Sydney's "Star Wars" Adventure, Part II

And so the "Star Wars" saga continues…

When we last left our hearty little band of travelers, they were holed up at a Red Roof Inn with a questionable stain on the dresser, a loud marital dispute in the parking lot and the thermostat set to a fiery, sleep-preventing 85 degrees. 

Our heroes departed for their destination at 6:30am to be confronted with a determined line of between 50 to 75 fellow dream-seekers.  Armed with little oranges (marketed as “Cuties”) and Raisinettes, Sydney and I joined the throng (sorry for the sudden switch in narrative style). We quickly made friends with our line-mates:  Anthony, a local college student who was a wonderful blend of my nephew Colby and Schmidt from “New Girl” and Jacob, an acting student from Denver who was a dead-ringer for Peeta from “The Hunger Games.” We immediately forged an unshakable alliance; each member contributing to the well-being and success of the group. Anthony was responsible for surveillance and information-gathering, jettisoning from our position in line to interview others and bringing back valuable updates. “I heard that they ask a series of three questions,” Anthony said upon returning from one of his missions,

The line of would-be stars wrapped around the building,

“Do you act? What do you do to relax? and “What’s your favorite movie?” Debating the best possible answers to these questions occupied us for about an hour.  Jacob’s contribution to the group consisted of sharing his acting knowledge with us, rattling off three different types of acting methods which all sounded eerily similar to the fancy-type of pasta dishes served at four-star restaurants.  Besides being eye-candy, Sydney and I were in charge of snack distribution and had direct access to Brad Mosiman, waiting in the van to purchase umbrellas and store backpacks that weren’t allowed into the auditions.

After four hours and one brief rain shower, the line, which had grown to an astonishing 1,500 or so, suddenly began to move as Anthony was shaking down a facilities director for information.  We called out for him as we were swept along toward the door.  Quickly catching up, Anthony and Jacob were admitted before the door was barred.  Sydney and I waited an additional ten minutes before we were also directed in and asked to wait at the entrance of the conference room.  Anthony met us there, explaining to the staff member that he had seats for us and off we went.

Muppet Stormtroopers

The conference room had an occupancy of 600 people.  Our nearly hour-long wait there was filled with lively discussions, picture-sharing, script reading and a lot of checking out the competition.  Without warning, Muppet characters dressed as storm-troopers bombarded the room, racing up the aisles. Sam the Eagle, Gonzo, Monster and Kermit posed with fans, sat at the reception tables and chased an 8-year-old up the aisle before handing it over to the audition representative who explained the process and directed the staff to begin lining people up for their 30-second shot at stardom.

I maneuvered around the room to get a good picture of Sydney as she approached the table. I felt

Syd shaking hands with the casting call representative

terrible for all the other girls because it was so clear that Sydney was perfect for the part. Poised and confident, Sydney stepped forward to shake the representative’s hand. The woman was obviously speechless, so dazzled by my daughter that she was only able to croak out, “Thank you for coming,” before motioning Sydney to the exit. It was the most exciting moment of my life. Jacob, Anthony, and Sydney all left on Cloud 9, all justifiably certain that they will each be receiving a very special phone call in the near future. We all bid one another a heart-felt farewell; glad that we could all say that we knew one another before attaining super-stardom.

All that was left was Brad’s explanation as to why we were traveling through Canada at customs. On the way to the audition, my husband’s response was met with a long pause and then a surprisingly human grin before the agent wished us, “Good luck.” On the way back, the custom’s agent again paused before saying, “Really?”  After answering further custom’s-related questions such as “Was it a play or a movie?” and “How did you do?,” we were on our way back to our home galaxy. Be sure to look for Sydney Mosiman as the starring female lead in the up-coming “Star Wars” release, coming soon to a theatre near you.