Rent audition weekend.

"Will I lose my dignity...?"

Hahaha, that line from Rent's "Will I?" was possibly running in the minds of the auditionees this past weekend. A huge variety of people in different states of nervousness, anxiety, excitement and calm came and went at Philippine Opera Company for 9Works Theatrical's auditions for Rent.

Auditions began on Friday, at exactly 10 in the morning. We came in early to set up the front desk, the waiting area and the audition venue. I was stationed at the front desk, so I was the very first person the auditionees encounter upon entering the gate. That first day, Kyla and Eric were already there even before we had set everything up.

Randomness: Kyla was sitting at the outside waiting area, and then she asked me, "Aren't you auditioning for this also? I thought you also perform... I read it somewhere in your blog." And I just laughed it off and said something about this wasn't really for me.

Anyway, it was awesome to see different people signing up to audition for this musical. The people were so diverse. True, there were some people who signed up and audition "just because this is Rent," but there are still a lot of real undiscovered talent out there that really deserves a second look.

I held the fort at the front desk by my lonesome all morning, while Ging (OJT-ing with Bek) joined me after lunch, and it was amusing to watch and greet all the people come in. Some calmly or nervously walked up from the street, while the others came rushing in as if they ran the whole way. May mga nakita pa kami ni Ging na parang mala-action star ang entrance, like that guy who literally hopped out of the cab he was riding even when it hasn't stopped yet. Kulang na lang gumulong siya papunta ng front desk para complete ang eksena, hahaha. The guy who came in after he did was running and panting and panicking as he rushed to our table, apologizing for coming in 2 minutes late.

After the auditions, I even had time to drop by RCBC to say hello to the front-of-house and to hand something over to Nicco. Hahaha, kamusta naman si Claire na parang nagbabantay nung papunta ako sa dressing room.

On Saturday morning, I had to meet Tin at the MRT station so we can go to POC together. Hahaha, she ended up half an hour late at the MRT because she had to baby-sit a neighbor's kid for a few minutes. I didn't mind being late at POC, really, but I sort of hate waiting at some odd place like the MRT platform, haha. 8 trains had already come and gone by the time Tin had arrived, ahahaha! Oh well, never mind that Tin was late, I was just grateful that I have company at the front desk, plus it's back-up because I had to leave early to catch the matinee of Flores Para Los Muertos at CCP. Haha, we didn't even have breakfast yet when we reached POC, so we looked at Peach and Rob's Jollibee takeout in envy for a couple of minutes, then ran to the phone to have a couple of Sausage McMuffins delivered. When Nar arrived before his audition, he mooched some orange juice from Tin and a couple of bites from my McMuffin and kulitan galore before and after he auditioned.

Anyway, Saturday was also Peachy's day to audition. She was so funny, as she doesn't have a second song prepared, and all 3 of us were just sitting there at the table, trying to think of whatever she could sing. We were randomly suggesting songs, and Peach was randomly listening to different songs and switching to another after listening to it for a few minutes. We even joked na baka maging jukebox si Peach by the time she faced the panel.

I arrived at around 12:30 pm on Sunday because I had to hear mass with my mom in the morning. Haha, when I got off the MRT station in Magallanes and was walking briskly towards the entrance of San Lorenzo Village, I spotted a dirty ice cream cart and couldn't resist buying a cone. Yay, dessert muna to tide me over before the long lunch break, hahaha. This time, Teena was manning the front desk by her lonesome. We still ended up nibbling on wheat crackers that she brought because lunch was still quite a long way away.

We had a huge break that day from 2 in the afternoon until 6 in the evening because Rob and Peach were watching the matinee show of Spring Awakening. So when they had left, a whole bunch of us (Jon-Jon, Santi, Anna, Teena, Bek, Sundee, Carlos and me) headed over to Andok's for lunch. Yummy liempo and "cream of sinigang," ahahaha. Panalo pa rin talaga yung pang-commercial na first bite ni Jon-Jon of his siomai, ahehehe. After lunch, Anna, Santi and Jon-Jon had to hear mass, so the rest of us went back to POC to hang out and sleep. Teena, Carlos, Bek and I ended up lying on the bare floor of the audition room, which was fine for us, until Sundee came in with his heavy feet, making the floor bounce. Then I sort of fell asleep again... until I felt the floor vibrate with Carlos' snoring, ahahaha. So I headed back outside to sit on the couch.

More auditionees came and went, then I had to leave for home shortly after Lao and Riki's auditions. Hay naku, they seemed to be in a rush to leave because Lao had left his cap on the bench. I had to bring it with me for safekeeping. Hmmm... it's a pretty nice cap. I wonder if I could keep it? Hahahaha! As if I'm really a cap person.

Anyway, thanks to all who auditioned for Rent! I can't wait for all the exciting things to come!