"Ain't No Mountain High Enough..."

Thursday, July 8

It's a morning of really weird weather--hot as can be with a humidity you can see. Literally. There is so much sticky haze hanging over the City that the top of the Empire State Building disappears into the sky like a smudged brush stroke. Come to find out, the relative humidity is a balmy 82%.  No wonder.

By 9:00, I'm on the open call list for a 2:00 Royal Caribbean Productions audition for Hairspray, the show for their newest ship, Oasis. It's bizarre how few people are here. Come to find out, the call is more specific than I knew, and they're looking for 16 bars each of a contemporary musical theatre piece and an uptempo pop song à la Hairspray. Well, shoot. First of all, I don't have music in my book for anything pop, especially not something from the 1960s. By 11:00, I'm trekking uptown to the Performing Arts Library, wracking my brain for anything I could sing off the top of my head.  After browsing a few songbooks of hits from the '60s, I find "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." Perfect! I love the song and know it like the back of my hand. I'm in and out of the library in fifteen minutes with copies in hand.  

I make it back to the audition with time to spare. The organization of this call is different from all the others I've been to. The list, as it turns out, did no one any good, so I really could have shown up at 1:00 and been fine. They're taking everyone in groups according to the character that best fits their type. So I hop in line with the Penny Pingleton group. Ours is the first to be seen, and I'm #37 of who knows how many being seen for the role. Before 2:30, I've sung a chunk of "The Wizard and I" as well as "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," and that's it. If they're interested, they'll call me for tomorrow's callbacks and dance audition.

Earlier in the morning, I signed up for an EPA for The Importance of Being Earnest which, conveniently enough, is located on the floor below, so I head downstairs to check in with them on my way out of Ripley Grier. It's a popular one, and the monitor tells me the call was closed hours ago. Can't win 'em all.

Back at home, I whip up some dinner and settle in for another fabulous night of So You Think You Can Dance?  Great way to end a night. :)