Performances, Squirt Guns, & New Jersey

Ok, so hey, it's been awhile.  Some things have happened.

Here are a few of them:

1) I got a callback for the superhero musical.  And I rocked that callback.  And I didn't book it.

BUT, I got great feedback- i.e. the guys running it shook my hand at the audition and said, "You're GREAT news!".  And then they called me afterwards to say they "didn't have a role for me, but would love to see me in the future".  So all of that is really positive.

The singing interpretation coach, Eddie Guttman, who I worked with before the audition, said to me "You can only please half the people, half the time, so go in there to audition, focus on the problem you need to solve (as the character) and have fun!"  Good advice.

More good advice.

2) I have had my first three performances playing saxophone for The Ride!  It has been a blasty blast.  Even though one was in the rain!  It's amazing what live performance does to your system. It really doesn't matter if it's theatre, film, or playing saxophone for a bus full of tourists...that "performance" feeling makes me feel oh, so alive!!!

Me and Jeanel, doin our thang for the tourists.  Not sure who's who yet.

3) Also, that's the other thing.  Jeanel, the other half of our act, is AWESOME.  She's 6'1", from Hillside, New Jersey, and a Music Education major.  And this girl can SANG.  And play the Euphonium!  And crack musical theatre jokes to rival any theatre geek I've ever met.  She's played Motormouth in Hairspray twice already, as well as Doc in West Side story(!)

And her family is amazing- her parents are from the Caribbean island of Domenica and are lovely, and  she's the same age as my younger sister.  Needless to say, we love each other.  As her Dad commented, "You guys are perfect for each other- ya both crazy!"  Thanks, Dad.

 People have already started to take cellphone videos of us on the tour, so hopefully some will pop up online soon, and I can share!

4) I woke up with this song in my head.  Haven't thought of it in a while...like 8 years kind of a while.  This is unrelated, just kinda perfect for a peaceful, rainy, lie-in-bed-for-an-extra-ten-minutes-and-listen-to-a-song, kinda NYC morning:

5) My horoscope says that June is my month.  Anything and everything good can happen! Supposedly, after June 11th,  my good luck in love, money and career is about to be on an upswing for a whole year. Jupiter's in Gemini or something.  Wahoo! I can dig it.  I bought some squirt guns for good luck (and protection, duh) on a whim at Rite Aid for $3.99 

Also met with commercial print agent Casey Ross (of Ross Talent Agency), and he wants to freelance, with me, so there's some positive career moves.

And I met some sexy, interesting people at the bar the other night, going out after an acting workshop ..including a charming Irish bartender, a dancing Puerto Rican yogini, and a New Jersey-ian theatre head.  I may or may not have slept on the floor for 3 hours, post-bar, cuddled next to one of these "interesting" people in his friends' apartment (which was actually smaller than some bathroom stalls I have been in recently).  So...ya know.  Grain of salt with that horoscope.

The good news is, I didn't leave my squirt guns behind.

Get ready, Brooklyn...

Sidebar: Does Jerz qualify as an ethnic group?  I would like to say yes.  Not because of any racial lines, but because everyone I've ever met from New Jersey shares common traits:  They tell is like it is. They're real, no attitude, no bullshit.  And you can take it or leave it. 

All my love for New Jersey.

Ray Bradbury, Love Life!

I'm on a Joy Binge.

Don't need urbandictionary.com for this one.  Though I might have to add an entry:

Joy Binge (n): is where I feel like running around the office, screaming, singing, and possibly running into things headfirst, just because I have so much energy/ excitement/ joy for life.  

   ex: 

     Dude: "Nicole, what was that kartwheel near the Kopy Machine for? Are you like, happy it's Friday or something?"

     Me:          "

   !"

JOY BINGE!!!

  
Why am I so psyched to be alive, you (and the dude in the copy room) might well ask?

First of all, MY VOICE IS BACK!!!!!!!!!  And I have a singing audition tomorrow!!!!!  Cue more joyful music!!!!

All the voices in my head wear office apparel!

I took a singing lesson yesterday with the amazing, incredible, light-filled Alba Quezada.  She is a Linklater singing teacher, that Andrea (remember, the lady who originally told me I might have nodes?) recommended to me.

Because yes, my friends, I have a musical theatre audition tomorrow.  WAHOO!!  I am so excited to be singing again!

The lesson was all about keeping it simple when singing.  Just taking a small amount of information (a slight yawn in the back of the throat, and supporting the breath in your lower back/ butt) and then trusting yourself.  To not get negative, or down, or think too much about technique, but just to have fun!

Or, in the words of the great Ray Bradbury: "Jump off the cliff... and build your wings on the way down!"

(Speaking of Ray, if you want to watch an amazing, zany interview with him about books, joy, Mars, and doing what you love, watch this:)

See, tonight, after my first shift playing saxophone on The Ride (WHAT!! I got hired!!)  I will not be going out to the bar, or to drink magical cocktails at a bar called Ghost (where my friend Rajiv is bartending).

Instead: I will sleep for as long as possible..and then get up early to warm up on the roof (my new music studio) because yes, my friends, I have a musical theatre audition tomorrow.  For a childrens' musical.  To play a Princess.  ( Did I mention I get to sing tomorrow?)

I will sing a peppy, funny Judy Garland song. My voice will be clear, strong, connected, and beautiful. And I will figure out how to solve a very specific problem....with this song: 

subtitled: "... (And Raise a Little Hell Tonight)"

I have the urge to write more, about Eddie Guttman, the spectacular accompanist/ composer that I worked with after Alba, who also reminded me how to thing of singing as problem solving (and all my vocal issues clear up!)

  But I think I will save it...plus an update after my first shift on "The Ride".  I'm so excited to be getting paid to perform for tourists... it's the most incredible sense of validation New York has ever given me, I think.

Saxophone, singing, dancing, or acting- I want it all!  And sometimes I want it in Spanish.  Que lindo este mundo!  Gracias to the world!!

(I feel happy.  Know why?  'Cuz I don't gotta show Nobody Nothing...to be Somebody.)

 And that's what it's all about!