We pull around the corner into the parking lot. I feel the butterflies flying and my head feels light. I pull open the heavy door, my mom walks in and I follow. She holds open then other and I look around, searching for a familiar face. I see Kelsey sitting in a chair by the sign-in table and I grin and wave. She is the only person I recognize. I don't even know the two teenagers sitting behind the desk.
I walk up and the girl hands me a form and a pen. I turn and meet my mother by the stairs leading up to the theatre. My mom fills out the sheet while I look around again. I hear a familiar voice and I smile. Mary turns around the corner and when she sees me she walks over and gives me a big hello and a wave before going over to where Kelsey is sitting. They start to sing What It Means To Be A Friend, a song from both the show we were all recently in, Radio Broadway, and the show we are all here to audition for, Thirteen. I grin and listen.
I hear quick footsteps behind me and I turn to see Hayley, one of our directors, scurrying down.
"Excuse me."She squeaks. "Hello Eryn."
"Hi Hayley. I see you feel like being difficult today." I joke as I get up so she can come down.
"Oh be quiet." She replies with a laugh.
Soon after, Carmela comes downstairs. I get up again and give her a warm greeting. We talk for a few moments before she goes over to the table and grabs some papers.
"Ok I'd like the first five upstairs please. Mary, Kelsey..." I inwardly groan. I was looking forward to possibly auditioning with them. It would have eased my butterflies. They all go upstairs and I sit back down.
My mom asks me a question and I turn to answer her.
When I look back up, I see someone walking through the door. I smile and try to catch his eye to say hello but he doesn't look at me. Instead, he strolls up to the desk and grabs a form. My mom taps my shoulder and hands me my completed form. I take it and walk up to the desk, pinning my headshot (aka my school photo) and my résumé to the sheet.
"Hey." I say, without looking up. He knows who I'm talking to.
"Hello." He replies before walking away from the table towards where his mother waits. I go back to my mom and sit down. I am so nervous that my legs feel like jelly and I cannot even imagine standing.
Carmela comes back down and looks at her clipboard. "Next five. Erin S., Eryn Darcy..." I groan again. David isn't in my group either. Was I destined to audition with strangers? But I think back to last time, everyone was a stranger then. I glance up before going upstairs and David gives me a small smile before I turn to follow Carmela.
My jelly legs manage to keep me up while I go upstairs into the small lobby. I see an open spot on the couch next to Mary and I sit down. She glances over at me and smiles.
"No sheet music? Are you auditioning acapella?" She asks. I nod. "Good luck."
"Thanks." I reply.
Then she turns to face a girl I don't know and they go over the sides they were given to read. Kelsey comes out and joins them. When they finish, we talk for a few minutes.
"Erin." Carmella calls. I get up and start to walk over. "Erin S." My cheeks flame red and I turn to sit back down but someone has taken my seat. "Erin S?" Carmela calls again before disappearing downstairs. I see an open spot next to a blonde girl I didn't know and I sit down, trying to calm the color down in my cheeks.
Carmela returns with a red head who looks about my age. She looks as nervous as I probably do.
A few minutes later, she comes out and Carmela appears. "Eryn Darcy?" I get up and walk over. I am so nervous that I can hardly think, I can hardly support myself. I follow Carmela up the short staircase and I greet Terese (Ms. Opiela) and Hayley before heading down the stairs onto the stage. They tell me to go when I am ready. I take a deep breath and begin.
"I will be singing Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid. I announce. I get approving nods and a small chuckle from Miss. Lisa, our musical director. "Look at this stuff. Isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think my collections complete?" Hey! I thought, I am doing pretty good! I continued to sing until I reached "I've got gadgets and gizmos aplenty, I've got whozits and whatzits galore" And I could just tell that the train was derailing. I could hear myself hit the wrong note and I didn't get it back together. They told me that was good and I had to do everything in my power to not run from the room. They called me up and handed me a sheet and told me I was reading for Kendra. They called everyone else in and we read our sides.
There were three of us left. Me, Erin S. and a boy. They called him up and then called me over.
"Can you read for Evan?" Terese asks me. I nod and she hands me the piece. "I know you're reading for a boy now but we still want you to read for Kendra as well, this is just easier to have you read this as well." She explains. I nod again and join the boy on stage. We position ourselves across from each other and begin. In my opinion, we both read well and I feel much better than before.
They have me stay back and I wait for Erin to finish before joining her on stage. She reads the part for Lucy while I read Kendra. We both do well and we leave together, grinning. Outside in the upstairs lobby I introduce myself and we walk downstairs together. We both compliment how well the other did. We say goodbye and I am glad that I made a new potential friend.
As my mom gets her things together quickly, David is called and on my way out I wish him luck. I leave with mixed emotions about my audition but praying to God that I made it in.
A/N This is how my second audition at Smiling Rhino Theatre (SRT) went. I did end up making the show :) and our first rehearsal was a blast. And in case you are wondering, Mary, Kelsey, Erin and David made the show as well. For those of you that know the show, Mary is playing Charlotte and David is Brett while Erin, Kelsey and I are ensemble. Hope you enjoyed reading!
-Eryn
YOU ARE READING
Skittles
Short StoryA little collection of short stories/excerpts that Emily and Eryn have written.
