Casadie's Adventure

Take one girl who has loved to perform for adoring audiences since day one, add one mother who continues to search high and low for fun things for the kids to do, regardless of how busy the family is, toss in one very enticing radio ad, and stir.   Once things are good and mixed, put them in the oven for an hour, and there you have it! One custom-made, super-fun, adventurous journey for the Kimball Family!

Casadie has been charming acquaintances from the day she was born.  So much personality and love packed into one blond-haired, blue-eyed girl.  She adores meeting new people, and pulling them tightly into her circle of friends and family.  Meet her once, and within the 15 minute window of time that you talk to her, she'll be so adoring of you, that goodbyes are met with a pouty lip, a demanded hug and a promise that we will see each other again soon.  At home, she is a singer, a dancer, a miniature Lucille Ball, Carole Burnette and Lady Gaga all wrapped up in one package.  She belts out "Big girls don't cry", "Pokerface" and "Girls just wanna have fun" anytime you ask.  And mostly, during the times you don't ask.

She's been taking gymnastics now for a year.  Not regular, run-of-the-mill gymnastics, but Cirque-style gymnastics.  She's learning Rola Bola, Aerial Silks, Trapeze, Tightwire, etc, in addition to the standard trampoline and tumbling.  Orlando Circus School is one of her favorite places to be.  During the rehearsals for her Summer Camp performance, I watched her be one of the most mature, prepared performers.  She wasn't necessarily the best at any one particular art, but she knew everyone else's cues, and where everyone was supposed to be.  I watched her perfect her stage-whisper, helping the smaller children stay focused and on task without being overtly bossy.  She became a real leader.  I was proud.

So when the radio ad aired, inviting kids with an interest in acting to come audition for Adrian R'Mante's Celebrity Actor's Camp, I thought, "Why not?."  She didn't know why I got her out of bed at 7am one morning, or why I thrust a Shel Silverstein poem in front of her and told her to try and remember some of it.  It was several paragraphs, and she memorized it in less than an hour.  We arrived at the hotel, and saw dozens of other children, most dressed up so fancy with their make-up and hair all fixed.  We arrived in jeans and t-shirt.  We (I) felt a little conspicuous, maybe I didn't have a clue how to do this, and how to help my daughter succeed.  I sighed, and resigned myself to the idea that nothing would come of it, and we would just enjoy our morning together.

After a rousing introduction to the camp by a very energetic Adrian R'Mante, Casadie met briefly with a talent scout.  She said she loved gymnastics and that she was learning Russian.  Some notes were scribbled onto her form, and she was sent to the audition line.  I wasn't allowed to follow my baby into the curtained area where she would audition for Adrian, and waited nervously on a nearby chair.  In what seemed like nanoseconds, she was out, smiling and full of energy.  "He liked me! He said I was cute!"  I pestered her for more details, but she said she did her poem reading for him and he asked her some questions, and she couldn't remember them..  We were given some information about the camp, and told that if she was selected, she would get a call the next morning.

Casadie at the first day audition for the camp

The next day, I overslept, but didn't see any missed calls on my phone.  I jumped into the shower, and of course, that's when the talent scout called.  She left no message, and I spent the next couple of hours dialing her number every 15 minutes or so.  I worried that it was a one-call per household thing...you snooze, you lose kind of deal, and I had blown it with my desire for shampooed hair.  Stupid hygiene!  When finally I received a callback, they let me know that Casadie was invited to the camp, and that Adrian had really enjoyed her audition.  We were told to return to the hotel later that day for paperwork.  Bill and I sat and had a long talk about the cost, and did some preliminary research online.  Scams for children's acting gigs are rampant, and though we were confident this was not a scam, we wanted to be sure.  For every successful venture, you are bound to find naysayers online, and of course we did.  But we overwhelmingly found more positive comments than negative.  Adrian's camp is up-front about fees, and what they are covering.  He makes no promises about the children finding work, just promises that with hard work, and the chance to prove themselves, his camp will help them get a foot in the door.  He teaches both the children and the parents how to play the game, how to treat acting like a business, and what steps to take to get into this world. 

Casadie and Adrian R'Mante

Casadie and Adrian R'Mante

Although we could afford only the basic-level camp, we enrolled Casadie with enthusiasm.  Our philosophy is that a little learning is better than none, and any education you get, is exactly what you make of it.  My goal was for her to have fun, and for me to learn how to negotiate the world of agents and opportunities for her.  We got exactly what we paid for.  Casadie had an absolute BLAST at all of her camp sessions, and Adrian gave Bill and I tons of tips and solid information about how to go about getting headshots, how to have them printed, and how to distribute them.  Casadie also got to spent entire days working alongside and learning from her favorite celebrities, such as Adrian himself, Cameron Goodman, David DeLuise, Chester See and more.  We were sad to see the camp come to an end, but really, it was only a beginning.  She auditioned in front of an LA Casting Director, and some local agents.  She's already received a callback from a local agent, and we will be meeting with them this week to discuss representation.

Casadie getting last-minute tips from Adrian before her audition in front of several key people!

Moments after her audition.  She LOVES the feeling of performing and she came out dancing and running into our arms!

Just this week, she also received a call she was highly anticipating.  At the end of each regional camp across the country, Adrian selects a handful of campers to potentially attend an "Invitation-only" camp in Hollywood.  In July and August 2011, Casadie will spend 3 weeks learning the business from the inside out, and it will culminate in a performance in front of more LA-based agents and casting directors.  She will work with a number of working actors and celebrities, increasing her acting network.  Actors like to work with children they've worked with before, so these kids get offers routinely.  This thing could truly take off for her.  If it doesn't, she have an absolutely priceless memory for the rest of her life.  Figuring out the money and logistics is the next step.  In addition to a very reasonable fee for a 3 week camp in Los Angeles, there are flights, lodging and incidental expenses to consider.  In a period of time where we're still trying to make ends meet while recovering from our layoffs, this might seem like a frivolous expense, but in reality, we know there's a short window here of opportunity, her interest and desire and her age level.  When this is easily affordable for us in a few years, they may not be casting blond-haired, blue eyed 13 year olds.  This might very well be the window that God opened when he closed the door on our careers.  Maybe I found homeschooling as a way of being more flexible and open to opportunities.  Maybe Bill and I are meant to manage our lives in a way that puts the children first, rather than our financial security.  Who knows? 

I'm very dedicated to making sure that if it does take off, Casadie knows normalcy in her life.  I will not raise the next Lindsey Lohan, I will not let acting usurp family.  Homeschooling and layoffs have brought our family closer and more connected, I will not allow anything to undo that.  But as I sit here, I can't help but hope that one day, I'll get to go sit in a theater, buy a tub of popcorn and a large soda, and sit down and watch my very talented, very lovable daughter act out her dream.