Wait

Signing up at Actors' Equity

Easy now.

Hush, love, hush.
Don't distress yourself,
What's your rush?
Keep your thoughts
Nice and lush.

Wait.*

This week, I went to the Equity Membership department and signed myself up!  To say I have been waiting and hoping to get my Equity card for a while now is an understatement.  It does not come easy.  And nor should it.

Posing!

Before I went, my friend Toni Stanton (an Equity business rep) was so excited for me and wanted to meet me and come with me to see me make it official.  I met her at her office and we went down to the membership department together and the lovely John Fasulo (National Director of Membership) came out to congratulate me.

Toni and I were in a short play in a festival off-off Broadway years ago when I first moved here. I first met John at an E.M.C. (Equity Membership Candidate) meeting and he was so informative and supportive. I've kept in touch with both of them over the years.

They both know, in depth, (as does anyone who will listen!) about my struggles with immigration and Equity.  The first thing Toni said to me was "You got your Green card and five minutes later you're getting your Equity card!"

In many respects it was relatively fast.  Just a few months. But in reality, it has been seven years of hard work in the making.

I gave up my full time teaching job in 2008 (I had been a high school drama teacher for eleven years). I thought I would be married with children but God had another plan for me.

Giving up and moving to another country and a city like New York was terrifying and wonderful. I still pinch myself when I walk home and pass Grand Central and The Chrysler Building.

Job hunting when Backstage was still in newspaper form.

Hush, love, hush.

Think it through.

Once it bubbles, 

Then what's to do?

Watch it close.

Let it brew.

Wait.

I've been thinking, flowers--

Maybe daisies--

To brighten up the room.

Don't you think some flowers,

Pretty daisies,

Might relieve the gloom?

Ah, wait, love, wait.

I came on an F1 student visa in 2008 (to study at HB Studio) not sure if this would just be a gap year for a 33 year old in crisis, but quickly knew I wanted to stay and WORK. HB was where I first met Austin Pendleton and took his class. He does not believe that I sat quietly at the back during that first semester. I sat and listened and learned. During my second year of full-time study, I starting pounding the pavement. Knowing nothing! Excited and scared. I went to my first EPA, thanks to encouragement from the wonderful Amanda Quaid.

I first met Judy Bowman (casting director) in May 2012 at The Network. But it is not as simple as meeting once: you have to build a relationship and keep auditioning.

There are so many ways. EPAs, ECCs, appointment auditions, pay to plays, submissions, Stagelighter, and so on. Training, auditions, keeping in touch, working, working, working. It is a long journey with many ups and downs.  There are people who succeed without doing any of it. And there are people who fail while trying to do it all.

I have learned that we are never auditioning for one person or one job. This business seems so big but it's actually very small and people talk. I've been submitting to The Mint and met Jonathan Bank (Artistic Director) a few times and he is a delight. I also went to see plays there and was always impressed by them.  I was in callbacks in the past for The Mint for a role I really wanted. It was tough not to get it, but it was not for me. This is the role that has my name on it.

"A Day by the Sea"

But if I had not built the relationships over the years, I am not sure I would even have been able to get in the room.

I don't think of myself as a patient person. I am genuinely happy for friends' success but, of course, there is an element of jealousy when seeing others succeed.  It has not been easy and no one should think that it is. We have chosen a tough business and there are obstacles everywhere. The immigration obstacle was huge but I am grateful. It made me tougher, stronger and more determined. I have found ways to keep myself motivated and passionate. Having to turn down Equity work in the past and deal with rejection has made this all the sweeter. As my mother often tells me: Whit's fur ye'll no go by ye!

My first Equity Card

with Toni Stanton and John Fasulo at A.E.A.

Slow, love, slow.
Time's so fast.
Now goes quickly--
See, now it's past!
Soon will come.
Soon will last.
Wait.

Don't you know,
Silly man,
Half the fun is to
Plan the plan?
All good things come to 
Those who can
Wait. *

*"Wait" from "Sweeney Todd"
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.


www.pollymckie.com
www.theactorsfriend.com

So Many People

Polly McKie as Gertrude Stein 
with Penny Lynn White as Alice B Toklas
"McKie and White anchor the play with fairly 
miraculous specificity as the odd (lifelong) 
couple at its center"

I said the man for me must have a castle
A man of means he'd be, a man of fame
And then I met a man who hadn't any
Without a penny to his name.*

I dreamed of the West End or Broadway.  I still do.  But I am so thrilled to have been part of this brilliant new play and I was not paid a cent.  

Yes, I scoff and am frustrated with many of the Actors' Access casting notices (must be over 5' 6" and willing to do nudity...no pay!) I do not encourage anyone in this business to be foolish about what you have to offer. Of course, we deserve to be paid BUT, there are certain projects worth working for. For the project and for yourself as an actor.  

with Dorothy Weems as Dorothy Parker
"Plays like this do not come around often; a well written,
well organized piece for seven strong female actresses."

I had to go and fall
For so much less than
What I had planned from
All the magazines
I should be good and sore
What am I happy for
I guess the man means more than the means.*









Recently, I met a couple of particularly jaded and bitter actors who scoffed my working for low pay.  I started to doubt my choices. Of course, I want a better salary but when I examined their lives versus mine, I started to realize how lucky I am.  I have chosen art over money.  Of course, it is not easy but, quite frankly, if you put your survival bar job above a possible low paid acting gig, you are not helping yourself.  

Of course, we all need to survive, but your survival job HAS to be flexible if you want to be serious about your acting career.

"Special kudos to Polly McKie who seems to embody Gertrude Stein;"

So many people in the world
And what can they do?
They'll never know love
Like my love for you.*

My love is for acting. For the work.  Not for fame. Of course, I am ambitious and want to work with brilliant directors on brilliant plays, but that does not always mean Broadway.   

"...commendable acting with special notice to McKie's
nuances of depth and emotion to Gertrude"

So many people laugh
At what they don't know
But that's their concern
If just a few say
Half a million or so
Could see us
They'd learn*








And the most important thing is that work breeds work.  Word of mouth in this business is more powerful than anything else. I met the brilliant young playwright, Steven Carl McCasland through Polly's Follies (a weekly musical theatre open mic I host at Room 53) and he invited me to audition for "Little Wars". I read the script and loved it. And this play was full of wonderful female roles. Something hard to find! 

As actors in this current climate, we often pay to be seen by casting directors and it is always better to be able to talk about what you are working on. And gives you an opportunity to invite people to see your work.

I am not saying that you should take any old unpaid acting work. Of course, you must have respect for your craft and yourself. But, once in a while, a great project crosses your path and there can often be so many reasons to say YES.

with Samantha Hoefer as Bernadette
"...the raucous Gertrude Stein
expertly played by actress Polly McKie."

So many people in the world
Don't know what they've missed
They'd never believe
Such joy could exist
And if they tell us
Its a thing without growth
They're jealous as they can be
That with so many people
In the world
You love me.*

*So Many People from "Saturday Night"
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

www.pollymckie.com

www.theactorsfriend.com

Merrily We Roll Along

First posted by Polly McKie on Tuesday, March 26, 2013 

I realise that I have not completed part 2 of the first blog, but I am impatient to write about today.  So let’s just consider this a “Merrily We Roll Along” moment and I can then work backwards and play catch up.  Sadly, it is not a clever artistic device in this case.  Just my impatience and incompetence.

Today was one day of a three day E.P.A. (Equity Principal Audition).  The theatre was casting “Gypsy”, “Les Miserables” and “Mary Poppins” and I feel I am right for Mme. Thenardier and Mrs. Brill.  I was at final callbacks for Mrs. Brill for the National Tour (this might be a flashback blog later.  Who knows?  I’m making it up as I go along.)

I went at around 9.45a.m.  I shall admit that since I became E.M.C. (Equity membership candidate), I have become a little lax about signing up at 5a.m.  We are lucky to earn the privilege of being seen ahead of non-equity and we have our own separate list.  So, for non-industry people it goes:  1.  Equity members with appointments 2. Equity alternate list (A.E.A. members who show up without an appointment and are slotted in when there is a space.)  3.  E.M.C. (me) who are slotted in after the alternate list ends.  4.  Non- Equity.
Based on experience of many E.P.A.s, I knew that when I signed up so late (after 9a.m. is late), I realised that at number 23 on the E.M.C. list, I had time and I went home.
Once home, I immediately checked my beloved Audition Update and by 10.30, they had already called 5 E.M.C. which is great and gave us all hope.  I panicked and headed straight back to Chelsea Studios.

Six hours later and they had not called number 6!  This is not anyone’s fault.  The call was well run and fair.  My heart goes out, though, to that girl who was number 6!  She did the right thing and cared about her fellow actors by posting on Audition Update.  She had more dedication than I: she was there at 7.30a.m.  So when it was clear that it was hopeless and we were dismissed, she is the one I worried about.  Not me.

I hope she and I are both seen tomorrow.  And I plan to get up and there earlier than I did today.

Now I must end this little tale of fantasy and learn from the reality of this week’s “Smash”.

With So Little to be Sure of

First posted by Polly McKie on Monday, March 25, 2013

With so little to be sure of, if there’s anything at all?

Why go to an E.P.A.? I am non-union: why bother? I won’t be seen: why bother? It’s the Equity required call: why bother? It’s already cast: why bother? They don’t need replacements: why bother? They are only looking for understudies or replacements: why bother?

Here’s why:

I went to my first E.P.A. (Equity Principal Audition) thanks to Amanda Quaid. She was my first speech and dialect teacher here in the U.S. (I’m thrilled to say that she has become my friend). She is a wonderful actress and knows what it is like to be a non-union actor starting out. She sent me a casting notice and showed me the A.E.A.website and casting calls. It might seem like a small thing but it was a major step for me. I see so many actors who avoid actually going and it seems to me that the main reason is fear of the unknown. It’s terrifying. But, thanks to Amanda’s persuasion, I went. I felt ill. I drank so much water, I think I might have developed a camel hump. (I was lucky that this first experience was at Telsey, so I was allowed to use the facilities.) I knew nothing. I thought everyone was staring at me and judging me and, worst of all, laughing at me. But I went. I found the monitor and I signed my name on the non-equity list. And nobody laughed. Nobody pointed. So far, so good. I sat and waited. I watched. I learned. I went from 8a.m. and hoping that I would not be seen (out of fear) to feeling devastated when I heard the announcement at about 11a.m. that they would not be seeing non-Equity. So I left with that little nugget of disappointment but skipping (not literally: that’s not a pretty sight) that I had achieved something. I showed up.

Fast forward (after many more E.P.A.s: new fears and new experiences and dealing with not being able to use the bathrooms at A.E.A.) to a snowy day in February, 2011. I forced myself out the door and went to A.E.A. There was snow lying on the ground, so I donned my lovely bright pink wellington boots and packed my shoes into my bag, careful not to squash my headshots and resumes. I trudged crosstown and sat on the wooden benches all day and used the McDonald’s facilities. At 4.30, I was invited into the lounge and was seen! Woohoo. It was fine. I did my work but I was not feeling that anything would come of it. I left and was about to go and grab that well-deserved post audition/I have been working hard all day/sitting on wooden benches since 7a.m. cocktail and I thought, “Well, I’m already out and close. Maybe I should just head to that other call at Pearl (they were seeing Equity and non but it was almost 5p.m.) and check if the call is still open.” (this is before I discovered the wonders of Audition Update) I put my pink wellies (a.k.a. rain boots) back on and walked through the snow. The place was dead. No-one in the holding room and the lights were off. I passed the actual audition room and saw the panel (the wonderful director Elliot Wasserman at New Harmony) laughing and joking behind the desk. I sneaked my head around the door and said “Are you still seeing people?”. I was told to wait outside. A couple of other actors turned up and told me they had appointments. Five minutes later, I was inside performing my monologue, then working on sides, then working on a New York dialect and a speech impediment. I had a wonderful time. I loved them straight away. It was clear the director knew what he was doing and no matter what, I felt I had achieved so much that day. I showed up.

So why go to an audition?

I booked the job and became E.M.C.    

with Claire Warden in “Lost in Yonkers” at New Harmony Theatre.