And since I'm waiting for a Doctor Who episode to buffer, I have time to write about my excitement.
I got to be in the live audience for The Voice and I had work on Friday.
On Wednesday, I was up at 8 am getting ready to go to my English class. Sociology was cancelled for the day, so I was looking forward to going to English and coming back home to take a long nap. Of course that's not what happened. I was slower than usual with getting ready, so by the time it was normal for me to be leaving, I was still doing my make up. But it was a really good thing that I was lagging, because that was when my mother came up to me and asked my class schedule for the day.
I told her the time slot for my English class and she got this look on her face and asked me if my class was all that important. Without even knowing the reason she was asking I told her it wasn't. TURNS OUT IT WAS TO BE A PART OF THE LIVE AUDIENCE FOR THE VOICE.
We got ready, got coffee (because I knew if I was going to deal with girls screaming over Adam Levine and standing all day, I was going to need mega amounts of caffeine in my system), and had Tina pick us up so we could go.
On the drive there, I checked my phone and saw notifications for one missed call and a voice mail. I had just sent an application in to Teavana a few days before, so I was really hoping it was a call for an interview. It wasn't. It was better. It was a call to be an extra on NCIS: LA for the next day. So I called the lady back, got my call time and my background "part", and the general excitement for the day escalated.
That's when I realized the one problem with Thursday: I was supposed to do my scene for my theatre class that morning, and we aren't allowed to make it up. I called my teacher, left her a message asking her to call me back, and then we arrived at the studio. Where we got to wait in line (without cell phones!), get our wristbands (no cell phones!), wait in the food line for 45 minutes and order food from the food truck (cell phones: none!), get on the tram that would take us to the actual studio and then wait for the show to begin. All without cell phones. Four hours of lines and waiting, and no allowance of cell phones. It was torture. Which makes me sound like a complete spoilt brat, but it's hard going without a cell phone if you're used to it!
We got to stand in the mosh-pit part, in the crowd right next to Adam Levine. It was...a wonderful view. Of the stage.
At 5 o'clock pm, the show started (it was live streaming for the East Coast) and it was definitely a different experience being in the audience versus being on a couch at home. After the first song, though, Tina got sick and went to sit outside. She ended up staying out there for the entire duration; poor woman had a migraine. Other than that, it was fun. The singers were better live than over the television, but it wasn't as much fun as a concert. At concerts, it doesn't matter what you do, you're just there to feel and enjoy the music. At the taping, if one person started clapping, everyone needed to be clapping. If one person started swaying their hands side-to-side during a slow song, we all had to. And let me just tell you, some people don't understand how to clap along to the beat, or sway with the rhythm of the music. It was aggravating. But still a fun experience.
When we got home, I finally got into contact with my theatre teacher and we set it up that my group and I would arrive at 8:15 am (Class didn't start at 9:30, but my call time was at 11, so I had to leave by 9) and we would do the scene early so I could get a grade.
Of course something had to go wrong. I got a text from one of the people in the group saying he was really sick and not coming to class at all, so we had to wait to see if another boy would come in early to play the Nazi for our scene. Thankfully someone did, so we did the scene a couple times and I was out of there by 9:05. I went to Starbucks so I could get coffee, and then the GPS (whom I've named Jenna) started acting up. It froze while calculating the location and wouldn't turn off.
When I finally got Jenny to cooperate, it was 9:30. Hit a little traffic on the 101S, but I got in the area with 40 minutes to spare. GOOD THING TOO, because I needed those 40 extra minutes to find the location of the cast parking. I asked some other people later, and just about everyone got lost. I pulled up and parked with a minute to spare, and hopped in the van that took us to the base camp. Checked in, got my wardrobe approved, and then I finally got to settle my panicked and stressed out heart in the "extras' lunch box", which I learned was a trailer of sorts that the extras got to wait around in until we were needed.
And then it came time that we were needed! We got loaded up in another van that took us to the filming location, and we were given direction (I had to read, which was fine by me!). Something they don't tell you about the business is there is a lot of waiting around. The book that I brought to read? I started it and finished it while on set.
I got to meet a couple of the guys that have worked with my dad on movies and shows before and they were sweet. Overall, everyone was really nice (plus the one extra that almost threw a diva fit). A few of them asked me how long I had been doing this, so when I told them it was my first time, they took me under their big, motherly (even the men) bird wing.
One of the actors in the scene (I described him to my father, and he says it was probably Chris O'Donnell. It looks like him, but I digress. I just noticed he was cute and nice.) came over to where I was sitting to tie his shoe, and he mentioned my lack of a jacket (It was freezing outside, but wardrobe didn't approve my jacket). I told him I was sitting on it and using it in between takes, and I told him that he must have been warm from all the back and forth he was doing. He shook his head and told me it was just the polyester. Cheeky.
It started raining on us before the extras really did anything, so we ducked under cover. And by cover, I mean the leaves of the huge trees outlining the park. We talked, we laughed, we froze, and then when the rain stopped, we went back to work.
By this time, we all had our jackets on and there was little chance of any of us taking them off. My mysterious running actor came by again and motioned at my jacket and told me "I see you've finally got a jacket on" to which I replied "Yeah, I got smart about it".
We did a few more takes, then were told to go back to the extras' holding area. Which we did. And then we were wrapped (meaning we were done for the day and got to go home). We filled out our vouchers (for our pay) and we hopped back in the van to go back to cast parking.
I got in my car, turned the heat up and the seat warmer on, called my dad to let him know that I was coming home, then found the nearest Starbucks for a caffeine refill and something to warm myself up.
I got on the road to come home at about 5:20, and you know what that means?
5 o'clock traffic.
I do not joke at all when I say that my 40 minute drive home took me a whole 2 hours. It was the definition of 'parking lot traffic'. So I turned on my Possible Audition Songs playlist, and sang to my heart's content. And when I got tired of that, I put on the Wicked soundtrack, and tried my best to hit all the notes in Defying Gravity.
I finally got home and I went straight to bed. I did not pass go, I did not collect 200 dollars. I brushed my teeth, told myself I would deal with my make up in the morning, and I crashed.
As fun and exhilarating as it was, I was so tired by the end of it.
And now as I look, the buffering is done. So I shall watch this episode of Doctor Who, turn in some more job applications (why can't I get a steady job? Why do movies make it look so easy?), and go to bed so I'm not too tired to go and babysit tomorrow morning.
Good night to all, and to all a good night!
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