Nerd Alert

Call me spoiled, call me a Troy kid, call me whatever you want. Until yesterday I had never taken a Greyhound bus to travel in my entire life.

It wasn’t on my bucket list, but now I can cross it off.

I can cross thirteen hours worth of it off.

I can’t pretend it wasn’t a learning experience. I found out that the roads are beautiful and smooth everywhere except for Michigan. I found out Russian women who don’t speak English will be very belligerent if you don’t immediately let them sit with you. I found out that you can smoke inside buildings in Allensburg, Pennsylvania (and how wonderful it is that Michigan passed the non-smoking legislation). And finally I found out that it is easier to sleep on a bus than an airplane. The bus system hasn’t taken away our legroom yet.

By the time we made a stop at Newark, NJ at 7 in the morning, it was hard for me to remember the reason I had traveled all this way…or my name, for that matter. Lucky for me, I am staying at my friend Sean and his girlfriend’s apartment (they’re traveling but their friend Nikki is living at their place while they’re away). Thanks to their hospitality, I was able to head straight for the apartment and sleep until 1 PM and take a wonderful shower. I’m quite sure that the nap and shower combination were the best I have ever had. Words cannot express how sound sleep and a shower feel after thirteen hours of bus travel.

After de-zombifying myself, I headed uptown to the audition space, just to make sure I knew where I am supposed to be tomorrow (better today than tomorrow morning when I’ll be jumpy and annoyed at the world). I had the afternoon to myself so I spent the day exploring the Village and a lot of time hanging out at Washington Square Park, enjoying the on-and-off rain, the people-watching, and the performers in the park. I had time to relax, enjoy, and reflect on tomorrow.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will wake up early and head to Hell’s Kitchen to sing my little heart out. I get sixteen bars of What a Piece of Work is Man (my own personal choice, though I did almost bring Frank Mills) from Hair. Sixteen bars to entice the creative team of this musical into wanting to see more of me and call me back for Thursday and Friday. Sixteen bars to extend my trip from Tuesday to Friday. I have no idea what to expect. This is a completely new experience for me, so my nerves aren’t really fraying at this point. Maybe they will be tomorrow, but at this point I just feel focus and excitement. I don’t think I’ve ever done something so impulsive: just decide a week before, pack my bags and head to another city on my own.

And I also have a headband my dad gave me. It’s his from when he did his tour in Vietnam. I wore it during our run of Hair (shout out to my Ayawasaka loves) and it reminds me of the strength he had at just nineteen. It’s a piece of home.

Goodbye for now, and hopefully tomorrow I will have good news!