“NYC! Just got here this morning…3 bucks...2 bags…1 me!”

April 2 to April 5

Trying to pack for my first New York audition was impossible. I mean, I had put it off long enough. So the night before my flight I started putting it all together, checking and rechecking to make sure that I had everything. From audition book to dance shoes, I was ready. I went to bed excited and nervous. I usually have trouble sleeping before I leave to go somewhere, especially for an audition, but I was so tired from my past two weeks that I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow. The next morning I got up and drove about two hours to Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport. While that was the most podunk airport I have ever been to, it was about $250 cheaper to fly out of there instead of Tulsa which made it totally worth it! The flight to Memphis was short and the flight to NYC seemed to fly by since I was doing character work for Rent.

Finally here in New York! That song from Annie is so right! “3 bucks, 2 backs, 1 me!” Except it really is more like “Charging this all on the credit card and hoping I make it back, 2 bags, 1 me!” While in New York, my friend Taz (who is an amazing dancer and I am so thankful to her J) let me crash on her floor for the few days that I was there. On Saturday night, we basically just walked around the city, grabbing dinner at the Wild Oats Café in the Financial District and walking through Time Square.

Sunday morning I got up and met a friend for coffee. M-Hunt use to go to TU but transferred up to a school in the city this past year. We spent the morning jumping from theatre to theatre trying to figure out what Taz and I were going to see that day. We tried and failed at The Book of Morman, Spiderman, Anything Goes, How to Succeed in Business, and Catch Me If You Can. Taz had never seen American Idiot before and with it closing in two weeks, I told her that I didn’t mind seeing it again. Actually, I loved seeing it again! I love this new genre of musical. While it isn’t exactly the type of musical that I could be in, I still think that it is an amazing musical that speaks a lot about my generation. After the show let out, we walked around the city a bit more and then headed back to Queens to rest for the rest of the day. I worked on my song and sides for my Legally Blonde audition and went to sleep early so I was all rested the next morning.

On Monday I got up, got ready, and headed out to my audition. On the way, Taz and I stopped to see if we could grab tickets for Catch Me If You Can that night. Unfortunately, the show wasn’t running on Monday since they were still in previews. Hopefully I can see it when I come back in May. Taz got me to Pearl Studio and showed me around the building. She left to head to dance classes and I headed to take a breath and grab a tea from Starbucks. After my tea, I went back to Pearl and checked in with the person working the audition. I waited for about twenty minutes and then was walked into the room. I did my two sides and one song, talked with them for a few minutes, and then headed out. I was probably not in there more than five minutes. But you know what? It was fun. Yes there were nerves but I seemed to enjoy that. After the audition, I decided to just walk the city. Since Taz was in dance class, I had the day to do with as I pleased. I started walking uptown and once I got to about 57^th street, I decided to head to Greenwich Village. I wanted to see the area that I researched for I Love You Because, the musical that I directed this past January. I think by the time that I got to the village I had walked at least 7 miles and my feet where killing me. I sat down in Washington Square Park, where the Washington Square Arch is located. Taz met up with me and we headed out in search for something to eat. We looked for O’Dennehy’s, the bar that I based our ILYB bar in. Online it is called O’Dennehy’s but on the building it say Mr. Dennehy’s. It is really a cool bar with great food and even better when paired with a Guinness. After lunch, we headed back uptown. She went back to dance class and I headed to Columbia University to check out the campus. I spent most of my time in the main courtyard and also took a stroll down greek row. I knocked on the Pike house and got a tour of it. I find it so cool that the Greeks have houses up there but realized that the university owns the housing. The Greek students pay the same as every other student for room and bored to live as a Greek in the house. That night Taz and I explored the city a bit more and headed back to Queens.

On Tuesday morning Taz took me back to the bus stop and sent me back on my way. I am so thankful to her for all her help this weekend. From letting me stay with her to getting me around to my audition, she was a huge help! While at the airport, they announced that our flight was delayed due to a storm that had already ripped through the south and was heading toward the Northeast.

I haven’t received a call from anyone with the Legally Blonde production so I take that as a no to being cast in the show. While I would have of course loved to tour Asia this summer and be in Legally Blonde, I am not that upset. I knew coming up here that I would more than likely not be cast but did so anyway to figure out how NYC auditions/callbacks run as well as a start to getting my face/name out there.

I am still really excited about this summer! Like I mentioned last time, I will be working in Dallas, TX this summer playing Henry in Next to Normal with Uptown Players. This theatre is the first theatre to get the rights to the show since it left Broadway in and will be the regional debut for N2N! So after graduation, I headed to TEXAS!!! J

…anyone have a spare room or a pool house in Texas that I could stay in for two months? J

Keeping It Classy...

March 12 to March 20, 2011

Spring Break was so much fun this year. For the past few years, spring break has been a quick trip home and then back to Tulsa for a little sleep. While similar this year, it wasn’t exactly the same. Less than 24 hours before I left for Memphis this time, I called Jeffrey and Sean, two fellow musical theatre majors with me at Tulsa, and we decided to have an impromptu road trip to Memphis. Jeffrey did this with me over the Christmas break of our freshman year and Sean and never been to Tennessee before so we were all in for a trip! With promises of parting on Beale and lunch at Texas de Brazil, they decided to join and we left Tulsa on Sunday.

About an hour into our trip we started seeing signs for “Free Wine Tastings” for several different wineries in Arkansas. I have seen these advertisements for years but have never stopped because I was by myself and always in a hurry to get either home or back to school. Lynden and I always joked about stopping one time but never got around to it. So this time the boys and I decided to stop and go for a little taste. We stopped at the Wiederkehr Wine Cellars and Vineyard for our first tasting. Coming into the town was a bit creepy since it was so small and we hadn’t seen anyone since leaving the interstate. Once inside, we were given a tour of the winery which was followed by the free tasting. While the boys are really wine people, I am! Red, white, sweet, bitter, desert: I love wine! Now when I say that, most of the wine I drink is cheap and on a college budget. I hope to do more winery visits to increase my knowledge and understand of what is actually a good wine and what isn’t and how to pair wines with certain foods. After we finished with the tasting, we decided to get back on the road again. Most drives back home suck! Arkansas is a terrible state to drive through but it was fun with the boys. Most of our time in Memphis was spent drinking…it was spring break people. This was really the first time that I have been 21 in Memphis and had friends who wanted to go out drinking. We hit up the Flying Saucer, the Memphis Ghost River Brewery, and of course partied on Beale several nights. Lynden and her boyfriend Josh joined up with us our first night on Beale. Lynden’s mom, Betty, kept Emery so that she could join us. I haven’t had that much fun at the bars in a while. It was so nice to be able to share the “Beale Experience” with the boys and of course with longtime Memphis friend Lynden! It was also nice to be able to get to know Josh a little better as well. We also ate incredibly well while we were in Memphis! Momma and Daddy cooked for us the first night, had Corky’s for lunch, Huey’s for dinner, Lynden’s step-mom (Donna) cooked her famous “Bacon Grease” meal, and we did Texas de Brazil right before we left. SO MUCH FOOD & ALCOHOL IN JUST 3 DAYS!!! …but remember…this is our last spring break so we had to make it amazing! On the way back to Tulsa we got off the interstate again at the winery exit and hit up 3 other wineries in the area for their free tastings. It was the perfect end to our trip!

I am so glad that the three of us were able to do this. With graduation quickly approaching, it was so nice to be able to share Memphis with the boys. We have spent so much time together over the past four years: good times and bad. We have seen each other make breakthroughs both professional and personal and have seen the true heart of who each other is. Most people don’t get to know friends this well. Most people have shallow relationships with meaningless ties and no trust. Not us. While of course they get on my nerves at time, as I do on theirs, I love them very much. I will truly miss them next year. Hopefully our paths with cross again after graduation.

Senior Bucket List:

• One Impromptu Road Trip: Check!