Hot Box girl!

Let me say first that I got a part in Guys and Dolls! I'll be struttin' my stuff as a Hot Box girl, which means I'm part of the female chorus.  I love love love this show, so I am [mostly] thrilled.  The call came later than I thought, so I was actually relieved to get any part at all.  I haven't seen the full cast list yet, but from what I have seen, it's going to be kick-bootay, of course.

It's utterly ridiculous, but I was caught a bit off guard by how hard it hit me. I knew it was gonna happen, have known for about two weeks generally how it would play out, prepared myself for the inevitable, but callbacks went so well that I had ardently hoped to be an unlikely double.  Since 5th or 6th grade, belting out 'Bushel and a Peck' and prancing around my basement 'stage' in hand-kludged costumes, I have wanted to play Adelaide.  So even before I auditioned for Annie, when I saw Guys and Dolls was in the line-up for this season, I knew I would audition.  In the mean time, I gathered as much experience as I could, to earn my stripes, prove my mettle, so I could be a serious contender for the role.

Logically, it's a no-brainer. Here's my long list of reasons I knew I was not going to be cast as Adelaide:
1. Very talented producer auditioning for the same part. And she will indeed knock it out of the park.
2. I'm in the Happiest Millionaire, and will potentially miss two weeks of rehearsal.
3. I'm new still and haven't earned my major role eligibility stripes.
4. Directors need to make nice stage pictures with fairly matched principal characters. I'm nearly 5'8", skinny, and don't match well.
5. In most cases, doubles need to at least resemble each other, and as I said, I'm nearly 5'8", a good six inches taller than the one I knew would get the part.
6. Life is full of disappointment, duh.

So yeah, even though I saw it coming a mile away and was prepared for it, I still cried. But I am happy to be doing the show at all. Maybe next time the opportunity arises to audition for Adelaide, I'll still be young enough to be a serious contender.

10:00 am edit: Wanted to reiterate that I'm excited and grateful to be part of the show! The costumes will be amazing, especially for the ladies, and that thought alone makes me giggle.  I do trust the Bigger Picture, and am grateful to continue to be part of Plaza Theatre Company productions, where the people are loving, Godly, and just ridiculously wonderful.  Where the only expectations of me are to wear cool costumes, to remember some words, so sing and dance with fabulous people, and to be somebody else for a little while. With the other crazy stressful stuff going on right now, Plaza is an integral part of my Sanity Maintenance Plan.