The lights blinding your eyes, your heart visibly beating in your chest, the adrenaline pumping - yes, it was audition time this past weekend. This past weekend, I auditioned for the February production of Little Women at Peoria Players Theatre. As I was sitting there during auditions, I realized what the American Idol judges must feel like. Person after person gets up on stage and tries to catch the director’s eye as they show what they can do.

I’ve been performing all of my life, since the age of 3, and it’s funny how you still get nervous every time you audition or perform. Granted, it’s MUCH better now, as I’m usually well prepared by the time I get up in front of people. But, you still get that nervous, tense feeling as your body knows a performance is coming up. The trick is to channel that energy into the performance, and use it to actually help you perform.

Anyway, I auditioned on Sunday afternoon, and then was called back on Sunday night to sing one of the solos for the part and to read some of the lines. Later on, the email was sent out - and, I made it! I will be playing the part of Theodore Lawrence III, also known as Laurie, the lead guy in the show. Yes, it’s the story about a girl named Jo, and a boy named Laurie. Maybe names were different back in 1868.

This will be a really neat show for me to be a part of, since all of us read the book as kids. The show is a musical, and it opened on Broadway in 2005. The story follows the classic Louisa May Alcott story, and the music was written by Jason Howland with lyrics by Mindi Dickstein.

The complete cast list for Little Women is:

Jo March - Jennifer Gordon
Marmee - Barb Couri
Laurie - Harry Williams
Meg - Rebecca Meyer
Amy - Hope Grandon
Beth - Stephanie Meyer
Professor Bhaer - Dave Schick
Mr. Brooke - Bruce Colligan
Aunt March - Pat White
Mr. Laurence - Bruce White
Mrs. Kirk - Sarah Robins
Hag - Mary Keltner
Troll - Carole Rogers
Rodrigo - Joseph Pluth
Braxton - Andrew Werner
Clarissa - Andrea Williams
Clarissa’s sister - Katie Meyer
Knight - Charles Brown

If you haven’t heard of the Little Women story, check out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Women

And for more information about the musical, check out:

http://www.littlewomenonbroadway.com

Just to give you the heads up, Little Women performances will run at Peoria Players Theatre from February 1 - 10, 2008.

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