Hey Ya'll I am sorry it has taken me a long minute to get back on! I have about of week of down time left before I head back out on the road to Los Angeles, California for the taping of Mo'Nique's Fat Chance 2006!!! But before I get to that I want to tell you about the rest of the casting cities....
Like I said, Miami, was The bomb! It was a different, sort of colorful, exotic energy about the ladies from that city. There were sisters there from Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and everyone had their own special flavor, The ladies greeted me with much love....it was awesome! It really was!
The only downer for me in Miami was that I either lost my phone or it was stolen (I can't really say for sure WHAT happened) but it was a brand new Razr and I LOVED THAT FRIGGIN' PHONE!!!!! but more on my phone later....anyway, we left Miami, immediately after the last interview and we all packed our things and headed to the airport. Once again, (As I did for MFC 2005) I have GROSSLY overpacked....I have these two HUGE bags with me but in spite of it all....the very thought of even remotely traveling with a celebrity is very exciting for me and I am like a kid waiting for Santa to arrive!!!
Well we arrive in Baltimore, after Midnight and the entire entourage is exhausted. We collect our things from baggage and pick up our cars to head to our hotel. We are staying at the same hotel that the Baltimore casting is being held in....The Best Westin at The Baltimore Travel plaza (The sight of the Travel Plaza dregdges up all sort of memories for me that I won't go into at this point...lol). We all get checked in and everyone heads sleepily towards their rooms. We have a site check in the morning...to check out the layout of the rooms and to see how the interviews should go. Everyone is up at 10am and in the ballrooms to check the site and layout how the day is supposed to flow. Everyone is excited because Mo'Nique is a Baltimore native and the city is abuzz with the news of their homegirl coming home to visit. We have the remainder of the day off and I decide to have dinner with Toshia & Sherri, two of the producers on the show. Toshia and Sherri are funny and I love hanging with them....Toshia is a little bundle of energy and Sherri cracks me up with the expressions that she makes to some of Toshia's comments. Anyway, we wind up eating at the harbor at a place call Mo's, the food is pretty good but if I see another crabcake I will scream!!!! After we leave the restaurant we head back to the hotel and turn in for the night. I notice when we return the hotel is just buzzing with energy...apparently Mo' was on the radio earlier and announced where the casting was being held....which resulted in the hotel selling out all of their rooms....sista's were rolling up on buses and cars with luggage in tow! It was truly a beautiful sight to see...
Well, if I thought the turnout for Miami was great...baby you had to SEE them in Baltimore!!! I swear that it looked like ALL of Baltimore and the DC area showed up to welcome home their favorite daughter! I saw a WHOLE LOT of familiar faces from Baltimore and Washington DC...so I KNEW the girls were going to "cut up" in their interviews and trust me....They didn't disappoint. On the first day of casting Mo'Nique entered the ballroom to speak to the crowd and the place went nuts!!!! She spoke movingly to the crowed with tears streaming down her face...and proclaimed that we were going to take over the world!!!! After listening to some of the most heartbreaking stories ever...to watch her in action and see how she is giving folks hope...it's a learning experience I could never pay for. I feel blessed to have even be chosen to take a part in what is going to be a phenomenal movement...Trust me.
Baltimore's finest came out and made it very hard for us to narrow down the call backs for the next day....finally the remaining finalists going on to the interview round with me and Mo'Nique...got their bracelets and went home to prepare to meet Mo'.
It's a funny thing to watch people....Because I am usually there when the ladies arrive and I have coffee and chat with them....I watch folks talk a whole bunch of stuff about what they are going to say and do when it's there turn....and then I watch them get in front of her and be rendered unable to speak. It's very cute.
Anyway...we have wrapped up Baltimore and it's on to Seattle, Washington.
1 comment:
Sharon,
Thanks for a look at what goes on behind the scenes. I had tried to get a room at the hotel for the Baltimore auditons but it was SOLD OUT. But that's okay.
I ended up going to the New York auditions. Yeah, it is an emotional place to be because there aren't many places where PHAT ladies can go and find acceptance also be in the presence of so many at the same time. Thanks so much to Mo'nique.
The experience for me was so emotional and uplifting and the pep talks etc, that I'll keep going every year just to experience that kind of rare atmosphere.
There's certainly a hunger for more events for PHAT ladies. I can't wait to see this year's show.
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