Hollywood Showcase day
Yesterday, September 29th, was the Hollywood Showcase which I had been preparing a jive and my rose dress for. I woke up at 9am in preparation. Now keep in mind, although 9 is better than 7, I usually don't wake up until 10:30-11am. I ate breakfast and put the last few items, needle and thread just in case, into my bag that I packed the night before. Shortly after 10am I left my house and headed to Manhattan to the location of the showcase. The garage I had picked out earlier was right across the street and shortly before 11am I headed into the venue.
The location is the Martin Luther King Jr. High School Auditorium. One, I have no idea how the location was chosen, and two I'm curious to know how often they rent it out. Anyway, with my rolling duffel bag, and my dress hanging over my shoulder to keep the bottom off the ground (I did have it in a plastic garment bag my dress for the after party came in) I walked up a flight of stairs to the main entrance. I then proceeded down a flight, did a 180 and went down another. I went through a door and down another set of stairs and another door. I walked forward several feet and went down another flight which brought me to the main doors to the auditorium. I went down the sloping floor to the front of the stage, climbed 4 more stairs and finally deposited my stuff in the ladies dressing room. I took my phone out to check messages that I may have missed while driving and walking and found I had no signal. Then again, I was three stories below street level.
I discovered I was in the second act so after eating a small apple turnover that was part of the breakfast spread provided, I managed to sit down and look half asleep. I admit my brain was not functioning at it's highest capacity and it reflected on my face. At about halfway through the runthrough of the first act, I felt awake enough and pulled out my cross-stitch I had been working on. I got a few lengths of thread in before I figured I should get my hair and make up done.
Hair was easy. I bought a pack of Scunci Flexible Combs, essentially a headband with teeth, and put the clear one on. It pulled my hair back from my face but left it loose in the back. Considering how fluffy my hair was yesterday, it really looked wild which was what I was going for. Make up was black eyeliner, and purple and pink eyeshadow, and 'cherries in the snow' lipstick with some purple/pink blush. I waited until they started the run of the second act (which started about 2ish) to put on my dress.
After putting on my heels and attempting to do a few kicks I figured walking around the city for so long the day before was not a good things and my legs were tight and slightly sore. Marking through the jive backstage solidified that thought. My shoulders also hurt from carrying the heavy bags but that wouldn't effect my jive.
We performed it once, accidentally forgetting one part, but thankfully nothing critical came undone with the dress. Needle and thread not required today. Phew. I took off my heels, put my flip flops back on, watched some more routines and proceeded to relax. Food was brought for lunch. We went through the transitions. By now it's 6:30, showtime is at 7.
The show went on, no hiccups as far as I can tell. I performed my jive and promptly downed an entire bottle of vitamin water within five minutes. The show ended at 9:14 and we all scurried to change for the after party. Got my stuff together, met my parents who took my bag and I headed back to the garage. As I finished crossing the street, I realized I left my dress hanging on the rack and had to go back to get it. Oops.
My GPS was hiccuping as I was driving down to the SoHo studio for the after party. It had the hardest time figuring out where I was. At one point I think it had me in Jersey as I was driving down 11th avenue. It finally got on track and I got there without a problem, even finding a parking spot around the corner from the studio.
Food, friends, dancing was abundant at the after party, although my feet were hurting a bit. Unfortunately I get stepped on while I thought I was out of the way, I could see it bruising underneath already as I got into better lighting. Some ice and a band-aid later and I attempted to continue, unfortunately, it was extremely tender to the touch and directly under my shoes buckle. So flip flops it was. It still was a little tweaky so I decided to go home but not before I got pulled into two more salsas.
Got to my car around 11:45pm and proceeded to Canal street. Somebody was parked in the right lane with their hazard lights blinking causing traffic to back up as everyone had to merge to the left lane to get around it. While sitting at the red light at the intersection to go to the Holland Tunnel, an accident occurred. I'm not sure if another car hit this one or they ran into the barrier of one of the islands in the intersection, but the entire front bumper was off and the horn was constantly blaring. There seemed to be a little smoke too. But the person in front of me put their hazard lights on causing me to get into the right hand turn only lane to get around. There was some beeping involved as I sat still during the signal as going through a red light may prompt another accident, this time involving me. Got to the west side highway, with heavy traffic nearing the Lincoln Tunnel before it cleared up and I managed to get home in one piece. I went to bed about 2am.
The location is the Martin Luther King Jr. High School Auditorium. One, I have no idea how the location was chosen, and two I'm curious to know how often they rent it out. Anyway, with my rolling duffel bag, and my dress hanging over my shoulder to keep the bottom off the ground (I did have it in a plastic garment bag my dress for the after party came in) I walked up a flight of stairs to the main entrance. I then proceeded down a flight, did a 180 and went down another. I went through a door and down another set of stairs and another door. I walked forward several feet and went down another flight which brought me to the main doors to the auditorium. I went down the sloping floor to the front of the stage, climbed 4 more stairs and finally deposited my stuff in the ladies dressing room. I took my phone out to check messages that I may have missed while driving and walking and found I had no signal. Then again, I was three stories below street level.
I discovered I was in the second act so after eating a small apple turnover that was part of the breakfast spread provided, I managed to sit down and look half asleep. I admit my brain was not functioning at it's highest capacity and it reflected on my face. At about halfway through the runthrough of the first act, I felt awake enough and pulled out my cross-stitch I had been working on. I got a few lengths of thread in before I figured I should get my hair and make up done.
Hair was easy. I bought a pack of Scunci Flexible Combs, essentially a headband with teeth, and put the clear one on. It pulled my hair back from my face but left it loose in the back. Considering how fluffy my hair was yesterday, it really looked wild which was what I was going for. Make up was black eyeliner, and purple and pink eyeshadow, and 'cherries in the snow' lipstick with some purple/pink blush. I waited until they started the run of the second act (which started about 2ish) to put on my dress.
After putting on my heels and attempting to do a few kicks I figured walking around the city for so long the day before was not a good things and my legs were tight and slightly sore. Marking through the jive backstage solidified that thought. My shoulders also hurt from carrying the heavy bags but that wouldn't effect my jive.
We performed it once, accidentally forgetting one part, but thankfully nothing critical came undone with the dress. Needle and thread not required today. Phew. I took off my heels, put my flip flops back on, watched some more routines and proceeded to relax. Food was brought for lunch. We went through the transitions. By now it's 6:30, showtime is at 7.
The show went on, no hiccups as far as I can tell. I performed my jive and promptly downed an entire bottle of vitamin water within five minutes. The show ended at 9:14 and we all scurried to change for the after party. Got my stuff together, met my parents who took my bag and I headed back to the garage. As I finished crossing the street, I realized I left my dress hanging on the rack and had to go back to get it. Oops.
My GPS was hiccuping as I was driving down to the SoHo studio for the after party. It had the hardest time figuring out where I was. At one point I think it had me in Jersey as I was driving down 11th avenue. It finally got on track and I got there without a problem, even finding a parking spot around the corner from the studio.
Food, friends, dancing was abundant at the after party, although my feet were hurting a bit. Unfortunately I get stepped on while I thought I was out of the way, I could see it bruising underneath already as I got into better lighting. Some ice and a band-aid later and I attempted to continue, unfortunately, it was extremely tender to the touch and directly under my shoes buckle. So flip flops it was. It still was a little tweaky so I decided to go home but not before I got pulled into two more salsas.
Got to my car around 11:45pm and proceeded to Canal street. Somebody was parked in the right lane with their hazard lights blinking causing traffic to back up as everyone had to merge to the left lane to get around it. While sitting at the red light at the intersection to go to the Holland Tunnel, an accident occurred. I'm not sure if another car hit this one or they ran into the barrier of one of the islands in the intersection, but the entire front bumper was off and the horn was constantly blaring. There seemed to be a little smoke too. But the person in front of me put their hazard lights on causing me to get into the right hand turn only lane to get around. There was some beeping involved as I sat still during the signal as going through a red light may prompt another accident, this time involving me. Got to the west side highway, with heavy traffic nearing the Lincoln Tunnel before it cleared up and I managed to get home in one piece. I went to bed about 2am.
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