Clarissa Moon - Page 5

In today's blog, I discuss THE ILLUSIONISTS at The Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando.

You've been preparing for this audition for weeks. Your monologue and 16 bars have been rehearsed to perfection; your headshot and resume impeccable. You feel as if the role is practically yours--all you have to do is walk into the audition room and take it. Then, right before your audition, the nerves hit. Your heart races. Your mind spins, thinking up all kinds of scenarios in which your audition can go terribly wrong. This hinders your performance. You leave frustrated and unsatisfied. 

I've lived in Orlando my entire life, and have always felt incredibly lucky because of it. I get to go to Disney and Universal pretty often. The theme parks are the reason I have a roof over my head and food to eat-my dad works full time at Universal. I am also lucky to be part of Orlando's incredible theatre community. I've been performing at various theatres around town since I was little. The people of the theatre community are my friends and family. 

In Orlando, the Fringe festival is kind of a big deal. It's a time when the theatre community comes together to perform, watch shows, network, eat from food trucks, and celebrate the arts. I saw three shows this weekend at the festival: On The Line, Burn Job, and Simpleton.

In every show, there is a force behind the scenes that is never acknowledged--and I don't mean techies. Some of us are lucky enough to have supportive moms, and it makes a world of difference. It's a thankless job, and sometimes even disrespected. I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you.  

A forest has sprung up in Winter Garden, FL as West Orange High School's production of Into the Woods approaches opening night. The fairy tale musical, written by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, is being presented April 29-30 and May 5-8.