“How Do You Measure a Year in a Life? How About Love….”

“It’s time now, to sing out though the story never ends.  Let’s celebrate, remember a year in the life of friends!  Remember the love!” 

I still can’t believe it’s been a year since auditions for RENT took place!  It’s our RENT anniversary!  This show means such a great deal to me.  I talk about the show and the experience all the time and it seems like we reminisce every chance we get.  Every time I think about it, the memories come flooding in and I can’t help but grin.  The passion that went into it; the smiles, laughter, and tears;  the camaraderie and sense of “family” of the cast; the beautiful, supportive friendships that blossomed from the show truly deliver the message of love and living for today – all of which inspired me to name my blog, No Day But Today.

I hadn’t been in a show in so long.  The last one was Hedwig & the Angry Inch where I played Yitzhak back in 2010.  I remember the auditions at Muse Warehouse as if it was yesterday.   I remember the nervous jitters and the search for a familiar face, rehearsing over and over the audition choreography with strangers that unknowingly would become my RENT family for the next few months (Tyrone and Sam), walking into the room preparing to sing my audition piece and meeting the director, JinHi, and musical director, Warren, for the first time.  When my auditions were over and I walked out the door, I was a wound up ball of nerves.  My drive home consisted of second guessing myself, replaying the audition in my head, and anxiety – waiting for the phone call to see if I would be called back.  I also remember that phone call distinctly.  The day after auditions, I was running with Michael around Lake Mayer when my phone rang with an unknown number.  I quickly answered and it was Erin telling me I was called back for the roles of Maureen and Mimi.  I was so happy!  My running turned into happy skips around the park!  However, I wasn’t prepared for call backs.  It was grueling – probably because I wasn’t very familiar with the music so I was learning a good bit of it on the spot – oh…and maybe it was because I was nervous as HELL!  Like I said, it’d been a while since I auditioned for a show!  I was competing with over 10 other Mimis and Maureens.  Afterwards, I remember calling Michael and my mother-in-law to tell them that I gave it my best, but I wasn’t too confident.  So when I got Erin’s phone call after 11 that night to accept the role of Mimi, I was more than ecstatic!!

RENT ignited my passion for theatre.  Since then, I’ve auditioned and been cast in other Bay Street Theatre shows such as Avenue Q, Rocky Horror Live, Reindeer Monologues, and am currently in the musical, Reefer Madness.  I still meet up with some of the RENT cast weekly and our friendships have just flourished.  Our FB group page still remains active 🙂  I cherish my RENT family and will never, ever forget the experience.  I miss it so, so much and am so thankful for the memories!

JinHi really sums it up beautifully with this message she posted on FB, “Okay, This is our anniversary of the auditions of last May’s production of RENT at Baystreet Theatre. The Bay Street Theatre, Kimmi Sampieri, and Muse Arts Warehouse joined together to make a dream production come to life. Many of what would become the cast and crew met for the first time at auditions, and we have seen each other every week since. By cast, press, and audience members alike, it was a very special show.  There here has been continued support in our own separate projects, joining of beautiful forces in a year’s worth of joint projects, Cast members and crew that have moved to new towns, started new paths for their careers, gotten engaged, bridges and mud pits run, songs sung together, whiskey and pickle juice, a tropical storm, weekly lunches, and a very scary illnesses battled. HOW DO YOU MEASURE A YEAR IN A LIFE? HOW ABOUT LOVE? Forever grateful to my RENT FAMILY. ***I’ve received so much more than one thousand kisses.