Is this real life? Have I finally gone crazy? Am I seriously moving to the city? Yep! I’ve lost it. Moving to the city with no money, no job, and no place to stay.
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
The One with the Big Move
The One With “The One With…”
Finally it was time to head to Chicago!!!! For the past few weeks, my friends and I had been planning this reunion of friends in Chicago for New Years and the time had finally come! Lynden and I started our trip at 1am on the 29! We drove through the night to meet up with Emily, Alixe, and Sean in St. Louis. With the help of Red Bull and our Chicago belting mix, we made it into St. Louis all hyped up and ready to go Chicago! With a change of cars and adding a few people to our mix, we were on the way to CHICAGO for NEW YEARS!!! In Chicago we met up with Helen and Daniel at one of Emily’s favorite bars that she had found while working there over the past summer. After lunch we spent a little time shopping and then were off to Helen’s for dinner and to meet up with Natalie! Dinner was wonderful! Helen’s mom is a wonderful cook and an amazing host! After dinner and drinks, Lynden and I headed into the city by train for a good night at the clubs…
New Years Eve we spent in the city. With Helen as our host I knew we were going to get the inside scoop on the city! With sights like the Chicago Bean and seeing the view from the top of the John Hancock building, we were doing Chicago the right way!
Since we were trying to save as much money as possible, we all stayed in one hotel room. There were two double beds, one fold out couch, and my air mattress that I had brought from home. I figured this would be a good test for my mattress since it was more than likely going to be my bed in NYC for several weeks! Lol. Getting ready was actually a lot of fun. So many friends in such a small space calls for only one thing: Lots of alcohol! The club we went to that night was called Excalibur and was only a few blocks from hotel. And so the night began…
We decided that our Chicago trip was like a Vegas Trip: What happened in Chicago stays in Chicago. I will only share a couple of stories that I feel like I can share in good humor with no harm meant to anyone. More than likely they won’t be that funny except to a select few…
* “Hey, remember the time that Natalie fell asleep before New Years?” lol
* “Hey, remember the time that Katie threw up in McDonalds?” BAHAHA! Good times! J
The only other part that I will share is after some drama went down, drinks were finished, McDonald’s trip was completed, Natalie was sleeping, and Katie was asleep on the floor in the bathroom, Alixe walked into the room and told us that we had to name this trip. We had to start it with “The One with…” like all of the titles from Friends. You see, we have decided that our group of friends (like I’m sure half of the rest of the world has as well) will be like the TV show. We’ve given everyone their character type and have even started naming some of our episodes. This one would of course be a season finale with a cliffhanger. Good times! J It would also be in two parts: “The One With the RedBull” and “The One with the Domestic Abuse”.
The next morning we pack up our bags, said our goodbyes, and those in our van headed back St. Louis. That night we had some amazing St. Louis pizza and did a power hour to season one of Modern Family. We have also decided that we need more power hours in our lives but it is a bit difficult since we all live all over the place now. We now will be doing power hours with each other over SKYPE! J This is what I love about my friends. That it really doesn’t take that much to enjoy each other. We don’t have to do something big, we don’t have to go do something special, we just enjoy being with each other. While yes we fight sometimes, you fight with family. And that’s exactly what we are: family.
Lynden and I headed back to Memphis and that concluded our crazy Chicago trip!
After this trip and this blog, I’ve decided that all my blogs this year will start with “The One With…” My life hopefully will be a bit like Friends…lol
From Angsty Teen to Dr. Seuss!
Seussical the Musical was a huge change of pace! From dead sons and people walking out of a show due to the gays kissing to Dr. Seuss and children, it was a completely different world I was now living in. It was fun to play an over the top character where I could finally put my extremely large eyebrows to good use with all the different facial expressions. Lol.
It was nice to come back to Tulsa towards the end of the school semester. I was able to spend some time with the Pikes as well as the theatre kids! I was able to do my Christmas tradition with Sean and Alixe of decorating the Christmas tree and sleeping beneath it (And of course we missed the bestie!). Overall, it was very nice to come back to Tulsa. Best of all, I got to meet some amazing new people! Jenny Guy and Jessica Lauren-Howell, two alumni from Tulsa who graduated before I got to TU, we just of few of the amazing new people I got to spend time with. Jessica, who I spend a little time with in Rocky, and I had an amazing time and spent our days searching for the best Margarita in Tulsa. We decided after several weeks of testing, El Tequila won! We celebrated this discovery by going back on night with some friends and each having a pitcher of the amazing drink! SO GOOD! SO DRUNK! Haha! We spent days painting, watching Lord of the Rings, and just had an overall good time in Tulsa.
With the show running so close to Christmas, it was sort of sad to not be at home with the family doing all the normal Christmas traditions. I realized though that this was probably a new way of life for me. With me planning to move to NYC soon, each Christmas would be different based on work or money. I wouldn’t be able to spend as much time at home for the holidays as I had in the past years. Now that my breaks weren’t scheduled around school breaks, I had to work around work. At least I had work!
Rocky is just a bit Rocky...
My next job was a fundraiser for Tulsa Project Theatre. They were doing select songs and dance numbers from Rocky Horror Picture Show and I was playing Riff Raff. (Which is funny for a whole lot of reasons. Lol) It was nice to finally be a part of the Rocky Horror tradition in Tulsa! With Chad playing Frank, you knew the show would be amazing! I was also able to finally perform with amazing people like Claire Kifer Morris, Rebecca Ungerman, and Jessica Lauren-Howell! It was also nice be sharing the stage again with one of my best friends, Sean! J
By the time the show’s end came, I was ready to head to Memphis for a few weeks to relax.
“Whether in the summer, fall, or winter of our lives, we always remember our Spring Awakening…”
On the way back to Dallas I decided to swing back through Tulsa. Most of my friends had already made it back to school for Greek stuff and I figured I could drink with them as they were getting ready to start back. And drink we did! It was nice to be back with the guys again. Dustin and Tommy were starting back for their final semester while Conner and Pool were in Tulsa starting their real jobs. I didn’t really know when I would get to see everyone next so I tried to spend as much possible time chilling as I could. After a few fun days in Tulsa, it was time to go back to work in Dallas.
I first started back at the country club. I figured two weeks to get back into the groove with them would be nice. I wanted to have my schedule down by the time it came to start up with rehearsals. I also wanted to start working out a little to get prepped for the nudity scene in the show…we still weren’t sure if we were going to have to do it or not (that was she said…you are welcome for that). Erica called me when I got back in town and we started talking about life and my plan to workout. She told me she was starting a new program and that I should join her. Little did I know that for the next two months, I would be going over to Erica’s house every morning to workout with her. It was actually fun to do it together (that was she said…wow, again. I’m on a roll!!).
A few days before the first rehearsal we had a photo call: Erica (playing Wendla), Adam (playing Mortiz) and I (playing Melchior). The three of us had a “magical” moment in callbacks that we later found out is what got us cast in the roles. As we were singing through “Those You’ve Known”, we all three synced together and just found it. It was this incredible experience and we all three knew the exact moment it happened. This was the first time since callbacks that we had all been together. As Erica and I started with the first photo, the awkwardness setting in. She was on her back and I was leaning over her with our faces about 4 inches away from each other…and I couldn’t stop laughing. While our relationship had started with making out as Natalie and Henry, we had grown past that and very much into Erica and Jonathan. Now as Wendla and Melchior, I was having trouble finding the romantic/physical part of this already blurry relationship. Lol. Was this how it was going to be? Was I going to laugh every time we got close to kissing? If so, I was going to be in a lot of trouble come rehearsal time. Obviously…I got over that. J
A few weeks before rehearsals started, I received an email from the director about WaterTower giving me my equity card with this show. Holy shit! “What?! My what card? Equity? You have got to be kidding me! But I’m only 4 months out of college! This has to be way too soon! And me? Why not someone else in the show? It was too soon. I was too young. It wasn’t suppose to happen like this. I wasn’t supposed to even think about that card for at least another year…or two! Now? What was I going to do?” (I know this is a lot of rambling but this is literally how my brain felt for about two months!) I talked to a lot of people about this decision and in the end I decided to take it. I can remember the moment I made up my mind. Erica and I were in the car coming back from a show that we had seen in Arlington, and we were talking about the card. I was telling her my pros and cons and finally she looked at me and told me to take it.
I was so surprised to see so many friends from Tulsa come to this show! I mean, I sort of figured some of my friends would travel down to see it but I was truly surprised how many of my friends actually made it down! And my bestie Natalie even made it all the way down from Omaha! She was able to see Next to Normal due to a week off from her gig with the theatre tour but was so excited that she was able to come see this show as well!
Take me back to Tulsa...
The next project took me back to Tulsa… (Sung: Take me back to Tulsa, I’m to young to marry…” Anyone? No? Ok…) I did Broadway Your Way with Tulsa Project Theatre, the same theatre I did Rent with. I’m not going to lie, I was extremely nervous about coming back to Tulsa especially with the way things were left. But I didn’t leave things bad with TPT or did I?
While some of the times back were a bit rocky, I think it was all part of moving past what had happened a few months ago and moving forward in order to make good theatre. It was nice to be able to see Kyle and Jenna again (seniors from when I was a freshman at TU) as well as perform with some new performers like Claire, Liz, and Christian. Overall, the show was a fun experience and made my feelings for Tulsa be a bit less bitter.
Over the following weeks, I went home to Memphis and finally got to go on vacation. We took a family trip down to Disney World and Harry Potter World! While I was a little depressed after the final Harry Potter came out, going to Harry Potter World definitely made my spirits jump way back up! It was nice to finally go on a vacation that wasn’t just sitting on some beach…I get bored. Lol.
After vacation it was time to go back to Dallas! But I needed to take a pit stop along the way…
Something Truly Next to Normal
On my way to Texas, I let Tulsa go. I released the drama and frustration and looked into the future. For the first few days in Dallas, I was staying with Alixe Ward and her family. Alixe is one of my best friends from Tulsa and I was looking forward to spending some time with her. Her family took me in with open arms and welcomed me into their home. I even have a key to their house (Sean doesn’t even have one! LOL!). I got into town, dropped off some of my stuff, and headed down to Uptown Players for my first rehearsal for Next to Normal.
As the show began to come to a close, I was not ready to leave Dallas….or Erica for that matter. Erica had told me out another theatre in town that was auditioning for Spring Awakening. I told her that I was way too old to actually play Melchior (and she said the same thing about Wendla) but that I would at least go and audition to see if I could do Hanschen. The funny thing is, we both got cast as Melchior and Wendla! I didn’t have to say goodbye to Dallas yet!
I did have to say goodbye to Next to Normal though and Uptown Players. What was this? Why did this show affect me so much? How did these people mean so much to me in such a small amount of time? It’s because of the amount of respect that everyone had for each other. On one of the last nights while I was in Erica and Patty’s dressing room (a place that I found myself on a usual basis before, during, and after the shows), Erica and I were talking about Spring Awakening and how we hoped that, like Next to Normal, it would be a positive experience and that with such a young cast, we could leave negativity and problems at the door. Patty, being the amazing woman she is, looked at us and told us to only surround ourselves with people who loved us and wanted us to succeed. She wanted us to surround ourselves with encouraging people and to leave those with negative and demeaning attitudes behind. Looking back, that was some of the best advice I had gotten all year. With this being the start of my career in theatre, it was time to let go of the past, let go of the negativity, and move forward with people who loved and supported me.
I left Next to Normal with a challenge: to find another production that contained this amount of love and talent. Challenge Accepted! J
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
The End of TU
Trouble at TU! I don’t want to drag up anything from the past (I have dealt with the issue and moved passed it quite successfully) but I just want to take a moment to talk about something that made my last few weeks of Tulsa a living hell. TU Theatre Department is crazy. The faculty are crazy and manipulative and liars. They blame their problems on everyone else from other teachers, students, and even other departments. They never ever think that they could be the problem. (A legit theatre actually fires you yet it is still not you…hmmm.) I don’t feel that way about all of the faculty members but several of them yes. I should always trust my gut. When you don’t trust someone as far as you can throw them, then you shouldn’t trust them to take care of things in a responsible way.
Kyle Dougan, a TU Theatre Senior when I was a freshman, actually said it best: He stood the entire group of freshman up and placed them in a line. He told us to look to our left and then to our right. He told us to take care of each other and to respect each other. He told us that the people next to us was how we were not only going to make it through the department but how we were going to make it after we graduated.
A hint to TU Theatre students in the future: Trust who your gut tells you to. Trust yourself. Fight when it tells you to fight. Stand up for yourself and don’t let people walk all over you. Soak up the good and throw away the bad. Don’t get wrapped up in the drama and when they try to pull you down, band together as students and rise above it.
The last few weeks of school was filled with a lot of goodbyes, a lot of parties, and a lot of alcohol! From the last TU Theatre Banquet to the last Pike Beer Olympics, I was able to say my goodbyes to everyone that I needed to while I also enjoyed the last few traditions of school. Senior T-Shirt Night, Senior Video, Theatre Last Wills, Pike Wills, Last Pike Chapter, Senior Night at M Dill’s, NYC Showcase Trip, and Graduation.
I can’t believe that college is over. It seems like just yesterday my parents where bringing me to school for Freshman Orientation. That just yesterday Lynden and I where sitting in my empty dorm room the first night on campus, watching High School Musical 2. That just yesterday was our first class and M Dill was walking us through the steps of how to be a freshman. That just yesterday we rushed and became Greek. These people became my friends. These people became my family. Supporting me know matter what.
But this is just the beginning. It is the end of one amazing chapter and the start of a new one. “Oh the places you’ll go!”
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
“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.
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 57th 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.
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...
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!
