Goodbye, Evita. I Am Obsessed With You.

I was supposed to put this up weeks ago, since Evita close on Jan. 26th.  Oh well....
 

Evita, I will miss you.  We have come to know each other well, I think.  I have had awkward/amazing nights in your T-shirts, eaten myself silly in between your shows, made new friends, people-watched to my heart's content, run by myself in terror through the sketchy underground garage where your storage room is, 


and hung out on the steps of the Marriott Marquis more than any freaky fan.

At least I was getting paid for it. 

 Until next time, Evita.  Until next time.

Fun Happenings! Oh, And We Had a Blizzard.

Tuesday a friend called me and told me he had free tickets to go see the New York City Ballet, and did I want to go?  Um, YES.  This is what I love about NYC.  Sometimes you run into really cheap or even free tickets to cultural events.  And not just some rinky dink event.  This is the NYC Ballet.  It was fantastic!  We sat in the second row, and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole evening. 

 

I totally got in trouble for taking this picture of the hall.  Whoops.

Then the next night was a fun date to the Mumford and Sons concert in Brooklyn.  Again, what a great opportunity!  I am not even an avid fan, so to speak, but after the concert, I am now.  They were amazing live. 

And by the way, we had a blizzard on Friday.  His name was Nemo.  I kind of have a feeling that at least for us in NYC it wasn't too much worse than a snow storm in Mapletopia.  But being in a walking city where most people don't have cars, and the city in general isn't really prepared for this kind of thing, it was a big deal.  All it meant for me was a vegging out with my friends night.  With a lot of food, as usual. 

The aftermath on Saturday morning.  A snow-covered Harlem.

Check out these awesome pics I took on Saturday in Central Park.  Not bad, iPhone 5, not bad. :-)

A Day In My LIfe

Today I did three auditions.  That is actually a lot in one day.  But in case you were wondering what days like this look like, here we go:

I left my house this morning at 7:45, with my backpack loaded with audition clothes, my audition binder with music and head shots, make up, some fruit and other necessities.  I wish I could say I don't have to walk around with a backpack all that often.  It is actually all the time.  Anyway, I arrived at NOLA studio at about 8:15 to get in line for a 9am audition sign up.

**Being a member of Actors' Equity Association has some serious advantages.  Like auditions where I can sign up in the morning for an appointment time later in the day.  Amazing.  But you still have to get in line to do it. ***

So yeah, I show up, and the building is clearly not open because there is a line along the sidewalk and around the corner.  Not having planned for that possibility, I was freezing without a hat or gloves.  Rough.  And the line was so looong. 

(By the way, I totally love the dude on the left side of the frame who saw me and decided to make my shot interesting.  Thanks, Big Guy on the Left.  You are great.)

So I got my time (12:50pm) and rushed off to another studio (Theatre Row Studio) to sign up for a different audition (4:10pm).  Then I killed a little bit of time at a coffee shop I found (NOT Starbucks, oddly enough), and went to a totally different studio (Ripley-Grier) to rent a studio to work/warm up in for a half hour.

At 11:30 I headed back up to NOLA for my audition.  Got ready, chatted for a bit with my old friend Erin Wilson, and had my audition. It was fine.  The man behind the table and I were both wearing lavender button down shirts, so I made a comment to him in order to have a little bit of conversation.  I am getting better at ice breakers.  So important.

I immediately changed and headed back down to Ripley-Grier for a chorus call started at 1:30.  I waited and finished a book and started to get nervous as the clock eased past 3:15 and I have not gone in yet.  I have to check in at Theatre Row by 4pm.  Yikes.

I finally sing at 3:50, not the best audition, but oh well.  I run back to my stuff, change my shoes, not bothering to change out of my skirt, throw my stuff together and take off.  Out on the street, I actually run.  I wish I could show you a picture.  Woman running like a crazy person in a black pencil skirt, black tights and brown boots, with a huge backpack, weaving in between of everyone in her path.  Have you ever done the stiff-arm run when you have a huge backpack on?  I don't know why, but I do.  It doesn't even really make sense.  But when I have a backpack on, I run with these stiff arms and kind of stiff legs, even.  I totally threw all dignity out the window.  I had an audition to make!

I got to Theatre Row and checked in at 3:58.  Amazing.  Thank you, Lord.

But, it provided a GREAT ice breaker story for the people behind the table.  I think my audition went well, I have to say.

Seriously long day.  So I needed Thai food.  Totally logical, in my mind.

That's what happens when you run like a crazy person up 8th Avenue in a pencil skirt.  And that is a day in  my life as an actor. :-)

You're welcome.

Today.

My church building in Harlem.  I love going to church here!

Today is a really good day.  It is one of those days where I just have a profound sense of well-being.  If I am being honest, I have had it for a little while.  Lately I have just had a lot of peace of mind, and for those who know me and my history with obsessive anxiety, you know I do not take peace of mind for granted.  Some things I am so grateful for today:

1.  Sleep.  I am sleeping so much better!  Aah..
2. I am so grateful to be here, doing what I am doing.  It is hard, messy, clumsy, crazy, emotional, uncertain, complicated, simple, exhilarating, fun, fulfulling, and everything in between.  If there was anything else I would rather be doing, I would be doing it.  But there isn't, so here I am, auditioning my bootie off, not loving every minute of it, but realizing how lucky I am, just the same.
3.  Peace of mind.  When I am seeing my world through faith and gratitude, and not fear, it is so much better.  Fear comes for so many reasons, and sometimes I can't control my environment, things happen, and I react in fear, then comes the anxiety, and so on.  My anxiety is fear.  That's all it is.  Like I said, I don't take peace of mind for granted.  I can think and respond better in life, and I am more open to days like this, when I can just be and love it.
4.  My family.  I love them, and am so glad I get to keep them forever.  They will never leave.  After going through a divorce, I have a deep understanding and gratitude for what that means.
5.  My belief system.  I love the Gospel.  I am so bad at living it sometimes, but that is the beauty of God.  He loves me anyway.
6.  A working, healthy body.  My body is not perfect, according to my standards.  There are things I wish I could do with it that I can't.  Some days I wish I was skinner, and didn't have to deal with this imperfection or that one.  Not fishing, just being honest.  But my body can move, and walk, and dance (kind of), and make beautiful music, and hold a baby, and sit, and lay down, and speak, and laugh, and eat, and see, and hear, and smell, and hug my mom, and love, and cry, and heal itself, and procreate (still waiting for that one), and a multitude of other things. 
7. Second chances.  At Thanksgiving I got a card from my brother Dave, and his family.  They send Thanksgiving cards instead of Christmas cards.  On the back, Dave had written, "God is a God of second chances."  I melted into tears.  I am a living witness of that.  I am living my second chance right now.  God IS a God of second chances, and third, and fourth....

My life is so good, I am so lucky, and so grateful.

Because I don't feel like ending on such a serious note, I also have to share that I am grateful for  down-on-their-luck drag queens who decide to work it in the train station. (Or werk, as the case may be).