So You Think You Can Dance - LA Auditions

Angie and I attended the first ever audience taping of the So You Think You Can Dance auditions in Los Angeles. They were held at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Los Angeles. This theater was built in 1926, and the architecture of the theater and surrounding buildings was stunning. Click on the link if you are interested in looking at the theaters photo gallery with its 360 degree viewing capabilities. Very fun.

We arrived early and were able to get excellent seats. Of course the ticket holders were divided--this time it was, "kids through one door and adults through the other door" which was, so far, the kindest way they've been able to say, "young, hip looking people through one door, old wrinkly people through the other door." The "kids" got to be on the side behind the dancers in the theater, but we still got to see everything. Nigel, Mary Murphy and Tyce Diorio were the judges, and there were only five or so people turned away from the group of auditions we saw. There are some excellent dancers going to Vegas, and it was really, really, fun to see them do their thing right in front of us.

Some highlights from the evening were being able to sit in the theater with some of the past seasons finalists - Legacy, Twitch, Ade, Katie, Brandon, Jakob, Comfort and last seasons winner, Lauren, were a few of the dancers there. I went up to the bathroom during a break and got in line just behind Lauren. I geeked out and told her that I voted for her. She immediately exclaimed, "Oh, thank you!", and then threw her arms around me for a hug. Very cute. We chatted for a minute about what she'd been up to (working at a dance convention, taping a Glee episode, doing a promo with Gatorade) before being ushered back to our seats.

We were all invited to stay for the choreography portion of the evening which began at 10:30 p.m. We stayed for about 30 minutes to watch Katie and Brandon teach the choreography, but needed to leave before the group dances. We had no idea we were going to be there that late and Angie had a full day of teaching and meetings the next day. So we'll be watching along with the rest of America to see who makes it through choreography when Season 8 begins, May 26.