Finding Freedom

The thing about working two full time jobs is that, sooner or later, the exhaustion really gets to you.  I remember when my dad took a second job as a newspaper deliverer.  The way that job worked is that he had to get up at 2:30 in the a.m., go to the printing center, fold the newspapers, and then go through his route.  He was lucky if he got home by 6.  A couple of times, while he took a trip or something, I went and took his place for a few mornings, and it gave me a great appreciation for how much he loved us for him to be willing to go through such a ridiculous routine.  I think my dad’s pretty amazing considering some of the tough luck patches that he’s gone through.

I guess my second job at the theatre doesn’t have as much of a love for others as it is a love for the experience, but I still am getting totally trashed by the stupid number of hours I’m putting in between my two jobs.  With a month to go of the show, I’m left to seriously contemplate what kind of a crazy person would put himself through this.

However, even as wiped as I am right now, I always seem to forget about the limits of my body when I see that next audition, and I start to dream about being in that next show.  I just wish I could get an extra helping of that optimism right now when it seems the most impossible.

Another opening, another show indeed.

I received a letter in the mail a few days ago that said that I didn’t get into the top, and only, grad school that I applied to.  I am disappointed.  However, I know that because I won’t have to worry about school come fall, I can continue to work at my day job and earn good money for another year.

While this makes life not as exciting as it could be, I think that it’s probably for the best for me, at least for right now.  Next year, though, boy, let me tell you, I’m getting in by hook or by crook.

Anybody know any burglars? 

On Wednesday morning, I had the opportunity to be in a commercial that I had auditioned for in the previous week.  While it’s just a local spot, it’s still going to air during Padres games, so that’s still quite a number of people that are going to see it.

I’m kind of excited at the prospect of being on tv, even if it’s just a silly little ad.  Plus, it’s another job, so it’s a little more money in the bank.  Good times.

I’ve got a call back this coming Sunday evening for a local theatre company that pays its non-union actors pretty well.  This is a double bonus because, if I get the part (knock on wood), I will be getting more local exposure from a fairly reputable company who likes to hire actors it has already hired over and over again (which would lead to more work) and, the supplemental income from the show would help me continue to pay down my debt.  In addition, the show would not affect my work schedule at my regular job nearly as much as the show I am currently in is doing (8 shows a week, a one-way driving time of half an hour, three matinees during normal business hours, all of which while trying to get 40 hours in at my desk job is very, very exhausting).

The show is Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and I am up against two other actors for this part.  I got a really good vibe from the director at the original audition, though, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if my good vibration was well founded or not.

I’m at an exciting time in life, where theatres are starting to pay me to do things that I would gladly do for free.  Just don’t tell them that. 

I recently auditioned for a graduate MFA program in acting.  I think that getting into such a program is a definite step in the right direction in terms of pursuing acting as a career, as much of my training thus far has been from a musical perspective, and therefore, not as much from an acting perspective.

In addition, much of success in acting comes from knowing somebody who knows somebody, etc.  Spending two years with a group of people who are, theoretically, some of the most talented people in the area of acting and therefore, theoretically, the most likely to succeed seems like a great opportunity for future work.

Time will tell whether these and other benefits will provide enough of a positive economic effect to offest the costs of schooling.  I am fortunate that this program, should I get in, will provide a full tuition and a bit of money for living expenses.  However, I would obviously not be able to continue my day job that pays me pretty well.  While I suppose that all advanced degrees rely on a level of talent on the part of the individual getting the degree, it seems like this talent is most necessary in the success of a performing arts degree.

Have any of you had success with graduate degrees from an earnings perspective?  While I am currently finding consistant work, I can’t help but think that more training would be invaluable.  What are your thoughts?

The last couple of months have been really nice, money-wise, because I was getting paid both from my regular 9-5 job and from the acting work.  However, once the show closes on April 1, I will obviously be back down to one paycheck. 

Fortunately, about the same time as the show closes, my raise will start kicking into my normal paycheck, so that will help.

My experience working with this theatre has been wonderful, and I hope that I will be able to work there again, albeit next time without having to put so many hours into my day job. 

The longer that my show runs, the more I consider the viability and volatility of acting as a career.  After one show ends, one finds oneself essentially unemployed unless you have another show directly lined up, which is potentially difficult, even if you are auditioning all the time.  In addition, just because you get a pretty good contract at one theatre doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll receive another pretty good contract at another theatre, particularly for actors like myself who are currently not a member of the actors union.  Theatres can pay non-equity actors horrible wages, and the actor is generally forced to take it knowing that if they don’t, they just won’t have a job.

I am very happy that my boss at my “regular” job has been pretty flexible with the amount of time that I have missed at work because he knows that I make sure to provide excellent service to my customers.  However, in the long run, a traditional 9 to 5 job in conjunction with working in professional theatre isn’t really going to be an option, I don’t think, because the combination of working two essentially full-time jobs, no matter how fulfilling one of them is, is a huge drain on both my sanity and my relationships.

I am therefore forced to think about supplementary income.  I have a bit of that from this site and a few others that I run in the form of advertising revenue, but a hundred bucks every couple of months, while nice, isn’t exactly going to pay the rent and keep food on the table. 

As a musician, I could also give lessons, but I would need to be careful to ensure both that my lessons didn’t interfere with commitments for rehearsals and auditions, and that my students were getting a fair value for their money.  I know that this is potentially lucrative as I taught voice lessons for two years, and the rate that I charged, which was actually a bit low for the area considering that other teachers charged, in some cases, nearly twice as much, was $80 a month for four or five half-hour lessons, depending on how many times our lesson day fell on any given month.  This would average out to around $40 an hour, which is a pretty sweet gig.  However, the issue with this is that you need to have at least 15 or 20 students to be able to make a living wage out of this.

I sometimes wish that I would have been given a love for business, so that I would be fulfilled by working for a large company like I work for now and have the potential to live comfortably up until retirement.  Dreams are a funny thing.

I spoke with my employer at my regular job, and he said that it was all right to adjust my schedule in such a way as to make doing the show work.  He further said that he trusted me, and just as long as my customers weren’t complaining, he really didn’t have any problem with it.

I sort of figured that he would be all right with it, but it is certainly very soothing and gratifying to hear it right from his mouth.

Some of you may remember that I auditioned for a show in a professional theatre a few months ago.  I didn’t get the part, but, because I at first did not succeed, I tried, tried again, this time with a different but just as prestigious theatre in the area.

And I got a part.

Obviously I’m as pleased as punch, but one of the greatest things about this is that they will be paying me pretty well for my time and efforts.  While it would be quite difficult to live on just that income, I’m pretty sure that I’m going to be able to keep my day job as well, which means that my income will go up by about a third.  When you consider that the most I have received for acting in the past was a stipend of $200 for the whole rehearsal process and run of the show, getting paid nearly twice that weekly is not only awesome, but also a tremendous verification that I’m getting closer to doing the right things with my life.

What the extra money means to me is that I’ll be able to pay down my debts that much more quickly while thoroughly improving my acting resume.  Plus, because I will essentially be working two jobs, I’ll have less time to spend any extra money, which will only add to savings.

Sometimes you just have to keep trying, you know?  There’s something to be said about perseverance.

My call-back on Saturday went really well, and I have really high hopes for it. The auditionees seemed really impressed with me, and I don’t know that I could have done very much better.

Unfortunately for me, rehearsal for the show won’t start for another month, and so the theatre has a large amount of time to figure out who they’re going to cast.

As it is common practice for theatres not to call those who didn’t get parts to let them know that they didn’t get parts (because, really, who would want that job?) and as they did not tell us when they would be letting us know, that leaves a lot of room for self doubt between now and next month.

If this were myspace, I would put that my mood was apprehensive. But it’s not, so I will awkwardly include it as a new paragraph in this post.