Have you ever passed on something only to regret it later? Have you ever turned down a tempting offer and still believe it to be the right decision?

-- Michael (dreamboi81@yahoo.com), November 18, 2000

Answers

Joey and I didn't start out as the fabulous friends we are now. No, we started with me liking him and he being "straight." By the time he came out last year, I felt a really tight bond with him as someone who I'd like as a very close friend while HE decided then that HE liked ME! In the end, we decided that our friendship was more important than anything else. We've had our opportunities to, um, consumate the friendship, if we so wanted to, but to this day we've kept our friendship plantonic and fabulous. I don't think we'd be as close as we are now had we hooked up in the beginning.

-- Michael (dreamboi81@yahoo.com), November 18, 2000.

well, @ all eastern (you remember, the year of king & i) there was a unisex solo in an arrangment of "god bless america." it was gospel style, and of course, i said no way. well, the girl who got it was the sop II puerto rican section leader from jersey, who i think, actually wasn't that fabulous. i easily could have done the solo, but i didn't even bother to audition. that is the only thing, to this day, that i really really regret not doing. cuz damnit, i quite possibly could have sung solo @ carnegie hall, but i didn't even try. durr!!!!

-- keiko (mme_butterfly_00@hotmail.com), November 18, 2000.

Hmm. The very first thing that comes to mind is from my last show, The Rocky Horror Show. During auditions, it was made pretty clear to me that I was being considered for Columbia, a part I had no interest for. I wanted Magenta so bad I could taste it, so I passed on a lot of chances to sing or read for Columbia, even after it was being made more and more clear to me that's what they were considering me for.

Long story short, I blew off the dance audition by not taking it seriously and ended up with a chorus role. Bleh.

I say confront the director, ask her what the rehearsal schedule would be like [give her some bullshit reason, like you *have* to go home for part of the break] and think it over to see if you still want to do it.

But if there's a choice between good parts in small shows and scenery parts (yes, I've had my share of those, too) in big shows, I'll take the small ones anyday. You come out of it feeling so much better about yourself and when you're in as competitive an atmosphere, that's a feeling you can't belittle.

Good luck!

-- Delirium (Delirium@unscene.com), November 22, 2000.