It was off to an audition north of Philly last night. Let me just say that that drive is not great. And especially not at rush hour.
The first glitch occurred when some sort of ferris wheel or carnival ride that was being transported tipped over on the road and was blocking all the lanes of traffic. Making it so that the police actually closed the toll road just beyond the exit where we had to get off...meaning that all of Pennsylvania was forced to get off the road at my exit. The traffic jam was epic. We're inching along at about one mile every five weeks and it starts to look like we're not going to make it. Fifteen minutes before my audition time, we're still several feet from the exit, and I start changing my clothes in the car. In five minutes, I am in full audition regalia. Not a great hair situation, though. Omg, it was horrible-- the lights were all wacked out at the major intersection after the exit and we were just having the most horrible luck.
I had to pee, my hair looked horrific, we couldn't find the hall where the audition was supposed to be, and I was trying really hard not to burst into tears. I was, however, completely hyper-ventilating.
Finally, we got there.
I was DYING. I have never in my life been late to an audition, except for once, years ago, when there was an unfortunate incident with the greyhound bus driver. Who had apparently forgotten how to get to Manhattan.
The gentleman I was supposed to sing for was terribly nice, and told me to calm down, and take some time to get myself back to being able to breathe again. It was really something, kids. Jessica did not feel in control of this particular situation and it was very difficult for her. Walking in late put me in the posture of apology, and that's not a place I like to be when I go into an audition situation...try as I might, once I'm there, it's hard to rally...
Oh, and did I mention there were several other singers there too, who were all apparently going to be listening to my audition? And who witnessed my breathless entrance? So I went into the ladies room, did a few scales, and reminded myself that now is not the time to freak out, because if I bomb this, then the whole ordeal we just went through to get here will have been a complete waste.
This is the time when having that aria that you can sing in your sleep comes in realllllly handy. My hair, well, there wasn't a lot I could really do to fix that. But I went up there and sang like it was 1999. I tried to, at least.
Fifteen minutes later, I was walking out the door, and still trying to wrap my mind around what had just happened. I felt so completely wound up and breathless, but I think I actually sounded fine! When we got to the car, I quizzed Joe: "Was I in tune? What about the high note? Did you hear anyone talking? What did they say? Did I sound like I couldn't get my breath?"
He confirmed that it had actually been a good audition, and I sat back and tried to regain a normal heart rate. Then we went to get pizza.
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