Maya's next challenge

Maya has had another audition for children's theater. This one was with Arts Off Broadway, here in Escondido. (That link wasn't working for me in Firefox. You may have to IE it.) AOB is kind of a teaching theater for kids. You pay to participate and everyone who auditions gets cast. However, it is a true audition in that they don't make special roles to try to give everyone a speaking part. If you do not land a named role, you end up in the company. While that can be disappointing, the kids in the company still do get coached on singing, dancing, and acting during the rehearsal process. So, all the children learn and grow. And you have to pay your tuition before you are cast, to prevent kids from dropping out if they don't like their part.

The show she went out for was Annie. She didn't want to be Annie. This is only her second REAL show. So, she wanted to work her way up. She wanted the role of Molly, the littlest orphan. For those who know the show, she is the one who mimics Ms. Hannigan in "It's a Hard Knock Life". If this was a regular cast, with adults playing the adult roles, she might have had a shot at it. But for a cast where the ages range from five to eighteen, she was deemed a little old. :)

Her audition was about ten minutes. She had to go in without Lynnea. She sang a Winnie the Pooh song, though not one that she sang when she was in the show. So, she did have to do a bit of work for the audition. She wasn't sure what to expect from there. The casting team consulted and handed her a card. It was an invite to call backs on Saturday from one to five pm! Woo-hoo!

So, she went to her callback and had to do a lot of reading and some singing and dancing. She had a good time and was told that the cast list would be posted Sunday night. They were going to double cast most of the roles to maximize the experience for all the kids. Eighty kids tried out, so they wanted to spread things around as much as possible.

The results are in. For two performances, she will be in the Servant Ensemble. That means, she will have to learn "I think I'm gonna like it here" and the corresponding dance. And for the other two performances, she will be Kate! Kate is one of five named orphans who have dialog with Annie. So, she will likely have some lines as well as some featured work in "Hard Knock Life" and "Never Fully Dressed - Orphan Reprise". I believe she gets to be a miniature Boylan Sister. We are quite excited and proud of her, as you can well imagine. Some kids were only cast as Orphan Ensemble or Company. So, we told her it was a big honor to get cast as she did.

She will be Kate on the last weekend in July. If you're in the area, come see!