On Thanksgiving morning I got up at 5:00 a.m. and caught a cab to the New Yorker Hotel, where the Special Characters and Clowns (creepy) were to get dressed. I, along with my fellow Founding Fathers, Raul and Daniel, got dressed in the bottom half of our costumes, and boarded a bus with a bunch of other special characters and clowns (creepy) and headed uptown to join our parade line at 81st street between Columbus and Central Park West. 
Daniel, aka Benjamin Franklin, is in front.
Raul, aka George Washington, is in back.We arrived at 81st around 7:45 a.m. It was an overcast morning, and at that point the temps were in the 30's. The Weather Channel had predicted snow, but forunately we saw nary a flurry. Our balloon techs were there working on our balloon heads. 
Here you can see Benjamin's head on the left, and my head on the right.
At about 8:00 a.m. they got us suited up in our gear...full metal framework worn as a backpack, and six foot balloon head on top. The hardest part was, then we had to stand around for an hour and a half until we actually joined the parade. The parade started at 9:00 a.m. We didn't actually start walking until 9:30-ish. 
Here I am in my Thomas Jefferson get-up. You can see the pants and shoes of my costume, as well as the backpack to which the balloon head is attached. The overcoat attached to the metal frame above my head at the base of the head. My arms went through the arms of the coat so I could wave at the crowd.
Let me just say, this costume was exceedingly uncomfortable to the point of painful. I had bruises along my collarbones and across my shoulder blades from the harness. The weather was actually perfect for the parade...chilly, but sunny. The real struggle was the wind gusts. There were moments when I was truly afraid. The wind would gust so hard I would be thrown around, often to the point of being thrown off my feet with no way to catch myself in this huge costume. Columbus Circle was the moment of absolute terror. With the wind swirling around the circle, all three of us were spun around, and were actually screaming at the people who were supposed to be helping us to come save us. There were definitely some dicey moments.
We walked all three miles of the parade, from 81st and Columbus to 34th and 7th Ave. If you were watching the parade on NBC, my big ol' noggin was on TV right after Aaron Neville sang his heart moving rendition of Deck the Halls on the Postal Service float.
But overall is was a really fun experience! A once in a lifetime experience...and when I say once, I mean ONCE. I would absolutely do the parade again, just don't call me to be a balloon head. I'm afraid I'll have to opt out. No clowns either...did I mention, creepy.
This is Kevin and TJ...this is actually the CBS broadcast in Times Square. You can even see my little hand at the bottom of the screen waving.
Isn't that sweet?
So, word is getting around that I am going to be the esteemed Thomas Jefferson in the parade on Thursday. In fact, at church on Sunday there was a group of people talking about it backstage. The conversation (as relayed to me by my worship pastor) went something like this:
JH (the assistant worship Pastor): We have a bunch of our actors in the Macy's Parade.
Nelson (the teaching Pastor): Really? Like who.
JH: Well, Tracey Clem is going to be in it.
Nelson: What's she doing?
JH: She's going to be George Jefferson.
Nelson: (pause) She's going to be who?
JH: (with all seriousness) George Jefferson!
Later that morning, a similar conversation took place between Nelson and Jason, the aforementioned Worship Pastor. Jason mentioned that I was going to be in the parade, and Nelson said, "Now, who is she going to be?" Jason said, correctly, "Thomas Jefferson." Nelson said he spent all morning trying to figure out how a tall, blond, white girl got cast as George Jefferson.
So, in case anyone out there is confused (because, obviously, it can happen), I have created a cheat sheet for the Parade. Please feel free to print this out and carry it with you on Thursday.
This is THOMAS Jefferson
This is GEORGE Jefferson
Any questions?
Get this...I have been hired by Macy's, the world's largest department store, to be a Special Character in the Thanksgiving Day Parade!
I good friend of mine from church, Misti, is a singing Christmas Tree in Santaland at Macy's during the holidays. Last Thursday we were at an audition together and she said, "you wouldn't be interested in being in the parade, would you?" I said, "uh...yeah!" She said they were looking for some actors to be some of the special characters in the parade. She immediately called the casting director, Wesley, who hired me on the spot.
So, last Saturday I, along with the other actors, met with Wesley at Macy's and he piled us all on a bus and sent us across the river to Jersey to their parade warehouse. This is where all Macy's floats go to die. You can see floats from years past all dismantled and stacked in this huge airplane hanger. There are also huge rooms full of costumes...every costume worn during the parade.
Is the suspense killing you? Are you dying to know what I am? Drumroll please...I am Thomas Jefferson. Not only am I Thomas Jefferson, I am basically a 15 foot tall walking float. Seriously. I am considered a float all unto myself. There are three Founding Fathers...me, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. My costume includes this enormous backpack that looks like a hiker's backpack. You know, the big ones with the aluminum framework. Well, that's what this is like. There is a big lumbar support belt, shoulder straps, and the framework extends above my head by about a foot and a half. I am wearing these enormous padded pants, and then the Colonial style coat attaches to the top of the aluminum frame. Then, get this, my head is an enormous, 6-foot tall balloon! They inflate it with helium and then lash it to my frame. No kidding...I am a float. I have two balloon handlers...dressed as Betsy Ross. I will be walking the entire parade route on Thanksgiving day, including past the cameras in front of Macy's. So, all of you parade fans - look for Jefferson...it'll be me!! I'll try to post pictures next week.
Sorry it's taken so long for an update...I'm even getting heckled by my friends (thanks A.S.)! I"ll try and be a little more timely. Hope everyone is having a great week!
So, I went to an audition last week for Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. It was my first venture into the world of Equity auditions...not being an Equity member, myself. It was in the Actor's Equity Building in Times Square, which is highly intimidating. They have a lounge specifically for Equity members, and then this hallway with benches for us plebian non-Eq actors. From what I understand, the luxurious Equity lounge has a few more benches and some carpet.
I signed up on the non-Equity list, number 60, and took my spot on the bench to wait. About 15 minutes later the monitor came out to give us an update. Ok, the monitor is basically the person who acts as the go-between for the auditioners and the people doing the casting. He or she controls the sign-up list, organizes the actors, and runs all the admin stuff. This guy came out to the hallway (Kevin would call it "steerage"), to let us know that there were about 120 Equity sign-ups that they had to get through before they would even touch the non-Eq list. He said they were getting through about 40 people an hour...which means it would be 3 hours before they even looked at our list. He said it was still possible, but wanted us to have a realistic picture of our chances of being seen. We all settled in for the wait.
About 20 minutes later Monitor Man came back out with another shot of reality. He explained that there was no way they were going to get to us at all. This is a reality you have to be prepared for at any Equity audition you attend as a non-member. He also explained that this particular audition was a required replenishment chorus call. You see, shows under certain contracts with the union (which include most if not all Broadway shows), are required to hold these replenishment auditions every 6 months. They may not have any open spots, but they have to hold these auditions and then file the headshots and resumes they receive. He told us that they have been holding these auditions every 6 months since the show opened...11 years ago! So let's say they have 120 people at every audition...and at this point have had 22 rounds of replenishment auditions...this is a file of well over 2500 people! Hmmm...
Needless to say, we all left. He did say that if we believed we were really right for this show, to forward our headshot and resume to the casting director. So there you go...my first Equity experience. I can hardly call it an audition...but it was definitely a valuable experience.
