Super Bowl Sunday and Super Cold Monday

I think I've definitely settled on the AM West Side service at Redeemer. Maybe in a month or two I'll even have regular friends to sit beside! My new friends from last night go to the PM West Side service...I would consider giving that one another chance but apparently last night's band leads at that service...and as hard as it is to criticize a band leading worship...it was too loud for me! I LOVE the music in the morning service. I can't wait for you all to visit! This week a flutist played a Bloch concerto as well as the Mozart "Laudate Dominum" (my wedding hit) with a soprano soloist. So beautiful! Tim Keller continues to be an amazing teacher and I can't write down fast enough all the morsels he shares! This week he talked about the significance of the Last Supper and all the ways it connected to the celebration of Passover. I love nerdy Bible talk!
I jetted over to an audition that I'd been called in for after submitting my materials via mail. I learned a painful lesson about the necessity of always caring extra headshots and resumes. Eek! I wrongly assumed that they would have my h/r on hand since I had submitted and they called me. Nope! It made my audition really awkward and I was embarassed that I made that rookie mistake. The good news is that I don't even think they got my last name so hopefully they'll forget they ever met me! It was an audition for a small company in Florida who is doing a show about Judy Garland called, "Beyond the Rainbow." They had called me in for Young Judy...a fun prospect but not a great match vocally. After some serious self-beating I went home and got ready for our fun adventure to North Plainfield, NJ for the Six's Super Bowl party. Scott and Amy have a really nice house...and they went all out with mini-hot-dogs and mac and cheese and every kind of chip and dip you could imagine. YUM! It was really fun to see Gabe and be around Amy's energetic family! We also had a fun time meeting some of their friends, including Chemagne, who we've invited to stay with us in NYC for some big city partying. Chemagne gave us a ride to the NJ Transit station after the Prince half-time show. Good times!

Today was a fun and somewhat productive day. I had high hopes for an audition for Musicals Tonight, a company very similar to 42nd St. Moon, but when I arrived and found the line already looping around hallways I knew my chances were slim. Two fun things happened. I realized that a guy I'd recognized a few weeks ago was indeed the Richard I lived across the hall from in Aspen. I guess he's doing a lot of musical theatre in addition to opera work. I also ran into Michael Hunsaker, my prince from "Into the Woods." He is one of the funniest guys I know and it totally lit up my lackluster morning to see him! I was #3 on the EMC list but the way things were going it wasn't looking great, so I left around noon and didn't return in the afternoon, opting to leave my headshot behind. From my other experiences, the afternoon only seems to get worse with the Equity alternate situation. I think the hardest thing for me is that second-class citizen feeling all based on a little card that I don't yet have. I end up feeling after a while that I'm not talented, that I don't belong in that room, etc, etc and it puts me into a spin of self-doubt that certainly doesn't help my confidence.
The best thing I did for myself was leaving and deciding to spend the afternoon practicing and remembering why I came here (not just to spy on equity actors!). I had intended on going to the Performing Arts Library and picking out some new songs...alas, closed on Monday! I walked in the bitter cold for nothing but luckily found a bus home pretty soon thereafter. After practicing a bit at home I decided to rent a studio for an hour to really let loose and SING. I'm so glad I made that decision. I now feel energized and excited to keep learning and growing and practicing!!!!
I went to a fun and intense "urban rebounding" aerobics class where everyone bounces on individual trampolines. I loved the teacher. He made lots of high screams, ala Prince yesterday!
I had planned with my two new friends, Carrie and Kristin, to go to Michael's piano bar tonight. I had thought it was weird that they hadn't called me after I left the directions. But then Carrie called to let me know the fire dept. was on their way over....they think they had Carbon Monoxide poisining. Yikes! And honestly, it's 8 degrees out, with a windchill of negative that, so I decided I couldn't trek out there alone. Hoping for next week!
I just opened an amazing package from Pie. She knit me the most beautiful and colorful scarf...I just love it and even more I love the note she sent with it. I write with a heart very full of thanks for the amazing friends and family God has given me! Miss you!!!