Playing Now – Summer 2009?
So now what?
After continuous theatre work since last August, I am “without show”, to coin my own peculiar phrase. Nothing to rehearse, nowhere to perform, no dozen songs to learn by next week. So it is back to heavy-duty auditioning and the actor’s perennial search for The Next Job.
Just a few years ago, the thought of going independent and not knowing where my next check would come from was a thing of horror to be studiously avoided. Now, never-knowing is the life I embrace. I laugh in the face of uncertainty. Sure, it’s a nervous laugh. But I’m laughing, aren’t I?
After floundering for a spell (having easily forgotten what life was like before 8-show weeks and 10-hour rehearsal days)…I’ve regained my footing, if not my employment, and am now A Woman With A Mission or at least A Woman With A Long To Do List to Take Her Through The Summer and Beyond if Necessary.
I’ve got a TV pilot to write, a musical to complete, and a large closet packed with my father’s belongings to sort & catalog. There are fitness goals to be sweatily met, songs to record, a motley assortment of habits to habituate myself with (sing a high F, floss nightly, learn tap dancing?). And let’s not forget, all this will be done while I continue searching for…wait for it…. yes… The Next Job.
After Les Miserables, I immediately got booked on a cruise commercial with Daisy Fuentes. I was thinking, “Oh yeah, I’ll just do commercials and television now that I’m done with theatre for the season.” Again, seems my undiagnosed intermittent amnesia struck and conveniently let me forget how hard it is to book commercials… especially when you’re a redhead and absolutely no one’s idea of what a typical Latina or Caucasian woman looks like, which helps you get cast in commercials about -17%.
But this is where we embrace the uncertainty! Squeeze it tight. OK, you’re choking the uncertainty now. Just let go…. That’s it, let it go…. So! I’ve now got time to do what a Woman On A Mission has to do. Make lists, set goals, feel the thrill of accomplishment as I check off items, maneuver the reins of my personal destiny, yada-yada-yada.
And hey, how bad can it really be if your idea of a small gig while you wait for The Next Job includes working as a background actor in a movie called Up In The Air while George Clooney is in the same room? Yeap. That George Clooney. I’m telling you, there’s no business like show business.
When you hear the famous phrase “There’s no Business like Show Business!” you assume it’s because show biz is so wacky and fun and crazy.
Well, crazy’s not the half of it…..
