In January this year, I was walking out of my choir class when a poster taped to my teacher's window caught my eye. Centerpointe Legacy Theater was holding auditions for The Pyramid Prize: a $2,000 scholarship to a week-long broadway intensive camp in New York City in the summer. Uh, yeah SIGN ME UP. So I called, set up an audition time, and went in having no idea the impact it would have on me.
At the audition, I met Jeff Whiting and James Gray, the first who seemed very nice and welcoming, and the other who scared me to absolute death. I sang my song, danced the dance, and walked away without the Pyramid Prize. I felt really good about my audition, but I thought that was that, and I forgot all about it.
Then, in March, I received an invoice from Open Jar Institute. What? I didn't receive an acceptance email. I didn't even know the audition for the scholarship was also an audition for the program. I got excited, but I was cautious because I wasn't sure if I was accepted or not. But, after exchanging a few emails with the amazing Andrew Joy and confirmed it: I WAS IN.
AHHH! OH MY GOSH! THIS IS INSANE! IM SO HAPPY! IM SO LUCKY! So many things ran through my head, and most of them were shock and disbelief, but after those, came the dread: I didn't win the scholarship. Apparently the scholarship was only offered to the students who would attend high school the 2013-2014 year. I wasn't even in the running, but they let me audition for the institute without considering me for the scholarship.
Crap. I don't have $2,000 for tuition, plus $600 more for the hotel, and who knows how much more for plane tickets. And I was leaving for college that year too, which means there was NO way I was going to be able to afford it. My parents and I both agreed that while it was such an amazing opportunity, it was simply too much.
Then April.
Oh April. I miss you. Letters from colleges come streaming in. Accepted! Accepted! Accepted! I felt so great about myself, and even better when I started received letters offering scholarships. Southern Utah University, a $3,000 scholarship. Uh, yeah, ok! $3,000 sounds awesome, thanks very much.
Normally, my parents would cover my tuition costs. They did for my sister, they did for my brother. But now I could pay for it myself. And all of a sudden, my parents had $3,000 they were planning on spending on me that they didn't need to anymore. Funny, that's around the same amount that Open Jar would cost.
:)
I emailed Andrew. I couldn't believe. The offer still stood. So now I'd made two decisions: I was going to Open Jar, and I was going to Southern Utah University. I was so excited. I spent nights looking up everything I could about Open Jar. I prepared a resume, I prepared headshots, I prepared my auditions. I thought I was prepared for anything.
I wasn't even close. The experience I had at Open Jar was beyond my wildest dreams. I don't even think I'll be able to convey it in this post. But I'm gonna try, because I would recommend it to ANYONE. It was so worth it. It was life-changing. So here it goes.
My flight left around 8:00 am Sunday morning, August 4th. I slept the entire time. I woke up twice, both times with drool on the side of my face and my mouth wide open, my head tilted all the way back. It was embarrassing. And hilarious. I got off the plane, and headed to baggage claim. That's where I met up with this beautiful face.
My awesomely amazing sister. Her mission president was kind enough to let me tag along with her and her companion for the day. So, we took the bus to her appointment. I showed her everything I could on that bus ride, via my iPhone. The families Instagram accounts ( and yes, that includes Beyonce's ), all of my photos, the parents facebook accounts, and then sending everyone a snapchat similar to the picture above.
We showed up at her appointment, and it was amazing. Although I didn't understand almost anything anyone said, I could tell Britny was in her element, and that the family LOVED her. She hasn't changed much, she still is super weird. Unfortunately, I had to be at the hotel by six for check in, so I had to go :( I cried as my taxi drove away, but I was so happy to even get half the day with her.
Traffic was REALLY bad into the city, and so I showed up to the Sheraton pretty late. I had no idea where I was going, and so I went to the front desk and got my room key, went up to my room, and no one was there.
Crap. I had no idea where to go. NO NO NO NO NO. Then, miraculously, my roommate came in.
Enter Haley Wawro. I recognized her, because she's from Orem, Utah, and she commented on my post saying I was from Utah as well. Turns out we both had arrived late, but she knew where to go. So we show up to the welcoming meeting late. There we first met a lot of people I became extremely close with over the week, but we'll get to them later.
So after the meeting, we had the rest of the night to ourselves, so Haley and I went to Times Square, and Lawrence Mezza ended up tagging along as well. When we went to the M&M store, they had little kids taking pictures with the blue M&M, and we were all wearing blue, so obviously we had to take a picture. Awesome.
The next day, we were up by 8:30, which is practically a miracle for me. We were in an actual NYC studio for breakfast at 9:30, and started classes at 10. Then, 3 hours of intensive dance, acting, or singing classes. We'd have an hour break for lunch, then 2 more hours of class. Then, we'd have an hour to get ready for dinner, then at 5 we met at Dave and Busters for food and games.
Enter Mattie Jo Cowsert. THIS GIRL. She lives my dream life. She moved to New York a little bit ago, and has since then lived a collaboration of Gossip Girl and Smash. She has all these friends in the upper east side, but also auditions for broadway musicals. We spent most of that first night at Dave and Busters, and she totally got SCREWED out of the double jackpot that she won.
The second day went much like the first. Woke up, intensive classes, an hour to get ready, and then to dinner at Hurley's that night. Right after dinner, we went to Matilda.
Enter Lauren Sawyer and Sonia Goldberg. I had met them that first night, because they were my roommates as well, but we hadn't really hung out until this night. Sonia is from Chicago, and has an adorable boyfriend who for some reason thought it was funny that Haley and I were Mormon. Lauren looks like a 9 year old but has the humor of a 21 year old. I became insanely close with both of them over the week.
Ya'll. This musical. By far the best musical I've ever seen in my life. Hilarious, Surprising, and the entire cast was INCREDIBLY talented. There wasn't a moment of it where I wasn't enthralled. GO BUY THE SOUNDTRACK RIGHT NOW. I loved it. UGH. So good.
So after the show Sonia and I wanted some cheesecake, and so we went to Junior's, a popular restaurant next door to the theater.
Enter Megan Hawley. Megan, like me, is a MASSIVE Doctor Who fan, so we got along instantly. We probably annoyed everyone around us because we were fangirling like nobody's business. So great.
SUCH good cheesecake. YUM.
The next day went the same. Every day, we were learning different dances from different musicals. We learned one from Pippin, Memphis, a 20's number from a musical I can't remember, and one from a musical that hasn't come out yet. SO. MUCH. FUN.
That night we saw Cinderella, which Haley LOVED. I'm pretty sure she's a disney princess but hasn't found out yet.
We both bought water bottles, which were PERFECT, but I left mine the last night we were there. :(
It rained SO MUCH while we were there, so I bought the CUTEST umbrella on the street for only $10. AWESOME. I wish it rained here in Utah more often, because I loved it so much.
ZACHARY LEVI IS IN A MUSICAL THAT OPENED WHILE WE WERE THERE. PERFECT. He's beautiful. The musical is called First Date, and I have to see it, because he's perfect.
The next night we saw Kinky Boots, which if I'm honest, I was too pysched about. But after watching it, I can honestly say I enjoyed it. There wasn't anything too raunchy, and it actually had a really great message. Also, a man did a backflip into the splits in heels, so IMPRESSIVE.
Outside of Kinky Boots, was a vendor who sold NUTELLA CREPES in a little holder so you can just walk down the street and eat a Nutella crepe. BEST. DAY. EVER.
The last day was the Showcase. Remember James Gray, the guy I told you I was scared of? By the end of the week, I loved him. He was so inspiring and so talented. He's such a great teacher and I hope I get to work with him again. Ugh.
After the showcase, I took Haley on her first subway ride. What'd she have to say about it?
"It's hot in here."
The very last night we went to Pippin, which was A LOT more raunchier than expected. I felt pretty uncomfortable in most scenes, which was sad, but overall was a very entertaining show, and really impressive.
WE MET PATINA MILLER.
The next day, we checked out of the hotel :( Haley had an early flight, but Lauren, Sonia and I went to Central Park for a final hurrah before we parted ways. It was a lot of fun but also really sad.
I miss New York so much. I miss all the friends I made and the amazing experience I had. I wouldn't have replaced it for the world.
