Names Weekend

Prepare yourself. My snarky side is about to come out. And some of you are not going to like it.

For most people, this weekend is important because of Mother's Day (happy day to all the mothers out there!). But for some of us, Mother's Day weekend is exciting for an entirely different reason: it's the weekend that the Social Security Administration releases the lists of the top 1000 most popular names for either gender from the previous year.

To see the list, click HERE!

Now, as some of you might know, last year I won a Baby Name Pool out of more than 600 entries. You guess three names that are going to rise, and three that are going to fall. And the woman who wrote one of the definitive books on naming has this whole series of calculations to figure out who did best.

I entered again this year, but I did quite badly. My choices were actually pretty solid. I predicted:

Eva would rise (it did. #125 to #117)
Ava would rise (it did. #5 to #4 -- which is a bigger jump than it sounds like)
Aiden would rise (it did. #32 to #27)
Britney would fall (it did. #471 to #564)
Lindsey would fall (it did. #186 to #226)
Hayden (for a boy) would fall (it did NOT. #73 to #71)

I was convinced that the exposure that Hayden Panettiere has gotten over the last year would make people begin to associate Hayden with females, but nope. It's still in the top 100 for boys. Ah, well.

But one false move is not the reason that I'm going to lose. Last year I won despite thinking that Shiloh would magically appear in the top 1000 (it didn't... I jumped the gun. It ended up hitting the charts this year) and that Angelina would rise (it fell a couple of spots). The reason I'm not going to win is because I made a bad call with the name that everyone else picked to be the breakout riser of the year. I thought they were jumping the gun the way I did with Shiloh. Boy, was I wrong.

Miley

I thought it would take another year for Miley to hit the top 1000 after the massive rise of Miley Cyrus this year. But I was SO wrong. After NEVER having been in the top 1000 before, it entered the charts at #278. And not only that... Two sound-alikes showed up as well! Mylie was #861 and Mylee at #556 (I won't even begin to express my disgust at those).

Maybe it was time for a name like Miley. After all, Milo re-entered the charts in 2001 after a 35 year absence and has been on a steady upswing since then (in 2001 it was #981, and in 2007 is was #548).

But it's sort of embarrassing, really. There's no way that those parents can pretend that they "made it up" or got it from another source. Every single one of those girls is named after Hannah Montana. Which will be fine until:
1. Miley Cyrus goes the way of Lindsey and Britney (you know it's possible) and is suddenly NOT something you want your daughter to be compared to.
2. Miley Cyrus fades from the public eye and the name is suddenly dated.

I have a coworker named Tenile (she was named after "The Captain and Tennille"... but spelled differently. Yes, one letter away from "penile"). I rest my case. This is why you should not use a pop culture name. It's a bad idea.

Aside from that, Miley is very much a "girl" name. Not a "woman" name. People forget that their precious little princesses are going to grow up one day, and some names just don't age well. try to imagine a voting ballot in which a 50-year-old woman named "Miley Jones" is running for Senate. Awkward, isn't it? *sigh*

Whenever a name jumps up to the top 1000, it's news. When a name jumps that quickly, it's HUGE news. Like Nevaeh. After P.O.D. front-man Sonny Sandoval mentioned in interviews that he had named his new daughter Neveah -- heaven-spelled-backwards -- it became a phenomenon. In 2001, this little publicized "name" entered the charts at #266. NO ONE saw that coming. And now, in 2007 it was #31. That's gotta be a record. And why does no one seem to mention that spelling things backwards is supposed to be demonic? I don't get it. What I REALLY don't get, is how "Neveah" (haeven spelled backwards?) was #891 in 2007. People are idiots.

The names that entered the charts this year that were not on last year were:

Girls:
Adalyn - (Part of the trend of removing the front-consonant from another popular name..., like Madison/Addison, this is Madelyn/Adalyn/Adelyn)
Adelyn - (Ditto.)
Alannah - (This was only on the list one other time, in 1990, which I'd bet had something to do with Alannah Myles singing "Black Velvet". No idea what caused the appearance this time.)
Aliana - (Aside from the similarities to "alien", sorta pretty.)
Allyssa - (Man, people. Learn to spell.)
Alyvia - (Ugh. Ditto.)
Anabel - (The Spanish spelling. Anagram of "be anal")
Antonia - (YAY! A legit, pretty name!)
Audrina - (Stupid reality television. Why would you want to name your daughter after her?)
Azaria - (Like Hank Azaria? You've got to be kidding.)
Azul - (No idea.)
Celine - (After a random appearance for one year in 1931, it left the charts until 1994, when it popped up thanks to a certain French-Canadian songstress. It only had a one year absence for 2006, and now it's back at #986. I wouldn't be surprised to see it fall off again in 2008.)
Delia - (Yay! Another lovely legit name!)
Devyn - (GAH! Badness!)
Dixie - (Watch out! The South is rising again!)
Diya - (It's a type of light that's lit during Diwali. More likely, it has something to do with this chick)
Emmy - (Emily and Emma have been top 10 names for awhile now, so I was surprised to see that the only other year this name was on the charts was 1885.)
Evie - (I prefer it as a nickname. Perhaps it showed up because there are a few celebrities that use it as one. Namely, Evan Rachel Wood and Evangeline Lilly.)
Giada - (I am fully in support of this name -- the Italian form of Jade -- despite the fact that it is celebrity inspired. Giada De Laurentiis seems pretty cool.)
Giuliana - (Gorgeous! Maybe arriving because of the similarity to the popular Liliana?)
Graciela - (Back after a 1-year absence. Technically, it's a nickname for Gracia, but I like it well enough)
Hayleigh - (GAH! There are too many spellings of Haylie and Kaylee on the charts already! AHHHHHH!!!!)
Ireland - (5th appearance since 1998. *rolls eyes*)
Jaeda - (Jada is a Biblical MALE name. I don't know what this is.)
Jailyn - (Because anything with the word "Jail" in it must be pretty.)
Jaslene - (I can't believe I didn't see this one coming after America's Next Top Model winner Jaslene Gonzalez.)
Jaylen - (Well, it's better than Jailyn, but not by enough.)
Jazlynn - (Who did this? I want names.)
Jocelynn - (One "n" wasn't enough?)
Jordin - (Reality television just won't quit. American Idol winner Jordin Sparks is to blame for this misspelling.)
Joseline - (Makes me think of Vaseline. Anyone else?)
Kelis - (Well THAT was a delayed reaction. Has Kelis done anything lately? Anything at all since Milkshake?)
Kylah - (First thought: KY Jelly + loofah.)
Lillianna - (Also on the charts are Lila, Lilah, Lilia, Lilian, Liliana, Lilianna, Lillian, Lilliana, Lillie, Lilly, Lily, and Lilyana. I think I spot a trend.)
Londyn - (That's a stripper name if I ever saw one.)
Madilynn - (Oh, look. They found a way to make the "Mad" part more prominent.)
Marely - (Was this supposed to be Marley? Because it looks like it rhymes with barely. They somehow made "mare" into an adjective. And then used it to name women. How empowering.)
Maren - (This is actually the Danish form of Marina. I wonder if any of the parents who used it knew that.)
Marlen - (According to BehindTheName.com, "Blend of Marx and Lenin. This name was created by Communist parents who were eager to reject traditional names." It used for boys. This is why you should do your research before naming a child. That, and it sounds like a fish, and the male name Marlon -- as in Brando or Wayans.)
Maryjane - (This name was a constant on the charts until the early 1960s, which I'm guessing is when it became part of drug culture. It had a 1-year appearance in 2005, and now it's back. Good marijuana crops last year?)
Miley
Mylee
Mylie
Olive - (First appearance since 1950. Exposure of this came from Little Miss Sunshine as well as the new daughter of Isla Fisher and Sacha Baren Cohen. I sorta dig it. It's a fresher turn on the highly popular Olivia.)
Shiloh
Shirley - (2006 was the only year since 1880 that this name was absent from the list.)
Sky - (Another good stripper name. Makes me think of Marlon Brando in "Guys and Dolls")
Yamilet - (Apparently it means "Beautiful" in Swahili. But to me, it just looks like Hamlet with a Y and an additional syllable.)
Zaniya - (Apparently means "Healthy" in Lakota)
Zaniyah - (Where did these two come from?)

Boys:
Adin - (Aidan, Aiden, Aydin, Ayden, and now this. Just what we needed.)
Amarion - (Because Omarion wasn't creative enough.)
Amos - (Back after a 4-year absence! Yay!)
Bentley - (Naming your kid after a car is not going to make him more likely to drive said car. Unless you want him to be an ironically named chauffeur.)
Dax - (First appearance since 1978. Scarily might have something to do with this guy. *shudder*)
Daxton - (Because Dax wasn't unusual enough? How did MULTIPLE PEOPLE think this was a good idea?)
Dereon - (Why are people naming their sons after Beyoncé's women's clothing line???)
Dimitri - (Variant of the Russian name Dmitriy.)
Eliezer - (Oooh! A great Old Testament name. Happy to see it!)
Eliseo - (Totally legit. The Italian/Spanish form of Elisha.)
Elvin - (Means "elf friend". No, I did not just make that up. Interesting choice.)
Emery - (Not wild about this name, but I'm glad to see it on the boys list again. It's been absent since 1982, and is now #962. Distressingly, it's #571 for girls.)
Fletcher - (Back after a 3-year absence, following the trends of "surnames" and "olde English occupations". A fletcher was an "arrow maker".)
Fisher - (Back after a year. Ditto on the surname/occupation trendiness.)
Immanuel - (Maybe these parents just really like Kant?)
Isaak - (The German/Russian spelling of Isaac.)
Jagger - (Back after a 2-year absence. I bet you can imagine what celebrity inspired this one.)
Jaidyn - (GAH!!! It was painful enough to watch Jayden make a MASSIVE leap this year. Did Jaidyn really have to appear as well?)
Jaren - (This is what happens when you put Jared and Darren in a blender.)
Jarvis - (Apparently a derivative of Gervaise. I find it unattractive.)
Jax - (As in "Beakman and Jax"? Dude, Jax was the chick.)
Jaydan - (I think you know I'm upset.)
Jayvion - (I'm stumped.)
Jayvon - (Ditto)
Kelan - (No idea.)
Kellan - (I went to school with a Kellan, so this actually doesn't bother me as much as it probably should. Might have something to do with this guy, but I doubt it.)
Kelton - (Oh, wait, I have an idea. Are these three just so that people can use the nickname Kel without resorting to Kelly? Like this guy?)
Killian - (They really want to emphasize the "kill" in Cillian. Probably legit, but I don't understand why it's desirable.)
Kingston - (Blame Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale for naming their son after the capital of Jamaica.)
Lyric - (Another confusing one. It's been on the girls list since 1995. Usually, boys names are stolen by girls, not the other way around. I'm actually going to applaud the wretched name as being a sign of the women's movement instead of weeping at how terrible it is.)
Madden - (Despite the "Mad" part, men convinced their wives to name boys after this guy. Or maybe after his video games, which is even more disturbing.)
Mariano - (Yay hooray! Back after a year.)
Nery - (This one is all this guy.)
Nikolai - (This is Nikolai's first appearance on the chart. I bet it had nothing to do with Gogol, but I don't know where else it would've come from.)
Raiden - (Follows the "ends in -ayden" trend. Makes me think of Raid. And also like it's a verb. "We were just raidin' the pantry for snacks.")
Rayan - (Really? People didn't recognize how much it looks like rayon?)
Reilly - (Originally entered the charts in 1996, and is now back after a year. Probably falling off in popularity because Riley is #52 for girls. Barf me.)
Rishi - (Maybe in the news because this actor received a few Lifetime Achievement Awards this past year?)
Ronin - (Really?)
Slade - (Aside from sounding like a cross between "slash" and "blade" -- two things that every child should live up to -- also a British glam rock band. Do your research, people.)
Tegan - (Another instance of a girl name showing up on the boy list. Go figure. It's a Welsh female name, meaning "fair")
Turner - (Another surname. I'm guessing that the dictionary would list it as "one who turns". Back after a two year absence.)
Vince - (Back after a 15-year absence. *sigh*. Give your kid a full name, so that they have options. Vincent. Vincente. Vincenzo. There are better choices here.)
Yael - (ANOTHER girl name? This is an Old Testament name of a woman who killed the captain of the Canaanite army. And ten bucks says they're mispronouncing it as "Yale")
Yurem - (Might have something to do with this kid?)



The other two huge jumpers of the year were Jayden and Addison.

Jayden follows the current "ends in -ayden" trend for boys. Someone else on a naming board I frequent posted the following compilation:

"There are now 7 different ayden names in the top 1000, 41 including spelling variants.

Jayden 26148 total(10 spellings) This puts it ahead of Jacob.
Aidan 29371 total(10 spellings) This puts it way ahead of Jacob.
Brayden 12748(7 spellings)
Hayden 6657(3 spellings)
Caden 17755(9 spellings)
Zayden(at 588 ) 426
Raiden(at 923) 210

80,567 total"

That makes my soul hurt. Well, not Aidan. Or even Aiden. But Zayden, Brayden, and Raiden... GAH!

As for Addison, it's been on a steady incline over the last several years, particularly lately with the exposure through Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. In fact, a friend of mine just named her daughter Addison last week.

2006: Addison #28 (7,599 girls)
2007: Addison #11 (11,823 girls)

So even though a 17-place rise doesn't look massive on paper, by number of births it's a 55.6% increase. In one year. Holy cats!

And it's worth noting that Addisyn, Addyson, Adison, and Adyson are also on the chart.

ETA: I can't believe I forgot to mention my biggest pet peeve about Addison... There's a disease with this name. It's not far off from naming your kid Parkinson. Almost makes the fact that it's a surname meaning "son of Adam" not matter.

I was excited to see Madison bumped down from the top 3 for the first time since 1999. It fell to number 5 as the result of the rising of two lovely names: Ava (now #4) and Isabella (now #2). I'm always happy to see nice names at the top.

Madison is a particular foe of mine much in the same way that Nevaeh is. You see, Madison entered the charts in 1985, the year after the movie Splash came out. In the movie, the female lead (played by Daryl Hannah) is a mermaid who starts living amongst people. After walking down Madison Avenue, she decides that her English name should be Madison (as humans cannot pronounce her Mermish name). Tom Hanks' character announces that it is "not a name!", but she insists. So parents decided that it would be a "unique" name for their daughters. And it has been taking over ever since.

People seem to ignore the fact that it means "son of Maud". And the fact that it is "not a name". Nope. Now it's sparkly. They nickname their daughters "Maddie", and they think it's cute. It has been a top 10 name since 1997, and most people who use it now have probably never even seen Splash.

Ah, well.

Part of me is glad that lovely names like Bernadette (off since 1983) and Linus (off since 1940) have still evaded notice. Maybe that means that if I ever have children, they won't be too popular to use. *crosses fingers*

If you're interested in finding names that ARE NOT in the top 1000, I started making a list a couple of years ago when I was in my name-obsessed phase (back when I was writing a book on names). I haven't updated it in far too long, so it doesn't reflect the things that have entered and exited the charts the last couple of years. Maybe I'll get around to it at some point. In any case, it's a good place to start.

Go here for the list, and marvel at all the work I put into it.

That's all for me right now. If I think too much more about names, I'll get depressed.


May you be wise enough to put some thought into all the naming that you do.

~A~

Because I'm Hot

I keep getting hit on at the weirdest times... And by the weirdest people.

A couple of days ago, I was clothes shopping, and the dressing room attendant assigned to me happened to be male. He kept trying to get me to try on tighter, more revealing clothing than I was. And at one point, when I tried on a cute flowy top over my pants, he said I should really consider wearing it as a dress. Um, no. There's no possible way I would be able to sit down in it. Frankly, even walking in it as a dress would be risky. Not only is it short, but there's some embroidery at the bottom that has a lot of open holes. As in, if you were looking, you would be able to see my underwear through said holes. From a distance, it would probably be alright... But again. I would NOT be able to sit without my bum being on the seat and flashing everyone else in the room.

(See picture at left. Notice the dark wavy streaks in the pattern on the bottom? That's where the holes are. Hence why I blurred this picture and made it in black & white... Otherwise, it's like "Hello, Underwear!")

Yeah. It's definitely not a dress. And it looks way cute with dark jeans... so yeah. I think that guy was just trying to see me as close to naked as possible.


My juice was flowing in mad form today.

For the record, I don't look particularly amazing today. I didn't shower today (I can't shower everyday... I have dry skin, and over-washing makes it even drier). I curled my hair yesterday, and it's sort of a weird clumpy, semi-curly mess now, so I put it in a ponytail. I had no makeup on (except for residual mascara from yesterday). I was wearing my glasses instead of contacts. I was wearing some ugly-but-shamefully-comfortable tan pants, a black tank-top, and a wrinkled button-up shirt that I didn't realize until I got to work was missing the middle button.

On the L in the evening, a man was clearly staring at me. A man in some sort of construction helmet. I don't know. It was brown and had a light on it. BLATANTLY staring at me. Smiled at me whenever I glanced anywhere near him. I tried to avoid making eye contact. At one point, two seats opened up next to each other. I sat down, and he of course took the seat right next to me. He looked a little embarrassed as he removed his helmet and tried to smooth his hair. He continued to stare at me. So I pulled out my TnT (Tony n' Tina's) book to study things. This did not deter him. He started asking if I was going home, if I was studying, if I was still a student... I gave mostly one-word answers. He then started talking about himself, and how he was going up to Great America. He got off the train smiling.

Then I went to get some food at Under Dogg. The guy working there (he seemed to be alone) was smiling at me a little two much. When I couldn't decide on a flavor for my shake, he walked over to the ice cream tubs, opened each of them, and came back saying that he thought the strawberry would be best today. So I ordered strawberry. And then he looked at me, giddy almost, and said, "Really? You're going to get the strawberry?" Um, yes. What? He grinned at me the whole rest of the time I was there.

I went to my friend Mike's band gig at a bar. My friend Mary came in from out of town, and we were hanging out together. At one point, I looked behind me, and it looked like Mary was threatening two women who were much larger than she. Mary is a 5'1" skinny blonde sorority girl who couldn't hurt a fly, so it's always funny to see her angry, On top of that, she currently has laryngitis and I'm sure she wasn't getting very far arguing with these women. . Apparently, she was attempting to defend my honor or something because said women were ogling me. Later in the evening, one of the women came up to me to apologize for "the misunderstanding" and explain that she and her friend had just been discussing how I had a "great butt", and that they didn't mean to offend me or Mary. She then proceeded to instigate high-fives with me about six times in reference to my "cute butt". I'm pretty sure that she was trying to hit on me. It was pretty awkward.

I guess it's kinda flattering. It's always nice to feel attractive. I just wish I were being hit on by other people... I don't know. Classier people, I guess.

Ah well. Guess I can't complain.



May your juice be flowing.

~A~


P.S. Someone Googled "Tony n Tinas Chicago" and found my blog. And has revisited it a few times since then, just in the past few days. (Um, hello, if you're reading... Awkward...) Anyway, I got a little gun shy and took down a couple of posts regarding that audition process (for multiple reasons), just in case the person reading is involved with the show (which I suspect is the case). Freaked me out pretty bad. I guess I can't even complain. After all, I'm the idiot who puts personal stories on the internet... Every once in awhile, something happens with my blog that makes me feel a little too vulnerable to the outside world. It hasn't been enough to make me quit blogging or turn this private yet, but it might someday. Anyway. There's your heads-up.

P.P.S. If you are someone I know in real life who found this blog through a search engine... Read at your own risk. I'm not going to apologize for the things I've written. I don't want to censor things I write in the future. If you don't like it, then you don't have to read it. And please don't go telling other people I know in real life what you've read, because it just makes my life more screwed up. And isn't my existence awkward enough without any catalysts? I rest my case. Thank you for your cooperation.

My First Wedding

I was a few minutes late leaving my apartment, so I hailed a cab to get to the theatre. Didn't want to risk the bus dropping me off after call. Didn't want to make a bad impression. It was, after all, my first day on the job.

I got to Tony n' Tina's with plenty of time to spare. I sat down with the ASM (assistant stage manager) Matt (he's in the play as well as ASM-ing it... because you can do that sort of thing with this show). He had me fill out all the paperwork. He read me the list of rules. Things like:

- No swearing during "Cha" (that what they call the pre-show, but no one seems to know why) or the wedding ceremony whatsoever. Try to avoid swearing during the reception (except Tony... he gets a pass on that). No F-word at any time.
- No insulting audience members. (Clearly, this is not Ed Debevic's.)
- No breaking character unless you think someone is in physical danger, and even then you can only break to the stage manager.
- (this one is verbatim, including capitalization) "NO ONE IS TO TRY TO ARRANGE A DATE WITH A MEMBER OF THE AUDIENCE DURING THE SHOW. This cannot be excused as a "Character choice" and may not happen."

The SM (stage manager) Lauren (who also helps tend bar... because you can do that sort of thing with this show) went over some more contract points.

They gave me a red folder which they referred to as a "book". Matt said, "This will be like your Bible. Except you'll actually have to read this."

- 12 (twelve!!!) pages are lists of rules.
- 9 (nine!!!) pages outline what happens during the course of the show
- 84 (EIGHTY-FREAKING-FOUR!!!) pages are back-stories about the characters and their relationships.

Why so many pages of back-stories? Because if you're going to be doing improv in these characters, you've got to know them inside and out. And you have to know everyone else's information so that you don't contradict anything. And these things are DETAILED! The book lists every character's relationship with every other character from both perspectives. It tells you what every character's birthday is, what schools they attended, what hospital they were born in... It's incredible.

And here's the wackiest part: I haven't even gotten a script yet! You get the pages of the script that your character is on (reminds me of Shakespearean actors just having their own cues and lines) once you get assigned a character. And you get a whole other folder with that character's blocking and even more information about their back-story and relationships. Almost everyone in the cast plays more than one role, depending on the night.

But before I even get a role, I am going to be tested. Literally. There are 6 tests on this material to make sure you know the show. My first test is on the order of events that happen during the production. I think I take that one next weekend. I'm thinking of making flashcards or something...

Directly after the paperwork, they gave me my costume and a name tag that said "Carmella", and then said, "We're just going to throw you into it. You'll be fine." Trial by fire. *sigh*

For the first 3-5 weeks, I'll be on the "Black Staff". It's like being a waiter, but more fun. During this period of time, I will absorb the show. I will learn by watching. And I will be doing all the things Black Staff does.

What do we do?
- We socialize with the audience (in character) during Cha (yes, we all have characters!)
- We preset the reception during the wedding ceremony
- We pour small amounts of champagne into minute plastic glasses
- We laugh at the corny jokes that the "reception hall owner" makes
- We do a ridiculous 30 seconds of choreography called "The Champagne March"
- We serve food from the buffet
- We clear plates (I'd say this is about 60% of the job)
- We encourage the audience members to get up and participate in things (mostly dances)
- We keep an eye out to make sure that audience members, chairs, and spilled liquids aren't in the way of any chases or fights
- We make sure that audience members don't go exploring areas of the set that they're not supposed to
- We participate in some of the dances (I just read in my handbook that the Black Staff girls get to dance on the bar at one point! WOO-HOO!!!)
- We distribute the wedding cake
- We put on hats and glasses and dance however we like to "Sweet Home Chicago"
- We usher the audience members out and on their merry ways

The job is part waiter, part actor, part chaperone, and part janitor... and maybe part Richard Simmons.

Now, there are Black Staff characters in the red folder, but Carmella is one of a select few that isn't in there. If you're Carmella, then you get to do whatever the heck you want. You get to create a brand new character (and then you have to write your own bio... which I think is due next week. Who knew there would be so many homework assignments?).

I think that you might know me well enough by now that you could guess my reaction to, "make up a new character right now that you have to stick to all night... and GO!"

Clearly, there was only one option for me.

Last night, Carmella was obsessed with dancing.

Predictable for me, I know. But they don't know me yet. And I knew I could make her funny and entertain people during Cha with it. Carmella was really into disco. And she wasn't a particularly good dancer. I made her pretty awkward and ridiculous, but shameless. It was a blast.

There were two guys on Black Staff with me last night, both of whom have been in the show for a long time (every once in awhile, you have to go back on Black Staff... either to fill gaps in the line-up or to help train newbies). They would tell me what to do about 5 minutes before we did it. And aside from one small bit of me looking like an idiot (I couldn't find my tray of cake slices in the extremely small kitchen), it actually worked fine. I didn't die. Thank goodness I'm a fast learner.

The first time I walked into the kitchen, the three chefs started talking at me in Spanish. When I looked confused they said, "What, you don't understand Spanish?" When I said I didn't, they took to just whistling at me every time I entered the kitchen (which you would know was their way of joking with me if you saw how uniformly dumpy everyone looks in Black Staff apparel).

At the end of the show, an older gentlemen whom I had chatted up in Cha and danced right in front of in "Sweet Home Chicago" walked up to me and said, "You were the best." I made up something about how working for Mr. Black is a fun job. And I smiled on the inside. I felt as though I really could do this job. :)

It was the last performance of the girl who played Tina yesterday (she's worked there for a total of 4 years), so everyone went out to the bar after, and I was invited.

One by one, the actors came up and introduced themselves as people (as opposed to characters). And, without fail, every one of them asked me, "Do you know what character they're considering you for?" I have no clue (the SM told me I'm not supposed to know yet, and would find out AT THE EARLIEST in a week). Then they'd ask what Black Staff character I had tonight, as some of them are sort of like junior versions of the larger roles. But since I was bio-less Carmella, that didn't provide them with any hints.

So they guessed based on look. About 4 or 5 of them told me they picked me out as a Tina right away. But no one goes straight to Tina. You play another role first and work your way up to Tina (and who knows if I'm going to be around long enough for that...). The general consensus was that I'm too skinny to play the slutty bridesmaid, and I'm too tall to play the pregnant bridesmaid (the last two people who played her with regularity were 4'11"... it definitely adds to the comedy). Several people guessed that I'd be the awkward/geeky bridesmaid. A few guessed that I might be Tony's father's girlfriend, the stripper. And one guessed that I might be Tina's cousin, the singing nun. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

There are two other interesting pieces of information that I received...

1. In July, there is a week in which Frankie Avalon joins the show. Apparently he knows the producers and does it as a favor to them. He plays the character of "Tina's Godfather" (who normally doesn't exist). The entire reception is retooled around his presence. He sings "Venus" and "Beauty School Dropout". The cast barely interacts with him outside of the performances. And the cast is not allowed to touch him.

But still... Dude! I'm going to be in a show with Frankie-freaking-Avalon! HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!


2. I'm sure most of you remember the story about my callback for this show (it was, after all, pretty memorable). Imagine my surprise when the stage manager informed me that Chuck starts Wednesday.

Yes, you read that right. They're hiring Chuck. I asked the SM about it (if you remember, I ran into her and discussed my frustrating callback already). She shrugged and said that the director sees him as fitting one of the roles. Which, beyond being completely flabbergasting, causes me a few problems:

A. I'll probably have to improv more with him.

B. I have now bad-mouthed this guy and his callback to the SM as well as all the people I attended the show with (two of whom, Dan and Mel, are also starting within the next week). EEK! Not smooth on my part. Because he didn't attend the show with the others of us, I figured that he hadn't been asked back. And I was unfortunately mistaken. And acted extremely unprofessionally. STUPID, STUPID ANGELA!!! GAH!

C. I now cannot mention in front of anyone in the cast that I have a blog. Because if any of them finds it and reads the post about Chuck (even though I changed his name), it'll cause problems. I don't want to step on any toes. Especially because there's a pretty good chance that Chuck will end up being in the show longer than I am (there are so many more male characters than female ones... a guy could rotate through the roles in that cast forever... plus, I already know when I'm leaving).

Yikes. But I'll deal with all of that as it happens. If I learned anything yesterday, it's that I'm capable of rolling with the punches.

All in all, it was a pretty good first day. And now I get to go to weddings 5-6 times a week. Wish me luck.


May you be able to think on your feet.

~A~
(aka Carmella... at least until further notice)


P.S. As my readers Heidi, Amy, Kate, Jes, and Sarah might remember, I once played a character by the name of Carmel. And I really loved that role. It was the first time that I had a real character instead of being in the chorus or being a dancer. I wonder if playing "Carmella" is some sort of sign...?