“One hundred twenty-six!” called the member of the MTYP staff, “One twenty six, it is your turn to wait in line.” Finally! I thought, I’ve been waiting for an hour and forty-five minutes! Excitedly, I stood up and power-walked over to the folding chair designated for waiting in line. It had been a long time.


I arrived at the MTYP building at seven o’clock (on time) and discovered that because there were so many people waiting in line, it was going to be a while. After filling out the many forms and attaching my resume, I exchanged the stack of papers for a number. As number 55 walked out of the audition room, I received a nametag with 126 written upon it.


After I plopped down in the first of ten spots in line before the audition, the pressure began to creep in; not extreme yet, but lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike. As I progressed through the line, I had to convince myself to chill out. Okay Nathan, you know three out of four of the people that you are going to sing for, so you don’t need to freak out. Now pull yourself together and warm up! I concurred with my sane self and began running through basic vocal warm-ups as I approached the “hotseat.”


When 125 departed from the audition room and the time had come to enter the threshold of vocal trial, I slapped a smile on my face that would hopefully distract everyone from the deafening pounding of my heart. As I handed my music to the accompanist, Mike (the director) commented in a lifeless voice (auditions had been going for almost three and a half hours), “Okay Nathan, tell us your name and what you are singing.” I then launched into a rendition of “Scales and Arpeggios” from The Aristocats, my heart bouncing faster that the energizer bunny. After singing almost flawlessly, I left to pass the stage onto number 127.


The next day, I participated in the callbacks, and read for many different parts. After giving it my best shot, including singing for one role, I left for home. The day after, I decided that this would make an A+ personal narrative, albeit I did not know the ending. Following the drafting of the first half of “Auditioning for Oliver,” I found out that I was Mr. Bumble (a large role), so I had an excellent ending to type into computer 23.