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I GOT IT. OH. MY. GOD.

Going into the auditorium was kinda crazy. There were at least fifty people in there. The front row had our theater teachers in it, the next two rows were blocked off for guys auditioning, and everybody else sat in the next three rows, chattering like freaks. Hehe.

The fourth row was the chorus. Eight people were already set with their flexible minor parts, IE Alexi, the Man, Paul, Steve, Gordon, Ali, Pam, the Waiter, Mrs. Cohen, Mr. And Mrs. Johnson, Mr. And Mrs. Jefferson, etc. These guys are already known all around school as the GOOD singers, so I was a bit sad to see that none of them got main parts.

Ten guys auditioned for Roger. Five of them kinda sucked. One didn’t even know who Roger was; his gf had talked him into auditioning. The other four were ok, but only one, Sayer, knew how to play guitar. He can play Your Eyes straight through without a hitch. Everybody was really impressed with him, so he probably got the part. He’s got the blond floofy hair for it, too. (He’s cute. redface )

Eleven guys (and one girl!) Auditioned for Mark. Everybody let Lili go first, because she really wanted to. (The pianist was all like “Hiiiiiiii Lili!”) She was rocking out like crazy on What You Own, but some of the lower notes got away from her. Seriously, low notes aside, Lili Rocks.

Then everybody else drew a number from a hat. I got Eleven. I hate being last... The other guys were good. One of them completely froze halfway through his monologue and just walked offstage, but everybody else got through everything. A couple of them couldn’t stay on key too well, but for the most part they were really good. Most of them were told to stop after the first few lines. I was freaked out by being last, and couldn’t concentrate on anybody else. The worst part was that I was the only one doing La Vie Boheme! I felt like a freak, but I was chanting that introduction verse to myself over and over again, practicing all my vowels. “Dearly Beloved...”

Then finally it was my turn. Everybody in my classes knows that I’m a RENT addict, but I don’t think any of them thought I would audition, because most of them don’t know I sing. There was kind of a confused buzz at first. One of the girls called “We love you, Oran!” My brother was in the frickin’ back row of the place, all quiet, but when I got up there he yelled “GO ORAN!” at the top of his lungs. redface

So I did my monologue and didn’t miss a beat, and it was cool. I felt good about it. Then the theater coach went, “You’re doing Boheme? Brave.” and somebody yelled “Hell Yeah!”

They brought Kamidh, the guy playing Benny, up on stage to cue me in with his little “Bohemia is dead” speech. (Kamidh is awesome!) I threw him a dirty look (damn you, benny) and sang through the first verse. It felt really good. The casting guys didn’t stop me, so I went on into the full verse, “To days of Inspiration”... and nailed it. I even put in a little of the Anthony-spaz dancing. xd

There was a loooooooong pause, while everybody cheered at me. One of the guys in the chorus yelled “YOU ROCK!” Then one of the casting guys said, “will you do ‘What You Own’ for us, too?” And I went, “sure.”

I had to really focus, because some of the harder vowels on the ends of words tend to trip me up a bit. When I got to “Leave your conscience at the tone,” a bunch of people cheered. Conscience is my nickname at school, too. I thought it was OK, but not my best day on that song.

Everybody cheered when I was done. There was a silence while the theater people wrote notes, and then some girl yelled, “Hey, Mr. Rapp! do Halloween!” and a bunch of people laughed. redface

Now, everybody in my family knows that Halloween is a touchy song for me. I sang it at my uncle’s funeral. My brother and sisters and I all associate it with how badly he treated us and our mom and dad when he was alive, and with what we had to do to keep him from beating the crap out of us. It’s a hard song for me, so at first I was like “No, No, I can’t.” But then the director was like, “You know, I wouldn’t mind seeing what you’d do with that one.” I almost refused, but my brother (still hiding in the back) stood up and went “IT’S OKAY MAN, GO ON, YOU GOT IT.” And so I sang the damn thing. I was shaking, and I started crying at the end of it, but I sang it.

Then we all went back to class. I couldn’t concentrate at all. I was so buzzed. I kept thinking, “Why did they make me sing all of that? Did I suck that badly?” I was the only one that sang anything more than eight lines. A bunch of people were gossiping about me, I could tell, because during study hall half of them were passing notes and staring at me.

About an hour after we were sent back to class, one of the theater guys walks into our room and says, “Can I borrow Oran for a few minutes?” I went “oshit.” and went out in the hall to talk with the guy. He went, “Man, I gotta hand it to you, you really blew me away. I thought Anthony Rapp was borrowing your throat or something. Where did you learn to sing like that?”

I couldn’t speak for a second. I was like “................my mom taught me.”

He went, “Rock on. Well, go celebrate, because you’re in. First full rehearsal is Monday at six.”

I thought I was going to faint. Holy s**t. The Anthony Rapp comment killed me. I’m sooo psyched. I’m MARK!!!

No WAY!!!!
*Jumps joyessly up and down with you!!!!!*

My school would never do rent...it's way too cheap...

I am so jealous!! I would go to it but I live in MN...YOu should YouTube it so I can see it!

We got the final cast sheet today! xd

Here's the lineup, for future reference for you guys; I'm gonna be referring to everyone by their first names when I'm filling you guys in about rehearsals and stuff. (I will, too, I promise. I'm psyched that you guys are so interested.)

Mark: Oran King whee
Roger: Sayer Hauston
Mimi: Inez Rodrigues-Lassiter
Maureen: Lori Miller
Joanne: Stephanie Corwell
Collins: David Keston
Angel: Makani Pekelo
Benny: Kamidh Jordan

Chorus: John Bay-Nichols, Kyle Gahn, Kaylie Jacobsen, Joseph Payton, Kiesha Sandor, Natalie Timms, Peter Weill.

I've already gotten phone calls and emails from most of these guys, congratulating me and introducing themselves and so on. I'm really psyched to get into the play and see how everyone gets into their characters. I'll keep you all posted! 4laugh

why the face? ?_?

It seems like a coolio face. hehe. ninja

I have the whole rent in my profile.