Read Online Backstreet Mom: A Mother's Tale of Backstreet Boy AJ McLean's Rise to Fame, Struggle With Addiction, and Ultimate Triumph by Denise I. McLean - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Denise I. McLean
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until the next time I spoke to
Gloria. She said they had held more auditions and were pretty much set
on a boy named Tony Donetti.
Gloria asked me if I knew him and I told her about the Latin carnival.
She asked if we had any contact information for Tony, as she had misplaced it and Lou really wanted him for the group. I told Gloria that I
would do my best to locate a telephone number or address. When I
asked Alex, he said he thought that Tony Donetti was actually his stage
name. I got in contact with Alex's old voice teacher, who also had worked
with Tony, and he told me that Tony's real name was Howard Dorough.
By April 1992, Alex had become the first Backstreet Boy. It would be
another year before the final five members were in full swing. That was
our first introduction to the well-worn mantra of "hurry up and wait."
All we knew for sure was that, with the addition of Howard Dorough,
there were now two members of this boy band.
Alex and I went through the anticipation-elation-frustration cycle
many times over the course of that year. Each time the phone rang, Alex
got his hopes up about being called to start rehearsals. I checked in
periodically with Gloria for updates. However, as time passed, I got the
impression that there was a stumbling block in the way.
Doubts again clouded my mind. Had we done the right thing by moving here? Was this the best way to go with my son's career? I had come
to realize that my son had developed very good instincts as well. Even
with all the doubts that I was suffering he never seemed to flinch. He
kept insisting this was the right thing to do. Not entirely convinced, I
called some friends in Los Angeles to see if their children were faring
any better. They told me that a few parts had come their way, but nothing substantial. Maybe moving again was not the right thing at that
point, but I was getting ants}' and needed something to break. Some
light at the end of the tunnel. A crumb ... anything! Then the call came.
Sadly, it was not the one my son was hoping for.
Gloria called to ask for my help once again. Lou wanted to hold a
final casting call to search for the remaining group members. They both
felt that if the call were large enough they would find who they were
looking for. Putting my reservations aside, I called all of the contacts I
could think of. My list included talent agents, casting directors and even former acting coaches that Alex had worked with over the past couple
of years.
Then Lou, Gloria and I sat down and made up an ad to place in newspapers and trade journals. We enlisted the help of talent agents Jean
Tanzy and Sybil Galler, with whom Alex had been taking classes for a
few months. They had never actually gotten him any work, but they
talked like they knew a lot of people in the industry. At that point, I
figured we could use all the help we could get.
Lou cleared out a blimp warehouse for us to use as a temporary stage
and holding area. I helped design some forms for the kids to fill out
when they got there. Lou, Jean, Sybil and Gloria made up the panel to
evaluate the talent. We got video equipment and sound equipment set
up. Alex choreographed a dance routine for the candidates to try. All we
needed were the bodies.
As I worked more closely with Gloria I asked her what the hold up
had been. She told me that Lou had decided to go with seven young
men instead of five-and for two reasons. First, he wanted to make sure
he had a backup if it turned out that the commitment level of the boys
ever wavered. Second, he wasn't completely sold that five was the magic
number. For some reason, he had it in his head that six boys would
round out the harmonies better.
I wasn't too happy about that as I felt it would really slow down the
process. Finding five boys who could sing together was going to be
difficult enough. Now we had to choose seven young men who sounded
great together and two of them were going to have to
Gloria. She said they had held more auditions and were pretty much set
on a boy named Tony Donetti.
Gloria asked me if I knew him and I told her about the Latin carnival.
She asked if we had any contact information for Tony, as she had misplaced it and Lou really wanted him for the group. I told Gloria that I
would do my best to locate a telephone number or address. When I
asked Alex, he said he thought that Tony Donetti was actually his stage
name. I got in contact with Alex's old voice teacher, who also had worked
with Tony, and he told me that Tony's real name was Howard Dorough.
By April 1992, Alex had become the first Backstreet Boy. It would be
another year before the final five members were in full swing. That was
our first introduction to the well-worn mantra of "hurry up and wait."
All we knew for sure was that, with the addition of Howard Dorough,
there were now two members of this boy band.
Alex and I went through the anticipation-elation-frustration cycle
many times over the course of that year. Each time the phone rang, Alex
got his hopes up about being called to start rehearsals. I checked in
periodically with Gloria for updates. However, as time passed, I got the
impression that there was a stumbling block in the way.
Doubts again clouded my mind. Had we done the right thing by moving here? Was this the best way to go with my son's career? I had come
to realize that my son had developed very good instincts as well. Even
with all the doubts that I was suffering he never seemed to flinch. He
kept insisting this was the right thing to do. Not entirely convinced, I
called some friends in Los Angeles to see if their children were faring
any better. They told me that a few parts had come their way, but nothing substantial. Maybe moving again was not the right thing at that
point, but I was getting ants}' and needed something to break. Some
light at the end of the tunnel. A crumb ... anything! Then the call came.
Sadly, it was not the one my son was hoping for.
Gloria called to ask for my help once again. Lou wanted to hold a
final casting call to search for the remaining group members. They both
felt that if the call were large enough they would find who they were
looking for. Putting my reservations aside, I called all of the contacts I
could think of. My list included talent agents, casting directors and even former acting coaches that Alex had worked with over the past couple
of years.
Then Lou, Gloria and I sat down and made up an ad to place in newspapers and trade journals. We enlisted the help of talent agents Jean
Tanzy and Sybil Galler, with whom Alex had been taking classes for a
few months. They had never actually gotten him any work, but they
talked like they knew a lot of people in the industry. At that point, I
figured we could use all the help we could get.
Lou cleared out a blimp warehouse for us to use as a temporary stage
and holding area. I helped design some forms for the kids to fill out
when they got there. Lou, Jean, Sybil and Gloria made up the panel to
evaluate the talent. We got video equipment and sound equipment set
up. Alex choreographed a dance routine for the candidates to try. All we
needed were the bodies.
As I worked more closely with Gloria I asked her what the hold up
had been. She told me that Lou had decided to go with seven young
men instead of five-and for two reasons. First, he wanted to make sure
he had a backup if it turned out that the commitment level of the boys
ever wavered. Second, he wasn't completely sold that five was the magic
number. For some reason, he had it in his head that six boys would
round out the harmonies better.
I wasn't too happy about that as I felt it would really slow down the
process. Finding five boys who could sing together was going to be
difficult enough. Now we had to choose seven young men who sounded
great together and two of them were going to have to
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