Tip # Whatever
Try new things
Such as wheat grass shots.
On the day of the Broadway street fair Byron Dement (my fellow Merchkin at Wicked) talked me into my first wheat grass shot ~
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Get One Thing Done
9/23/09
On the D train crossing Brooklyn to Manhattan
More Wide Eyed Young Person tips:
- Get one thing done every day
Transferring your whole life someplace new is overwhelming. Sometimes it feels like there are a million things to do and you can’t begin to think where to begin and sometimes it feels like there is nothing to do. Or sometimes you just don’t feel like doing anything.
To understand more about why I feel certain tips are super important you need to know more about me. I am formerly a perfectionist. Okay, I still am, but a different type. It used to be if I didn’t get everything done and get it done perfectly then I would beat myself up (mentally, of course). Upon entering college and realizing that it was not only impossible to do everything but almost completely impossible to do any of it perfectly - my standard berating of myself sent me spiraling into a depression where I didn’t do anything – where I couldn’t do anything for several years.
So now instead of getting down on myself for what I didn’t do I champion myself for each thing I have done. I’ve never been one of those people that go ape shit for lists and crossing things off of them. Don’t get me wrong, I get that it feels good to cross things off of the lists – it’s just that usually when I make a to do list it just gets lost. So I have become very good at keeping track of lists in my head. And I constantly try to come up with the best place to keep a list (my phone has become the best place for my calendar, so I’m hoping it’s going to prove just as useful for my lists).
So in order not to beat myself up for becoming immediately immersed in “the business” I make myself get one thing done each day. So that eventually (and I mean any day now) my list of “finish putting pictures up” and “spray that last cabinet in the kitchen” will be gone and I will have no choice but to get the lists of “contact all those people you’re supposed to” and “look up some damn auditions already”.
Also, since having my eye opening magical night thanks to Jodi Monday night, I have decided to pick which list I get my one thing done off of. So last night I redoubled my blogging effort and tried to make a date with Jodi (she counts under contacts). Tonight my goal is to contact 1 other person and at least look up the backstage website so at least I know I can find the audition info.
So that’s my tip on how to keep from spiraling into despair once you get here and realize just because you’ve changed locations doesn’t mean you’ve changed your problems. Get one thing done every day – and champion yourself – celebrate yourself – for that one thing.
Congratulations, good job, you deserve a beer (even if you can’t afford to buy one).
What else . . .
- Did I mention there’s no air conditioning anywhere? There’s AC on the trains but the train platforms are one of the most miserable things you will experience – bring a hankie (if you’re from the south), some tissue, hell, even a hand towel – because you will be dripping with sweat in the summer. Something to fan yourself with is always good, too. I was using the post card from Kat’s play, now I bring the fan from Stephanie’s wedding with me everywhere.
- Bring your umbrella with you everywhere, too. That’s good advice wherever you are. And a pashmina in September because the minute you step inside a place that is air conditioned you’re sweaty little body will start to shiver.
- Germ X
What else . . . mid September weather goes up and down from high 50’s to low 80’s. This means that they have begun turning the air conditioning off in some of the trains. Sometimes you’ll get stuck on a hot train.
I have it in me to be passive aggressive. I come by it honestly – it had been passed to me from one generation of southern women to the next. I don’t like this in myself. There’s never a worse feeling than realizing you’ve been walked all over, it’s your own dam fault, and the only thing you know to result to is petty jabs that you give with a smile on your face. So I try to weigh very carefully the moments when I’m angry to see if they are petty or if I actually need to stand up for something. When living in an apartment with 3 boys where I do all of the cleaning (most of it, anyway) and do most of the buying of things to improve life in the apartment it’s a constant battle inside me.
They were obviously fine living in unorganized squalor before I got here. Yes, I’m the one who is keeping it clean but I’m also the only one who is unwilling to live with it messy. At which point do I get angry and at which point am I being a busy body pushing myself on other people’s lives?
Yeah I bought the fan for the bathroom but do I ask them for money for it when apparently they were fine with the stinky, stuffy, pre-fan bathroom?
I believe the bath mat will stop smelling bad if we hang it over the side of the tub when not using it. I’m not their mother; I can’t make them put the bath mat up.
Where is the line?
Anyway, gotta get off the train now. More later.
On the D train crossing Brooklyn to Manhattan
More Wide Eyed Young Person tips:
- Get one thing done every day
Transferring your whole life someplace new is overwhelming. Sometimes it feels like there are a million things to do and you can’t begin to think where to begin and sometimes it feels like there is nothing to do. Or sometimes you just don’t feel like doing anything.
To understand more about why I feel certain tips are super important you need to know more about me. I am formerly a perfectionist. Okay, I still am, but a different type. It used to be if I didn’t get everything done and get it done perfectly then I would beat myself up (mentally, of course). Upon entering college and realizing that it was not only impossible to do everything but almost completely impossible to do any of it perfectly - my standard berating of myself sent me spiraling into a depression where I didn’t do anything – where I couldn’t do anything for several years.
So now instead of getting down on myself for what I didn’t do I champion myself for each thing I have done. I’ve never been one of those people that go ape shit for lists and crossing things off of them. Don’t get me wrong, I get that it feels good to cross things off of the lists – it’s just that usually when I make a to do list it just gets lost. So I have become very good at keeping track of lists in my head. And I constantly try to come up with the best place to keep a list (my phone has become the best place for my calendar, so I’m hoping it’s going to prove just as useful for my lists).
So in order not to beat myself up for becoming immediately immersed in “the business” I make myself get one thing done each day. So that eventually (and I mean any day now) my list of “finish putting pictures up” and “spray that last cabinet in the kitchen” will be gone and I will have no choice but to get the lists of “contact all those people you’re supposed to” and “look up some damn auditions already”.
Also, since having my eye opening magical night thanks to Jodi Monday night, I have decided to pick which list I get my one thing done off of. So last night I redoubled my blogging effort and tried to make a date with Jodi (she counts under contacts). Tonight my goal is to contact 1 other person and at least look up the backstage website so at least I know I can find the audition info.
So that’s my tip on how to keep from spiraling into despair once you get here and realize just because you’ve changed locations doesn’t mean you’ve changed your problems. Get one thing done every day – and champion yourself – celebrate yourself – for that one thing.
Congratulations, good job, you deserve a beer (even if you can’t afford to buy one).
What else . . .
- Did I mention there’s no air conditioning anywhere? There’s AC on the trains but the train platforms are one of the most miserable things you will experience – bring a hankie (if you’re from the south), some tissue, hell, even a hand towel – because you will be dripping with sweat in the summer. Something to fan yourself with is always good, too. I was using the post card from Kat’s play, now I bring the fan from Stephanie’s wedding with me everywhere.
- Bring your umbrella with you everywhere, too. That’s good advice wherever you are. And a pashmina in September because the minute you step inside a place that is air conditioned you’re sweaty little body will start to shiver.
- Germ X
What else . . . mid September weather goes up and down from high 50’s to low 80’s. This means that they have begun turning the air conditioning off in some of the trains. Sometimes you’ll get stuck on a hot train.
I have it in me to be passive aggressive. I come by it honestly – it had been passed to me from one generation of southern women to the next. I don’t like this in myself. There’s never a worse feeling than realizing you’ve been walked all over, it’s your own dam fault, and the only thing you know to result to is petty jabs that you give with a smile on your face. So I try to weigh very carefully the moments when I’m angry to see if they are petty or if I actually need to stand up for something. When living in an apartment with 3 boys where I do all of the cleaning (most of it, anyway) and do most of the buying of things to improve life in the apartment it’s a constant battle inside me.
They were obviously fine living in unorganized squalor before I got here. Yes, I’m the one who is keeping it clean but I’m also the only one who is unwilling to live with it messy. At which point do I get angry and at which point am I being a busy body pushing myself on other people’s lives?
Yeah I bought the fan for the bathroom but do I ask them for money for it when apparently they were fine with the stinky, stuffy, pre-fan bathroom?
I believe the bath mat will stop smelling bad if we hang it over the side of the tub when not using it. I’m not their mother; I can’t make them put the bath mat up.
Where is the line?
Anyway, gotta get off the train now. More later.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
D Train Memoirs
These were written on scraps of paper during my first two weeks here -
It’s hard to get a chance to collect your thoughts here. Scratch that – it’s hard to get a chance to collect your thoughts when sharing room with MRL. He’s wonderful but we do a lot of talking and laughing and singing so it’s hard to stop and take a moment. So where as last summer I did all of my writing late at night alone in my room, here I find I do most of it waiting for the D train, which has become my new best friend.
It also makes it hard because I end up writing it all down in these mini notebooks instead of in my big journal or directly onto my computer.
Currently I’m waiting to go to the East Village. Ashley Lewis is living there for the moment and I said I’d go out to visit her so I could explore this new part of town (well new to me) and if it wasn’t so late (9:35) I would be taking the directions that Hop Stop gave me and gotten on a bus for the last leg of the journey. I’m not brave enough to try the bus yet. Not this late at night.
Also, as I just got on the train there is a strange noise being admitted from the train itself and the man behind me is listening to his IPOD loud enough for the whole train to hear.
So, let’s review. Mom left a week ago today (feels like longer somehow). After she left MRL went to work and then – magically Holly came over. That was wonderful. She helped me clean some things up and then she and I went to the Pizza place down the street, and then off to a different part of Brooklyn to watch Adam Patterson’s open rehearsal. It was my 1st time on the subway as a resident. We found the place all right, hot as Hades and air conditioning (nobody has air conditioning here). It was a very interesting show. A movement based piece about Elephant psychology. That’s right I said elephant psychology. The movement part was awesome – Anne Bogart and Tina Landau would be proud. But I feel the music often didn’t fit well w/the work being done (which Adam says was the point). Adam was of course, amazing.
We went and had a beer with Adam and the people from his show and then Holly and I went back to my place for a sleep over with MRL.
Wednesday night MRL took me to see Julie and Julia midnight showing and I made it into the city for the first time by myself. Wait – that doesn’t track. I don’t know what we did Wed. night. That must have been – yes – Wed. I had my job interview and then I think that’s when we got our wireless router – so all 4 roommates were home and we all sat around like great lumps and stared at out computer screens. Ah – the wonder of technology.
THURDAY night Matty took me to see Julie and Julia at midnight. The next night I went into the city late again to have drinks with MRL and Saturday night was my Welcome to NYC party at Greg’s where I got to meet all of Kat’s friends that she’s been talking about forever but the only people of mine who came were MRL and my new roommate Ray. However we had a great time playing apples to apples and trivial pursuit. We managed to break my camera when Greg broke a bottle of sweet tea vodka he had bought especially for the occasion.
That’s the end of that scrap of paper.
Next scrap of paper
This morning I woke up disgruntled and un-amused. I got on the train worrying about being late and was lost in thought until we went over the bridge, back into gorgeous sunlight and I saw those rays hit the city and all I could think is “another beautiful day in the city” and it is beautiful – despite the heat. I was looking over it thinking how it felt like one giant amusement park or a circus – and it was with this thought of circuses in my head that my eyes landed on a billboard on the side of a tall building across from the bridge with nothing but the word DUMBO written in large colorful letters. I’ll take that, I thought. I’ll take that.
Would have given myself a dollar to call number under it, too. But then we were back underground and in the dark.
And then it pleases me to know that no matter how disgruntled and un-amused I am when I get on the train back to Brooklyn at night there will always be a moment when I can look across the bridge and see the city all lit up and spread out in front of me – and that thought makes me smile.
Next scrap of paper -
I went to Kat's fundraiser for her fringe show - then left early and went to hang out with Matty at Rock of Ages for the 2nd act. First night there.
"What a releif to end the night in the theatre. A feeling of home no matter how many people I do or don't know.It would have been better had they put me to work at Kat's thing. I must have a purpose."
It’s hard to get a chance to collect your thoughts here. Scratch that – it’s hard to get a chance to collect your thoughts when sharing room with MRL. He’s wonderful but we do a lot of talking and laughing and singing so it’s hard to stop and take a moment. So where as last summer I did all of my writing late at night alone in my room, here I find I do most of it waiting for the D train, which has become my new best friend.
It also makes it hard because I end up writing it all down in these mini notebooks instead of in my big journal or directly onto my computer.
Currently I’m waiting to go to the East Village. Ashley Lewis is living there for the moment and I said I’d go out to visit her so I could explore this new part of town (well new to me) and if it wasn’t so late (9:35) I would be taking the directions that Hop Stop gave me and gotten on a bus for the last leg of the journey. I’m not brave enough to try the bus yet. Not this late at night.
Also, as I just got on the train there is a strange noise being admitted from the train itself and the man behind me is listening to his IPOD loud enough for the whole train to hear.
So, let’s review. Mom left a week ago today (feels like longer somehow). After she left MRL went to work and then – magically Holly came over. That was wonderful. She helped me clean some things up and then she and I went to the Pizza place down the street, and then off to a different part of Brooklyn to watch Adam Patterson’s open rehearsal. It was my 1st time on the subway as a resident. We found the place all right, hot as Hades and air conditioning (nobody has air conditioning here). It was a very interesting show. A movement based piece about Elephant psychology. That’s right I said elephant psychology. The movement part was awesome – Anne Bogart and Tina Landau would be proud. But I feel the music often didn’t fit well w/the work being done (which Adam says was the point). Adam was of course, amazing.
We went and had a beer with Adam and the people from his show and then Holly and I went back to my place for a sleep over with MRL.
Wednesday night MRL took me to see Julie and Julia midnight showing and I made it into the city for the first time by myself. Wait – that doesn’t track. I don’t know what we did Wed. night. That must have been – yes – Wed. I had my job interview and then I think that’s when we got our wireless router – so all 4 roommates were home and we all sat around like great lumps and stared at out computer screens. Ah – the wonder of technology.
THURDAY night Matty took me to see Julie and Julia at midnight. The next night I went into the city late again to have drinks with MRL and Saturday night was my Welcome to NYC party at Greg’s where I got to meet all of Kat’s friends that she’s been talking about forever but the only people of mine who came were MRL and my new roommate Ray. However we had a great time playing apples to apples and trivial pursuit. We managed to break my camera when Greg broke a bottle of sweet tea vodka he had bought especially for the occasion.
That’s the end of that scrap of paper.
Next scrap of paper
This morning I woke up disgruntled and un-amused. I got on the train worrying about being late and was lost in thought until we went over the bridge, back into gorgeous sunlight and I saw those rays hit the city and all I could think is “another beautiful day in the city” and it is beautiful – despite the heat. I was looking over it thinking how it felt like one giant amusement park or a circus – and it was with this thought of circuses in my head that my eyes landed on a billboard on the side of a tall building across from the bridge with nothing but the word DUMBO written in large colorful letters. I’ll take that, I thought. I’ll take that.
Would have given myself a dollar to call number under it, too. But then we were back underground and in the dark.
And then it pleases me to know that no matter how disgruntled and un-amused I am when I get on the train back to Brooklyn at night there will always be a moment when I can look across the bridge and see the city all lit up and spread out in front of me – and that thought makes me smile.
Next scrap of paper -
I went to Kat's fundraiser for her fringe show - then left early and went to hang out with Matty at Rock of Ages for the 2nd act. First night there.
"What a releif to end the night in the theatre. A feeling of home no matter how many people I do or don't know.It would have been better had they put me to work at Kat's thing. I must have a purpose."
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
It's A Magical World I Live In
So last night I went to see Love, Loss, and What I Wore off Broadway at the Westside Theatre. Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, who was the managing director when I was interning at The Westport Playhouse last summer, is now the associate managing director of the Daryl Roth theatre who put on the show. Also Amy Claussen, who interned with me, is currently the directing intern there. Jodi and I have been trying to get together since I moved to NYC and she had sent out an e-mail saying that she could get a few of us people whom she loved tickets to see the show. Which is a big deal considering it’s a cast full of famous people – Tyne Daly, Rosie O’Donnell, Natasha Lyonne, Samantha Bee (whom you might know from The Daily Show), and Katie Finneran (who has a slew of Broadway credits, as well as TV shows – and I must have seen her on one of them because she seems awfully familiar to me. It could also be because she bears an uncanny resemblance to Mary Kathryn Walston).
So I went. And can I just say what a wonderful night it was. Not just because the show was great – which it was. I mean I laughed, teared up a little bit, and laughed some more. Beyond that – I was absolutely charmed. The show is vaguely Vagina Monologue-esque but has a little bit more of a – charming quality to it. Charming is the best word I can come up for. Just leaves you grinning. And wanting to hug all the women around you. And all of the women on that stage.
However it was also a wonderful night because I went by myself. This might seem odd, but I live in an apartment with 3 other people, until recently 4 other people. And most of the stuff I did out and about was either at work or hanging out with some of those same people (or occasionally with Adam). So it was nice, no it was wonderful, to go out into my new city on my own and find my way on my own and enjoy a night on my own. I was able to think my own thoughts, form my own opinions, without any one else putting their two cents in. Don’t get me wrong – I love Matthew Ryan – but I am remembering why it was nice to be able to get away from him and now I can’t. That still sounds bad. MRL has a strong personality that I admire him for. But in any relationship with two people of strong personalities it’s nice (not to mention good for the relationship) to spend time apart.
Also I got to explore a part of NYC that I hadn’t yet since moving here. This sounds crazy since the Westside Theatre is only a few blocks and avenues away from where I work, but honestly – I never go to 42nd street. Ever. Rock of Ages is on 47th and Wicked is b/t 50th and 51st. I never go down there. 42nd street is awesome! It’s full of glitz and glamour, even the subway stops are all glitzed up with neon and color. It was a lovely walk down the four and half avenues from the 42nd street subway station to the Westside Theatre. Not just that – but apparently last night was the opening at the Met so when I got out at the subway station and walked over Times Square all of the big screens were playing the opera and the music was coming through the big loud speakers. The whole of time square was filled with opera music. Everyone was stopped and staring up at the screens. Absolutely magical! Where else does that happen? This is the city I live in, and it’s wonderful. And it’s huge. And it’s filled with people and moments and happenings and magic. All you have to do is look for it. Not even that, all you have to do is go out your front door and be open to it happening. All you have to do is walk out your front door and be there. All you have to do is show up.
I’ve been here for a month and a half now. If I compare that to my three months in Westport and what I had accomplished in the same amount of time, not to mention what I had written, I get a little sad. I haven’t written much. It is my intention to take this blog and make it into some sort of informative guide for all of the young women who come after me who have no idea what they are doing. So that they might then have some idea what to do. But I haven’t written the things that I’ve learned, and I’ve become a bit blasé about learning them. A slump is bound to happen after this big of a change – a lethargy if you will. I’ve got Kat and Adam telling me not to feel pressured or rush into the audition scene to make sure I don’t get overwhelmed while still adjusting to my new life. On the other hand I have my Mom, Adam (on a different night) and this fabulous guy at work Chris C. saying what the hell am I waiting for? Or as Chris says – you didn’t move all the way up here to sell t-shirts. Which is true. I didn’t. But it took everything I had in me just to get here. The next step is going to take a whole lot of inspiration. And last night I think I got it. Being around Jodi and Amy and seeing people doing this thing that I love to do away from the influence of the people I am usually around inspired me. I want more. I want to know what’s going on. I want to know what I’m doing. I want to love my life. I want to live that life with no regrets. One of the reasons I moved here is so I would never have to wonder. Well I’m going to keep on wondering if all I did was move here and not really try anything.
That being said – not getting too overwhelmed is good advice. It will do me no good to go to auditions overwhelmed, and I don’t make good impressions when making contacts if I am overwhelmed. So starting yes – but still taking it slow. I’m not going anywhere. I live here now. Opportunities don’t stop next week. But they start all the time!
So here we are – Laura’s tips for those planning to hop on board the NYC theatrical dream –
· In NYC there is no such thing as separate checks. I learned this the night my mom left, when out with Adam and Holly. Asking your server for separate checks at a bar or restaurant is taboo. If you all have cards – what you do is take the bill and write on the back of it how much money you want to put on each card and then give your server all of the cards. Basically – do it for them and tip them well.
· While you’re at it, make sure that the bar, restaurant, bodega you are at takes cards. Some of them only take cash.
· At all of your local bodega’s there is the visitor price (or as Amy calls it – the rich white girl price) and the local price. If you plan on frequenting a bodega – pick one, go to it often (everyday – buy a $1.00 coke – with cash!) be nice, flash a smile. Within a week or two you will get the local price, as well as a friendly relationship with your local bodega owner who can give you the skinny on the best deals around. And if you’re lucky you will get the bodega’s business card and they will then deliver directly to your apartment anything you want anytime you want for no delivery charge. I haven’t actually used this magical delivery number (mostly because I never have cash) but I have the card on the fridge like a badge of honor. Matthew Ryan and Ray have been here for over a year and had no clue that these guys delivered. Hehehehehehe – it pays to be cute (which is what Salah the bodega guy calls me when I come in – Hi, Cute!)
· If you happen to know someone who is an assistant for someone relatively famous and they invite you to that relatively famous person’s birthday party and say dress up – make sure you ask what kind of place you are going to, what kind of dressed up you should be, and what the best time to get there is. That way you don’t end up like me in front of a posh club that only lets in the hot girls (yes, these places actually exist – the doormen will say “let me see the girls” and the girls will line up and the ones most scantily clad or the ones that get in) dressed in jeans, tennis shoes, and a nice pink cardigan. The thinking behind this outfit being when you were told to dress nice that meant the kind of nice you could go out with your parents in. Not the kind of nice you could get picked up on the corner in. Also – if this is something you are interested in (which I’m not really, but it would have been an interesting experience) make sure you come with clothes you could get into a posh club wearing. As I stood in line for an hour and a half repeatedly telling them who I was with and that my friends were inside it occurred to me not only that I was not dressed for this type of place but that I don’t actually own any clothing that would be appropriate for this type of place.
· Dishwashers do not exist. Private washing machines and dryers do not exist.
· Roaches do exist. They are a part of life. If you live in NY you live with roaches. However if you do your dishes as soon as you are done with them, wipe the counters down and take the trash out before you go to sleep and keep all of your food stuffs in some sort of plastic container or large sandwich bags the roaches will not be tempted to come out of the walls at night. Their numbers might be overwhelming, but if you put in just a little bit of time and effort and use a Raid type spray, roach traps, boric acid, and a homemade remedy of sugar and baking soda, they will lessen to almost a point of disappearing.
· Having stuff from home and pictures of the people you love helps.
· Skype helps.
· Snail mail helps.
· Take everything you hear about the industry with a grain of salt.
· When entering a new situation, keep your mouth shut till you learn the politics.
· Yes, there are plenty of straight play auditions as well as musical auditions.
· That’s all for now – but believe me there is more. Stay tuned for more videos and several interrupted thoughts that I got half written in the past month and a half.
So I went. And can I just say what a wonderful night it was. Not just because the show was great – which it was. I mean I laughed, teared up a little bit, and laughed some more. Beyond that – I was absolutely charmed. The show is vaguely Vagina Monologue-esque but has a little bit more of a – charming quality to it. Charming is the best word I can come up for. Just leaves you grinning. And wanting to hug all the women around you. And all of the women on that stage.
However it was also a wonderful night because I went by myself. This might seem odd, but I live in an apartment with 3 other people, until recently 4 other people. And most of the stuff I did out and about was either at work or hanging out with some of those same people (or occasionally with Adam). So it was nice, no it was wonderful, to go out into my new city on my own and find my way on my own and enjoy a night on my own. I was able to think my own thoughts, form my own opinions, without any one else putting their two cents in. Don’t get me wrong – I love Matthew Ryan – but I am remembering why it was nice to be able to get away from him and now I can’t. That still sounds bad. MRL has a strong personality that I admire him for. But in any relationship with two people of strong personalities it’s nice (not to mention good for the relationship) to spend time apart.
Also I got to explore a part of NYC that I hadn’t yet since moving here. This sounds crazy since the Westside Theatre is only a few blocks and avenues away from where I work, but honestly – I never go to 42nd street. Ever. Rock of Ages is on 47th and Wicked is b/t 50th and 51st. I never go down there. 42nd street is awesome! It’s full of glitz and glamour, even the subway stops are all glitzed up with neon and color. It was a lovely walk down the four and half avenues from the 42nd street subway station to the Westside Theatre. Not just that – but apparently last night was the opening at the Met so when I got out at the subway station and walked over Times Square all of the big screens were playing the opera and the music was coming through the big loud speakers. The whole of time square was filled with opera music. Everyone was stopped and staring up at the screens. Absolutely magical! Where else does that happen? This is the city I live in, and it’s wonderful. And it’s huge. And it’s filled with people and moments and happenings and magic. All you have to do is look for it. Not even that, all you have to do is go out your front door and be open to it happening. All you have to do is walk out your front door and be there. All you have to do is show up.
I’ve been here for a month and a half now. If I compare that to my three months in Westport and what I had accomplished in the same amount of time, not to mention what I had written, I get a little sad. I haven’t written much. It is my intention to take this blog and make it into some sort of informative guide for all of the young women who come after me who have no idea what they are doing. So that they might then have some idea what to do. But I haven’t written the things that I’ve learned, and I’ve become a bit blasé about learning them. A slump is bound to happen after this big of a change – a lethargy if you will. I’ve got Kat and Adam telling me not to feel pressured or rush into the audition scene to make sure I don’t get overwhelmed while still adjusting to my new life. On the other hand I have my Mom, Adam (on a different night) and this fabulous guy at work Chris C. saying what the hell am I waiting for? Or as Chris says – you didn’t move all the way up here to sell t-shirts. Which is true. I didn’t. But it took everything I had in me just to get here. The next step is going to take a whole lot of inspiration. And last night I think I got it. Being around Jodi and Amy and seeing people doing this thing that I love to do away from the influence of the people I am usually around inspired me. I want more. I want to know what’s going on. I want to know what I’m doing. I want to love my life. I want to live that life with no regrets. One of the reasons I moved here is so I would never have to wonder. Well I’m going to keep on wondering if all I did was move here and not really try anything.
That being said – not getting too overwhelmed is good advice. It will do me no good to go to auditions overwhelmed, and I don’t make good impressions when making contacts if I am overwhelmed. So starting yes – but still taking it slow. I’m not going anywhere. I live here now. Opportunities don’t stop next week. But they start all the time!
So here we are – Laura’s tips for those planning to hop on board the NYC theatrical dream –
· In NYC there is no such thing as separate checks. I learned this the night my mom left, when out with Adam and Holly. Asking your server for separate checks at a bar or restaurant is taboo. If you all have cards – what you do is take the bill and write on the back of it how much money you want to put on each card and then give your server all of the cards. Basically – do it for them and tip them well.
· While you’re at it, make sure that the bar, restaurant, bodega you are at takes cards. Some of them only take cash.
· At all of your local bodega’s there is the visitor price (or as Amy calls it – the rich white girl price) and the local price. If you plan on frequenting a bodega – pick one, go to it often (everyday – buy a $1.00 coke – with cash!) be nice, flash a smile. Within a week or two you will get the local price, as well as a friendly relationship with your local bodega owner who can give you the skinny on the best deals around. And if you’re lucky you will get the bodega’s business card and they will then deliver directly to your apartment anything you want anytime you want for no delivery charge. I haven’t actually used this magical delivery number (mostly because I never have cash) but I have the card on the fridge like a badge of honor. Matthew Ryan and Ray have been here for over a year and had no clue that these guys delivered. Hehehehehehe – it pays to be cute (which is what Salah the bodega guy calls me when I come in – Hi, Cute!)
· If you happen to know someone who is an assistant for someone relatively famous and they invite you to that relatively famous person’s birthday party and say dress up – make sure you ask what kind of place you are going to, what kind of dressed up you should be, and what the best time to get there is. That way you don’t end up like me in front of a posh club that only lets in the hot girls (yes, these places actually exist – the doormen will say “let me see the girls” and the girls will line up and the ones most scantily clad or the ones that get in) dressed in jeans, tennis shoes, and a nice pink cardigan. The thinking behind this outfit being when you were told to dress nice that meant the kind of nice you could go out with your parents in. Not the kind of nice you could get picked up on the corner in. Also – if this is something you are interested in (which I’m not really, but it would have been an interesting experience) make sure you come with clothes you could get into a posh club wearing. As I stood in line for an hour and a half repeatedly telling them who I was with and that my friends were inside it occurred to me not only that I was not dressed for this type of place but that I don’t actually own any clothing that would be appropriate for this type of place.
· Dishwashers do not exist. Private washing machines and dryers do not exist.
· Roaches do exist. They are a part of life. If you live in NY you live with roaches. However if you do your dishes as soon as you are done with them, wipe the counters down and take the trash out before you go to sleep and keep all of your food stuffs in some sort of plastic container or large sandwich bags the roaches will not be tempted to come out of the walls at night. Their numbers might be overwhelming, but if you put in just a little bit of time and effort and use a Raid type spray, roach traps, boric acid, and a homemade remedy of sugar and baking soda, they will lessen to almost a point of disappearing.
· Having stuff from home and pictures of the people you love helps.
· Skype helps.
· Snail mail helps.
· Take everything you hear about the industry with a grain of salt.
· When entering a new situation, keep your mouth shut till you learn the politics.
· Yes, there are plenty of straight play auditions as well as musical auditions.
· That’s all for now – but believe me there is more. Stay tuned for more videos and several interrupted thoughts that I got half written in the past month and a half.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Adventure! (pt 2) Debacle
The tenses in this one are all screwed up. Didn't feel like editing!
So Mom is supposed to fly out to Boston on Friday morning (the day before we’re supposed to leave), and fly back in Friday night. She and I would then pick up the U-Haul truck around 10am Saturday morning and start loading everything up. As soon as we are done we are supposed to get in the truck and drive to Philadelphia and stay with a friend of mom’s for the night. Sunday we were supposed to get back in the truck and be in Brooklyn by lunch time. EZ PZ.
This was the plan. Well – as Lormarev likes to say – we plan, God laughs.
So Mom flies out on Friday morning. Then Friday night as Jesse is picking me up for my “last night in town” we find out that because of the storms all up and down the east coast her flight home has been cancelled. She has to find a hotel for the night and the only way she can get back on Saturday at all is if she flies to MIAMI and then to Greensboro where my Step-Dad would pick her up. It is now extremely unlikely that we will be leaving on Saturday at all.
So Jesse and I go see Turn of The Screw at Hot Summer Nights (which was fabulous) and then go to the Burough for my last hurrah in Raleigh as a resident. Blasty-Blast. Total Debauchery. Raucousness ensued (you can see the pictures on Facebook). I get a little tipsy (to say the least) and as I no longer have a car Taylor and Jesse drive me home (we stop at Cookout), I drink a ton of water and go to sleep.
Brilliant me.
Wake up next morning around 8am, pack a few more things, then Terry and I go to pick up the U-Haul. We ordered a 10ft truck, they only have a 14ft truck. Fine. I reach in my wallet for my debit card to pay for the truck and . . . it’s not there. No debit card. Gone. So embarrassing. Terry has to pay. We go back home with the truck then I immediately hop into my mom’s car and drive back to the Burough on the off chance that someone will be there and they would have found my card. No one’s there – silly girl – they don’t open until 4pm! I call Taylor to see if by some chance it is in the back of his car, leave a ton of messages at the Burough telling them my plight, and go back home.
Of course, of course, this is something that I never do – have never done! And the one time I lose my debit card is the night before I move and because I sold my car there is more money in my account than there has ever been ever. Of course!
Mom has managed to get a flight through D.C. to RDU and gets home around 3pm, after Terry and I load the whole truck by ourselves (I think I sweated off 14 pounds), and shortly after that I get a call from both Taylor and The Burough saying my card was nowhere to be found. Had to call and freeze it. But no one had charged anything so it wasn’t stolen. Just disappeared from the face of the earth. I finished packing, because despite the fact that I had finished packing almost everything 2 weeks ago there was still a pile of crap in the middle of my floor that I had no clue how to pack.
So I finished that, went to sleep, then Mom and I leave at 4am on Sunday morning. This should have put us into Brooklyn around 2:30.
Nuh-uh. Nothing doing.
The 1st half of the drive was great – and mom drove the whole way (I don’t think she trusted me to drive the thing). So I slept most of it. But just outside of Delaware (or was it Baltimore?) we hit wall to wall traffic and lots of rain. Same on the Jersey turnpike – wall to wall – crawling along. Apparently the weekend is when it has the most traffic. And if you need gas on the Jersey turnpike – forget it. You can’t pump your own gas in New Jersey, someone HAS to pump it for you, and that plus the traffic means the line to the pump is around the corner.
So what should have taken us 9 hours took us 12. We didn’t get there till 4pm.
Not to mention the fact that anytime I was awake there was a HUGE part of me thinking “What in the world am I effing doing? This is absolutely the crazy. Turn around! Take me back to my house and my room and my friends and green, green North Carolina and the lake! Turn around! Maybe Andy will sell me my car back!” And this is made ten times worse when we get to Brooklyn and have to deal with Brooklyn traffic and crazy Brooklyn drivers, and the GPS was very confused and kept giving us conflicting directions. All I could think was “No, no I don’t like this. I HATE this. I’ve always hated this, why on earth did I think I wanted to come here?”
And then we couldn’t find a place to park the monster truck in reasonable distance to my building, and then we did find one but it was in front of a fire hydrant (non-working MRL assured us). There are fire hydrants effing everywhere, by the way. Every five feet, it feels like. But we give up and park there anyway. Then we have to unload. Thank God it had stopped raining and there was a cool breeze blowing – but it was just me and MRL as mom had to stay and guard the truck.
But then, about half way through, something WONDERFUL happened. People came! Kat showed up, my new roommate Joey came down to help, and Amy Claussen came. Poor Amy, had so much to do but came anyway, got all sweaty moving stuff in, and then had to leave without dinner because we couldn’t find a place to sit down and eat. And we got everything in! And ate really good Chinese food!
And then mom and I left to go to the B&B she was staying at so we could get some sleep and take a shower. We called a cab and on the way over I had a mini breakdown. Then we get there and it’s lovely – everyone coming to visit Brooklyn should stay there – BB’s bed and breakfast.
But about 4:30am mom wakes up and starts freaking out convinced that the U-Haul (which she calls a U-Haul It) has been towed because of the broken hydrant and we will never find it. And she can’t get back to sleep. So finally I call MRL at 5:30am so he can check and see if it is still there. It is. But we have to move it by 8:30am anyway because we’re in a loading zone.
But the next day was better. After we got rid of the U-Haul everything was a lot better. Then it was all cabs and public transport and a lot less stressful.
The unpacking part I’m okay with – I like it – it makes me feel like . . . I’m starting something new and making it my own. The going shopping with mom part I like – we get to pick out little things we need in the apartment.
(I’m skipping over the semi-disastrous but successful Target run in the U-Haul to get a microwave where mom just went around and around the block wile MRL and I were inside because there’s no place to park the monster truck.)
And there are all of these fantastic ( at least I think they are) 99 cent stores all around the apartment. They are these cash only, Asian owned places a block away from me where I can get anything – ANYTHING – I could possibly need for super cheap. If they had air conditioning I could spend all day there.
The rest of the time is spent cleaning and unpacking and mom cleaning the kitchen (there are roaches) and back at BB’s then back to the apartment and more shopping and unpacking and then mom has to leave. And oh, oh, oh I love my mother. I am under no illusions that without my mother I would not be here, that I am a spoiled brat who doesn’t deserve – that most people don’t have the mother that I have to help them get here.
And I hug her goodbye as she gets in the cab to JFK.
And I almost cry. Almost. I’m almost crying now – writing this.
Part of me wanted to grab her and say “Don’t go! You don’t have to go! Just move in with me here!”
Because in the end, no matter how much I want to be independent, no matter how many tiff’s we have over the difference between mayonnaise, miracle whip, and actual salad dressing – I am still, and always will be, a little girl at heart and I want my mother with me always.
I wish I knew better words than thank you. But Mom, Mamma, Mommy, Mother of mine – Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.
So – a debacle filled few days to be sure, and at the time not funny. But looking back it gets funnier, and every day it will be funnier still.
Next – stay tuned for MRL and I’s adventures in decorating and traversing the big city. MRL’s getting a big “Thank You” from me as well. He’s gotten me an apt, a job, and has babied me through big city transportation. Talk about a God send.
I swear he’s going to get real sick of me real soon.
So Mom is supposed to fly out to Boston on Friday morning (the day before we’re supposed to leave), and fly back in Friday night. She and I would then pick up the U-Haul truck around 10am Saturday morning and start loading everything up. As soon as we are done we are supposed to get in the truck and drive to Philadelphia and stay with a friend of mom’s for the night. Sunday we were supposed to get back in the truck and be in Brooklyn by lunch time. EZ PZ.
This was the plan. Well – as Lormarev likes to say – we plan, God laughs.
So Mom flies out on Friday morning. Then Friday night as Jesse is picking me up for my “last night in town” we find out that because of the storms all up and down the east coast her flight home has been cancelled. She has to find a hotel for the night and the only way she can get back on Saturday at all is if she flies to MIAMI and then to Greensboro where my Step-Dad would pick her up. It is now extremely unlikely that we will be leaving on Saturday at all.
So Jesse and I go see Turn of The Screw at Hot Summer Nights (which was fabulous) and then go to the Burough for my last hurrah in Raleigh as a resident. Blasty-Blast. Total Debauchery. Raucousness ensued (you can see the pictures on Facebook). I get a little tipsy (to say the least) and as I no longer have a car Taylor and Jesse drive me home (we stop at Cookout), I drink a ton of water and go to sleep.
Brilliant me.
Wake up next morning around 8am, pack a few more things, then Terry and I go to pick up the U-Haul. We ordered a 10ft truck, they only have a 14ft truck. Fine. I reach in my wallet for my debit card to pay for the truck and . . . it’s not there. No debit card. Gone. So embarrassing. Terry has to pay. We go back home with the truck then I immediately hop into my mom’s car and drive back to the Burough on the off chance that someone will be there and they would have found my card. No one’s there – silly girl – they don’t open until 4pm! I call Taylor to see if by some chance it is in the back of his car, leave a ton of messages at the Burough telling them my plight, and go back home.
Of course, of course, this is something that I never do – have never done! And the one time I lose my debit card is the night before I move and because I sold my car there is more money in my account than there has ever been ever. Of course!
Mom has managed to get a flight through D.C. to RDU and gets home around 3pm, after Terry and I load the whole truck by ourselves (I think I sweated off 14 pounds), and shortly after that I get a call from both Taylor and The Burough saying my card was nowhere to be found. Had to call and freeze it. But no one had charged anything so it wasn’t stolen. Just disappeared from the face of the earth. I finished packing, because despite the fact that I had finished packing almost everything 2 weeks ago there was still a pile of crap in the middle of my floor that I had no clue how to pack.
So I finished that, went to sleep, then Mom and I leave at 4am on Sunday morning. This should have put us into Brooklyn around 2:30.
Nuh-uh. Nothing doing.
The 1st half of the drive was great – and mom drove the whole way (I don’t think she trusted me to drive the thing). So I slept most of it. But just outside of Delaware (or was it Baltimore?) we hit wall to wall traffic and lots of rain. Same on the Jersey turnpike – wall to wall – crawling along. Apparently the weekend is when it has the most traffic. And if you need gas on the Jersey turnpike – forget it. You can’t pump your own gas in New Jersey, someone HAS to pump it for you, and that plus the traffic means the line to the pump is around the corner.
So what should have taken us 9 hours took us 12. We didn’t get there till 4pm.
Not to mention the fact that anytime I was awake there was a HUGE part of me thinking “What in the world am I effing doing? This is absolutely the crazy. Turn around! Take me back to my house and my room and my friends and green, green North Carolina and the lake! Turn around! Maybe Andy will sell me my car back!” And this is made ten times worse when we get to Brooklyn and have to deal with Brooklyn traffic and crazy Brooklyn drivers, and the GPS was very confused and kept giving us conflicting directions. All I could think was “No, no I don’t like this. I HATE this. I’ve always hated this, why on earth did I think I wanted to come here?”
And then we couldn’t find a place to park the monster truck in reasonable distance to my building, and then we did find one but it was in front of a fire hydrant (non-working MRL assured us). There are fire hydrants effing everywhere, by the way. Every five feet, it feels like. But we give up and park there anyway. Then we have to unload. Thank God it had stopped raining and there was a cool breeze blowing – but it was just me and MRL as mom had to stay and guard the truck.
But then, about half way through, something WONDERFUL happened. People came! Kat showed up, my new roommate Joey came down to help, and Amy Claussen came. Poor Amy, had so much to do but came anyway, got all sweaty moving stuff in, and then had to leave without dinner because we couldn’t find a place to sit down and eat. And we got everything in! And ate really good Chinese food!
And then mom and I left to go to the B&B she was staying at so we could get some sleep and take a shower. We called a cab and on the way over I had a mini breakdown. Then we get there and it’s lovely – everyone coming to visit Brooklyn should stay there – BB’s bed and breakfast.
But about 4:30am mom wakes up and starts freaking out convinced that the U-Haul (which she calls a U-Haul It) has been towed because of the broken hydrant and we will never find it. And she can’t get back to sleep. So finally I call MRL at 5:30am so he can check and see if it is still there. It is. But we have to move it by 8:30am anyway because we’re in a loading zone.
But the next day was better. After we got rid of the U-Haul everything was a lot better. Then it was all cabs and public transport and a lot less stressful.
The unpacking part I’m okay with – I like it – it makes me feel like . . . I’m starting something new and making it my own. The going shopping with mom part I like – we get to pick out little things we need in the apartment.
(I’m skipping over the semi-disastrous but successful Target run in the U-Haul to get a microwave where mom just went around and around the block wile MRL and I were inside because there’s no place to park the monster truck.)
And there are all of these fantastic ( at least I think they are) 99 cent stores all around the apartment. They are these cash only, Asian owned places a block away from me where I can get anything – ANYTHING – I could possibly need for super cheap. If they had air conditioning I could spend all day there.
The rest of the time is spent cleaning and unpacking and mom cleaning the kitchen (there are roaches) and back at BB’s then back to the apartment and more shopping and unpacking and then mom has to leave. And oh, oh, oh I love my mother. I am under no illusions that without my mother I would not be here, that I am a spoiled brat who doesn’t deserve – that most people don’t have the mother that I have to help them get here.
And I hug her goodbye as she gets in the cab to JFK.
And I almost cry. Almost. I’m almost crying now – writing this.
Part of me wanted to grab her and say “Don’t go! You don’t have to go! Just move in with me here!”
Because in the end, no matter how much I want to be independent, no matter how many tiff’s we have over the difference between mayonnaise, miracle whip, and actual salad dressing – I am still, and always will be, a little girl at heart and I want my mother with me always.
I wish I knew better words than thank you. But Mom, Mamma, Mommy, Mother of mine – Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.
So – a debacle filled few days to be sure, and at the time not funny. But looking back it gets funnier, and every day it will be funnier still.
Next – stay tuned for MRL and I’s adventures in decorating and traversing the big city. MRL’s getting a big “Thank You” from me as well. He’s gotten me an apt, a job, and has babied me through big city transportation. Talk about a God send.
I swear he’s going to get real sick of me real soon.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Adventure! (pt 1)
There are many things that seem, well, trying at the time that they happen. But if you have a sense of humor (and I like to think that I do) you know while they are happening that when you look back on it, it’s going to be really funny.
About a month or so before I left (maybe more like 2 months) I had one of these trying times. I went out on a Friday with Andy and Lizzie and Maureen. We went to the Raleigh Times and then to the Borough, and I ended up drinking more than I had expected, or being affected by the drinking more than I had expected, and I decided I shouldn’t drive home. Except I wasn’t going home, I was cat sitting for Maggie so I was going to Maggie’s. I called Lormarev who very graciously came out to pick me up and dropped me at Maggie’s. The next day I was even more affected by the drink than I had figured on and spent the majority of the day hugging Maggie’s toilet. By the time I was well enough to drive and someone was around to pick me up it was after 10pm. Jesse very graciously came to Maggie’s and took me to the parking deck where my car was. As he drove away I discovered that my battery was dead. Jesse was not feeling well and had to perform in Cabaret the next day. So we tried for about an hour to jump the car and when it was clear there was nothing else Jesse could do, I told him to go home and called triple A. The AAA guy came and tried several different tactics to jump start my car, none of which worked. I would have to buy a new battery. I could not do that until the morning. So he left and I called Lormarev, yet again, to come and rescue me. At this point it was almost 2am and she was not happy. But she gets in the car with her two brothers to keep her awake and drove to down town Raleigh to pick me up.
By the time she gets there it’s around 2:30-3am and I get in the car and we start to drive down Hillsborough Street. We get around Readers Corner and we see a guy on a skate board fall and end up laying half in –half off the street. He didn’t move. So Lormarev turns around, I call 911, and when we get back he has been helped up by 2 guys, and we pull up next to them to make sure he’s okay. Turns out it’s Elijah Vick. Now I haven’t seen Elijah Vick in like 3-4 years, and from the way he was acting I have no idea if he recognized me. I think at one point he called me Kat. But the gist of it is, he wouldn’t let us help him. Flat out refused to even let us get close enough to him to see if he’s okay. However he was stumbling around and clutching his head and not making any sense at all, so not wanting to take the chance that he had a concussion instead of just being blazed out of his mind, we follow him. In the car. It truly looked like he was going to fall over and pass out and any minute. We get from Readers Corner to about Oberlin, passing him, turning around, passing him again, all the while I’m on the phone with the 911 operator trying to get an ambulance to come to us. When we get to Oberlin he turns up the street toward the houses and the woods, and we corner him in the bank parking lot. He still refuses to let us help him. Lormarev gets angry and gets out of the car to approach him and talk to him and make him listen. He crouches down with skateboard in hand, Lormarev convinced that this mutha is about to hit her with a skateboard, and he says “5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1” and jumps into the air, runs through a yard and into some woods where we can’t follow him. At this point we have to give up and just hope he’s okay. (He’s fine, by the way)
At the time this was not funny. It was kinda scary. But now – HILARIOUS!
Or, you know, maybe you just had to be there.
My mother and I getting me to NY was similar to this. Stay tuned for details.
About a month or so before I left (maybe more like 2 months) I had one of these trying times. I went out on a Friday with Andy and Lizzie and Maureen. We went to the Raleigh Times and then to the Borough, and I ended up drinking more than I had expected, or being affected by the drinking more than I had expected, and I decided I shouldn’t drive home. Except I wasn’t going home, I was cat sitting for Maggie so I was going to Maggie’s. I called Lormarev who very graciously came out to pick me up and dropped me at Maggie’s. The next day I was even more affected by the drink than I had figured on and spent the majority of the day hugging Maggie’s toilet. By the time I was well enough to drive and someone was around to pick me up it was after 10pm. Jesse very graciously came to Maggie’s and took me to the parking deck where my car was. As he drove away I discovered that my battery was dead. Jesse was not feeling well and had to perform in Cabaret the next day. So we tried for about an hour to jump the car and when it was clear there was nothing else Jesse could do, I told him to go home and called triple A. The AAA guy came and tried several different tactics to jump start my car, none of which worked. I would have to buy a new battery. I could not do that until the morning. So he left and I called Lormarev, yet again, to come and rescue me. At this point it was almost 2am and she was not happy. But she gets in the car with her two brothers to keep her awake and drove to down town Raleigh to pick me up.
By the time she gets there it’s around 2:30-3am and I get in the car and we start to drive down Hillsborough Street. We get around Readers Corner and we see a guy on a skate board fall and end up laying half in –half off the street. He didn’t move. So Lormarev turns around, I call 911, and when we get back he has been helped up by 2 guys, and we pull up next to them to make sure he’s okay. Turns out it’s Elijah Vick. Now I haven’t seen Elijah Vick in like 3-4 years, and from the way he was acting I have no idea if he recognized me. I think at one point he called me Kat. But the gist of it is, he wouldn’t let us help him. Flat out refused to even let us get close enough to him to see if he’s okay. However he was stumbling around and clutching his head and not making any sense at all, so not wanting to take the chance that he had a concussion instead of just being blazed out of his mind, we follow him. In the car. It truly looked like he was going to fall over and pass out and any minute. We get from Readers Corner to about Oberlin, passing him, turning around, passing him again, all the while I’m on the phone with the 911 operator trying to get an ambulance to come to us. When we get to Oberlin he turns up the street toward the houses and the woods, and we corner him in the bank parking lot. He still refuses to let us help him. Lormarev gets angry and gets out of the car to approach him and talk to him and make him listen. He crouches down with skateboard in hand, Lormarev convinced that this mutha is about to hit her with a skateboard, and he says “5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1” and jumps into the air, runs through a yard and into some woods where we can’t follow him. At this point we have to give up and just hope he’s okay. (He’s fine, by the way)
At the time this was not funny. It was kinda scary. But now – HILARIOUS!
Or, you know, maybe you just had to be there.
My mother and I getting me to NY was similar to this. Stay tuned for details.
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- My goal in writing this blog is to strive to recreate the american theatre while simultaneously carving out a life for myself and then telling you guys all about it. Or go to www.emporerandy.com and click on the roster