{"id":3551,"date":"2023-02-27T11:49:20","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T17:49:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/angie-bailey.com\/?p=3551"},"modified":"2024-01-13T20:05:47","modified_gmt":"2024-01-14T02:05:47","slug":"books-neighbors-and-an-audition-at-the-mall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/angie-bailey.com\/blog\/essay\/books-neighbors-and-an-audition-at-the-mall\/","title":{"rendered":"Books, neighbors, and an audition at the mall"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I was ten years old, I was desperate to audition for a kids\u2019 variety show that was part of an afternoon cartoon program I watched in Atlanta. I think it was called The Good Time Gang<\/em>. I had no idea what my audition piece would be, but it was gonna be a real showstopper.<\/p>\n

At the time, my college-aged neighbor had been sharing her old books and plays with me and I voraciously read them front to back. Books were (and are) treasures. I felt rich! Consequently, this is how I became a proud owner of all the Garfield comic books and the entire Nancy Drew series.<\/p>\n

Inspired by one of my newly acquired plays, I decided on my audition piece. Mom drove me to Perimeter Mall, where the TV show was holding auditions. I registered and stood in line behind other kids who planned to wow the judges with mad baton twirling, dancing, and cheerleading skills. I stood quietly, holding a suitcase and a little footstool my grandpa made, awaiting my turn.<\/p>\n

Finally, I was up! I walked to the mall\u2019s makeshift stage, sat on my stool, and began young Frankie\u2019s monologue from Carson McCullers\u2019 The Member of the Wedding<\/em>. In it, she emotionally expressed that if she can\u2019t leave town with her newly married brother and his bride, she would \u201c\u2026 hop a train and go to New York. Or hitch rides to Hollywood \u2026\u201d Whatever the case, she was outta there. Frankie tried to sound fierce, but her heart was aching at the thought of losing her brother. When I finished my audition, I took a bow, grabbed my props, and left the \u201cstage.\u201d My dramatic monologue was a major departure from the giddy tap routines and trumpet solos, but I felt proud that I\u2019d committed to something that spoke to me and followed through to the audition.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t make the cut, but I smile when I think about little me in the middle of a mall in 1980, pouring my heart out to a panel of cartoon show judges. It was one of my first reminders that I could try something my soul desired, even if it was considered \u201cweird\u201d or unusual. Even if it was an overly dramatic monologue in a sea of baton twirlers. That experience made a huge impact on my young life. I\u2019m still feeling its effects today.<\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t thought of this memory in a long time, but this post took me back and gave me what I needed today. Thanks, Carson McCullers. Thanks to my generous neighbor Gwen. Thanks to my mom, who never questioned any of my passions. And thanks to every adult who passes along the joy of books to young people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I was ten years old, I was desperate to audition for a kids\u2019 variety show that was part of an afternoon cartoon program I watched in Atlanta. I think it was called The Good Time Gang. I had no idea what my audition piece would be, but it was gonna be a real showstopper. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/angie-bailey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3551"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/angie-bailey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/angie-bailey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/angie-bailey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/angie-bailey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3551"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/angie-bailey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3556,"href":"https:\/\/angie-bailey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3551\/revisions\/3556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/angie-bailey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/angie-bailey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/angie-bailey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/angie-bailey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}