ghost light
so, i've started a new blogoprise.
mascot kills mascot, wherin i pick the winners of the weekly nfl contests based on whose mascot would win in a fight. this will be at least a weekly post through january, so if you've missed me, that's where to go.
yes, that's right, i'm posting.
(that sound you hear is the collective gasp of hundreds of readers around the world. ok, four readers around the world.)
some of you know the news -- in september i will be travelling to milwaukee in the great state of wisconsin to play antipholus of syracuse in the milwaukee shakespeare production of
comedy of errors. the exciting part of this news is that i booked this (and another gig with them in the spring) within one year of moving to chicago. hurrah.
i'm really looking forward to milwaukee for a couple of reasons --
a) i've never worked on
comedy before.
b) it'll be good to have the change of pace.
c) i'll be paid a decent living wage.
d) friends and family will be able to see my non-new york debut.
e) it's actually a great oppurtunity to get in on the ground floor with this company.
i can't quite put my finger on why i haven't been writing. i've somehow lost the drive, i think. i know part of it comes from not being forced to sit in front of a computer every day with nothing to do but surf and write and stuff like that. i'm sure i would be writing and commenting a lot more, as well as posting on my favorite message board haunts, but now that i my time is much more my own, i'm less inclined. but i've been wanting somehow to communicate this, and so here i am, communicating it.
hope all is well with you, my bloggeroos.
interestingly enough, it's a new year.
not unlike a certain austinite, i am particularly glad to watch 03 go. i have been learning how to accept the fact that all the work i am doing will pay off in the long run. that now is about hard work. that later is about reaping the benefits. i am learning this.
i had a meeting with the associate artistic director of steppenwolf the other day. he gave me some contacts for directing here in the city. we shall see.
i continue to audition well for projects in which i am not being cast.
our social life gets richer. we actually spent the whole of new years day visiting with friends. who live here. some new friends some old. but all local. the new friends include radio personalities and a comic book creator. that was a fun brunch. let me tell you.
so the outlook for 04 is partly cloudy, giving way to sun.
ok... so the mild depression continues, due mainly to the truly outrageous nature of the restaurant in which i work, but some new developments on the acting front:
a) on friday i auditioned for a commercial as a civilian rec specialist for the us armed forces. whatever.
b) i've been going to every equity open call for which i could possibly be considered.
c) the goodman called me yesterday to bring me in to audition for heartbreak house. the audition is next monday.
anyhow, things are starting to pick up on the theatrical side, and i'm not feeling quite so shillish, always trying to hawk some wares. and shaw. nice. it seems like some kind of avant gardey director, so who knows? she wants an american dialect, and for us to sing a non-musical theatre/non-opera song a capella, and to be prepared to move. for an audition for a play by bernard shaw. i don't know why i automatically relegate shaw to the museum, as i am so opposed to such thinking in re: shakespeare and the greeks, but somehow, when i first heard these instructions, i balked. in fact, i should rejoice. it's right up my alley, it is, and i have a good feeling about it. my first audition in chicago was a general for the goodman, and on the strength of that, they called me in for this.
so. that's the haps, here. on thursday we travel down to hyde park to eat with friends. on friday, i resume my place in hell at rocky stream legendary steaks. ahh, the life of an actor.
ok.
so the whole nature of this blog has pretty much disintegrated, because i'm not posting anywhere near regularly, and it's because i'm having my soul sucked out of my eyesockets at rocky stream legendary steaks. (name changed to protect the innocent, namely me.)
this place is bad from the word go, and when i said that thing before about the money being sick? it was a lie. a lie i was told. maybe not. if by sick, they meant anemic, then that's right, because the money is baaaaad. not michael jackson in the 80s bad, michael jackson now bad.
so i'm back to worrying about money. hooray. and we all know how easy that makes pursuing a ridiculous career.
so yes i'm a little depressed, and i look to you my little blogeroos for a pick-me-up.
in the news, i've had a couple of good auditions at open calls, though no fruit, yet. and i've had this idea to start pursuing directing work seriously out here.
so here is what i've got:
i need a money job that pays well, with little to no responsibility, low stress, few hours. don't tell me it doesn't exist. for a few brief shining moments, i had this job, in new york, working for a dotcom. yes it went under, but that's not the point. brainstorm, people.
i need connections to real money to start a goddamn theatre company. because pinky, rightfully does not support my personal theatre co aspirations without many thousands of dollars, which i don't have, and if i want to stop worrying about being hired by others, i need to do it myself, but i need capital.
i need some kind words. because i spent today driving in the rain to target, 3 restaurants, the library, and an audition, and found myself so incredibly depressed by the time it was over that i actually had to say "i need to be alone for a while."
okay.
so i know it's been slow going in the way of posting, but it's because some things have been happening.
a) i've registered with another agency. this one seems more focussed on commercials, and unlike the first one, hasn't sent me out yet, but the agent i interviewed with seemed very positive, and impressed with my new york-ness, so there's a start. as for the other agency, i keep on auditioning for voice-overs and commercials. something will surely hit. soon.
b) i've already turned down a gig. a staged reading, because i knew it would interfere with my work schedule (yes, a work schedule), but an offer, just the same. and from my resume... never even met me. i mailed them my resume, and they offered me a role in a reading. not too shabby. i was sad to turn it down, because it was free shakespeare. but what can you do. i hope they'll keep me on file, and we'll just have to see.
c) i already had my first acting gig. a staged reading. when i went to the steppenwolf opening of topdog underdog, a play i figured to hate, but actually liked, i met a playwright, and gave her my card, and she called me to do a reading. yes it was stage directions, but it was a start, and a relationship is being forged, which is good. plus it was at a theatre helmed by a guy i had contact with in new york, and now he's here, and anyway it was a chance to finally meet him which is something i've been trying to do for a while.
d) yes, i finally got a money job. two, actually. one is doing your standard cater-waitering. the other isd for a fancy corporate steakhouse where the workload is low and the tips are high. but i have to study all the rules and regulations and train for nine, count 'em, nine days. but apparently it's worth it, because they say the money is pretty sick. and this catering gig has been fun, too, because they've gotten some cool jobs... last weekend, i catered the skybox of the northwestern/minnesota football game, and on tuesday, i catered the vip tent of the sting concert. fun.
so things are beginning. i still haven't had time to do a big mailing, which now that i have a routine might be easier to get done. i don't do well without routine, and anyway, now that i'm feeling a little better about my life, i'll be more motivated.
that's the news from over here.
mattyspace has been updated.
