My Worst Gig Experience
This post is going to be a bit of a rant. The reason I chose to write about this experience, is I want to remind other musicians, vocalists, actors, and entertainers that not every gig, job, or audition is going to be perfect. We have to work with various types of people in our careers. Some are professional and a joy to collaborate with. Others? Well…. this was my experience…
My band recently received a call from a venue owner interested in having us perform at her restaurant. We were asked to come to the restaurant to meet with the owner and discuss the gig further. The night we were supposed to meet the owner, my guitarist called her to remind her of our appointment as we had been instructed to do. We had no luck reaching her, as we continually got her voicemail and her mailbox was full. So we went to the restaurant- assuming the appointment was still in place. When we arrived, we were told by the general manager that the owner was not there and they did not know when she would be arriving. My guitarist and I decided to wait, since we had travelled almost an hour to get there. We sat at the bar, sipping watered down sodas and watching the nature channel on the TV screen above the bar.
We waited for at least a half hour until we finally got ahold of the owner on her cell phone. She had “forgotten” about our appointment- even though we spoke with her on the phone to schedule it only two days prior. After speaking with her for a few minutes over the phone, we were offered the gig. We were very happy to not be driving home empty-handed, however we were a bit concerned about the unreliability shown by the owner so far. We were booked for a total of 3 shows at this venue and were told there was a possibility of a steady gig in the future.
The Actors That Never Sleep
Two years ago, when I was studying theater and doing improv but had yet to actually make the leap into auditioning and scripted performance, I took one of my twin sons to New York for a quick trip to see a Broadway show, visit Ellen’s Stardust Diner, and have a theater-wannabe adventure. (My son also acts, though he’s not nearly as much as a late bloomer as I am!)
It was an amazing experience, as New York always is. And earlier this month, two years later, my other son wanted to have the same experience. (He’s a dancer, so we considered a ballet, but he wanted to see “The Lion King”.) Returning to the Mecca of American stage now that I have done some professional and amateur acting, my perspective was very different.
As with the first trip, I enjoyed watching professionals at work in the show we paid to see. But on this recent trip, I saw actors all around me. I saw a world of aspiration.
“Do your own shit!”
Some of the best advice I have ever been given is to “do your own shit”. Collaboration and creation are really two of the best ways to do what you want and it’s ridiculous that I really haven’t done much of either until recently. Last weekend though, I got super-lucky and collaborated/created TWO projects in that 48 hour time span!
The first: my theatre department hosts a 24 Hour Festival in which teams will decide to write/direct/act in ten minute plays in twenty-four hours. I’ve done this a few times now with great results—I even once wrote my own play about a garden gnome. Even when they turn out like shit, it’s worth doing because it is your own work and the time limit alone would get you out of your comfort zone.
I actually ended up “acting” in two different plays: in my actual 24 Hour project as an old lady and then in a friend’s play as one of the dead bodies lying onstage during the show. Every semester, our showings keep getting bigger—we had six plays and a full house to perform for! As lucky as I was to have this weekend, I was also super-busy: I was trying to memorize three different scripts!
Auditions with Significant Others
Despite being in theatre and a director specifically for years, and despite dating the same actor for close to two years now, I recently came across an interesting experience that’s not only never happened before but I never ever dreamed of before: I watched enter the room that auditions were being held for a play I’m directing.
As a start, for some reason my mind was completely blown away by this! I have no idea why I never thought about this happening sooner. I guess that since we typically do different types of theatre that we rarely ever work with each other, despite as meeting from working on a show. He’s more into classical works (especially Shakespeare), and my focus has mainly been new works. So until now, there’s never been a reason for me to think about this little “what if.”
A moment or so after he came in I realized that I had very quickly find a balance between being professional and treating him as such, along with not treating him like a complete stranger either. Thankfully, once that thought popped into my head I was able to figure out how to do it: simply talk to him about the show in the same way as everyone else, but if any moment something friendly came up just let it happen naturally. After he gave me his headshot and resume (which was also interesting, seeing as I’ve helped him with resume advice before), I threw in a little quirk here in there while looking it over. “Oh you worked on that show 2 years ago? What a coincidence!” Things like that, which also helped make it a more relaxing atmosphere (as auditions should be).
I’m getting all sentimental
I’m only a couple of days away from moving out of Cheshire and starting a new life in Kent, which has led to saying goodbye to various groups of people who have got me where I am today. Its set me off thinking about what I would have done without them and what I want to say to the ones I can’t see.
A few weeks ago I completed my final show with Vale Royal Juniors who I have been with since I was 13; first as a performer and then as a rehearsal assistant and stage crew. Now if they hadn’t given me the opportunity to stage crew Oliver 3 years ago, I would not have found a love for working backstage, wouldn’t have worked on panto and wouldn’t have done my most recent college course; which basically means I owe them everything. They even helped develop my confidence, leadership skills amongst other things.
On Monday I had to say goodbye to the senior group, who I have only been friends with for a couple of years however I owe them the opportunity to perform in the most amazing show; Bad Girls the Musical. Now I know it’s not the most famous musical ever, it never even touched the USA but we had an absolute blast rehearsing and performing it and I don’t think anything will ever live up to it. I love absolutely everyone who was in it and have some of my most awesome memories from that time period.
Tuesday, I went back into my old college to give advice to the new class of technicians and obviously say goodbye to the tutors. I’ve only realised since I left that I actually had a brilliant time at college and will miss them all a lot. I owe my tutor Denise everything; she advised me to apply to drama schools because university wouldn’t have been given me enough. And now I’m off to her old drama school, thanks to the confidence and encouragement she gave me. Also owe a lot to Paul, the director I was Deputy Stage Manager for in June, as he worked me hard and gave me the most amazing opportunity to perform the role in an educational environment. He said I did more than I had to but it was a pleasure to work with such a dedicated director. These are only a couple of people; there’s plenty more who influenced and encouraged me to do my best and look where it’s led!
Freaking Out Over Things You Can’t Control
Hello friends! I write to you all today with an issue I have. I’m sure a lot of you will relate to it. But first – a story!
I love acting. But as you probably know, it doesn’t always pay the bills. Which is why I also wait tables. There are a lot of things I like about waiting tables. You meet some really cool people, you tend to work with really cool people, and there are some days where you make a whooole lot of money. BUT…sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you barely make any money at the job you barely want to work at. I had a slow day earlier in the week where I made less money than I ever had since starting at this particular place. I was extremely annoyed and frustrated. How on earth am I going to keep going out with my friends if I’m not making money?! And what about my expensive acting classes that need money by the end of the month? Let’s not even talk about rent….
And then I stopped myself. I had to stop because I was more or less freaking out. This is not uncommon for me. I find myself in a less than desirable situation, only to realize that I’m getting upset over a situation that I have absolutely no control over.
The Green Room 