It's Showtime at the Apollo!

On Wednesday, August 18th, 2010, I had one heck of an experience, and that adventure was: Amateur Night at Showtime at the Apollo!

I had auditioned for Amateur Night back in April, and I wasn't picked at the initial open call. I did get a lot of air time on NY1 that day (since I was the first person in line, lining up at 930pm on Saturday night, when the auditions started at 10am on Sunday). I was called a couple of weeks later, and I got a spot!

Feeling like I was chosen as a "gag," I knew that I had to promote the hell out of myself and my act before the show. I sent out invites, and the response was overwhelming! I had no idea that my friends thought that it was so cool that I was given the opportunity to perform at the world-famous Apollo Theater. I could NOT let them down.

I had reserved 45 seats for my performance. I had friends and family coming, people from high school that I hadn't seen in 12+ years, college friends, old work buddies from Disney, my infomercial peeps, old actor friends, new actor friends...it was unbelievable!

The day started out with sound check at 330pm. We got to work on our songs with the famous Ray Chew and the Crew, AKA the House Band. It was pretty surreal, being on that stage that legends like Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross, James Brown, and others have performed on. Pretty cool!

The show started a little before 7pm to get the audience pumped, and boy, were they pumped! I wished that I was out there enjoying the show!

The Stars of Tomorrow, AKA the kids, went on first. There are no boo-ing allowed for children. Even though Lauren Hill was boo-ed when she was on as a kid, they've changed the rules, so kids aren't forever traumatized. An adorable kid named D'Andre Lee, who had some AWESOME moves, was the winner. The kid was small, but boy, could he dance!

Then it was the adults' turn. The host, Capone, had told the audience about the rules, and since this is the Apollo, they can boo all they want for people who they don't like (or who aren't their friends). Basically, you could be amazing, but if you don't have a good amount of people in the audience, you could get boo-ed off the stage.

I was the third one up, and the first two acts were boo-ed. Pretty crazy, cuz they were good! It was the moment, and I had to go up. I took a BIG risk, because 1) I sang a non-R&B song, 2) I played ukulele. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!? Well, I had performed that for my audition in April, and that's what they wanted me to perform.

I started off my song a capella, per the advice of the amazing Marina Kamen (who has also performed at the Apoll0). The boo-ing already started, and I had to fight through it. Fortunately, my friends and family are AMAZING! Some of them lost their voices the next day because they screamed so loud for me! I sang through my song with confidence, and in triumph when I was able to finish it without getting "executed" off the stage. That showed them! I didn't care about winning, just being able to finish my song. I already felt like a winner.

Then we all lined up for the judging. I didn't care about winning, just being on that stage was good enough for me. Capone went down the line, one by one, and they kept the 3 acts with the most applause. I was one of them. I was shocked!

Ok, time to judge the final three. At this point, we were ALL winners, and we were going on to the next round, the Show-off round. Capone then went down the line, and based on the audience, they announced the winner, and that was Morgan Karr. He was on Broadway in Spring Awakening, and a super nice guy. We got to chat over a Subway sandwich after sound check, and he's a pretty cool! He's definitely a rising star, and if you haven't heard of him, you will! Then, it was down to the last two, me and this R&B group, Main Girl. Once again, Capone had the audience scream for who they wanted. 2nd Place, Main Girl, 3rd Place, moi! This definitely exceeded my expectations, and I mean, how many people can say that they were a WINNER at Amateur Night at the APOLLO?!?

I went on to perform at the Show-off round on September 29th, along with other winners. Result: Execution. I didn't have many friends there, and the infamous "Bus Groups" were there that night, the people who take pleasure in boo-ing off the talents. Even some AMAZING acts were boo-ed! But then again, that's what makes it the Apollo.

Still, I got to perform at the Apollo Theater!!! I have to send out a HUGE THANK YOU to my friends and family for their support. I couldn't have gotten as far as I did without them. That was definitely an experience that I'll never forget!