I'm a big girl now.

I did it. I finally did it. I had my first, real, big girl audition for something other than school. I auditioned for the Utah Lyric Opera yesterday. It was terrifying at first but then once I was actually in the room auditioning it wasn't that bad. If felt like I as at NATS all over again just without all of my friends watching and cheering silently for me behind the judges.

To audition for ULO you have to send in a resume and head shot and then after that they will invite those that they want to hear sing to audition. I kind of knew that it was probably a long shot for me to even get an audition since the only experience I have is from high school and undergrad but I applied anyway. How else am I going to build a resume? I thought that they were going to let people know if they got an audition by September 7th so the closer it got to the 7th and I hadn't hear anything I just convinced myself that this is how it works in this business. Sometimes you get an audition and sometimes you don't. So, I wasn't too torn apart about it. There will be other roles and other auditions I can try for. Then to my surprise, on September 11th I got an email saying that they would like to invite me to come and audition for them on Friday, September 14th!! I only had 4 days to prepare for this audition! I was freaking out. (Seriously, I was basically hyperventilating. Ask Sadie.) I may have even cried a little because I was so "excited and scared" (name that musical! :)) After I had composed myself a bit I called my mom and told her and she congratulated me and then offered to drive me to Provo for the audition. (Oh yeah, did I forget to tell you that the audition was in Provo? Well, it was.) I told her that I would love it if she would go with me. Then after I got off the phone with her I sent a text to the rest of my family and friends telling them my good news. I then decided that I needed to decide what to sing. Please be aware that I hadn't seriously sung since my Senior Recital in April. That was a really long time ago. My voice needed way more time than 4 days to get ready for an audition, but that was all the time I had. So, I jumped in the shower, got dressed, and headed over to the music building to talk to Professor Modesitt about what I should sing.  I got to her office and luckily she was still there. I told her about my audition and we decided that I would prepare So anch'io la virtu magica  from Don Pasquale and Steal Me. Sweet Thief from The Old Maid and The Thief. She then offered to give me a lesson, so we decided that I would have a lesson on Friday at 1:00 right before I was to head off to Provo.

The next few days I practiced my little heart out. Well as much as I could anyway. Since I hadn't sung since my recital my voice was not ready to sing for more than an hour at a time. So I would sing for an hour and then take a break and study the translations or take another look at the Italian to make sure I was saying it all right. Then I would practice some more.


Finally, Friday came. My lesson was scheduled for 1:00 pm and Professor Modesitt wanted me to come warmed up. So I made my way over to the music building at about 11:45 so I would have time to organize my music and then give myself plenty of time to warm up. By the time I was plenty warm it was about 12:40 so I waited around for my lesson with Karyn in the music office and we watched a little bit of The Old Maid and The Thief. Then I went in for my lesson. The lesson went great. I sang everything well and she only had to correct me on a few of my Italian words, which is super good for me because I am AWFUL when it comes to pronouncing foreign languages. I definitely don't have the gift of tongues. But I can fake it alright. After my lesson Professor Modesitt was very sweet and told me that I would do well and that I needed to keep her updated on what happens. (Which means a lot coming from her. She doesn't give compliments out unless she really means them.) Now, I was feeling pretty good! I was going to get to Provo and knock their socks off. Now, I just had to wait for my mom and Clancy to get to Cedar City so that we could all ride together to Provo.

Once my mom and Clancy made it to Cedar, they dropped off a few boxes of food for Sadie and I, we grabbed my things and headed on our way. The drive there wasn't too bad. I wished it could have only been 2 hours rather than 3 because that 3rd hour seems to last for eternity. I was also a little nervous that I wasn't going to be able to find the room that the auditions were in because the HFAC (the fine arts building at BYU) is literally a maze. Luckily, my friend, Geneil is a grad student at BYU and she practically lives in the HFAC so she knew where the room was. She sent me a text with the directions. We must have either done something right or my mom was driving really fast because we weren't planning on getting to Provo until about 6:00 but we got there at 5:30! It was perfect because my audition time was 6:27. (Random, I know.) I had plenty of time to find the stupid room, change my clothes, and warm up. Right after we arrived at BYU we looked for the room first. We found it with no problem. Then my mom and Clancy went to the bookstore and left me to get ready for the audition and to DO the actual audition. I then needed to change my clothes. (I wore a t-shirt and jeans to ride in the car. That is definitely not kosher for an audition.) So I wandered over to the main part of the HFAC to find a bathroom. As I was walking towards the bathroom on the top floor I glanced down into the open area of the main floor and who did I see sitting on a bench? None other than Geneil Perkins herself. It registered in my head that it was Geneil but it took me a second to actually realized that IT WAS GENEIL! She sang my name, of course, and I ran down to see her. We chatted for a little while and then she showed me to a bathroom and a drinking fountain on that floor. I then changed my clothes and headed for the audition space again. Geneil had told me where the practice rooms were but they were on the bottom floor and the audition room was on the top floor. And being the worry wart that I am, I just wasn't going to risk missing my audition time because I was warming up! So, I warmed up on the patio outside by the audition room. After warming up for a bit I went inside to wait for my turn.

They were running a little ahead of schedule (which never happens in these kinds of situations) so I was really glad that I had arrived so early. The waiting area they had us in was so small and cramped and everyone was at least a little bit nervous, so everyone was sweating like crazy. It was pretty nasty. Then, finally after I had cooled off a little bit it was my turn! Then the sweating started all over again! I walked in and the girl manning the door introduced me as Shane Leavitt. Shane? Really? There isn't an 'n' anywhere in my name! And without even thinking, I corrected her! Now, my brain was going a mile a minute. Do they think that I'm a diva because I corrected her? I don't want them to think that my name is really Shane! Oh, well. I handed my music to the accompanist and then prepared to sing. They asked what I would be singing for them so I told them that I was going to sing So anch'io. There was one woman on the panel of five people. She then said, "Well, why not?" haha so I sang my song. It was little nerve wracking to be honest. The woman was the only one that actually seemed the least bit interested in my performance. The others just sat there and stared at their computers while I sang to them. But, I felt very good about my performance. My high notes came out as easily as ever and I was feeling good. They didn't ask me to sing a second piece, which was fine by me. The first piece is hard enough on my little vocal cords. As I was getting ready to leave, one of the men asked me how old I was. I told him I was 23 and almost in unison they all said, "Ohhhh." and shook their heads. Then the same man asked me where I studied. I told him that I just graduated from Southern Utah University. Then he asked me who I studied with. I told him that I studied under Carol Ann Modesitt. He seemed pleased with my answer and they thanked me again. I thanked them for the opportunity and I left. As I was walking out of the room, the girl manning the door apologized for butchering my name. I told her that it was fine. Then one of the ladies sitting outside the door told me that I had "a cute little voice." - I'm sorry what? a cute LITTLE voice? I know I'm a small person but I don't think my voice is all that little anymore. She was quite a bit older than me so maybe she thought that I was younger than I really am too. I don't know. I guess I shouldn't let things like that rub me the wrong way. - Sorry, my diva side came out a little.

But, my audition was over! I had done it and it went well! They told us we would hear back by November 1st. If we don't hear anything by then, we can assume that they won't be needing us this year. We'll see what happens. I'll keep you posted.

September 11

September 11, 2001. I remember that day so vividly as does everyone else, I'm sure. I found out that the first tower had been hit while I was on the bus going to school. I was in seventh grade and my first class was Biology with Mrs. Matthews. On the bus, my friend, Vanessa had informed me that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I had no idea what the World Trade Center was. I was so confused. Then once we arrived at school we all went to class like normal, except it wasn't a normal day at all. The feeling in the classroom and around the entire school was so somber and almost reverent. Nobody was talking about who so-and-so liked or if they had done their homework that night. We all knew that something serious was happening. We just didn't know what exactly. Instead of learning about biology that day, Mrs. Matthews let us all watch the news. From what I can remember, about 5 or 10 minutes after Mrs. Matthews turned on the TV we watched the second tower go down. I remember my teacher yelling at a news reporter on the screen telling him to run because the debris and ashes were flying towards him. At that moment, I knew. I knew that this was a really bad thing and I was terrified. I cried. I was scared for those poor people in the towers and planes. My heart was aching for the families of those who had been killed. Then I realized that there were firemen and police men trying to help those innocent people and I realized that they were in serious danger as well. This really struck a chord for me. My dad is a fireman, and I couldn't help but think that, that could have been him if something like this happened in Las Vegas. I am so grateful that he didn't have to do anything like that. I don't know what I would do without my dad. For the rest of the day all we did was watch the news in class. I'm so grateful that my teachers thought it important for us to watch and learn that day. I will never forget that day.  Today, I remember those that have lost their lives for their country. I am so grateful for them. They are all true heroes.