Apparently that was a conservative estimate. :: shakes head ::

"Wicked" hopefuls take their shot at fame

I'm hoping to find something with an estimate of how many people were actually there. It had to be well over a thousand. When I left, they were clogging a solid two blocks of sidewalk. There were twice as many behind "Mabel" as in front of her, and she didn't even get in.

Sooooo glad I called the timing right on this one. Oy.

( Wicked audition: I sang, they said 'thank you,' I went home. )

( Pirates: I like my drama ON stage, plzkthx. )

I know I keep saying this, but I really need to start concentrating on professional auditions and stop getting sidetracked. It seems like a good idea when I say "Hey, these people right down the road are doing such-and-such that would be fun," but it's such a coin toss whether the headaches are worth it.

I've now had a second person check in with me to make sure I knew about the Wicked open call. *g* If I were younger and more optimistic, I'd say that means It's Meant To Be!!!! As it is, I think it just means people know me too well. ;-)

Thanks to angstzeit's timely reminder, I got around to checking the listings and will be taking a second crack at Wicked at next Sunday's open chorus call. I did a belt number last year, so I figure I'll go in with legit soprano this time. Possibly something from The Light in the Piazza. I went the belt route first just because I expect the sopranos to be looked at as potential Glinda understudies/replacements, and frankly I just don't see them seeing me as a Glinda, even if I sound like one. But, time to vary the menu anyway.

I think Equity changed the format of their website audition listings, because I don't remember salary information being on it last year. And, whoa. Not that it's movie-star money or anything. But it never really occurred to me that, in addition to simply being the work I would actually want to do all day?

The chorus contract for this show pays TWICE what I make at my perfectly respectable grown-up day job. O_o

ETA: Yes, my fantasies of Broadway stardom encompass getting my IRA up to snuff. You may mock at will.

...it makes more sense for me to just buy tickets. *wry g* I have more important things to use my PTO days for.

However, it might be more feasible for someone else, so, passing it along:

CHICAGO’S PRODUCTION OF WICKED
HONORS ITS
1st YEAR ANNIVERSARY

A PUBLIC CELEBRATION AT WATER TOWER SQUARE PARK
WITH A GIANT SING-A-LONG LED BY CAST MEMBERS

A PAIR OF WICKED TICKETS WILL BE GIVEN TO THE
FIRST 365 ‘WITCHES’ in attendance

1. Wicked non-Equity call. Tomorrow. (Thanks to swirling_poetry for the heads up. I heard about it from castmates that night too, but the extra few hours didn't hurt.)

2. Not only was B&B sold out yesterday, but apparently we had people scalping tickets outside. (It's unclear whether they were literally scalping, i.e. charging more than face value. But either way!) Also, someone in the cast said they saw tickets listed on eBay.

For COMMUNITY THEATRE. O_o

I am very, very lucky in more ways than I can count.

However, I really need to learn that I have no luck of the draw for actual literal drawings. *sigh*

Apparently I should have said "Screw getting to rehearsal on time" and gone to Navy Pier yesterday -- word is there were only about 60 people there. (And it's not like we ended up actually STARTING rehearsal until 8, but that's a whole different grump.) Today there were over 100, most of them teenagers. (Unsurprisingly, since, y'know, mall. And on the North Shore yet.)

It'd be nice if the line between one-in-a-million opportunity (not that this particular one was likely to really lead anywhere, but at least a little publicity, and the grand prize evening out for eight is nothing to sneeze at) and complete and utter waste of time weren't the breadth of an eyelash. Or if occasionally there were any way to know which is which beforehand.

Wasted: one-half PTO day, drive up to Northbrook, an afternoon and early evening of my life. Less-total waste: one pair of cute boots, standing around with one of the few other adults and snarking quietly about some of the contestants (okay, yeah, sour grapes, but we earned 'em).

Silver lining: Guy I know somewhat, who had to drop out of J&H partway through the rehearsal process (I took over the "cahoots" line in "Façade" from him) is one of the finalists. And one of only two out of the five that girl-with-whom-I-was-snarking and I would have picked over some others who didn't make the cut.

*sigh* So, that's that. The boots will last longer than the crappy mood.

ETA: Had to update the link for the boots, and the MSRP has gone up $20 overnight. Dang.

They've posted mp3s of the sections of songs for the Wicked contest. From the verbal descriptions, pretty much the first verse of each. Not too surprising -- it's easier for them, and they're probably a little afraid of random off-the-street contestants trying to, say, belt the end of "Defying Gravity." (I shall therefore forbear pointing out to them that I can...) Which of course I have to do (assuming my name gets drawn), even though a zillion others doubtless will too. I'd grab "No Good Deed," but it's not an option. *shrug*

So, of course, the verbal description of the section for "Defying Gravity" doesn't match the mp3 section on the website. *eyeroll* Unless they mean that "Something has changed within me..." is the first line of the 'talking' that it's after. Which doesn't make a lot of sense. And the mp3 starts in midsentence, if not technically mid-line. Somebody goofed. It's awkward, but OTOH, it goes through the second verse that way. *shrug* Guess I'll find out tomorrow what they actually want. And hopefully get to sing it.

So, how bad a person would I be if I took half a vacation day to try to get into this contest?

Guess we'll find out. (A reason to actually be glad I haven't gotten around to trying to get an agent...)

Finally finished this review. Maybe I'll even get back to the RotS yammering one of these years...

( Yet more elaborasiveness and spoilification )

Wanna go back. Can't justify it any time soon. One thing I'll say for TV and movie fandoms: the fix is a heckuva lot cheaper...

Picture Fiyero getting a gander at this!

Stopping now. I swear.

ETA: Well, except to be amused that their marketing people (or at least their web designer) obviously know full well where a chunk of the market for this line will be coming from.

This link came up from googling 'elphaba doll.'

Note that the name "Elphaba" does not actually appear anywhere on the page, or even in the source code. It has to have been added as a keyword on the listing submission. *chuckle*

Lurline help me, they have ruby slippers too.

I'm seized by the overwhelming urge to buy one and make her a Glitter!Elphie outfit...

http://www.twodaydreamers.com/16bawiwi.html

If I had unlimited disposable income (and display space)? It's already downright scary how much of it would go to Robert Tonner.

She even looks a bit like Idina.

:: wantwantwantwantwantwant ::

Saw the Chicago sit-down production last night with the fam (brainiacfive, 'rents, and BigLittleBrother and girlfriend). Just as awesome second time around, lots of variations. Yay, live theatre!

( More elaborasiveness and spoilification )

And looky there, break all gone. More later.

(No, I haven't finished the next Anakin yammering post after, what, three weeks? But I can see RotS again to refresh my memory, and it'll be the same. Wicked won't.)

I. Love. This. Show. To the point where I'm kinda having to work to get past "SQUEEEEEEEE *bounce* EEEEEE *bounce* EEEEEEE *bounce* EEEEEEEE!!" to anything that others might actually give a fig about. *sheepish g*

Oh, and HOW CUTE??? were the two little girls (I'd guess age 8 or 9) I ran into the lobby -- one in a black and green dress with a green crochet cap (with sequins around the edge! Baby Glitter!Elphie! *g*) and her hair in one long braid down her back, and her friend/sister in a pink dress with her hair curled and piled up and a pink tiara sitting on it! Baby costumer/geeks, yay! :-D

( Elaborasiveness and spoilification) )

I'm sure I'm forgetting other stuff I wanted to mention, but it's been a week already. Want. To. See. AGAIN!!! And next time, it will be with Chicago's very own cast. *bounce*

I know big commercial theatre is a mixed blessing at best in the eyes of many of my friends, but I can't help hoping this starts a trend toward more standing productions here. Especially musicals, which are relatively underrepresented. Smaller theatre thrives alongside Broadway in New York; there's no reason to think we can't do the same here.

No word from Jekyll & Hyde folks. On to the next thing. :: is thankful for Chicago, where there always is a next thing ::

Wicked was everything I hoped for.

Wanna play Elphaba more desperately than ever. Gonna keep wanting, because this baby is going to run forever, and they might release regional rights by the time I'm, oh, 90 or so. And yeah, Chi is getting its own production indefinitely, and they'll probably be having non-Equity calls by next year, but in all honesty, *sigh*. In the interim, must find appropriate occasion to keep promise to sing "Defying Gravity" for neonhummingbird. ;-D

Glinda and Elphaba were both understudies. Maria Eberline (Elphie) was very good (would love to see her when she's done it a bit more), Emily Rozek (Glinda) was fabulous. Carol Kane is a delightfully creepy Madame Morrible. Jenna Leigh Green is a terrific Nessa, and very definitely not the TV-has-been stunt casting I've seen some people accuse her of being -- one of the two or three best voices in the cast, and dead-on with the character. Saw Derrick [blanking on last name] as Mereb in Aida, very happy to see him with more to do (and do superbly) as Fiyero.

Full review to follow... er... sometime...

...I actually kind of consider it a good sign that I cannot sing "No Good Deed" without crying. *crooked g*

Now with Extra Random! (And no, I don't mean the King of Amber...)

First off, Da News: Remember that costume design gig I didn't get a few weeks back? Well, the person they did hire had her assistant back out on her, so they ( offered me that job instead. )

And then there are ( the random thoughts that flit through my head because there's just a little too much room not taken up by cranking out legalese. )

( Stepford Wives drive-by review )

Note to self: do not stand on the sidewalk for an hour and a half getting increasingly nervous on behalf of an out-of-town bud at the mercy of a public transportation malfunction, order a slushie drink and drink it while leaning against a cold brick wall, and attempt to sing "Defying Gravity" in front of people. *sigh*

( In which Murphy's Law asserts itself )

( In which Val is an idiot )

( In which the Diva is whiney and self-indulgent -- feel free to cruise on by )

It's 1:00 on a Wednesday afternoon. I'm about to go back to writing legal gobbledygook like a good little corporate whore. And desperately wanting to be curled up on my couch whimpering about how I suck and I'm deluded and I'll never ever ever get to do the things I want. And *thwipping* myself for being a whiney insecure Artiste like all the ones who drive me nuts.

Pathetic. :-P

I have not gone nosing about online to confirm that Oz is about the only fantasy world of my childhood reading that had no apparent time differential with Earth.

I am not pondering what may have happened there in the last hundred-odd years.

I am not wondering what kind of contacts the wizarding world might have developed with them.

I have no intention of sending Hermione Granger for a summer study abroad to Shiz University.

She will not overhear an eminent professor, who is stuffed with straw and rumored to have once been highly placed in the government many years ago, having a conversation with a mysterious female voice.

She will not embark on solving the mystery and clearing the name of a long-ago student who agitated for the rights of sentient Animals, a cause surely at least as worthy as the liberation of house-elves.

These things will not happen.

Just for the record.