Minority Report

I recently had a callback for a company closer to home.  The callback was for, get this, the Color Purple, the musical.

What??

I auditioned during the general auditions, meaning I could be called or cast for any of their shows for the upcoming season.  I thought for certain after my audition that I was a different animal than what they wanted and would not hear back from them again.  So, when I got an email saying I had gotten a call back I was surprised.  Then, to find out it was for the Color Purple, I was shocked.

My first thought was, aren't I the wrong color for this show?  I mean, I was being creative when I wrote down the parts I thought I could play, but I didn't think they would take it seriously.  It was more a bold move at a new company that made me do it.  Guess it's paying off lol.

Don't get me wrong, I was honored and delighted to get a call back - my first ever, actually.  I was just puzzled as to why I made the cut, especially for this show.

Maybe they didn't have enough people so they had to be a little more creative?  I went with that train of thought as the most feasible.

I was wrong.  I got to the call back auditions and felt very much in the minority.  I know I got a few stares from the people already there.

We did 2 scenes and a bit of singing.  Overall it went well and I did what I could to do my best at the acting . . . the singing came pretty easily to me.  Who knows if they will pick me for any part, but they must have had something in mind to call me back in to audition again.  I'll let you know if I hear anything back from this whole experience.

There is a bit of a theme right now, first the Color Purple, next up is auditions for South Pacific - which is getting more and more racist as I research it.

I'm used to being a minority, and reveling in the fact that I am (half Taiwanese, half Scottish, fyi), but sometimes I feel we don't need to bring attention to that particular aspect of people.  I dunno . . . maybe it's something some people think about all the time, but I kinda thought we were past separation like that.

Although, I'm finding in the the theatre world, everything is up for scrutiny.

Anyway, just thought I would write about this little experience.  We'll see what comes out of it all :).

Five in Friday

1. Blue skies - it is so sunny and warm right now :). That natural vitamin D is doing me good.

2. New work responsibilities - while this might be a not so good thing, it's a good thing right now because it is stretching my abilities and making me feel like I accomplish things during the day rather than waiting around for something to do.

3. Meeting new people - again, because of the changes in my job, and again, could be a not so good thing, but not in this case. Because I have new responsibilities I'm meeting new people at work and getting to talk about my interests and who I am. It really makes me feel I'm going in the right direction after all.

4. Free Food - I'm kinda suffering from long term memory loss (not really) and only thinking about what is right infront of me, but I found some free food today just when I was feeling hungry. With everything going on I certainly could save some $$ and this came at the right time.

5. Grooveshark - I'm listening to my 3 audition pieces right now and I'm so thankful to have a media to do that with. Since I have been so busy moving and taking care of things I haven't had much time to rehearse, so listening to these songs on repeat while working really helps me out. If you haven't looked into Grooveshark, you should. Especially if you want to listen to a particular artist instead of just artists that are like them. It's free and commerical free (for now) and doesn't need any downloading to use.

Well, I should get some things done before I have to jet to rehearsal and cleaning later tonight.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Being "grown-up" can be difficult sometimes

I'm in for a busy weekend after having a tough week all week - again. Last weekend I had rehearsal for The Music Man after being off for 3 weeks. Let's hope I remember all the choreography or can catch up quickly. While I'm excited to get to see everyone in the production, it's a volunteer thing so in the back of my mind is a pull to get to my obligations. I don't think that's an age thing because I have always felt that when it comes to things I need to get done. What's new for me is the fact that I now am actually more laid back than I was when I was younger.

To help put things in perspective, here's a list of what needs to get done in the near future:

- Rehearsals every weekend: Friday (7pm - 9pm), Saturday (11am - 7pm), and/or Sundays (2pm - 7pm). The schedule changes each weekend for call days and times, but usually it's 2 out of the 3 days.
- Buying a "new" car: I had an appointment last Sunday , but they wanted too much per month so I said no and walked out. Back to square one.
- Moving: we are moving in with my dad starting in September to save up for a house and start catching up on finances.
- Scheduling a surgery for my husband: No specifics because it's my husband's stuff, but we need to get the okay from the insurance.
- Hospital visits: before he can get the surgery he has to be well enough to be at home.
- Work: I get distracted with everything going on and I end up doing one thing in the middle of another and it takes 3x as long to accomplish something.
- Nutrition: I'm seeing a nutritionist and trying to eat better, but it's tough when you spend most of your time away from home.
- Auditions for a concert opera role: I have an audition coming up on August 28th for a group I normally only sing chorus in.

So there you go. This is why it's taken a bit for me to get a new blog posted. I originally started writing this last Friday, but had to put it aside to get other things done. This is where I feel there are not enough hours in a day and enough days in a week.

However, back to the beginning where I said I'm more laid back. What is different as I am now "grown up" is the fact that I just know that things will get done. It helps to have someone there with me to go through all the chaos and stress. He's much better at seeing "3 steps ahead" and has been doing it for a lot longer than I have. It's tough when the person you lean on to help with certain aspects is out of commission, but I still run things by him and he still is organizing what he can.

What I know now that I didn't know then is that what has to get done will get done. It might not be pretty and could cause a lot of problems, but the end result will still happen. It doesn't dull the stress I go through, but on the surface not as many people see what's going on. At least that's my theory.

I wear my emotions clearly on my face, from the many years of voice lesson trainings to get me to express with my face, so when people talk with me they can't help but see what's going on. The difference now is that I don't readily spill my life out to anyone who asks me how I'm doing. I have learned that people have a lot going on in their lives and they don't need to hear about all my problems. I also know that I have a lot going on and don't really have time to explain to everyone I talk to what is going on. So it works both ways :).

I try to keep a smile on my face and keep in mind what is good with the world and my life, but it gets difficult. The Five on Friday blogs will help though. And, as my husband and I are fond of saying, it can always be worse.

I turned one of my other blogs into a vent-fest for a bit and this is not what I want to do with this one, so I am working to make what I post on here personal, relevant, and insightful - not pessimistic, spiteful, and overall negative. There are realities to life, but that doesn't mean we have to forget the miracles.

Thanks for keeping up and I hope to have more light-hearted and fun things on here soon.