So this week was a wild and crazy one; last Tuesday I got an email from John Forslund via Backstage inviting me for an audition today (January 16th) in NYC at the West End Lounge after I applied to their casting call for the Singers Showcase. I learned I was wanted for the audition at about 6:30 in the morning when I got up for work. We had had a snow storm and the weather outside was frightful (Pardon the pun. ahem.) So my Dad dropped me off at work that morning.
As soon as I got a chance to see my manager I told her I had an audition and needed the day off.
Long story short it was a tough job getting the day off and finding a ride to my audition, in fact up until about 9:30 Sunday night I really thought I was going to miss it. But by the grace of God, I got the day off for work, and I found a friend who was able to take the day off to take me to the audition.
We did the smart thing and made a whole day out of it.
My gorgeous friend Elaina, (who agreed with me today that she will be my NYC buddy for every trip going forward! WOOHOO!) picked me up at 9:15 this morning and we headed out.
We took the New Jersey Turnpike straight into NYC. No Traffic, no mess, no frustration. Just an absolutely gorgeous ride, with barely any other cars on the road, straight into Manhattan.
We listened to the Beatles the entire ride in and it only took us an hour and a half to get there.
We arrived and found a safe place to park the car on 108th street and then stopped for Breakfast at The Ellington Kitchen, which we stumbled on totally accidentally. Since my friend Luke had told me that Duke Ellington had lived in the area and the Ellington was the very first place we saw, I took it as a sign and went with my gut, suggesting we eat there for breakfast.
It was a great idea!
The food was absolutely delicious! I got a vegan sandwich called an MTA with vegan mozzarella cheese, avocado and tomatoes and pasta sauce.
(My MTA Sandwich at The Ellington Kitchen)
After breakfast we went into Central Park and took advantage of seeing some of the gorgeous sights around us. And we took some touristy pictures too!
Then we did some sight seeing and random picture taking of the pretty places around us. There were many so we took lots of pictures!
We walked around for about an hour until we discovered that our hands and legs were frozen and we stopped into the Birch Coffee house for a cuppa to warm up.
Then we headed off to 107th Street to get to the audition. We arrived about 20 minutes early. The place wasn't even open yet. By 2:30 the doors were opened and we went inside. At 2:45 I got my turn to sing, went in and did my audition and finished. I talked to the pianist for a few minutes. He was very kind, and he kept my head shots and resume, and said I should hear back in about a week's time.
After that Elaina and I were able to leave. We had two hours before dark and neither one of us wanted to leave, so we walked back up to the parking garage, picked up the car and headed towards Time's Square. On the way there we decided to check out Roddy's old stomping grounds. We went to the Theatre District, and with the help of some text messages from Julie Carriker, we were able to locate the apartment buildings where Roddy lived during his 10 years living in New York City.
(El Dorado Apartments, 300 Central Park West.)
(The Dakota 1 W 72nd St.
Sorry the front and the side are a bit blurry. We couldn't stop due to traffic flow in this area.)
(and finally the 200 block of E 66th Street.)
There was another apartment building Roddy lived in at 237 E 61st St but it was 18 minutes drive from our main area and we both decided it would be best to skip that one til a later time as all the other apartment buildings were all relatively within the same vicinity of one another.
So after we saw these buildings we continued on to Time's Square to the Theatre District. I just had one theatre left on my list to see before heading home. The Ambassador. Where Roddy and Dean Stockwell appeared in the final showings of Compulsion before it closed in February, 1958.
We managed to find it effortlessly.
After parking we wandered around Time's Square for about 30 minutes before heading home. (Little tip to anyone sight seeing in NYC and thinking of using parking garages. Do NOT use the parking Garage directly across from the Ambassador! They charged us $40 for 30 minutes of parking! You're better off leaving your car in a garage on 108th street and taking a bus to get wherever else you're wanting to go. They only charged us $20 for 3 hours of parking.)
That being said, we enjoyed our stroll through Time's Square. It was a perfect end to an already perfect day. We will definitely be repeating this trip again sometime in the near future!
It was a great day out, and not only did we manage to get me to my audition successfully but we also had a great time as friends enjoying an out of the ordinary excursion to the city that never sleeps!
Great adventures today! I'll never forget the memories we made walking those ancient streets!
What a great place! Roddy brought me luck today. I could feel him all around me, especially in Time's Square and the Theatre District. Walking the same streets that he walked, 60 years ago.
Thanks for tagging along with us today Rod. Your company was a blessing and a treasure.
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