats! meow....

5. White Plains Performing Arts Center. Cats.

Today was awesome and I have pictures! Yay!
White Plains was our destination. A small suburb with city flare that lays about 40 minutes from our Harlem apartment. Sarah my roommate (en route stage manager) decided to accompany me up to White Plains to view the theatre, but mainly to have some Buffalo Wild Wings. So we headed down 125th to the Harlem Metro-North line and away we went!

Yay for transportation. I amused everyone by singing the 'Cat I'm a kitty cat' youtube song, and 'The Meow Mix' Song in multiple languages. Much to Sarah's dismay.

 Sarah so excited I'm taking her picture, she just wants her Parmesan Garlic Wings.

  

Yay! Time to eat! We arrived around 3:30. My audition wasn't until 6:30 so we appeased Sarah's wishes and ate our hearts out at Buffalo Wild Wings. Meow.

Sarah my Manager who multi-tasks VERY   well. Clearly too busy to even order.

Me, the star. Too cool to read the menu right side up.

And the nosh begins.....

 FRIED PICKLES! My first attempt and they're DELICIOUS!

After our delicious lunch, we decided to walk around main street and what not to kill some time. On our way we passed a Milk bar, because what town isn't complete without one? Especially when auditioning for Cats. Meow!

 Then we passed a castle and Sarah and I decided we will live here if we move to White Plains. Of course then we wandered into the Trump Towers and Lofts and we changed our minds!

Onto the audition! I stopped taking pictures at this point because I was getting ready to audition but I have a very apt and detailed description for you :)

So at the White Plains Performing Arts Center is a very nice venue in the middle of town surrounded by great restaurants and shops and a giant cinema. The theatre is a beautiful 400+ house with a medium sized stage and ample backstage space, but I digress.

The call was for non-equity singers who move, but I think they're really looking for triple threats because the show goes up in December so they need people who can learn fast. 

Well I was called around my time of 6:30 and went in to sing. I sang one of my go-to songs that has a good range to it and it went pretty well. I showed some fun character and sang pretty, even though the space was dead without much acoustic. Then I was asked to stay and dance, Yay! ... oh wait... uh oh.. Hahahaha. 

So after I changed, and "stretched" I amused the masses by meowing occasionally and talking to Bruce Jones. 

 I love Bruce. He's full of life, and silly and can sing his face off. He's too loud all the time but it makes life funny. Bruce had to run downstairs to the Target in the basement and buy dance clothes, yay for impromptu dancing!

So we all got on stage and learned a piece of the original choreography to the opening. It was rough at first but once I got the moves in my head I was fine. Since I'm not the most technical dancer I concentrated on personality and having really strong cat hands. Haha, I wanted to add in a lick here or there but there wasn't much wiggle room in the choreography. So we danced and danced and danced, and danced some more, all to the choreographers counting because the music wasn't functioning properly.

After they were sure we all had the choreography down, they split us into groups of 4. My group was 3rd to go and I started off in the front. I feel like I sold it really well and gave it my all. When we switched lines I didn't give it as much gusto so my ending was off a bit, but it was still full of personality.
We all finished dancing and that was that. 'Thank you and we'll be in touch!'
In my absence Sarah got a tour of the theatre from the artistic director and auditor himself and of course she put in a mention for me :) It's all about connections right?

So we headed back to the train and on our way. It was a long afternoon, but it was fun and luckily the train ran straight from White Plains to Harlem, EXPRESS! It's always a pleasant surprise when you get on a local train and it rides express, unless of course you need it to be local but that's an entirely different blog entry.
Until next time!

Ever Hopeful,
Jillian

Callback, or 'That's great, thank you!'

3a. Weirdest callback ever, and not because I had to do anything funny but essentially because it wasn't a callback but just singing a different song.

I arrived early today at Chelsea per my traveling fiasco the day before and checked in with the monitor. I still had a good 45 minutes, but they seemed to be running early and I got prepared just to be sure.
Cohoes asked for a different song in the style of the show, so I decided to sing Prima Donna as it shows off my Soprano really well.
As I was waiting I noticed that people were just going in and out of the audition not really staying or coming back for sides or other songs, that was strange to me, but maybe I just wasn't paying attention to the time actually passing in the room. My turn finally came up and I went in, gave the pianist my song and tried to sing her my tempo, remembering that everyone had said she liked to play a bit fast. I hadn't had trouble the day before but today was another matter. She gave me the first note, I began to sing and SHE'S OFF!
It was so fast I didn't expect a song from Phantom of the Opera could be played as a jazz piece.... I tried to reign her in and control the tempo but whatever, I still sounded good and my High D's came out just fine.
There was a slight pause after and then they smiled and thanked me and that was that. No reading of sides, no extra singing, not even a single question about me or the production. It was like an initial audition all over again.

You know call backs really are an emotional extreme. There's the happy side which is the "Yay! I got a callback that means they like me!" but then there's the anxious/paranoia side afterwards which is the "Did they like me? Are they going to cast me?"
And then you wait,
 and wait
 and wait
and WAIT until you hear of someone doing the show or realize rehearsals just started and you're not there.... *sigh* Such is the Never-Ending No of life...
Well until next week, I'm talking CATS.

Ever Hopeful,
Jillian

Traveling to Chelsea Studios

I hate going to Chelsea... it's not a bad studio, in fact it's beautiful (and where I met Christopher Walken) but I hate having to transfer trains, especially when the trains take FOREVER!
Normally I'm a very prompt person, but when I work late the night before an audition it is terribly difficult for me to get there early to sign up. Especially when I've had a terrible night as I had last night... ugh Full moons always bring out the worst in people and I'm a firm believer in that.. I felt like I had leprosy or some unmentionable plague the way people were treating me.... but I digress.
Thanks to Marianne Haggar(my awesome audition buddy) I was signed up for both the Cohoes Music Hall and Prathers Entertainment audition. Yay!
I tried to get up early enough, but to no success I felt like I had been hit by a bus and rolled over by a lawn mower. Eventually, I rolled out of bed after many update texts from Marianne and made my way to Chelsea.
Well, I got stuck in the train for what seemed hours! Meanwhile they were almost to my number at Cohoes... when I finally transfered to the 1 train at Times Square Marianne wasn't responding to my texts which meant she was waiting to be seen. I practically ran to the audition and found Marianne waiting in line to go in and sing, she was next.

3. Cohoes Music Hall. I found the Cohoes monitor and asked if I could be seen even though I missed my call. I said I was running from another audition(I know, I know its a little white lie, but they'd rather hear that than you got stuck on the train). She graciously put me in the next group as I groveled profusely and went to change.
I sang my classic 16 bars that showed off my Soprano easily and that was that.

4. Prather Entertainment was another matter all together!
Marianne and I were in the 200's and Prather was moving at a snails pace so we decided to go grab some lunch. A nice hour and panini later and we were back waiting to be called. Finally the monitor with the wonderful color palette of clothing called us, but it was to collect our headshot/resumes and to beg us wait for another hour.
Finally when it was my turn I went in to sing my new belt comedy song and they laughed and said thanks, but that was that no callback. My voice was kinda shaky, at least to me, but Marianne said I sounded good... You are your own worst critic right?

Later that night I got an e-mail asking to come back for a Callback for Cohoes Pirates of Penzance Yay! Soprano yay! So at least the day was not a complete train wreck :) We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Ever Hopeful,
Jillian