"My great adventure has begun."

I am aware that I have been remiss about updating this blog. My final semester at the University of the Arts was pretty nutty. On top of preparing to be a superstar, I performed in 2 shows in Philadelphia: How I Became a Pirate at the Walnut Street Theatre and Tony N' Tina's Wedding, which I am still performing in, plus two cabarets in NYC: one at the Laurie Beechman Theatre and one at Don't Tell Mama. It was busy, but great to get some experience and credentials.

I graduated on Thursday and moved back to New York on Friday. Between unpacking and cleaning, I have managed to go to two theater-related events in New York City. On Saturday, I attended A Six Pack + One at Friends Always Creating Theatre. I have begun a job with theateronline.com where I am getting paid to critique shows! Hooray. Then last night I volunteered to usher at the Drama Desk Awards and I got to watch the event after the ushering was over. Super fun and I met and saw a lot of really cool people. And tomorrow the audition lifestyle begins with two auditions and dance classes. I am trying to follow my teacher's advice to always try to have a gift certificate to spend after an audition and I am lucky that I have a couple thanks to graduation!

The Drama Desks were insanely fun. I got there around 6 PM and we were shown around. At about 7 PM, people started arriving for the reception that was before the events. This was not the same reception that the "stars" went to. There was a separate VIP red carpet area. I stood around and made sure people had their tickets and people-watched. Many people in really fancy clothing. Some people looked insanely excited to be at the event and others didn't seem too thrilled. All different kinds of people.

At 8:30, we started telling people to get into their seats and then we got to sit down and watch at 9 PM. I was seated next to a woman wearing a jogging suit and sneakers. I was a little surprised that someone was wearing that clothing. Little did I know that it was TWYLA THARP! I didn't know it was until they announced the winner for Best Choreography and she stood up. It was so crazy. I had just read her book My Creative Habit. Unfortunately, she did not come back to her seat after winning for me to tell her I had just read her book. I never would have recognized her.

The most important thing I learned from the Drama Desk awards is that cliche lines aren't cliche if they are said with true emotion. Plenty of people said "dream-come-true," but it came from a truthful place, so it wasn't as silly as it sounds. The most heartfelt speeches were the ones that were said in the moment of shock, happiness, etc. I know we all have practiced our Tony speeches in the shower at some point, but you can't practice these things because you have no idea how you are going to react in the moment. It is a good reminder as an actor that you have to find ways to react that makes it seem like this is your first time experiencing these feelings, even if it is really your 1000th performance reacting that way. Listening and responding is the most important thing. Don't force emotion. If it is meant to come, it will come. That has definitely been a challenge for me as an actor because I always try to force emotions and feelings to come and then it just looks like desperation. And that's definitely one of the most uncomfortable things to observe as an audience member. So I can't ever seem desperate. I just gotta do the work.

All right, show biz. No more preparing. Here I go.