Allie from "The City" on MTV
Today marks day 11 in the Big Apple. I kind of feel like weekly Tuesday updates are a good habit to start. New music comes out on Tuesdays. Why not blog entries?
Anyway.
I’m writing presently from a beautiful apartment in Tribeca. I’m sitting on a gorgeous cream modern sofa with all cream furniture, gorgeous dark hardwood floors and the most beautiful (can they be beautiful?) flat screen television I’ve ever seen. Through providential hook ups I knew someone who knew someone who needed a babysitter in New York so my first employment in the City was reading 4 and a half year old New Yorker Sophie Kaufman a few books before bed. She is adorable and full of life and she is just not one of those kids who is annoying—YAY!!
Today I also interviewed at the Anthropologie in Soho. Not only did they call me an hour later to tell me they want to hire me but they also emailed me my schedule for the next 5 weeks. At my other two Anthros that would’ve been nothing short of a fantasy. They’re giving me pretty decent hours and Soho is my absolutely favorite part of my favorite city. I feel pretty lucky. Speaking of the City, about a month ago I started watching “the Hills” spin-off “The City.” It was fun to watch and imagine living there and the people are beautiful and it’s a glamorous silly little reality show. I decided to make the City’s theme song my ring tone b/c it made me so excited about moving to New York. So, yesterday I was catching up with my show on mtv.com when I had a little downtime between my interview and an audition. After my audition I hopped on the R and decided to go to Herald Square to kill some time and explore a spot I hadn’t been to yet. So I get on my train (nothing unusual) and scan the other passengers (because New Yorkers are way too interesting not to scan) and I glance down at the other end of the train and there is Allie—one of the girls who is on THE CITY!! I was just watching her on my laptop that morning and there she was on my R train—in my same car?! What are the odds of that?!?
It totally made my day. I love this town.
What else…what else…
As far as learning my way around New York it’s pretty incredible how quickly I feel like I know where to go. I feel 95% confident that I could get anywhere in Manhattan fairly quickly. I got turned around for 2.5 seconds the day after I got here and haven’t messed up on getting anywhere since. Streets with numbers make a world of sense to me.
Ok let’s backtrack to things that happened last week…
Wednesday I got up and out of the house by 6 AM to attend some auditions. These were calls for members of Actors Equity, and then EMC (membership candidates—what I am) get seen if there are any available spots. So I got up at the crack stood outside in the cold from 7:30-8:30 and got told by 9 am they would only be seeing union actors. Awesome. So I shrugged my shoulders and headed a few blocks over to the Equity building. There were two auditions going on there that I felt pretty confident I’d get to audition for. Long story short by 3:45 I still hadn’t been seen and the monitors running the audition told me “It’s a no go.” While that might’ve been annoying I have 2 conclusions. 1) I would much rather make the effort and go to the auditions and know for certain that I would not get to be seen than sleep in and wonder if I had missed my big break b/c I was lazy. 2) I have a better chance of being seen when an audition is for specific characters as opposed to a whole season of shows b/c everyone comes out of the woodwork when there are all kinds of roles available.
It’s all strategy really.
So the next day I got up 30 minutes earlier (5:30 this time) and went down to audition again. This time it was for a musical version of “Little House On the Prairie” that has gotten a lot of buzz. Apparently Laura Ingles Wilder has a bunch of fans that I don’t know about. It’s at the best regional theatre in the country—Papermill Playhouse in New Jersey. It’s often referred to the closest theatre to Broadway that’s not on the island.
This weekend I also got to be a part of a Play Festival! It was all new works. It’s so random how this happened. I got an email a few days before I moved to NYC from a stage manager in Sarasota, FL at the Golden Apple Theatre. I auditioned there in August but don’t actually know anyone there. Apparently I was on their email list. They were asking if anyone knew a non-equity actress in the New York area. I was like…hmm..wait, WAIT THAT’S ME!!
So I emailed back and I got a call that evening. A mini-interview and then an offer. Just. Like. That. So this past weekend we rehearsed on Friday, had a tech rehearsal on Saturday and then performed on Sunday. The awkward part was that it was a 2 person play and the other person in the play was also my director. And as a youngest of two kid I sort of felt like I was getting bossed around by my big sister but it was only 3 days and I tried to compartmentalize and keep my annoyance level at a minimum. We are in control of our attitudes, aren’t we? How bout that.
I can say that I’ve really never been as nervous to perform as I was this past Sunday. Maybe because it was a straight play, maybe because I wasn’t sure I had adequately prepared, maybe because I knew my uncle and Bill were in the audience and I wanted to impress them or maybe because I was just performing for the first time in the theatre capital of the world. Whatever reason, I was a shaky thing on Sunday. BUT, it went off without a hitch! There’s really nothing like captivating an audience and being the catalyst for laughter. Nothing like it.
Sunday night I was supposed to be the life of the Oscar party going on at Patric’s apartment but I found myself working down to the wire on a paper for Organizational Behavior. I was assigned to figure out what my personality is, its functions in the workplace, and explain how by studying the materials I can interact better with other personalities and curb my weaknesses when it comes to being efficient. The ironic thing is that the description of my personality said that I procrastinate up to the last minute on projects and have a hard time finishing them. But that ENFP’s always do finish projects they just push it to the last minute.
My paper was due at midnight and I turned it in at 11:57.
The description said I also don’t like being “pegged.”
That’s true too. Dang it.
Monday I met Sophie’s mom Jill for coffee and then I met up with Katie Gray for lunch and a movie. We saw Slumdog Millionaire which was one of the most captivating films I‘ve watched in a long time. Dev Patel the guy who played Jamal has such amazingly honest (perfect for film) eyes. I was mesmerized by the cinematography, direction, acting, use of music and script. I’m so glad a story that praises integrity has had so much success.
I think that’s all for now…if you have read this whole thing and made it all the way down here I am impressed. This was a bit wordy but I hope you feel adequately caught up. Here’s a parting question…
What if it’s not as difficult as you think it is?
