Auditions for The Full Monty and Cinderella were last Sunday, December 12th in Raleigh and they were a huge success. We had a ton of new faces show up and are so pleased with the turnout. It was particularly interesting and challenging this time around because we were holding auditions for two completely different productions. The Full Monty director (Matt Lenz) & choreographer (Joshua Rhodes) flew in along with Cinderella director (Gabriel Barre) & choreographer (Jennifer Paulson Lee). Casey Hushion, NCT's artistic director, and Carolee Baxter, NCT's producer were there also. While it was a long day - we had callbacks later that night - we saw many talented singers and dancers from the Raleigh area.
The next morning, Sunday December 13, we flew up to New York City to hold The Full Monty auditions. On Monday we held appointments at Ripley Grier Studios and saw LOTS of people - practically everyone showed up and it was a crazy day! Call backs were on Tuesday, and those who made it to that round were given 'sides' for a particular character and a song that the character sings, and came back to read/sing those for the creative team on Tuesday. They definitely have some tough decisions to make - so many talented people came in - I can't wait to find out who is cast and share it with you!
While the auditions did make for long days, we were able to do some fun things at night! It was absolutely beautiful (but freezing) in the city - all of the Christmas decorations are up and it was really nice being up there right before the holidays. Carolee and I saw Next to Normal, which was great but very sad. The cast was phenomenal and it was Alice Ripley's birthday the night we saw it! She came out of the stage door and everyone sang 'happy birthday'.
The next night I saw the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and it was SO amazing! Our very own conductor/musical director Edward G. Robinson led the orchestra and it was so much fun to see him up there. He was truly a rock star. A few different times they would raise the pit and he was singing and doing a fabulous job. After the show was over, he took me backstage. I got to meet Ted, the camel (see picture), which was the highlight of the tour for me! The theatre and stage is massive, so it was interesting to see how everything fit together back there - one big puzzle piece. The Rockettes were always in sync and a lot of fun to watch - if you get the chance to go up there at Christmastime, you should definitely see this show. Special thanks to Eddy for taking me backstage - I had a blast!
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