New York City has always been one of those hallmark places that is always fantasized about due to the infamous saying (text-style: "underline")[if you can make it here you can make it anywhere].
Aspiring musicians and performers come from all over hoping for a chance to live out their dreams in the limelight.
But what is a chasing your dreams story without a little
(text-style: "italic")[struggle].
After all haven't you heard the term (text-style: "bold")[paying your dues].
[[ Let's Pay My Dues ]]
It all started at your shift yesterday at the infamous [[Ellen's Stardust Diner,]] which is known to be the best place to watch future Broadway stars before they make it big.
Every waitor and waitress take song requests and perform them while serving their customers.
Though yesterday's performances were a bit more (text-style: "outline")[special] than normal. Scouts were present and they were so blown away by your ability that they offered you an audition for an (text-style: "bold")[up-and-coming broadway production.]
[[That's great, but what's the catch?]]
(text-style: "mark")[Great question.]
The scout called you this morning to let you know that the audition is tonight. (text-style: "bold")[Sounds great right?]
Only problem is that you are scheduled to work (text-style: "italic")[tonight]. What will you do?
[[Waste Time Trying To Give Away Your Shift]]
[[Don't Bother Giving Them A Notice]]You spent all your time (text-style: "shudder")[stressing] about giving your shift away. It seems like (text-style: "italic")[everyone] that wasn't scheduled already has plans or has mysteriously wound up sick.
You almost consider skipping the audition to go into work, but about an hour before the audition when you finally begin to put on your work uniform you hear a (text-style: "bold")[loud] (text-style: "fade-in-out")[Ding!] sound coming from your phone.
It's a message from your work best friend who said they'd take your shift.
You look at the clock and realize how little time you have to get to the audition space. Do you..
[[Change Into Your Audition Wear Still?]]
or
[[Say Screw It! And Call a Taxi?]]You decide not to stress about calling into work or finding a replacement because this is your once and a lifetime oppurtunity and you don't want to waste it because of a minimum wage job.
With plenty of time ahead of you before you head out to the audition, do you..
[[Practice Your Monolouge]]
OR
[[Relax! You were born for the stage!]]You change into your athletic wear and rush out the door not even bothering to look at the time.
You attempted to hail a taxi, but after ten minutes of no lucky you choose to take the trek by foot.
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After being (text-style: "bold")[pushed] and (text-style: "italic")[shoved] by many local New Yorkers you make it to the audition space a few minutes late sweaty as ever thanks to the amazing New York humidity.
You get your number and head into the audition
[[Let's Hope This Goes Well]] With the extra time you save on not changing out of your work attire you manage to hail a taxi and despite the abnormal amount of traffic you manage to get to the audition space with five minutes to spare.
You walk in and get your number and head into the room confidently despite the looks you recieve for your outfit choice.
[[Let's Hope This Goes Well]]You spend your free time practicing your monolouge.
After a few hours you've memorized it to perfection and headed over to your wardobe to figure out what to wear to this amazing oppurtunity
[[Pick Out Something That Makes You Stand Out]]
[[Throw On The First Thing You See]]You decide not to practice your monologue or your solo and just take it easy. Besides you've been planning for this day your whole life.
When it becomes time to get ready you decide to
[[Throw On The First Thing You See]]
The room is filled to the brim with bright potential actors. It's very clear that the casting directors have a type for this role and luckily enough you fit it despite how good or bad your outfit may be.
The casting directors welcome everyone and warn them that nerves only mess up the process. They split the group into three to get started. The director calls you into
[[Room Number One]]
[[Room Number Two]]
[[Room Number Three]]You decide to pick out an outfit with a little more (text-style: "bold")[pazzaz] because you had a feeling that this might be a (text-style: "italic")[type casting] and you still wanted to find a way to stand out amongst the sea of similar faces.
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You head out the door and hail a taxi and get to the audition space with plenty of time to spare.
[[Let's Hope This Goes Well]] What you pick out is pretty plain. Although who can go wrong with black on black right? It's better to go on with something your comfortable with instead of being too flashy.
You head out and catch a cab to the audition space
[[Let's Hope This Goes Well]] In Room Number One, you discover that you've been taken in to do your monologue first.
They put you in alphabetical order and as you anxiously wait for your turn you notice that another one of your co-workers that was suppose to be at work just like you is in the line-up.
Do you..
[[Call Them Out On it]]
OR
[[Mind Your Business And Focus On The Goal]]You end up in the dancing part of the audition. The instructor ends up giving the group ten minutes to memorize as much of the dance routine as possible.
You focus intensely on trying to memorize the steps and although you see others around you doing incredibly well you manage to hold your own.
When its time to preform in groups do you..
[[Crack Under The Pressure]]
[[Mess Up A Few Times But Keep Smiling]]
OR
[[Nail It]]You end up in the singing portion of the audition. You're given sheet music and with the help of the pianist and the vocal coach they lead the group through the music a few times until they've decided that it was time to hear solo preformances.
Do You..
[[Offer To Go First]]
[[Sit Back And Hope They Don't Pick You First]]You move a little out of order to reach your co-worker. You end up telling them that you will have someone report them for being at this audition and lie about the fact that you already had your shift covered.
In the middle of the hushed confrontation you notice one of the casting directors giving you a displeased look as they jot down notes assumedly under your name.
This only helps in aiding your nerves and when its your turn to go up to recite your monologue you end up stuttering through it.
After everyone was done they told you that you'd possibly hear back in a week or two and that they didn't need you to go to the other rooms.
[[Go Home]]You decide against creating any unnessecary drama and continue memorizing your lines.
When its your turn to recite your monolouge it comes out with just as much emotion and diction as it did when you practiced at home.
The judges seemed (text-style: "bold")[impressed] and you are asked to continue on.
[[Room Number Two]]
[[Room Number Three]]
[[Finish]]Sadness was the main emotion coursing through you as you returned home from the audition
As time goes by you try to remain hopeful, despite how hard it was to do so you kept your head up high and returned to work. Turns out tattling on your co-worker only ended bitting you in the butt later on because as weeks turn into a month the cast list finally came out and although your name wasn't on it .. your co-worker's name was.
You fall sadder and stop showing up to work only leading you to get fired. You start questioning even trying to chase this silly pipe dream.
After a month of sulking your friends remind you that you get more no's than you do yes's in life. Maybe next time you'll be more prepared.
The show goes on. Better luck next Time.
[[the start]] You end up getting too in your head to even try to save your missteps which only leads you to take a tumble during the performance.
The rest of the group helps you up and the audition continues on.
When it comes time to deliberate they end up telling you that they'll contact you in one to two weeks and tell you that you can [[Go Home]]
[[Room Number One]]
[[Room Number Three]]You stumble a few times but overall you manage to continue the routine with a smile on your face as if you never messed up in the first place.
The judges seem to be impressed with your composure but at the end they still ask you head home but not before leaving [[contact information with them]].
[[Room Number One]]
[[Room Number Three]]You Nailed It! The judges were impressed by your killer performance and asked you to stay after with a few others to get your contact information and a new headshot.
[[Room Number One]]
[[Room Number Three]]
[[Finish]]You offer to go first, feeling extremely confident in the fact that you can crush the song choice.
You remembered all the intricacies of the song and the judges are more than a little impressed
Congrats You [[Nail It]]!You stay back and listen to the amazing singers who are chosen before you. It startles your nerves and makes you start second guessing your abilities and if waiting was a mistake.
When its your turn you end up choking under the pressure and the notes you thought you knew fell flat.
At the end the judges tell you they'll call you within one to two weeks and that you can [[Go Home]].</style>
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This 50s' inspired diner is placed in Time Square. It's one of the biggest tourist attractions outside of the normal list and in addition scouts also tend to visit to spot their next big talent.You end up going home feeling a lot more anxious about the whole process than you originally were. You had messed up a few more times than you'd like but you ended up giving them a way to contact you in the end, so that's good right?
A few weeks later you end up getting a call from the main casting director offering you a small role.
It's not the role you orginally auditioned for but this could be an oppurtunity to work your way up.
[[Accept The Offer]]
[[Rudely Decline The Offer]]At the end of the audition the directors end up expressing great interest in you playing the role and you end up leaving feeling hopeful and excited about the future.
The waiting has always been the worst part of these auditions even though you only end up waiting a week. The week felt like it was going to drag on forever leaving you in an annoying state of anxiousness.
It feels like you might never hear back until an email titled .(text-style: "fade-in-out")[[CONGRATULATIONS]]] popped into your inbox.You graciously accept the offer. This could very well be a stepping stone to something greater and the experience of working in a Broadway production is something not many people get to experience.
You end up quiting your job at the diner once you had been in the musical for over a month.
Later on you are pulled to shadow one of the leads and are also added as an understudy a few months later.
The experience you gained was invaluable and the show ended up being such a success that they started a traveling tour and you ended up being picked to be the lead of the travelling verision of the production and the fans love you.
You learn that small oppurtunities aren't always neccessarily bad.
Taking a risk can often end up being better than sticking with the predictable. In a burst of anger you send back an irrational response saying how (text-style: "flare-in-out")[dare] they assume you would want such a role and that there (text-style: "italic")[are] such things as little roles and you won't be caught dead in one. You also boastfully claimed that you had many oppurtunities lined up and that this show is tiny in comparison to them.
[[Years Later]]Your co-worker posted on instagram regarding the news
Looking back you wished you never sent that email in that state. The casting directors were so offended by your response they ended up sending a notice to all the other shows that were casting around that time to not hire you.
The news of that letter was also spread to the management of the diner you worked at. The managers happen to be good friends with the people you declined and they decided they didn't want such an ungrateful person working at their legendary establishment.
Maybe you'll try to take more risks and think before you decline an offer.
Better Luck Next Time.
[[the start]] You decide to stick it out because being a lead in an orginal cast of a potential Broadway show could very well be a once in a lifetime oppurtunity and you didn't want to even think about passing that up.
As time goes on and the cast performs more and more shows the critics continue to rave about the show as a whole. The show picks up interest and ends up selling out the small venues every single night.
With the growing interest the director of the production gets word that the show would end up heading to broadway [[next fall!]]You end up deciding you could find a better break somewhere else. You end up causing a big scene amongst the cast as they have to figure out who they could replace you with before the show started showing.
[[What Happens To Me Now?]]Once the show opened seats began filling up every single night. Celebrities, Presidents and Royality file in amongst all the other Broadway goers.
The show somehow tapped into mainstream entertainment and you practically become a celebrity in your own right due to your killer preformances.
Towards the end of the first year of being on Broadway the show ends up getting nominateed for a [[Tony!]]You end up going to more and more auditions with nothing picking up and so, you end up keeping your job at the diner.
During one of your breaks at the diner you find out that the show you decided to leave was headed to Broadway. It was a bit torterous to learn that you could have been a Broadway star and to have people continue to ask you to preform Hamilton hits at work.
You learn that taking risks could pay off in the end.
Have a little faith next time and maybe things could have worked out better for you.
[[the start]] You and the entire cast go to the most prestigious theatre award show in the world.
You cross your fingers and hope for the best when they start calling the category the cast is nominateed for.
(text-style: "bold")[AND THE WINNER FOR BEST MUSICAL IS....]
(text-style: "rumble")[HAMILTON!]
The excitement that courses through you is incredible and the director lets you be the spokes person when you all make it up to the stage.
You thank everyone for embracing the show and remind all those aspiring Broadway stars that taking risks and paying your dues pays off in the end!
Congrats On Living Out Your Dream!Congratulations(text-style: "italic")[!!] You were offered a (text-style: "italic")[lead role] in the up-and-coming Broadway spectacular, otherwise known as (text-style: "bold")[Hamilton]. The part wasn't what you orginally thought, in fact it was (text-style: "underline")[better].
You were so surprised that you couldn't even think about responding for at least a few days. Though when you finally did you let them know that you were excited to begin.
Rehearsals begin shortly after and you learn that up-and-coming really means Off Broadway. Do you...
[[Keep The Part]]
[[Quit During Rehearsals]]
↶↷
New York City has always been one of those hallmark places that is always fantasized about due to the infamous saying if you can make it here you can make it anywhere.
Aspiring musicians and performers come from all over hoping for a chance to live out their dreams in the limelight.
But what is a chasing your dreams story without a little
struggle.
After all haven't you heard the term paying your dues.
Let's Pay My Dues