BLOG
It’s time for me to start thinking about next steps. Past time, probably, but there were other variables that needed to settle into place before I could make meaningful progress. Suffice to say, they have settled, and now I turn my eye to…what? Where do I go from here? For the first time in my life, I am being truly cut free. Even after I graduated, I stuck around my alma mater for a year working. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore my job and I have learned so much during this year. But now this year is up, and it’s time for me to move on. Move on where, you might ask? Ain’t that the million-dollar question. The answer: Chicago or the Twin Cities. I’m getting excited about the prospect. Both have vibrant theatre scenes ideal for a young actor, plenty of culture to go around, and while Chicago might have more people and all the pizzazz intrinsic to urban centers, the Twin Cities seem to somehow maintain the small-town charm that I love so much. Both look like great choices, and that’s what makes this decision so hard.
It’s difficult because I don’t quite know what I’m looking for. I’m not quite sure what I should be looking for. How do I find the email lists that send out audition notices? What part of town should I live in? Should I sell my car? Do I get a job or an apartment first? How can I do either when I live 5+ hours away from where I’m moving? The list goes on… I think that most of these will be answered mid-process, and I’m confident that, one way or another, I’ll survive, but that doesn’t stop these questions from popping up. So in the interim, I’m holding on to what I hope will happen. The theatre scene will welcome me in. I’ll find a well-paying job that lets me take long lunches to audition. The contra community will provide a stable social scene. Eventually I’ll quit my well-paying job because acting pays me better. Some of these dreams may be more realistic than others, but as long as I focus on them, and on the opportunities that being in a city will offer me, they do a pretty good job of keeping the sharks of doubt at bay. I’ve spent my entire life in small theatrical ponds, and the thought of jumping into a veritable dramatic ocean is intimidating. Tropes of a small-town boy moving to the big city and crumbling beneath the pressure, isolated by a culture he doesn’t understand, plague my mind. I know I’m not alone in this—plenty of young actors have the same worries—but that doesn’t make them less valid. Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing how deep the water is, or how well I can swim, until I jump. But jump I must. And damn if it isn’t at least a little exciting.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
About My BlogStories. Archives
May 2020
Categories
All
|