Alright, I Give

So the band finally sat down and did some rough recordings. For now it is just the guitar and vocals (that’d be my friend Joey Smolinski on guitar, and myself on vocals), as our drummer needs different equipment to record his portion.

So here, listen to me sing, then!

Pursued By A Bear

News. Finally.

Alright, so I’ve been a big slacker. I’ve been writing a lot again lately, but mostly for myself, just a little record of how things are going on my end, ups and downs and the like.

But aside from the great rollercoaster ride that is my emotional state, there’s news! And Big News at that, with capital letters and everything!

I’ve got a new employment. Of the performance variety.

This summer I’ll be working at Greenfield Village as one of the Greenfield Singers, a traveling sextet of sort-of carolers, except with popular tunes from the early 1900s. I’ll be working every Sunday and Monday throughout the Village and Henry Ford Museum. In addition to that I’m understudying other vocal parts, so on some other days of the week I’ll be singing a different part in the show. I think it’s 24 performances in all, tentatively, barring conflicts of my own, or other people’s – which would cause me to pick up more days. I’m going to post my schedule on the Current Events page.

And, as Uncle Rich knows, I’ll be posting a video audition for the new season of Glee, which I’ll also put up here once it’s finished (it’s got to be posted by the 26th), of me singing Don’t Rain On My Parade originally done by Miss Streisand from the musical Funny Girl. Aside from that I’ve got auditions coming up at the end of this month and beginning of next for more Michigan theater productions.

On a completely different note: I’ve recently applied to Western Michigan University. I should hear back within two weeks on their decision, and if I’m accepted I will be attending there this fall or coming spring. If I’m not, then I’ll be reapplying for the spring semester, and Wayne’s fall semester, to finish off my degree in public relations – PR for all you hip cats – with a probable minor in social psychology and theater studies.

On another different, but related, note: Did everyone hear already that I got my license? If not: Hey. Everyone. I got my license. So now I need a vehicle. If any of you Michiganders see any little pick-up trucks about around the $2,000 mark, give me a heads-up. I need something to get me to the important places I’m going, ya know?

So since everyone is rackin’ up the little kid count in the family, I think everyone should bring ‘em along to see how butter is churned, and how girls sang songs in the 1920s at Greenfield this summer.

Hope to see you there.

Oh yeah, I’m playing piano again. If you want a concert of Gillock and baroque music, and, you know, scales, then I got you covered.

Signing off

That’s A Wrap!

The Update

Well, RENT is all over. Saw a few of you there! For those of you who couldn’t make it, here’s my bio as it appeared in the RENT program:

Crystal Rhoney (Ensemble) is thrilled to be making her Ringwald debut with RENT. She’d like to thank the entire cast, crew, and directorial staff for making it all such an amazing experience. A special thanks goes out to her family and friends for their continued inspiration, motivation, and support. Back to performing after originating a role in the new musical Pick Up Lines in Waterford this past May, RENT is her second show after a three year hiatus. Viva la vie boheme!

Little shout out to all of you in there, so I figured you’d like to see it for yourself. I know it’s only one sentence, but it means a lot to me.

As far as future prospects of performance, there is nothing official at the moment. I’m waiting on a date for a callback that’s upcoming, and I had a few auditions earlier this year that may end in jobs later this year or next spring – so we shall see what comes of all that.

For now I’m working on a big long To-Do list. Stuff I’ve been procrastinating on way too long, stuff I’ve wanted to do for a long time but kept finding reasons to not do, pretty much just getting my life back in order while I work a little at Blockbuster and study for my classes this semester.

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes, cards, and gifts! “Send thank you cards” is next on my giant to-do list right below “Post in the blog”. I’m a big girl now. Twenty-three.

Which reminds me:

The New Page

I’ve added a new page called Crystal’s FAQs. You’ll see the link at the top along with those to the other pages on the site. Current Events is pretty slim at the moment because the show is finally over, so all those performance and rehearsal dates have been removed. Until I know when my next audition, callback, or performance is, there probably won’t be much up there except a personal engagement here or there. I’ll probably post my work schedule if it gets any more hectic than the once a week that I’m working at the moment, just so everyone knows when I’m around.

As you know a FAQ page is a Q&A section of a website, usually standing for Frequently Asked Questions. Well mine is Family Asked Questions. Anytime someone asks me something that I figure someone else might be curious about, I’ll post it there with the answer.

There’s another page in the works relating to my new job at Blockbuster, but it’s not quite finished yet, so we’ll save that for another post, another day! I’m also working on posting an album with photos from RENT.

Missing everyone!

Where To Begin?

At the beginning, a very good place to start.

Let’s see… since the last post…

It has been altogether way too long since I’ve posted in here, hasn’t it? Sorry!

I did have both of my callbacks, and they both went extremely well. No jobs came out of either of them (yet) but I’m absolutely certain they’ll know who I am from now on, and I know for a fact that everyone at both venues really enjoyed my performances and my personality, so I don’t doubt that when I return to their general auditions next year they’ll remember me. And that is all one can ask for, right?

What did happen, however, is that I went – on a whim – to a casting call for the musical RENT playing at the Ringwald theater with the Who Wants Cake? theater company in Ferndale. And several callbacks later, here I am, performing in said show in only a few short weeks! I got a part as an ensemble member, which basically means I am playing as many parts as one person can possibly play. I think it comes to six? Seven? I have stopped counting! Pretty much I am a new person in every number I show up in. Mostly I am some form of “homeless” something-or-other. “Homeless” bohemian artist; “homeless” squeegie gal; “homeless” junkie; “homeless” drug-addled prostitute. I also play the named part of Alexi Darling, a fast-talking, very annoying, agent who works for a sleazy television show. I only appear as her twice, possibly for a total of one minute combined, but it’s fun regardless.

Basically if you ever wondered: “Gee, what would it be like if Crystal were not such a good kid?”, you should come see this show and find out. That’s what I told my mother anyway.

To the right I’ve posted a link to the theater’s site where you can purchase tickets. You’ll notice that the nights have different prices. $25 for Friday and Saturday, $20 for Sunday, and $10 for Monday. The theater is a black-box style venue so it’s going to be a very intimate and unique way to see this show, so if you know anyone who loves the show that may or may not want to see it again, you can assure them it will be a totally different way of viewing it. It also means that their seats aren’t marked, so it’s first come, first served as far as seating.

Aside from the theater life, I’m still looking for a steady job. A “real” job, if you will. I’m waiting to hear back from two places right now, so hopefully one of them will pan out!

There’s a boy.

Yup, I said it. A boy. Okay, well, a guy. A man. What have you.

He’s in RENT with me, I’ll point him out for you if you come around. Before anyone expresses concerns: yes, he’s a total sweetheart, and, no, he doesn’t do drugs.

I’ve finally gotten out of my writing slump. For a good long while there – as can be shown by how frequently I’ve posted in here lately – I was having a big blockage in my brainy bits. I’ve wanted to write so much, but I just couldn’t get my thoughts out properly so I kept ditching any efforts.

Crossing my fingers that I do not get a big ol’ writer’s block again and I can start posting on my Twitter more as well as in here. I’ve been coming up with a few ideas on what I can post about. Give me a few more so I can keep writing!

Don’t forget to check the newly updated Current Events page for my show schedule and anything else I feel like popping up there.

Oh! Surprise! I won $1000.00 in a singing competition! I am trying desperately to get ahold of the tape. As soon as I do, I will post a video and an .mp3 of the performance! It was a ton of fun! I was a runner-up in the Arts & Idols competition that I was talking about in those last few posts.

Alright! More soon!

Signing Off: Crystal

Auditions & Previews & Callbacks, Oh My!

(A side note: I still love The Wizard of Oz.)

Carrying on!

So I’ve had about one audition a week for the past month, and I’ve gotten two major callbacks. First, I was called back to the BoarsHead Theater in Lansing to read for the lead in the play Wait Until Dark (yes, the old black and white film of the same title starring Audrey Hepburn was based on this play, and yes, they want me to read Hepburn’s role). If you haven’t ever seen it, rent it. It’s phenomenal. It also has one of the most frightening moments in cinema history. Ever. It was ranked as 10th on Bravo’s Top 100 Scariest Movie Moments. The entire film is just brilliant, so everyone should see it, and you’ll know why I’m so excited to read for it. They also want to hear me do a supporting role in The Nerd (not as well known outside of the theater world, but a pretty popular comedy).

Then, just yesterday, I got an immediate callback from the Purple Rose Theater in Chelsea (Jeff Daniels’ theater). I got to meet their artistic director extraordinaire Guy Sanville – an amazing man with an awesome sense of humor, by the way – and after a short (re: less than a minute) monologue and a few interview questions, they had me sing a song. When I asked if they’d like to hear musical theater or just anything, he said to just sing whatever I’d like. Because I have my competition with “Taylor, The Latte Boy” coming up, I went with that. After only three lines Guy interrupts me with “Alright, you’re good, we get it” and asked me a few more questions about my experience before giving me a callback on the spot.

Both callbacks are sometime in May. Very exciting!

A little update: The preview dates of my show Pick Up Lines, May 22nd and 23rd, are now open to anyone. Tickets are $10 apiece, show starts at 8:30 both nights, and seating is first-come/first-served. It is showing in the Cool Jerks Banquet Room (below the Cool Jerks Bar which is attached to Airway Lanes in Waterford). Let me know if you would like to come! Remember, this is a show that places you in the bar where the action takes place, you’ll be asked to sing, dance, and drink along. This is not an all-ages show.

Signing off: Crystal

[Edit:] Underneath my Twitter updates to the right you will see a list of links. Click the Pick Up Lines or Arts & Idols links to view flyers for the events with information on purchasing tickets.

New Pages and New Happenings!

I added a few new things to the site recently that I’d like to point out:

Twitter Updates

In the right column there, I’ve added a feed directly from my Twitter account (crystal_update). It will show the five most recent posts that I’ve added with a time tag so you know exactly what I was up to when!

New Pages

At the top of the photo to the left you’ll see a few different tabs. The first, Home, is this page – the blog itself. The next one over, Current Events, is a quick rundown of any specific goings-ons in the world of Crystal. If you check it out you’ll see a listing of my upcoming auditions, and I’ll update with any events I’ll be participating in or shows I might be cast in. Also on that page is a listing of the singing competition I’m a finalist in and a link to their website. If you’d like to attend the charity dinner at which I’ll be performing to possibly win up to $5,000, you can click the imbedded link, or shoot me an email. And speaking of email, you’ve got the third page, Get Ahold of Crystal. This page includes several ways to contact me, both digital and “archaic” means (by which I imply a telephone or an honest-to-goodness letter). The phone number listed is my cell phone and therefore can be texted at any time of the day in addition to being called. I’ll be honest, texting me is the best and easiest way to get my attention as I can check it no matter what I’m doing, and leaving a voicemail is probably the worst – rarely do I muster up the patience to sit around and deal with the touch-tone annoyance that is voicemail. I’m more likely to just see I missed a call from you and call back at my earliest convenience without actually listening to the voicemail. If you’re unsure as to what any of the stuff I’ve listed is (like, perhaps, Skype) feel free to ask, it may be something you’d want to get, too. Though, honestly, I’m not too worried – most of my family happens to be pretty hip.

Quick Update

The audition at Performance Network The audition went awesome. I performed two monologues, and afterwards they kept me for a few extra minutes to ask me some questions. One of the guys was interested in my work with Mosaic, and the others just had general questions about me personally and my theater experience. They do a joint audition with four equity theaters in the area, so one audition got me in front of four casting directors, which was pretty cool. They all laughed when things were funny, and they all got very involved when things got dramatic, to the point where they stopped writing notes on their notebooks (one of those weird things that tells you that you did well). In the theater world you get used to people constantly jotting down notes as you perform, they’re only looking at you a quarter of the time and half-listening the rest, so when someone on the audition panel stops and wholeheartedly watches, you know you’re doing a good job. All in all I felt really good about the experience and hopefully I get a callback. Just so you guys know, a seasonal audition is where they bring you in to see your stuff, then possibly cast you in one or many of any of the shows they’re putting on throughout the course of their entire season, so you’re not auditioning for a specific part, you’re auditioning to become a member of their performing company, so I have no info on what shows or parts I’m up for.

Pick Up Lines The musical is going to have a preview weekend May 22nd and 23rd, a night where we are going to try to fill the seats with as many new people as possible, so family will be offered tickets last for those performances, but once that weekend is over and we have some hype, if anyone would like to see the show, let me know! I’ll post on here if tickets come up for grabs for that initial weekend.

Well, that’s about it for now! Check out the new stuff! Keep in touch!

Signing off: Crystal

Another Week In The Life

Had another busy week. Two rehearsals for Pick Up Lines, an interview, and another rehearsal with the Annie kids. Everything seems to be going well with PUL, and I’ve taken on the role of somewhat-choreographer. I’ve not quite choreographed the show (and there isn’t a real choreographer), but I’ve definitely been the one who’s helped everyone else learn the steps to everything. I think Scott was recording me the last time I was teaching the boys the steps for Rich, Dumb, Young Nymphomaniac. Probably a damned funny video. I’ve got all my lines memorized now, and I’m working on my songs mostly. You Can’t Find A Good Man In A Bar has a ton of words, and each stanza is completely disconnected from the last because it’s like making a list, so it’s hard to memorize them in the right order, but I’ll get it! They lowered the key of my refrain of the title song so that I could belt it out a little more instead of using my classical voice, so I’ve got practice to do on that to learn the new key. Scott is getting more and more stressed as we go along, nervous that things might not come together in time (but I’m pretty sure all directors get that feeling), so he’s been all business at the rehearsals lately. As far as I can tell, there is only fine-tuning to be done, so we don’t have much to worry about in the way of bringing it together. Excitement!

This past Thursday I had an interview for a clerical position at the Fraser Library. Over the past few months I’ve been taking grammar, punctuation, and spelling tests, math and organization tests, and a typing test. And finally after all of that I got an actual interview. They’re supposed to contact me in a few weeks to let me know if I got the job or not. Apparently applying to work a city job is quite the ordeal. Hopefully I can get this job for a part-time day thing so I can save a bit more money in the ol’ bank account.

This week with the Annie kids I was flying solo. Heather was out of town and the other assistant director was at the other facility for the night. There was only a small group of the kids there for the evening, so they were easy to handle, but man are those kids energetic! It’s a good thing I’m pretty bubbly myself, or there’d be no way I could keep up with them. I can keep their attention really well, too, so they don’t prove too much trouble. All in all the show is going to be a really great time. We still don’t have our scripts, but I really look forward to getting them so that we can get moving on some scene work. It will be a lot easier to get things done with a script in hand.

Well, that’s about it for this week. I have a friend visiting from Tennessee all week, so those of you in Michigan will probably get to meet him. His name’s William, and he’s a bigger dork than even Uncle Rich or Uncle Kurt  :P

More to come!

Signing off: Crystal