I arrived and waited. Though we had times for our audition, they saw people in their order of arrival. I went in and sang a snip bit from "The Girl in 14 G" <- I really liked the response it received at my last audition. I sang 16 measures and stopped in the middle of a phrase and told them that was 16 measures, but I would sing more if they wanted me to. They didn't. But, they did ask for my monologue. This is the first time I've auditioned with one of those ever. I started it with gibberish. Really, that's what came out. So I just kept going. It was supposed to be funny, but they didn't laugh. Instead they thanked me (i.e. asked me to stop) before the end. They told me to walk out and wait for Sara. So I did, and she came out with a call back for me! Woopie! The paper told me to return at 4:00 and 5:30 for the singing and dancing call back. As it was 1:00, I had 3 hours to spend.
The city of Stone Mountain is perfectly quint. The tiny library was one block and a half away from the theater housing auditions. The short walk took me past adorable gift shops and a Mom and Pop type Hogie restaurant. I walked in to find out what a Hogie was exactly. They handed me a menu and I was about to ask what they would recommend when I saw the hand made sign saying: "everything we make is good." So I ordered a Hogie. That's another word for a giant sub. I wasn't expecting something 18" long! And, oh it was tasty.
At 3:30 ish I headed back over. It turned out that the dance audition was first. Everyone was already there and ready. I saw the girl who was so nice at the White Christmas audition and one of my friends from Clayton State. The feeling in the room was different this time around. Everyone was more positive than the people there when I was there earlier. Incidentally, only one of them was there.
So, at 4:00 we headed up stairs to learn the dance. Whew! Did you know that I love dancing? They had a delightful dance instructor (the teacher in me is very picky about teachers I sit under) teach us a dance pattern that lasted 32 beats. And, at the rate that the music was going, it felt like one beat a second. That doesn't sound like much, but oh it was. By count 8, we had rotated in three different directions. I went to the front of the room because I really wanted to be able to see what I was doing in the mirror. This helped me in another way because the other people who choose the front were confident dancers and they were what I saw in my periphery. The instructor insisted that he was here to help us and he couldn't help if we didn't ask questions, so I, being a Clifton, was the first to take him up on that. After thanking me, he gave me even unrequested feedback. So, for me this was a 1 hour dance lesson. Bonus.
After he had gone through the entire dance, he asked who had it 90% and I was surprised as I looked around. The only people who raised their hands were the people I was dancing next to. He continued with 75%, 50%, 40%, 30%, 20%. Through this, not many of the 25 of us raised our hands. He had the 90% people go to the back so we could have a chance to see our selves. Then he broke down the steps again. The motions were challenging, and I just barely got them. There were two places where I went in the right direction, but my feet didn't do exactly what they had said.
After I don't know how long, some one came up to say that they were ready for us downstairs. The instruction time was over.............. on my way down, the instructor found me and said that he could tell that I really enjoyed dancing and worked really hard and that was good. Then he said that I had the rhythm for the steps, but I was doing crazy things. I wanted to laugh out loud. I was barely getting the foot work. He pointed out particularly one part where I was rigidly throwing up my arms and he wanted me to express the idea of the words in the song "presents under the tree." So I went over how I could do that in my head quite a few times on the way down.
We got back on that stage, and ran through it all together. I was still finding a window when the music started, so I started behind and didn't really get back on track until the middle. I thought that was my only chance, but it turns out that it wasn't. They called us up in groups of four. I think they went in order of auditioning earlier in the morning b/c I was in the first group. This has pros and cons. I got to go right after that run through on the stage, and before my nerves had a chance to make me freeze. On the flip side, I didn't have as much time to go over the dance in my head before it was time to wow the auditioners.
I was in the back in a window. Right before the music came on, I stood there enjoying the stage lights with so much excitement and expectation that they must have showed on my face. Then the dance started. I kept up and kept beaming. It was SO much fun! Then they had us switch lines and do it again. This time the dance instructor didn't count it off, and I missed the entrance. He called everyone to a halt and started us all again with a count off. I was very appreciative! With the second start, I was on beat for the whole thing. They had us pause at the end and hold our pose. The performer in me LOVED that! When I sat back down, the choreographer found me and said that I "took his note" and that was good. :)
Then I watched everyone else have their turn. Some people stood out as dancers. Oh, they were impressive! Others didn't radiate much. That was a surprise. But I was secretly glad.
After everyone had done the choreography, the auditioners gave them a chance to show off things in their "bag of tricks." A double turn counts as a trick. Really. I feel like I can get before my next audition of this type. I don't know why they are that impressive. Some people did jumps and other types of turns and my friend did a round off back handspring.
Then we all went out and picked up music and came back in to learn music. It wasn't near as much as I expected. They just wanted us to do a simple carrol, and one jazzy song, and the sopranos got to sing O Holy Night to show off their high A. I got to go first b/c I had to go early, so first for both things. I think it would have helped to have heard the music a few times. So they had me and three other people sing "Good King Wincelass" it was indeed a tongue twister. They asked us to sing it again, this time focused on blending. Then we were done. I waited around a little bit and watched other quartets. They asked those sopranos to sing "O Holy Night." I don't know why they didn't want me to, but I wanted to sing for them, so after they were done w/ all the quartets and before they went on to something else, I raised my hand and said I didn't get a chance to sing it and would like to. When I sang it, I saw them nodding with each other. I don't know what that means. That's the hardest part about this auditioning business--I'm not able to read these people. In everyday life I can tell what's going on.
So I left. There was more to sing, but I had to leave to go to the other audition. I felt very torn between the two locales. I made two wrong turns, so I got to the Michel O'Neal singers late anyway, so I could have stayed to finish the first audition. I made the last part of the warm up. Then, everyone introduced themselves. There is such a lovely feeling about that group. The way everyone enjoys music and the fact that they sight read well makes me feel like my musical soul is resting on a large feather pillow.
Michel O'Neal was concerned with how I was doing because I was late, and I had to audition after the choir. Apparently, the phone call I received was the audition because I was pretty much already in the smaller group. They stayed after a little bit and I sang with them to see if I blended with them, but blending is what I do. So, I'm in that group, but he wants me to be able to commit for a year, and the goal of my life for this year is 1) to perform and 2) to be where I'm at.
(imagine me singing these words with the tune "Still Hurting" from The Last 5 Years)
Now the auditions are over and done.
Oh but they were just so much fun.
We have all danced and we have all sung.
But, I'm still waiting.
~Vivian out
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