New York.
Showtime.
Bright Lights. Spinning. Times Square. And the smell of pie tickles my senses… wait, what!? Pie? You bet, my very first Broadway show and the auditorium smells of pie. I’m at the matinee viewing of ‘Waitress’. A new modern, flashy and female empowering musical.
And then –flip the switch- I find myself at the Yankee stadium, -New York Yankess vs. Boston Red Sox, waiting… and waiting… and waiting… baseball just doesn’t seem as satisfying to watch as in the movies! Highlight of the night, the Columbia shout out. The big screen flashed “Welcome Columbia students to the Yankee Stadium” and for a split second, I had a daydream glimpse of my name up in the lights.
***
Determined. First week in and I’m already in the auditioning game. Black box theatre, auditioning for the department classes and show. Got my secret weapon with Emilia’s monologue from Othello. Shakespeare – classic. I’m transported by the language, “But I do think it is their husbands fault…” and give them (whoever ‘them’ is) what I got.
***
Callbacks.
…okay okay, I won’t drag it out much longer… I got a part in Mary Stuart and into the class Solo Performance. My life over the past few weeks has consisted of Rehearsals. Outside of rehearsals, I have some classes: ‘Dramaturgy’, ‘Acting Lab: Solo Performance’, ‘Performing Women’, ‘Drama, Theatre and Theory’. There are museum visits. Life Sketch nights. Frat parties. Lantern decorating and Stressbusting.
Hold up. Stressbusting? I have become a member of stressbusters which basically has the following job description: “student volunteers who help to promote positive stress coping strategies amongst Columbians”. This entails giving free neck and back massages to strangers. Who’d have thought I’d turn into a masseuse in New York?
I finish my first month of utter bliss just as it begun –with a show of course. ‘F**king A’ by Susan-Lori parks. Followed by a Japanese dinner on Hell’s kitchen Avenue, and a bus ride home through the city that never sleeps.
Queen Mary Global Bloggers 