There are many triumphs tonight:

• I actually went on a theater audition in NJ for the first time since 2004.
• I've been losing weight since March?I did not recognize myself in promo pics for the musical; instead, I saw a giant panda or a manatee), and lost 20 pounds in the past five weeks alone prepping for this audition (not thin enough to be a "stupid starving freak" but not so juicy they couldn't have me shirtless onstage without pasties on).
• I made a director, music director, and choreographer go "whoa!" over my vocal abilities (shout out to Seth Rudetsky for that wonderful series of deconstructing videos that reminded me in the past 24 hours all about proper vocal placement and creative use of vibrato for style and performance).
• I then got "WTF? BS" looks upon announcing my vocal range, then proved it by calling out the high and low of it and singing. Pianist checks, Robert shoots, he scores. God bless having almost perfect pitch.
• I then got laughs on a comedy song that is funny only when taken completely seriously, just like Bat Boy.
• Was the only person who did not previously work with the group to make it to choreography.
• Showed that not only can I move very well, I can breakdance, too (it was part of the routine, people, I didn't just start poppin and lockin).
• We did the choreography four times each to be observed by the choreographer; I was the only person either always asked to stay in the front line or called out in the first small group each time.
• All this without soiling myself, cursing, getting out of breath, or coming down with an awful case of exhaustion induced racist joke Tourettes.

Of course, I was also asked to leave literally 5 minutes before they were going to start callbacks. I will say the people standing outside seemed to all be called back for Edgar or Shelley (thin, young, impossibly beautiful, impossibly tall, thin, clearly tenors/mezzos judging by their audition books, thin), which probably means that the regulars left in the room (a perfect mother/father team, a big guy with a phenomenal tenor meant to play Mrs. Taylor/Rev, a younger punk rock guy with a growl that can put a chill in your heart (Rick), and two younger girls possibly playing Shelley or Ruthie).

I'm not going to count myself out until I receive a "Sorry but no e-mail" (e-mail? is that standard now? Has it changed that much in three years? Too hard to pick up the phone during business hours so the auditioner will be unlikely to pick up?). Even then, I'll still get to have Bat Boy on my resume since I volunteered to help paint sets, make costumes, and/or design props. Let me at that cow's head, people, I'll make you proud.

So, if I did get cast, it's as Ron/Maggie or Pan/Bud/Daisy/Doctor in Shadow Play. It very well may be, like has happened in the past, that casting people don't know what to do with me, so they don't. I'm...not the typical tenor, to put it politely.

We'll see.