FULLY COMMIT!!!!!!!!

YOU'VE GOT TO GET IT DONE!

Earlier this year I accepted a job offer that sounded appealing to me as a way to exercise my inner clown as an actor. The job offer was to play Squidward Q. Tentacles in The SpongeBob Musical at Sacramento Music Circus. 

Well, I am currently DOING that job and I want to share a little something with you that I've been reminded of through this experience. 

Firstly, this is a summer stock gig. What does that mean? I call it microwave theatre ;-) 

You have less than two weeks to put together a FULL scale Broadway/West End caliber production and then perform it for just one week and then, ping, the job is done and its over. 

What that means is that there's very little time for discovery or nurturing. You, as an actor or singer or dancer (or all three) are required to fully commit to bold choices in order to see what works and what doesn't in as little time as possible. There is absolutely zero room to be precious about anything. It can be daunting but my goodness it's thrilling. 

I share this with you, my students, because it is very important that you train yourselves to get to a place where you don't feel like you need to ask permission before doing something. Or that you're waiting to be told how or why you're doing things. Of course, a director (or others on the creative team) will still guide you, but YOU are REQUIRED to fully understand what you bring to the party. 

On a job like this, there's very little time or space for sensitivity. The production hire you and you need to deliver. 

Let's use Amazon prime as an analogy. You shop online for....what.....let's say a brand new ring light (cuz, duh, we're actors). You search and find the one you want, you pay for it, it arrives, you set it up and it works brilliantly. That the expectation at least. 

The same can be said for summer stock. They audition you (shop), offer you the job (purchase), then? You are required to be the brilliant product that delivers, ideally, beyond their expectations  - thus resulting in a 5 star review. 

It's no concern of the creative team what it takes in order for you to deliver. That's your responsibility. They don't need to tell you how to do something, you just need to do it. 

And this can actually be said for every professional job as a performing artist. If you are hired, you're expected to know what you're doing without being shown how. 

They need you to cry? You gotta cry

They need you to rage? You gotta rage

They need you to do an accent? You gotta do it. 

This is why being in class is essential. In class or in coaching is where you DO get to be nurtured and express your fears or vulnerabilities around doing certain things. That's where you practice your craft so that then, when you're on the job, your skillset is robust and ready to be utilized in whatever way possible to help the production. 

What I want to reassure you of however, is this: Don't focus on all the ways you're NOT ready and let that fear get the better of you. Where you're at in your life and your work right now is exactly right. What you're doing by being in class is collecting more information, more experience, more confidence and expanding your skillset. There will always be more to learn and also, you already have SO MUCH!