Two and a half years ago, Daughter became very serious about pursuing the Performing Arts industry. She had been taking acting classes and had been in musical plays since she was 5 years old. At 10 years old, she wanted more than what our local area had to offer. She had heard about an open-call audition for an opportunity to attend a showcase event (in Orlando, Florida) that would have some of the top agents, agencies, casting directors, music producers, record companies, and businesses in the entertainment industry in the categories of Acting, Singing, Dancing and Modeling.
Daughter was selected to participate at this event and couldn't wait to attend! I was so excited for her, not only because I knew how much this meant to her, but because it would be so much less expensive and with greater exposure to MANY people all at once. Flying to NY and hitting the streets, with no personal contact information, not knowing which agencies to approach or which agents worked well with children, would have been VERY difficult, if not impossible, and VERY expensive!!!! And that is going to only one market. There was still the LA, Chicago and several other markets that Daughter also wanted to visit.
Daughter and I spent the next 5 months attending workshops and preparing her showcase entries in the areas of: Photography Modeling, Improv, Cold Read, Monologue, TV Commercial, and Singing.
Upon arriving at the Hotel where the event was going to be held, Daughter and I were blown away! I felt all of the excitement and energy from the other people in attendance and she was giddy with laughter and lots of smiles. She said it felt like her dreams were ACTUALLY coming true! And they were!!! In the next 24 hours she would be performing on a broadway size stage in front of about 50 VIP's from NY, LA, Chicago, Nashville, and Florida in addition to an audience of a couple thousand people. Attending this type of an event was PERFECT!!! It would be like one big performing arts and modeling buffet - a "one stop" shop for the talent to meet and be seen by lots of VIP's and a chance for the VIP's attending to see 300 or so individuals from ages 4 to 84 years old.
The experience turned out to be amazing! Just like we had hoped and anticipated. Daughter did extremely well, winning several awards - Overall Top Three Child Actor; Overall Top Three Child Singer; Second Place Improv - Child Division; Second Place Singing - Child Division; Top Five Child for TV Commercial. She was also invited to participate in the Talent Show on Friday night at the event as one of the singing performers.
Daughter also received six callbacks with VIP's that were interested in working with her. WOW! We were not prepared for that. I really just saw this event as an opportunity to see if Daughter might have what it takes to seriously continue down the path in performing arts. It turns out she did...but we as a family were not ready for that. It was definitely a nice reassurance that she should continue doing what she was doing until we were ready to pursue more opportunities away from home.
Then about 18 months ago, Son #2 (who was only 7 years old at the time) informed me that he also wanted to start performing - singing and acting on stage. He had been taking acting classes and workshops since he was 5 years old, but now he wanted more. And he STILL wanted to play football, soccer, and basketball. Yikes! Oh, and he also wanted to take Dance, too. And if I could still squeeze in his piano lessons (after taking them for two years) - he told me "that would be just great, mom." NOT!!! Too many activities to choose from, four very busy children, and only one mom. I appreciate that my children love sports AND the performing arts, but choices were going to need to be made. It is usually the choice of either a sport or a play - but not both. (In VERY rare cases have I allowed that...if the child making the request has siblings that are not involved in a lot of their own activities at the same time, they can "use" their sibling's activity time slots.)
During the last 12 months, Son #2 has performed in 4 plays and is currently in his 5th one this summer. He plays the part of a son in "Fiddler on the Roof." Due to his enjoyment of being on stage, Son #2 announced last Fall he was interested in attending The ARTS Event like his big sister did two years ago, this summer. And when my Daughter heard her brother's request, she then announced that she too, wanted to attend The ARTS again, ESPECIALLY if her brother was going.
So guess what??? I am going to attend The ARTS Showcase Event again - in sunny Orlando, Florida - with Daughter (for a second time) and Son #2. Daughter will be performing and competing in 10 events this time - Singing, Dancing, Cold Read, Improv, TV Commercial, Monologue, Creative Runway Modeling, Photography Modeling, Fashion Modeling, and Swimsuit Modeling. Son #2 will be performing and competing in 9 events - all the same ones as his sister EXCEPT Improv. (A person has to be at least 10 years old to perform in that category.)
Son #2 and Daughter are very excited to attend The ARTS and have been working REALLY hard for the last 6 months memorizing TV commercials, memorizing their Monologues (Daughter wrote her own - SO FUNNY! And Son #2 is performing an excerpt from "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" - THE CHEESE TOUCH); choreographing their own dances; and perfecting their singing performances.
I am SO VERY PROUD of both of them! I pray that they do great, and hopefully have a lot of fun while they are performing. And if God feels that this is their time, and one or both children are given the opportunity to be a part of the entertainment and/or modeling industry after attending this event, I believe that we are finally ready to take the chance and see where it leads them and our family.
DREAM BIG - Daughter and Son #2!!!!
Daughter was selected to participate at this event and couldn't wait to attend! I was so excited for her, not only because I knew how much this meant to her, but because it would be so much less expensive and with greater exposure to MANY people all at once. Flying to NY and hitting the streets, with no personal contact information, not knowing which agencies to approach or which agents worked well with children, would have been VERY difficult, if not impossible, and VERY expensive!!!! And that is going to only one market. There was still the LA, Chicago and several other markets that Daughter also wanted to visit.
Daughter and I spent the next 5 months attending workshops and preparing her showcase entries in the areas of: Photography Modeling, Improv, Cold Read, Monologue, TV Commercial, and Singing.
Upon arriving at the Hotel where the event was going to be held, Daughter and I were blown away! I felt all of the excitement and energy from the other people in attendance and she was giddy with laughter and lots of smiles. She said it felt like her dreams were ACTUALLY coming true! And they were!!! In the next 24 hours she would be performing on a broadway size stage in front of about 50 VIP's from NY, LA, Chicago, Nashville, and Florida in addition to an audience of a couple thousand people. Attending this type of an event was PERFECT!!! It would be like one big performing arts and modeling buffet - a "one stop" shop for the talent to meet and be seen by lots of VIP's and a chance for the VIP's attending to see 300 or so individuals from ages 4 to 84 years old.
The experience turned out to be amazing! Just like we had hoped and anticipated. Daughter did extremely well, winning several awards - Overall Top Three Child Actor; Overall Top Three Child Singer; Second Place Improv - Child Division; Second Place Singing - Child Division; Top Five Child for TV Commercial. She was also invited to participate in the Talent Show on Friday night at the event as one of the singing performers.
Daughter also received six callbacks with VIP's that were interested in working with her. WOW! We were not prepared for that. I really just saw this event as an opportunity to see if Daughter might have what it takes to seriously continue down the path in performing arts. It turns out she did...but we as a family were not ready for that. It was definitely a nice reassurance that she should continue doing what she was doing until we were ready to pursue more opportunities away from home.
Then about 18 months ago, Son #2 (who was only 7 years old at the time) informed me that he also wanted to start performing - singing and acting on stage. He had been taking acting classes and workshops since he was 5 years old, but now he wanted more. And he STILL wanted to play football, soccer, and basketball. Yikes! Oh, and he also wanted to take Dance, too. And if I could still squeeze in his piano lessons (after taking them for two years) - he told me "that would be just great, mom." NOT!!! Too many activities to choose from, four very busy children, and only one mom. I appreciate that my children love sports AND the performing arts, but choices were going to need to be made. It is usually the choice of either a sport or a play - but not both. (In VERY rare cases have I allowed that...if the child making the request has siblings that are not involved in a lot of their own activities at the same time, they can "use" their sibling's activity time slots.)
During the last 12 months, Son #2 has performed in 4 plays and is currently in his 5th one this summer. He plays the part of a son in "Fiddler on the Roof." Due to his enjoyment of being on stage, Son #2 announced last Fall he was interested in attending The ARTS Event like his big sister did two years ago, this summer. And when my Daughter heard her brother's request, she then announced that she too, wanted to attend The ARTS again, ESPECIALLY if her brother was going.
So guess what??? I am going to attend The ARTS Showcase Event again - in sunny Orlando, Florida - with Daughter (for a second time) and Son #2. Daughter will be performing and competing in 10 events this time - Singing, Dancing, Cold Read, Improv, TV Commercial, Monologue, Creative Runway Modeling, Photography Modeling, Fashion Modeling, and Swimsuit Modeling. Son #2 will be performing and competing in 9 events - all the same ones as his sister EXCEPT Improv. (A person has to be at least 10 years old to perform in that category.)
Son #2 and Daughter are very excited to attend The ARTS and have been working REALLY hard for the last 6 months memorizing TV commercials, memorizing their Monologues (Daughter wrote her own - SO FUNNY! And Son #2 is performing an excerpt from "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" - THE CHEESE TOUCH); choreographing their own dances; and perfecting their singing performances.
I am SO VERY PROUD of both of them! I pray that they do great, and hopefully have a lot of fun while they are performing. And if God feels that this is their time, and one or both children are given the opportunity to be a part of the entertainment and/or modeling industry after attending this event, I believe that we are finally ready to take the chance and see where it leads them and our family.
DREAM BIG - Daughter and Son #2!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment