NY NY
Okay here goes.
There is WAY too much to remember. So let me get the preliminaries out of the way. I had NEVER been to NY. I also had not been on a plane in approx. 8 or 9 years. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
SETC
Was great. I had some great callbacks. I've also had a couple of 'internship' offers since the convention. Which means they give you room and board and pay 100 dollars / week in a stipend. This might be doable except for the "other duties" portion of the contract. Which means crew jobs, shop hours, office duties etc. Some of the theatre pick interns that they can give really great roles too in thier season which is awesome. Some place basically are going to use you for smaller walk-on type stuff. All of this is great if you have parents who can send you extra money, or give you some form of financial support. But, mine cannot and that makes these internships a no go. There were a couple of other places that I really liked that such as American Family Theater and of course Seaside. But who knows? I will say this though, SETC was a great way to prep for NYC. And I didn't spend alot of money there. So we arrived in Atlanta on Wednesday evening, and got on the MARTA and rode to the airport on Saturday afternoon.
Check-in at the DELTA counter.
So I had a carry-on suticase, my purse, and a big suitcase. But, before we left Tuscaloosa, I had a black purse(it's more like a tote for music and stuff) and a cheetah print duffel. We stopped at Taylor's parents on the way to Atlanta and while there I relieved my suitcase of some extra items. I also sent Jeff Davis home with some shoes and some music books (after SETC). I say all of this to let you know that when we arrive to the Delta terminal for check-in I was 9lbs OVER the delta limit. First of all let me tell you that they only let you check 50lbs. of luggage. They do not weigh your carry-on it just has to fit in the overhead compartment. So I'm frantic. I start pulling pairs of shoes (of course I brought too many) out and putting them into Taylors duffel bag. Finally I get my suticase down to 49.5lbs and onto the check in cart it goes. Once inside the terminal we meet up with Taylor C, Sonequa and Stacy Searle (we were all on the same flight). About this point I am getting really weepy and scared. I call my mom crying and she encourages me to find a bar. So, off in search of a bar Stacey, Taylor C. and Sonequa go. While walking through the terminals we find something astonishing.
A WHOLE UNIT OF SOLDIERS WAITING TO BOARD A PLANE TO IRAQ.
It was sobering a REALLY sickening. Some of them were young, some of them were standing there with thier wives and too kids. Either way. It seemed so massive. We all became quiet and were a little teary. We walked back to our terminal. We never got those preplane drinks. I called my mom and told her what I had just seen. We got on our plane and flew into NYC. We got a ride to Jill's and went to sleep.
SPRING FORWARD
Daylight savings was the next day. Thank goodness for cell phones. So Taylor and I wake up and meet up with Wheeler. We eat dinner and I begin to take in the city. AMAZING. I thought the dirt and trash would bother me. And it didn't. Weird. While at brunch Taylor decided to go see if there were tickets at the Helen Hayes for Company. THERE WERE!! So I saw my FIRST broadway show. It was wonderful! Until watching that show I had never wanted to play Joanne and now some day I most certainly do. Barbara Walsh was so brillant!
Then we had dress rehearsal. It was a long day. Hopped on the E train back to Queens and fell asleep.
Oh my god we are late!!!!
Woke up late the next day! Ran late and still had to stop at kinkos. Poor planning on our part. So we ran about nine long blocks. I was wearing heels. Needless to say I felt like I couldn't walk on my feet later that night at midnight. We did the showcase. We ALL did well. We were all prepared. We had WAY too much food for our small turnout. So we donated it.
Also, there weren't dressing rooms so, we hung out on the fire escape and in this small hallway hiding from all of the showcase guests.
After the showcase
We visited with friends, talked to the guests who stayed and then went out to Jasmine's bar. It was alot of fun. I Heart NY.
Next Day - Tuesday
Called agents, made appointments, walked EVERYWHERE. Saw ground zero, paid my respects. Saw China town.
Wednesday
Shopping at H&M, Taylors meetings, ducked into the Toys R Us when a agency called to make an appointment. Stood in line for Grey Gardens. Got Tickets. SAW GREY GARDENS!! It was amazing. Met Christine Ebersole afterwards. It was great.
Thursday
Stood in line for Spring Awakeing. We ended up with the last standing room only tickets.Went to have lunch with a family friend of Taylor's. A great actress. Remember when you read about the 'classes' that Meisner and Uta Hagan taught . Well, she was there. Amazing. Went to the Natural History Museum. Had to dump the excursion when one of my appointments got unexpectedly moved up. I was not dressed the way I wanted to be. I did not have one copy of my headshot and resume. DISASTER!! Hopped on the C train. And went to the appointment. It was great. Spring Awakening was beautiful.
Friday
SNOW!!!! I was about ten years old. Then I realized why New Yorkers own snow boots. It's a miracle that my toes didn't get frostbitten. Next appointment was great. Then Taylor and I went to Lincoln center. Went to the visual library and I watched Last Five Years. It was great after all this time to really see it. Then we ate,had drinks at Jills resturant and went home.
Saturday
Packed, Showered, Came home to Albertville.
Drove home on Sunday to T-town were I was greeted by spring. I do love the south. It is truly home.
It always will be. I will never get over it. So, it was a sucessful trip. I learned about the city an dI feel closer to my dreams and goals. I thank anyone who might have stuck with readign this whole long think. It helped me clear my head to write it.
-Ally
There is WAY too much to remember. So let me get the preliminaries out of the way. I had NEVER been to NY. I also had not been on a plane in approx. 8 or 9 years. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
SETC
Was great. I had some great callbacks. I've also had a couple of 'internship' offers since the convention. Which means they give you room and board and pay 100 dollars / week in a stipend. This might be doable except for the "other duties" portion of the contract. Which means crew jobs, shop hours, office duties etc. Some of the theatre pick interns that they can give really great roles too in thier season which is awesome. Some place basically are going to use you for smaller walk-on type stuff. All of this is great if you have parents who can send you extra money, or give you some form of financial support. But, mine cannot and that makes these internships a no go. There were a couple of other places that I really liked that such as American Family Theater and of course Seaside. But who knows? I will say this though, SETC was a great way to prep for NYC. And I didn't spend alot of money there. So we arrived in Atlanta on Wednesday evening, and got on the MARTA and rode to the airport on Saturday afternoon.
Check-in at the DELTA counter.
So I had a carry-on suticase, my purse, and a big suitcase. But, before we left Tuscaloosa, I had a black purse(it's more like a tote for music and stuff) and a cheetah print duffel. We stopped at Taylor's parents on the way to Atlanta and while there I relieved my suitcase of some extra items. I also sent Jeff Davis home with some shoes and some music books (after SETC). I say all of this to let you know that when we arrive to the Delta terminal for check-in I was 9lbs OVER the delta limit. First of all let me tell you that they only let you check 50lbs. of luggage. They do not weigh your carry-on it just has to fit in the overhead compartment. So I'm frantic. I start pulling pairs of shoes (of course I brought too many) out and putting them into Taylors duffel bag. Finally I get my suticase down to 49.5lbs and onto the check in cart it goes. Once inside the terminal we meet up with Taylor C, Sonequa and Stacy Searle (we were all on the same flight). About this point I am getting really weepy and scared. I call my mom crying and she encourages me to find a bar. So, off in search of a bar Stacey, Taylor C. and Sonequa go. While walking through the terminals we find something astonishing.
A WHOLE UNIT OF SOLDIERS WAITING TO BOARD A PLANE TO IRAQ.
It was sobering a REALLY sickening. Some of them were young, some of them were standing there with thier wives and too kids. Either way. It seemed so massive. We all became quiet and were a little teary. We walked back to our terminal. We never got those preplane drinks. I called my mom and told her what I had just seen. We got on our plane and flew into NYC. We got a ride to Jill's and went to sleep.
SPRING FORWARD
Daylight savings was the next day. Thank goodness for cell phones. So Taylor and I wake up and meet up with Wheeler. We eat dinner and I begin to take in the city. AMAZING. I thought the dirt and trash would bother me. And it didn't. Weird. While at brunch Taylor decided to go see if there were tickets at the Helen Hayes for Company. THERE WERE!! So I saw my FIRST broadway show. It was wonderful! Until watching that show I had never wanted to play Joanne and now some day I most certainly do. Barbara Walsh was so brillant!
Then we had dress rehearsal. It was a long day. Hopped on the E train back to Queens and fell asleep.
Oh my god we are late!!!!
Woke up late the next day! Ran late and still had to stop at kinkos. Poor planning on our part. So we ran about nine long blocks. I was wearing heels. Needless to say I felt like I couldn't walk on my feet later that night at midnight. We did the showcase. We ALL did well. We were all prepared. We had WAY too much food for our small turnout. So we donated it.
Also, there weren't dressing rooms so, we hung out on the fire escape and in this small hallway hiding from all of the showcase guests.
After the showcase
We visited with friends, talked to the guests who stayed and then went out to Jasmine's bar. It was alot of fun. I Heart NY.
Next Day - Tuesday
Called agents, made appointments, walked EVERYWHERE. Saw ground zero, paid my respects. Saw China town.
Wednesday
Shopping at H&M, Taylors meetings, ducked into the Toys R Us when a agency called to make an appointment. Stood in line for Grey Gardens. Got Tickets. SAW GREY GARDENS!! It was amazing. Met Christine Ebersole afterwards. It was great.
Thursday
Stood in line for Spring Awakeing. We ended up with the last standing room only tickets.Went to have lunch with a family friend of Taylor's. A great actress. Remember when you read about the 'classes' that Meisner and Uta Hagan taught . Well, she was there. Amazing. Went to the Natural History Museum. Had to dump the excursion when one of my appointments got unexpectedly moved up. I was not dressed the way I wanted to be. I did not have one copy of my headshot and resume. DISASTER!! Hopped on the C train. And went to the appointment. It was great. Spring Awakening was beautiful.
Friday
SNOW!!!! I was about ten years old. Then I realized why New Yorkers own snow boots. It's a miracle that my toes didn't get frostbitten. Next appointment was great. Then Taylor and I went to Lincoln center. Went to the visual library and I watched Last Five Years. It was great after all this time to really see it. Then we ate,had drinks at Jills resturant and went home.
Saturday
Packed, Showered, Came home to Albertville.
Drove home on Sunday to T-town were I was greeted by spring. I do love the south. It is truly home.
It always will be. I will never get over it. So, it was a sucessful trip. I learned about the city an dI feel closer to my dreams and goals. I thank anyone who might have stuck with readign this whole long think. It helped me clear my head to write it.
-Ally