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.