So in my last blog, I spoke too soon! A week after, my voice generally came back. It cracks here and there, and that's the reason I'm writing this blog.
So, as some of you may know, I'm a bit of a theater geek. I just went to NYC to see Broadway shows, and I've been a part of many productions. That in mind, we're putting on a version of Sleeping Beauty. The cast list came out on Friday and I found out I'd been cast as one of Maleficent's goons. One can imagine I was a good sport, but it sucked pretty bad since I'd spent three hours at callbacks and I felt my auditions went spectacular.
However, the director found me not long after (saying she'd been trying to get in touch with me throughout the day, but always missed me) because she wanted to explain to me "what had happened". You can imagine I got a little curious. So, turns out I easily had the role of Merryweather who, in terms of appearance, is a lead. And if not her, I was also in the high runnings for Maleficent. But the vocal director, a huge fan of me, was worried since my voice strained slightly at callbacks and they all thought it was best if I didn't sing in the show.
Hearing this broke my heart because I've been working so hard to get my voice back and to have it ruin my chances was painful, especially after I'd just finished a run of Grease where I had to lip-sync all the songs (I'd been cast as a principle role before I lost my voice) instead of enjoying the experience to the extent that everyone else did.
Even still, she made sure to tell me it wasn't only because they were worried I wouldn't be able to pull it together. Actually, she said, that was hardly the issue. They were more concerned with the fact that I might permanently damage my vocal chords and they'd already begun planning next season's shows based off of me. This is huge because I've always been cast as smaller leads, featured roles or chorus (only twice, so not too shabby). I've never truly been a lead as I would have been in Sleeping Beauty. She even told me that she knows I'm not getting the roles I deserve (wow!!) and that she thinks about it every time she casts me as something less. I'm so flattered she thinks I'm that talented.
I understand it all, of course. I can't sing the same octaves as I used to yet, and my voice coach is only warming up to about half of where I used to be able to sing. I'm avoiding opera for a little while and singing "What I Did For Love" from A Chorus Line because it's a low mezzo-soprano. I don't see why they would've tried to push my voice in case it broke. Instead, I'm one of the goons, which are the featured dancers (I guess the choreographers said they "needed" me--I literally can't deal with how awesome I feel from the compliments!). I know I can dance fine, and it will be nice I suppose not worrying about my throat!
There isn't much point to this blog aside from me needing to get this out there and tell you guys I took a turn for the better!
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