After the Last Bow

Yesterday we closed our production of Clue. I am exhausted, sore, and my throat is screaming… and yet I still find myself wishing I was in the dressing room as I type this.

Even if your body is relieved about the break, your heart yearns for the preshow adrenaline rush, the backstage laughs and hugs, and that tingly feeling you get when you hear the cue line for your first entrance.

When you take your last bow, and as you head to the lobby to greet the audience for the last time, you see your castmates around you and realize that you’re about to go from seeing them for hours everyday to waiting around until you get to perform with them again. Even if you still get to see all your castmates everyday, say if you’re a part of a high school theatre group, it isn’t the same. Not to mention, saying goodbye to castmates that have become like family isn’t the only thing hard to say goodbye to.

Saying goodbye to a show, a character you’ve become is hard too. For the duration of the show, you learn to give up yourself in order to transform into another person. When a show ends, it’s like a shock to the system when you’re back to being just, you. For most shows, you’ll never be in that show, playing that same role again. And even if you do get to replay a role, it won’t be at the same point in your life, with the same people, on the same stage– the whole dynamic will be different. This doesn’t mean that it won’t be as good, it just won’t be the same.

After a show closes, your heart will hurt, your body will thank you, and soon you’ll start the process over again.

So tonight, this is Mrs. Peacock signing off.

Break a leg,
-Brandi
find me on social media,
twitter: @bwaybrandi
Instagram: @sugarbutterbrandi
snapchat: broadwaybrandi
email: brandinyc525600@gmail.com

Having to Drop Out of a Show

Recently, I dealt with something I never considered having to deal with… I had to withdraw from a show. I never thought I’d be in a place where I’d be offered two great roles during essentially the same production time frame. I live in a small town, and when I was younger we were lucky to have the one, low budget children’s theatre that you had to pay to be a part of. I was involved with that group from the age of 5 or 6 until about 5th grade. Those were the only shows available to me until high school, where I performed in one musical each spring. Again, I had just one show a year to look forward to.

The summer after I graduated I was lucky enough to find a community theatre group with a summer teen show about 20 minutes from my hometown. I performed with them again this summer as well. My first year of college offered me two shows, one in the fall and one in the spring, both of which I had an absolute blast in. I also managed to student direct my first show during the time in between those two. Needless to say, I quickly went from one show a year to maybe a week or two between shows… sometimes less. It was quite an adjustment, but totally worth it! Looking back to a couple years ago, it’s crazy to me that I used to wait a whole year between shows, I much prefer a packed schedule that allows me to perform so much more.

Currently, I am in Clue as Mrs. Peacock. We were cast just under a month ago and as I write this, rehearsals start tomorrow! I was also recently offered a role in a dinner theatre show called Funeral for a Gangster with a theatre company that is starting up in my hometown. I’m so excited by the thought of finally having a community theatre up and running in my hometown again. I’ve wanted this for years and I love that so many people will now have a chance to experience live theatre again. Unfortunately, the dinner theatre runs during the rehearsal process for Clue, and since they are both such short projects, there was just no way for me to swing both.

Thankfully, Funeral for a Gangster, while with my hometown’s theatre company, is not actually taking place in my hometown. I am hoping that, once they get the theater opened back up, I will be able to perform in the first event to take place in our reopened theater.

I am so grateful to be in a place in my life where being offered a role can be a problem. Performing is the thing I love most so it is a comfort to know, that there is no shortage of shows I can be a part of. The only hard part is having to make decisions between shows.

I am extremely excited for Clue, and while I can’t be a part of Funeral for a Gangster, I’m so excited that it is bringing us one step closer to bringing my hometown theater back to life. I wish the absolute best for the cast of that production and I’m hopeful about working with them more in the future!

Break a leg,
-Brandi
find me on social media,
twitter: @bwaybrandi
Instagram: @sugarbutterbrandi
snapchat: broadwaybrandi
email: brandinyc525600@gmail.com

Clue!

Part of the wait is finally over! I recently found out that my next audition will be for the play adaptation of Clue. I’m very excited to take on this comedy where the audience will be able to vote on the ending each night. As of now I plan to be auditioning for Mrs. White and Mrs. Peacock. The next two weeks will consist of lots of audition prep and playing around with voices for all of the characters I could potentially be reading for. I’ll pick back up on this post either after auditions or when the cast list is posted!

Day one of auditions I dressed for Mrs. White– all black, very seductive, black widow type.

As I write this portion of the post it is the second day of auditions. I had what I felt was a very good audition last night and I’ll be going in again tonight for another stab at it. There was a surprisingly large group that auditioned yesterday and I’m excited to see how many people show up tonight! Tonight I am dressed for my other top choice, Mrs. Peacock. Very opposite of Mrs. White, think a batty, church going senator’s wife. Next time I check back in, and probably wrap this post up will be whenever the cast list get posted! See you in the next paragraph, haha.

I’m back and the list has been posted! I’ll be portraying Mrs. Peacock!! Based on what I saw at auditions and the people I’ve worked with before, this is a ridiculously talented cast and I can’t wait to get started! Rehearsals begin October 16th but we should have our scripts within the week. Good thing since we are supposed to be off book by the 22nd! These next few weeks will probably be a whirlwind of religiously watching the movie, the play on YouTube, and never letting my script out of my sight!

Break a leg,
-Brandi
find me on social media,
twitter: @bwaybrandi
Instagram: @sugarbutterbrandi
snapchat: broadwaybrandi
email: brandinyc525600@gmail.com

Sadie’s Light

Earlier tonight (or I guess more accurately last night, since I’m starting this post at about 4 am…) I had the honor of seeing a brand new musical that opened in a community theater very close to my little hometown. This show was called Sophie’s Light and it was absolutely INCREDIBLE.

It was such an indescribable experience to be sitting in the audience and have the realization that someday, if this show takes off (and I truly hope it does, because everyone who was/is involved in this show is absolutely brilliant) I’ll be able to say I saw the earliest production.

Now normally I like to be well versed in a show before I go see it. I usually know all the songs and have a pretty good idea of what the overall plot of the show is before I take my place in the audience. I have to say though, it was pretty refreshing to walk into the show knowing nothing more than the snippets of advertising I’d seen. I fell in love with a new score and there was something magical about hearing it for the first time live. My only complaint is that because it’s so new I couldn’t come home and pull it up on Spotify to listen to again, because if I could have– I would have.

Now I’d like to take a moment to brag about the cast, because wow do they deserve it. You could tell that every person involved with this show was so proud of what they were doing (and rightfully so), each and every one of them put their heart and soul into this production and it was pure magic as a result. As I said, EVERYONE had a fabulous performance but I’d like to take a moment to give a special shout out to Pamela Shirtz, the amazing actress who brought the character Sadie to life. Now, if you are a die hard theatre kid like myself, you will probably find yourself mentally hunting for which role you’d want to play each time you see a show; after her very first song I was confident I’d already found that role in this show. As the show continued, I became more and more confident about this. It was not only the role itself but the way Pamela played her that had me instantly drawn to her.

Pamela brought Sadie to life in such an honest and relatable way. I felt sympathy for Sadie throughout the show and found myself relating on some level to some of her struggles; and not only that but from the moment she stepped onto the stage I was rooting for her. I was emotionally invested in her becoming more confident in herself and realizing just how talented she was the same way I want those things for my closest friends.

I’d absolutely love to play Sadie someday and I hope this show gets produced time and time again because it is truly a gem. And Pamela, if you’re reading this thank you for the inspiration, you truly shine onstage and were so kind after the show. I hope to see you in more productions in the future and I’d be honored if you ever managed to see one of mine.

Break a leg,
-Brandi
find me on social media,
twitter: @bwaybrandi
Instagram: @sugarbutterbrandi
snapchat: broadwaybrandi
email: brandinyc525600@gmail.com