A Long Day Filled with “GLEE”

By: Mary Grace Donaldson
Posted In: Opinion

Who says being a Gleek isn’t cool.

On Apr. 16, 2010, I was one of 200 people from ages 16-26 who showed up at the Emerald Square Mall in North Attleboro, Mass. for an open casting call for the hit show on Fox, “Glee.” I have been a faithful follower, a “Gleek,” of the show since it premiered last May. The show’s creator, Ryan Murphy, conceptualized a haven for performing arts misfits in the form of a glee club, the type of haven I craved during my own high school years as a performing arts misfit.

While I have many interests, performing is my first love, and to be cast on the show would have been a legitimate dream come true for me.

However, even if I was selected from the 200 or so “Glee” hopefuls, I would still have to face a round of elimination, and then shoot a video which WPRI, the local Fox affiliate in Providence, would send off to “Glee” casting directors to be compared with people in my age group from across the country.

Who cares if my chances were slim. I had nothing to lose by going.

When I arrived at Emerald Square, there was already a large group in a line leading up to a plain black stage set up in front of Macy’s Department Store. We stared at the enormous “Alvin and the Chipmunks” advertisement that hung over the level of the mall below us.

The wait was the most difficult part of the day; the casting call stated that only the first 250 people would get to audition.

The first wait ended with “Rhode Show” employees passing out registration numbers and forms, assuring us that we indeed had spots, not even audition numbers, just yet.

The rest of the day involved a lot of waiting, between waiting to register, to auditioning and hearing the top six winners announced. On the plus side, the wait actually flew by.

Auditions officially started at 3:45 p.m., and were introduced by “Rhode Show” co-host, Ben Hague. The stage was now decorated with red, gold and black balloons to resemble the school colors of the fictitious William McKinley High School featured on “Glee.” This was real now. This was actually happening, and there was no turning back.

While the tone throughout the area was excited and chatty, the tension was rising.

The truth is, we all made believe that we didn’t care who wound up in the top six. Who were we kidding. Of course we cared!

For an audition song, participants were required to select one song from a pre-approved list.The worst part of the audition was not so much the song part, but the fact that each person only had one minute to sing. Yes, the one-minute rule would make the auditions move faster, but what could one minute honestly show the judges?

Turns out, I was wrong. This group was extremely talented, and I loved having the opportunity to watch them perform. A few renditions of Josh Groban’s “You Raise Me Up” actually gave me goose bumps.

Performances of “Rehab” captured the full sultriness of Amy Winehouse’s voice.

My own nerves didn’t kick in until there was only one more person in front of me and I could see the stairs leading onto the stage. Most of my one minute of fame is now a blur. The only way to make it happen was to tune out and just exhort stage presence.

While I didn’t make the cut, the day was one of the best I’ve ever spent. The experience and the excitement surrounding the entire event was worth both the hour drive back and forth to Emerald Square and the insane amount of waiting around that I did.