Jeremy Jordan and How I Can't Believe He's From Corpus

     The Tony awards are only a week away and Mr. Jeremy Jordan is nominated for best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical. Jordan stars in the musical, Newsies. Newsies is based on the actual Newsboys Strike of 1899.
     I had never heard of this new show and when I first heard about it, all I heard were two words; Jeremy Jordan. I live in Corpus Christi, Texas and apparently so did he. "That's cool." I thought and blew it off.
     Later one of my friends told me about someting that happened in choir that day. Ms. Byus (yes, like High School Musical but I'm 100% serious), the choir director, was telling the class about Jordan. "  He is nominated for a Tony this year and we all should be very proud of him not only because he is a Corpus Christi native, but he also went here to Baker." I had never heard this before! This guy could win a Tony and I'm walking the same halls as him?! At this, everyone started talking so Ms. Byus had to hush down the kids, "Yes, yes, kids. But I wasn't his choir teacher when he went here."
     "That's why he's gonna win the Tony!"retorted some kid in the back of the class. The whole class laughed but Ms. Byus was less than amused.
     So that night I went home and listened to the Newsies soundtrack on Spotify. It was really catchy and soon I was singing right along. I wanted to know more about Jordan and the whole show itself. In one interview he said "This is a huge responsibility. I remember being eight years old and seeing it in the theater. This movie means a lot to people in my generation." I was clueless. What movie was he talking about? It turns out that there is a movie of the same name that the musical was based on. I had never heard of it because it is a few years older than me; it's from 1992 to be exact.
     That weekend I was at Half Price Books and found an old VHS tape of it for one dollar. That's how you know it's old. What else can you buy for a dollar? When I was paying for it I made small talk with the cashier. "Hey I remember this movie! It was pretty good." I told him it was on Broadway now but he didn't really seem very interested. It wasn't until I mention Jeremy Jordan that it clicked for him. "Oh! That guy?! He went to Carroll. I remember now. A Tony, huh? Maybe we should be selling this for more than a buck..." Too late! I had bought it already.
     So I developed my opinion of the show through the 1992 movie, YouTube clips and other people's reviews. I love Newsies now and I wish I could play one but I am a painfully tall hispanic girl so I seriously doubt that will ever happen. The more I think about it, the cooler Jeremy Jordan seems. He came from my city. He probably ate a few Whataburgers, put up with our crap weather, and was frustrated with our miniscule theatre life down here (it pisses me off all the time). He was one of us but is now a star. As I type this it's hitting me; what if I know a future Tony winner...BAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! Yeah right! A city like Corpus Christi can only produce one person like Jeremy Jordan.

Being a Future Texan and How High School Snuck Up On Me

W. B. Ray High School

     Ever since the first day of school this year, my teachers have been telling us "You'd better start getting ready for high school. They aren't going to take the crap we put up with!". Of course that's what I heard going into middle school too. It doesn't scare me. Really it doesn't even apply to me, I'm not the kind of kid that gives crap to teachers. I make straight A's, have plenty of friends, and I even do extracurricular activities (okay, just theatre).
     So I really had no fear of high school. I figured I would follow the gifted and talented program that I've been in for eight years now and just go to the gifted and talented high school, Ray High School. This sounded like a great plan. Most of my friends we going to go there, Ray has a great theatre company, and I would continue with the IB (International Baccalaureate) program. I would live happily ever after. Until my mother started doing her research. What she found was Collegiate High School (CHS). This school is located at my local community college and at the end of my Senior year I would be getting a high school diploma and an associates degree.
     So I applied after much "encouragement" from my mother and brainwashed father. I actually tried too. Don't think I bombed that application just because I didn't want to go. I actually did my best because I can't shoot down an opportunity like that so easily. Of course I wasn't as excited as my mother, who had so much faith in what I submitted, figured that I would automatically get acceptance. Because I wasn't instantly ecstatic she figured that I didn't want to go to CHS. Like I said before, I would've liked to go to Ray but if I had gotten acceptance, I would've gone to CHS without (much) complaint.
     "High school is about your education, not your friends. I know your friends are going to Ray but you could do so well at CHS!" she said daily. After months of hearing the same lecture from my parents over and over again, I exploded. My mother and I were in the car on our way to rehearsal one night. I explained to her that I have friends going to Ray. I have friends going to and already at CHS. If I were following my friends I would have to go to Carroll, King, Moody, A.C. Jones, Ray and CHS.
     That kept her quiet for a few weeks. This past Friday was the deadline for us to get our letter from CHS. Quentin and Jonathan were friends of mine that applied and they both got letters saying that they were wanted for interviews. I got nothing. Days passed and still nothing. Mom became uneasy and I became confused. Tuesday was a meeting at Ray for future incoming freshmen and as my mother and I were about to leave I got a weird urge to check the mail. It was fate.
     In my hands with bills, junk letters and free promo crap was my CHS letter. I let my mom open it, I so didn't need to see what it said. But as she read it, her face fell. I took the letter from her and read it for myself. It turns out that I'm "not eligible" for CHS, whatever that means. Of course my mother was pissed, my dad was cool with it because I still had the great IB program at Ray and me? Well I was cool with going to Ray too.
     So that night at the Ray meeting I couldn't help looking around that huge campus and thinking "Woah, I'm going to come here for the next four years of my life?"

The Big New York Writer Author Dude



Timothy McDonald (courtesy of Google)

     So today the cast of The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley cast had three performances. We had been looking forward to today for a couple months because of our special guest. Our director, Jacob, invited founder of iTheatrics and Music Theatre International (MTI), Timothy McDonald to come check us out.
     Our director made sure everything was perfect. The night before we had a rehearsal (we hadn't had one in a while because we had been performing already for weeks) and we went over our harmonies. This morning my whole Twitter feed was filled with tweets about Mr. McDonald coming ( #RockHisSocks ), and motivational stuff like that. Like we needed motivation! Him coming was motivation alone.
    So he flew in from New York that morning and caught our early show. We saw him as we did our meet and greet with the elementary school kids. He was pretty nice, from what I saw at least. I didn't talk to him but he talked to parts of the cast. He also wore cool Tom's. I'm pretty sure a guy with Tom's like that couldn't possibly be that bad.
     So soon we went back into our dressing rooms and began to prepare for the next show. Belle, our stage manager, came into ours and asked what we thought of the "Big New York Writer Author Dude". The younger girls giggled at Belle's new nickname for the usually respected writer.
     We did the next show, our meet and greet, and then, while still in costume mind you, went to go sit in the first two rows of the empty house. Mr. McDonald stood on the stage and commended us on our performances. We all wore smiles too big for our faces and Jacob shined with pride. I sat in the front row near the center (and in perfect view of those Tom's). I was seated next to Cris when McDonald complimented him and let me tell you, I thought I was bad when Taylor Lautner rips his shirt off in the Twilight Saga but Cris was ten times that. He (and I could tell) tried hard to hide it, but on the inside he was freaking out.
     McDonald also mentioned half a line of music from the show and the whole cast finished it for him. He responded with "I wrote it. I don't have to remember it." and we all laughed. The real funny part was when he complemented Belle on her stage managing skills. Belle blushed and we all looked at her thinking "Mhhhmmm...Is he still the Big New York Writer Author Dude, Belle?". After he mentioned working on James and the Giant Peach and we all ooooh-ed and ahhhh-ed at the mere idea. Needless to say we were all bummed to see him go.
     Belle ushered (more like herded) us into the dressing room and we asked her, "So did you like the Big New York Writer Author Dude?" and she responded with "Yes, Mr. McDonald was a very pleasant man." Okay, I see how it is Belle, a little sweet talk and suddenly he's a "very pleasant man".    

Growing Up South Texas

driving downtown during spring break

     I was born in San Antonio, Texas because my father was in the army and he got stationed there. I was even born on an air force base. But when I turned three my mother and I moved two hours south to Corpus Christi. Both of my parents were originally from here so they thought it was best.
     So I have lived here most of my life. When most people who don't live here think of Corpus Christi they think of summer. We are a city right on the beach and a tourist hot spot. During spring break, it is a fact that more people come vacation here than live in Rhode Island. So we have lots of surfers, beach goes and most people are perfectly tanned.
     We are also in south Texas so we have a large Hispanic population. I am of Mexican descent and my family speaks Spanish, cooks traditional dishes, some even take ballet folklorico lessons.
     Of course being in Texas. we also have those stereotypical western cowboys. They wear jeans, boots, cowboy hats and go to rodeos. Now, I'm not going to lie. I do have multiple pairs of Wranglers, I own Justin's, have worn a Stetson or two and yes have been to a rodeo. My own cousins were competing in those rodeos in fact. To be honest my favorite genre of music is country.
   Then of course we have the typical mainstream American stuff. Your average Joe's.
     Corpus Christi has some cool things about it like:

• declared the nations "birdiest city" for nine consecutive years, I guess we have a lot of birds 
• has the fifth largest port
• hosts the U.S. Open Windsurfing and Kiteboarding Regatta
• home to late Tejano singing star and legend, Selena
• Actress Farrah Fawcett was born in Corpus Christi and graduated from W.B. Ray High School
• The average high temperature in July and August is 93 degrees (it's Texas after all..)

     So as you can see where I live is a really fun and unique place to live. I'm glad I get to grow up where I am. Sure there are some bad sides like:

• being dubbed the fattest city in the nation
• we barely get any rain
• it's snows only 5 inches every 20 years
• it is windy every single day so good luck having nice hair
• some sides are so ghetto I refuse to even attempt to describe it because there is enough for a whole other post

     But these these things I deal with have taught me something or another. Growing up South Texas is a nice life.