I cannot lie and tell you that I like auditions.  Cause I don't.  They make your stomach all fluttery, and even if you rocked it you still have that feeling of paranoia that lasts until you get the results, especially after over two years of being off stage.

But I couldn't resist the temptation to try out for Tim Rice & Elton Jon's Aida with Actors Youth Theater.  I saw AYT's first production of this musical back in 2007 and instantly fell in love.  And I was absolutely ecstatic to pretty much give up my entire month of June when I made the ensemble, acting as a Nubian slave.   It was so.  Much.  Work.  I was trying to figure out how I had managed to accidentally lose weight and realized it was because of the dozens of hours of intense dancing I had worked my tail off sweating.  And you must understand, I am slower when it comes to learning dances simply because I never took straight dance classes as a child, so it was harder for me.  But it was so absolutely worth it to be part of an amazing cast with amazing directors helping weave our interpretation of an amazing story.

Aida is "a contemporary musical take on a grand classic tale of the timeless bond between an enslaved Nubian princess and an Egyptian soldier. As forbidden love blossoms between them, the young lovers are forced to face death or part forever. Together, they set a shining example of true devotion that ultimately transcends the vast cultural differences between their warring nations, heralding a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity."

 I have always been fascinated by both the story itself and also Ancient Egypt in general, so I was so excited to try out the thick Egyptian makeup as well as wear part of my hair in cornrows and the rest crimped big.  The costumes and the set too were done well, a lot of which made from scratch {the paint refused to come off for days after the whole cast met up to create the set till 1 AM one night}.  People in the ensemble alone had at least five different costumes, from slave rags to military uniforms to Egyptian kalasiris to light up prom dresses {for the fashion show of Amneris's Strongest Suit}.  I was seriously impressed by the creativity and effort put in.  No details were abandoned. 

  But this stuff?  It's all just the shell.  I seriously would get chills from the beautiful music, not to mention the fantastic job of acting done by our leads.  The story too is purely haunting and left me pondering what I would do if it came down to choosing between two passions.   

The cool thing about being an actress is that you get to put yourself someone's shoes.  You get to imagine a life of completely different circumstances, of completely different DNA.  Perhaps you and this character share the same face, but in reality you are just the gateway for this soul to come to life as you slip on your mask and tell their story.  For different scenes I was the desperate young girl captive in a foreign land, despairing at the loss of freedom but despite tears still thriving with the spark of hope... the prissy handmaiden to the pharaoh's daughter, skeptical of the princess's ability to be a future leader yet still content to primp with her in the bathhouse... the merchant selling vases at the marketplace because that's simply a way to make money, and money is how to provide...   

  Combine this masquerade with the melody or harmony in your lungs and the movement of your feet as you dance, and the magic just bursts and pulses through your veins.

So I shall admit that I'm one of those oddies who believes that everything happens for a reason.  I had tried to sign up for EFY and had started the registration months in advance, doing everything I could to get in, but for some reason despite my friends getting signed up fine I didn't get in.  But I hadn't known at the time that the session I had tried to go to was the same week as the Aida performances.  I can go to EFY next summer even if it would have been a great experience this year.  But Aida?  That was the opportunity of a lifetime for me, one that I will never forget, and it would have been so sad for me to skip out on it.  

I tried literally almost every rehearsal and performance to produce tears while I fake cried for some of the most emotional scenes, but could never do it.  Yet-- oh the irony-- as soon as I exited the stage after the bows of the last show, try as I did I couldn't get the tears to stop rolling down my cheeks as I realized that this spectacular experience was now but a memory.