My Day in Philly

Since I'm here in the East Coast and since I didn't have any plans for Sunday I decided to take the one and a half hour train ride to Philadelphia. I had never been there before and I really wanted to see the sights.

I arrived in Philadelphia around 10:30am and hopped in a cab to the Liberty Visitors Center. There I picked up my ticket for the tour of Liberty Hall which was right across the street. I had some time before my tour so I stopped in a place called Farmica to have breakfast. While the food wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, they did have a brunch happy hour special and my mimosa was delicious!

I was in Liberty Hall by noon and it was pretty amazing standing in the rooms where so much history was made. It was a lot smaller inside than I thought it would be, but people back then were a lot smaller too! Our tour guide knew so much information about the Hall and was really energetic and fun to listen to. After that tour I went on another one of Congress Hall, which was just a couple of steps to the left of Liberty Hall. I didn't get that much out of it, mostly because I didn't like the fact that most of the furniture were replicas and my tour guide was putting me to sleep.

I took my pictures and left the Liberty Hall site to head across the street to see the Liberty Bell. It was interesting reading all of the information about this piece of history that I really knew nothing about. It seems like this bell played an important roll in our nation's history, giving people through the decades hope for freedom and equality. People from all over the country and the world have come to Philadelphia to see the bell. When I finally got up to see it, I wasn't overcome with emotion or pride, it just looked like a huge bell with a crack in it. Maybe if I had to deal with all the obstacles that others have endured throughout history I would feel more appreciation.

I headed over to the Terminal Reading Market, an indoor farmers market. I really loved it there! There were so many types of food stands, grocers, book shops, jewelery makers, flower marts, people selling cookies, chocolate, candy, ice cream. You could pretty much find anything there! I walked around, had some lunch, watched the people who were also enjoying their Sunday off, bought some cookies for later, and headed on my way.

On Arch street about eight blocks away from the Market I got to see Benjamin Franklin's grave site. The whole cemetery where his site was in was full of old tombstones. Some were cracked and broken and some were so old that the engravings were washed off. It was amazing to think just how long these stones have been in that same spot.

I saw some other historic places: The Betsy Ross House, Elfreth's Alley the oldest residential street in America, and Carpenter's Hall. After all my sightseeing I headed down to South Street. The street was full with people. People going into shops, standing in line for their Cheesestakes, watching street magicians perform in alleyways. I walked into a few stores, but mostly it was the same old stuff. I wanted to stop in a place to have a beer, but most of the bars I saw along the way looked like frat houses and I wasn't ready to handle that all by myself.

As I kept walking down the street I stopped by a place that looked like a huge mosaic outdoor area. I found out that this place was called Philadelphia's Magic Garden. The artist started doing this work on South Street in the 1960s and never stopped. The whole garden was a sort of maze full of designs from broken glass, bottles, bicycle spokes, cement, and other trinkets. It was one of the most visually interesting things I have ever seen! I later found out that an HBO Documentary is going to be aired about the artist, his family, and the Magic Gardens. I checked out the website and "In A Dream" will be showing at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco starting April 17th.

Well, my day was coming to an end and I was ready for it. I was tired and tired of walking, still looking for a place to have a beer and kill some time before my train ride back to New York. I decided to walk back up to Old City since it seemed a bit more quiet than South Street. I have to say, it was so nice being able to walk as slow as I wanted on the streets. There weren't millions of people that I had to dodge around like there are in New York. Sometimes I was the only one on a block! It was really peaceful and I was so grateful to be able to have some true alone time.

I finally found a nice Irish Bar on 2nd street and had some beers and some Irish soda bread. I was really excited about the bread since I didn't get any on St. Patrick's Day! After listing to some music there and getting a cheesestake to freeze for Josh, I headed back to New York. While I was dead tired and in desperate need of a shower, I was glad to get out of New York for a day and check off another city from my list.

Another Week of Auditions

So I just finished another week of auditions. I only had three, but they were all very different experiences. My first one was for "Carousel". I completely bombed that one! For some reason I started at the wrong part of my song! I apologized and started over, but the damage was done. I completely lost focus and was out of tune and just plain bad. I couldn't wait to get out of that room and that building. Needless to say, I did not get a call back. It really bothered me that I did so bad because the two people before me didn't threaten my ego at all and I felt really calm before I walked into the room. Maybe that's the key: have a little nervousness to up the stakes!

Anyway, on Friday I auditioned for "West Side Story". I was excited because I got there at 8am and was the 37th person on the list. Usually when I get to the studios I'm in the 100s. So I did my make-up, left to go warm up, and was back right before they called number 1. That audition went well. I had the perfect amount of nervousness to not screw up. After I sang my song, the auditor asked me if I went by Katherine or Kate. I said Katie (Weird question to ask, but at least he was talking to me!). Then he asked me if I was an excellent dancer. I didn't want to lie so I told him that I thought I was a good dancer. After I left the room I wish I had just lied, because I was not invited to the dance call back audition. I figured it was best to be honest, but who knows? Maybe I could have been great at the dance audition. I didn't even give myself the chance to get that far.

Saturday I was the 157th girl on the list for the Mac-Haydn theatre summer season audition. As far as I know there were over 200 girls signed up along with the other 200 plus girls they saw the day before. As I sat in the holding room waiting to go audition, I saw only three girls come out of their audition with pink call back slips. That made be feel calm in a strange way. I guess I figured that who cares if I don't get a call back because most of us won't be getting call backs. So I went in, did my thing, and that was it. No pink slip for me.

After doing this for a month, I haven't got to the point where I want to give up. Sure I haven't had any call backs, but most of me is here for the experience. I know that doing this is making me a stronger singer. I used to be so terrified of going to auditions that my voice would quiver and I would shake all over. Now, after I sing that first note, I'm just doing the best that I can! I think that is the most valuable thing New York has given me so far!

Snow Day!!!

Today was my first snow day in New York City. While It had snowed a little bit on Thursday and Sunday, today it really came down. My mom called me this morning to tell me that New York was snowed in. Schools were closed and there was supposed to be one to three inches of fresh powder. I was so excited! I know it sounds weird, but I really just wanted to see New York with some snow!

After I did my laundry I got dressed and headed to Central Park. Seeing the park all white and fresh and untouched in most places was amazing! I think it's the most beautiful thing I have seen in New York so far! I walked from West 72nd Street to the East side of the park. It was really calming and peaceful being there. Though the park was by no means deserted. There were kids flying down hills in their saucers, dads playing football with their boys, people walking, running, and cross country skiing, and wanderers, like me, soaking it all in.

I was glad I brought my camera with me. I took pictures of John Lennon's memorial site (Strawberry Fields), Bethesda Fountain, the Alice in Wonderland statue, and The Mall. Even though I had just seen most of these sites a couple of days ago with Jenn and Linda, everything looked so wonderfully beautiful and different.

It was getting late so I headed out of the park around Columbus Circle. It was like stepping into a different world. As I walked down 8th Ave the snow was not so beautiful anymore. The sidewalks were dirty with brown slug. Cars parked on the streets were engulfed with mounds of snow. I passed people who were in their nice suits and ties, but had bulky snow boots on. I realized that that was the real life of New York snow!

I was headed to West 50th Street to see a staged reading of a new Musical called "Homeland". The play was by Jay Kuo who wrote "Insignificant Others" which had been playing at Pier 39 for about a year. The experience was fun, mostly because it was free! The music was amazing and I was excited to be seeing something new and fresh. It definitely got me motivated for this week coming up.

I have three auditions this week. Tomorrow's is for "Carousel", Friday is "West Side Story", and Saturday I am auditioning for Mac-Hayden Theatre's summer season. After these three, I only have three more auditions scheduled so far. There will be more that come up as time goes by, but I am quickly learning that there aren't that many auditions for actors who are not in the union. Although it bothers me that I'm not getting that many chances to audition, I am learning valuable information that could aid me for next year!