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Finally. The post Mr. Realife is a real fan of my singing and he will often mention it in conversation with his clients -- It just so happened that one of his clients was a long term member of Encore Theatre and knew there was a musical coming in the spring -- He insisted that I try out, not knowing if Mr. Realife was just blindly bias or if I really could sing -- Over the next 2 months, I enjoyed a various amount of phone messages from said client, {Mrs. Realife}, the auditions are January 18th and 19th at 7:30, don't miss it! I instinctively blew him off, truly believing I wouldn't be any sort of exciting addition to Encore, seeing as they have been established for many years and while I'd been performing on a myriad of different stages since I was 4 y/o, I'd never done true theater.
In our itty bitty town here in Northeastern, NC, this community theater has performed a myriad of "Off Broadway" sort of productions. Clearly we are not in the vicinity of NYC, but I use the "Off Broadway" term so to get the feel of what our theater is like. Encore Theatre has been performing since 1992 and they were located downtown in an upstairs section of a building on Main and Water St. This theater only held approximately 140 people. Down stairs was the local Arts Center in which all the local artists/photographers would sell their work. In the mean time, they had been restoring the new theater and arts center building for nearly 2 years and it was completed for our musical. It used to be the old Opera House and I found it a privilege to be one of the first to perform there 108 years later.
Friday before the weekend of auditions, I get another message {Mrs. Realife}, don't forget this weekend are auditions! They need you down there, don't let me down! Well, how could I resist that kind of encouragement?! 48 hours later I found myself standing before many talented women, the director, the producer, music director and God and sang my arse off -- 24 hours later I recieved a call from the director, We would be so delighted to have you as a part of our cast for Alice. As I stood in shock at the voice on the other end of the phone, I gladly accepted, not knowing the level of difficulty lying ahead.
Rehearsing started early February and the schedule was pretty consistently 4 nights a week starting at 6:45 running 2-3 hours each rehearsal -- That is, until two weeks prior to opening night -- Then it became 5/6 nights, 4-6 hours each night and then after opening night, we performed 3 nights a week and rehearsed one night -- I'm not complaining, in fact, I appreciated all the hard work that went into it... especially on Opening Night when everything went so smoothly. Our director really knew what he was doing.
The original Broadway production was named "A - My Name is Alice" - The follow up sequel is "A - My Name is Still Alice" and the third sequel is "A - My Name Will Always Be Alice" which is what we performed -- It's nontraditional in that it doesn't tell one story about any specific person, but a series of scenes that tell about the life of women -- Originally written in the 60's, it was meant to support the women feminist movement -- After it's 3rd revision, it also addresses the emotional aspect of what women go through -- In the end "We're all Alice" -- It's hysterically funny and heart wrenchingly touching and in the end... it was the experience of a lifetime --
Going into this whole thing, I thought I'd have to live in this town for the rest of my life, now I feel I get the privilege of living here -- I've discovered the beauty in our history here, the excitement of restoring what was once old and the "hidden treasures" in all the shops downtown -- I met the most amazing people and now feel as though I have women in my life who I can friend --
Photo by Justin Falls/The Daily Advance
Photo by Justin Falls/The Daily Advance
Photo by Bud TardiffRehearsing before a performance, hence my curlers :)
Photo by Bud TardiffOur second scene, "At My Age" - I played a 15 y/o girl going on her first date
Photo by Bud TardiffSecond Act/First scene -
I played a new graduate going into the work force,
determined not to allow a "male privileged society" to stop me
Photo by Bud TardiffI thought this was a cool shot, everyone blurred with me standing in the middle
Photo by Bud TardiffOur last scene "Lifelines" - A tribute to women to enjoy/celebrate/embrace their Lifelines
Photo by Bud TardiffIf you made it this far, thanks -- This was a life changing experience for me -- It took me a week after all was over and I started feeling normal again to realize I was so exhausted -- See the 3rd lady from the left? She owns a beach house in Duck, NC and the cast is going there Friday through Sunday for a glorious girls weekend in the sun...
