Hey Clarksville! I spent the month between Ain’t Misbehavin’ and starting rehearsals for The Civil War in my hometown of NYC. I wish I could say it was a vacation but I was doing what all serious actors must do: auditioning. March in NY is always the craziest time of the year to audition for theatre. You can easily have 4-5 auditions a day as theatres from all over the country come to NY to cast for the upcoming summer seasons. This March was the craziest I had ever seen it, so I had to become very hardcore about my auditioning. I was usually up in the 5 o’clock hour to get to Manhattan by 7am the latest to sign up for auditions. I would talk to my friend and fellow Roxy actor Rendell DeBose and work on a game plan for the next day. It was exhausting but fulfilling. I had great auditions, got lots of callbacks and I have a job for the summer! I’m going to be in Hairspray at Theatre by The Sea in Rhode Island. I’ve wanted to be in Hairspray for years and I’ve never even been able to get seen at Theatre by the Sea auditions because they are always so mobbed. So this year, not only did I get seen but I got a job! I’m really excited to finally be one of the fierce Dynamites and spend a good portion of my summer at the beach.
I have now been back in Clarksville for nearly two weeks and it’s been great so far. I like Clarksville and the Roxy so much I came a few days early! I left NY a few days earlier than normal so that I could spend some time at the Barter Theatre which is the official State Theatre of Virginia. I worked there for six months last year and I enjoyed my time there so much. I have so many friends there and I really wanted to see their Spring Rep. Since I have to actually pass through Abingdon, VA to get to Clarksville anyway, I knew I had to visit my favorite small town. As always the shows at Barter challenged me and watching all those great actors made me want to step my own game up! I got to Clarksville exactly two weeks ago and I came back early to have some hang out time with my dear friend/former co-star Keith Patrick McCoy. When Rendell DeBose and Jabriel Shelton arrived in Clarksville the following day, the fun really began. It was just like old times. Staying up all night talking (sorry Adam!), going to Steak n Shake in the middle of the night and listening to some great music. On Saturday we went to Fort Defiance to see Keith in a video playing at the new museum. While we were rehearsing for Ain’t Misbehavin’ Keith shot some footage where he portrayed a slave and a soldier. He was great! Most of the cast of Beautiful in the Extreme came to support their fellow actor and I was happy that Keith got to see his work before he left Clarksville. We didn’t spend too much time at the museum but it seems like a great resource and it definitely helped me get into the mind set to start rehearsals for The Civil War.
After the weekend of fun, it was time for some real serious work. We were starting rehearsals on a show that is basically all music, with lots and lots of words. I don’t think I realized until I came into rehearsals that there are only four women in the show. Jesaira Glover and I are playing slaves and that’s really all we play, but Kendall Anne Thompson and Brianna Hertzberg are doing so much, including playing men! Luckily I knew my song and most of my vocal parts (at least for the songs I knew I was going to be in), so the process wasn’t too bad. It always helps to have a great cast. I truly love this cast! We’ve bonded from day one and we’ve had lots of fun both in and out of rehearsals. I live in a house with Rendell, Jesaira, Brianna, Michael and Jabriel. We’ve been having a great time, and at least some of us visit the boys in the other house (or they come to us) almost every evening. I’m excited to see what adventures we’ll get into once the show is open!
