I have many actor friends who have been in the business for years. They tell some great stories about what it used to be like. There were fewer people out there clambering for the same jobs. One friend with Broadway credits talks with fondness about popping into her agent's office and looking through the breakdowns while they enjoyed a glass of scotch!
I was good at climbing trees
I was younger then
I was younger then
I saw everything!
Where they came and where they went
I was part of the event.
I was someone in a tree!
I was younger then!*
I'm certainly no spring chicken but I came into the business later in life and that, combined with immigration challenges made it harder for me, which as a result made me more determined to do what I could to get in that room.
If I weren't, who's to say
Things would happen here the way
That they happened here?
I was there then.
I am here still.*
"The Room Where it Happens" from "Hamilton" Music and Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda** |
A new year always brings fresh hope, resolutions and commitments to make it a good one. I was lucky enough to return from Scotland to several great cmails and auditions. In fact, 4 days after I got back to New York, I had 3 auditions in one day. Lucky, yes. But also this is not something that happens overnight.
It's the fragment, not the day.
It's the pebble, not the stream.
It's the ripple, not the sea.
Not the building but the beam,
Not the garden but the stone,
Not the treaty house,
Someone in a tree.
I'm a fragment of the day.*
One audition was a Cmail via Actors' Access from a Casting Director for a job neither my manager nor I had even submitted me for. Why? Because she knows and remembers me and my work from several meetings. This takes WORK on your part.(KNOWING ME, KNOWING YOU) Consistency and commitment. If you want to OPEN DOORS, you need to knock on them several times.
The other 2 were the result of knowing HOW to submit to get to the top of the list (S.O.S. SMARTER ONLINE SUBMISSIONS) There are certain tips and tricks that are basically common sense! Casting Directors are busy and you can do them a huge favor by saving them time and NOT wasting their time. You can read more about these tips in GETTING IT TOGETHER IS THE WHOLE TRICK.
It's the fragment, not the day.
It's the pebble, not the stream.
It's the ripple, not the sea
That is happening.
Not the building but the beam,
Not the garden but the stone,
Only cups of tea
And history
And someone in a tree.*
*"Someone in a Tree" from "Pacific Overtures"
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
** For regular readers of my blog, you know that I always use Sondheim lyrics. Here I also quote the brilliant Lin-Manuel Miranda. Sondheim has mentored him through "Hamilton" and "The Room Where it Happens" is also a nod to "Someone in a Tree".