SETC Convention, Thursday

For the most part the first day of Professional Auditions went well. Due to the large number of auditionees (780!) we are trying a new 40 person/1 hour block. You see, most auditionees will act and sing and they have 90 seconds to show their stuff. If all 40 auditionees take 90 seconds, it should take an hour. Unfortunately, there is no account for the time it takes an auditionee to walk to the stage, up the stairs and take a mental moment before beginning. As such, we ran 5 to 6 minutes behind for each block. If it weren't for the auditionees who didn't show up for their audition, we would have run right into the 5:30p Dance Briefing.

The majority of the auditionees are undergrad students who passed their state's screening audition, and I was very surprised by the poor quality of some of the auditions. Auditionees are supposed to use the same material for Pro Auditions that they used for State Screening and if that indeed was the case, I questioned why they were even passed! Lisa felt the same and communicated her concern regarding some of the adjudicators.

We had a bit of a snafu during the initial stages of the dance call. I was running around trying to grab staff and volunteers to alleviate the issue. Within 20 minutes all was running smoothly. Unbelievably we finished dance call at 8:15p. Last year dance call ran until 10:30p each night because the pro companies called back so many folks to dance. They obviously learned their lesson! I let the staff go to enjoy a successful first day and the early night and I stayed to close the Callback Room.

I met up with Quiana and Ben, who were attending a Theatre for Youth reception at the Lexington Children's Theatre. While at the "bar" waiting for a cold Kentucky Ale I inadvertently entered into a conversation with a person whose gender I could not determine. I finally glanced at the name badge and inwardly chuckled. I had finally met the infamous Mr. Bryant. (Well, infamous to the Central Office.) I caught Ben's eye and pleaded for my liberation. With the reception winding down and none of us having had dinner, we decided to eat at DeSha's again. Mark joined us and we rescued Jasmine from her self-date. We spent the next hour discussing, debating, and solving all of SETC's organizational hindrances.

We all headed back to the LCT where we met up with Justin, Sam, Hardy, Chris, April and Betsey for Tituss Burgess' midnight concert. Due to a very early morning, the unspoken plan was to stay for a couple of songs and then head back to our respective hotels. Once Tituss took the stage, we were all enthralled. What an amazingly talented performer! He began with "King of the World" from Songs for a New World and I was breathless. Quiana was excited to hear him sing "Under The Sea" from The Little Mermaid, and of course he did "Sit Down You're Rocking The Boat" from Guys and Dolls. He related conversations he had backstage with Liz Minnelli at the Tony's and with Bette Midler during a fundraiser. And he talked about antics on the set of "Jersey Boys". He started singing a ballad and the words were so familiar to me. I finally realized it was Kelly Clarkson's "Since You've Been Gone" and man, as a slow ballad it was hauntingly beautiful. Tituss entertained us for slightly over an hour and watching him in what is clearly his element was well worth the loss of sleep.