Quite a Weekend
The past week at the Conservatory has been an absolute whirlwind. So many fun and exciting opportunities, but lots to do. Last weekend was probably our busiest yet.
Things kicked off early Friday morning. We had an 8:00 call and normally we would all be filing in around 7:55. But not this time! We all arrived extra early because this was a day we’d been talking about since the beginning of the year: Mock Auditions!
Joanne is the mastermind behind this wonderful opportunity. She invites professional directors, choreographers, and casting people from the Lancaster area to come and watch us “audition.” While we’re not actually auditioning for anything, a couple of students in the past have received work based on their performance. I don't plan to stay in the area after this year, so that pressure was off for me. But many of my friends wanted to do extra well since they’re hoping to continue working here when the Conservatory wraps up.
We were asked to prepare two 32 bar cuts of contrasting songs as well as give two contrasting one-minute monologues. We’ve been working on this stuff all year, so we were able to weigh in and help one another choose the material that would show off our talent. We also had a dance call, and that was the first part of the day.
It began when Kristen (a local choreographer) taught us a short dance routine. It was quite challenging and fast paced, but lots of fun too. After that, the rest of the panel arrived: people from the Fulton Theatre, the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre, as well as some of our teachers from this year. We were called in one at a time to perform our songs and monologues. We each only took a few minutes, and then it was on to the dance portion. We reviewed what we’d learned in the morning and performed it for the panel in groups of three.
A collage that Joanne put together of our Mock Audition day.
When everything was complete I felt such a sense of relief. It seemed that so much about the Conservatory had been building to Mock Auditions: the time when we would be able to really put to work all that we’d learned about succeeding in the performing arts business. If you're going to get work, you must be able to audition well. "Auditioning is the work of the actor," as many of our teachers have said over and over again.
After we finished the dance, we each got to spend some time with the professionals on the panel. They gave us constructive feedback on how we'd done. I’ll admit, it was difficult to hear criticism on every little thing…from the way I’d walked into the room to my singing technique to the nuances of my dance movement. I’m not anxious to go through that meticulous of an evaluation again. But it was helpful to hear their thoughts. Some of them were points I’d heard before, and some were new. I don’t plan to continue in the professional theatre world, but I do hope to continue performing. I know that the comments I received that morning will help as I move forward.
Saturday arrived full of mixed emotions. It was the closing day for Jonah. We only had two shows (normally we have three on Saturdays). Just two more times to tell the story we’d been telling for six months. I can’t remember exactly how many shows we did total, but it was over 300. The last time I danced in "I’m Free" it was hard to hold back the tears. However, I can’t say I was really sad about seeing it go. It was a great experience, but I’m ready for something new. This year has shown me that I’m just not cut out for the repetitiveness of long runs. I’m amazed and impressed by those who can bring the same level of emotional vulnerability and commitment to each show, no matter how many they’ve done before. Guys. Professional theatre is no joke.
To celebrate and to thank us for a great show run, Scott Ticen (our director of show operations, and also our stage combat instructor) ordered pizza for everybody! All the cast, deck crew, wardrobe, management, audio, and lighting got to come to the third floor break room to enjoy a meal together.
Later that afternoon, when the curtain went down on our final performance, we went through the check out procdures. We made sure our stations in our dressing rooms were clean and orderly, removed personal items, left anything that belonged to the Wardrobe department…after we got the thumbs up we were free to go! And it was really nice to have an evening off when I’d normally be at the theatre until 9:30.
It was especially nice since we were up bright and early on Sunday for our trip to NYC! Every year Jeff takes the Conservatory class to see a show on Broadway and enjoy New York City. We’ve been looking forward to it for months and it was hard to believe it was finally here. Abby and I were the only ones who had never been to New York, so I was pretty excited. We loaded up in a 15 passenger van and headed off on our trip.
Of course we had to make a coffee stop at the halfway mark. :)
It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive to NYC from Lancaster. We laughed, talked, and, since we're theatre kids, we can't do a long car ride without singing along to show tunes. Upon arrival in the City, our first stop was Times Square. Of course we took plenty of pictures!
When we had selfie-d ourselves out, we were all getting pretty hungry. Fortunately we only had to walk a couple of blocks to reach the Stardust Diner. All of the waiters and waitresses are singers and aspiring performers. The diner gives them a steady job and helps them earn money while working toward their goal of landing a role in a show. The food was great too. We had a lot of fun listening to the performances and enjoying a delicious lunch. Thanks Jeff!
After lunch it was time for a show! We had all decided beforehand on what we were going to see. Unfortunately, our top choices were off the table. Jeff just laughed when we said we wanted to see Hamilton or Dear Evan Hansen. Those are both sold out through the rest of the year. But we settled on Waitress, one that’s been running for about a year now.
We got the theatre and I was amazed at how small it was. Being used to the giant auditorium and Sight & Sound I’d forgotten that isn’t the norm. The theatre was small and beautifully decorated. Five us got to sit on the front row, literally right up against the stage. If I reached out my hand I could touch it. That gave us a great view of the actors’s performances and showed us what professionals they really are.
I can’t say that I really recommend the show. From a technical standpoint, it was great. The music was beautiful and the story had some sweet and redeeming qualities. Overall though, I didn’t like the content and I won’t be seeing it again. It reminded me of how thankful I am to be able to perform in a place that puts on shows of both quality and good content. But I’m still glad we got to see a show and it was fun to do so with my friends.
The front row crew! That green line in the lower left hand corner of the picture is the edge of the stage.
That was pretty much it! Since it was only a day trip we needed to get on back to Pennsylvania. I was pretty wiped after the full day. The city was great to experience, but it was also a bit overwhelming, especially after a long week. Lots of lights, noise, thousands of people…I’d like to go back again someday when I’m not so tired. I was grateful to jump into bed that night.
And at 10:00 the next morning we arrived at our first day of rehearsals for Miracle of Christmas! We began by learning the choreography for the first scene, Mary and Joseph's betrothal celebration. Then we concluded the day with learning the vocals for most of the ensemble numbers. Since then we’ve had rehearsals every day. This process feels like a speeding train, since we’ll open our show in just two weeks!
So our weekend went like this: Mock Auditions, Jonah Closing, NYC, then rehearsals beginning. Quite a weekend, to say the least! It's strange to think that this time last week were still performing Jonah. We've completely shifted gears and are working hard to get Miracle of Christmas up and running. I'm really excited about it and can't wait to see the pieces come together. More on that to come in future posts!
This Conservatory has been a whirlwind, but full of so many wonderful experiences. I'm looking forward to more in the days ahead!