So the past couple of months have been a non-stop whirl of auditions, callbacks, and lessons. I don't think I saw my roommate for a week and a half in one particular stretch. It was almost mind-numbing. Luckily, a few things have panned out, so my summer is all set.
I suppose this being my first time auditioning for summer stock season, I had a few lessons to learn. However, I was ill-prepared for the cattle calls of five hundred people, trying to mold my particular skills and downplay my shortcomings to fit into prospective theaters' seasons. I have usually been gone on a job during this time, and so going through it myself was an eye opener.
The first real lesson I learned was that I really have become a rusty dancer, even with the renewed effort to regain my dance ability. In the four years since I last danced in a show, I have primarily been cast in roles that require little of that skill set. I feel a bit like an infant, learning to walk, to move through space. Nonetheless, it's better than where I was some five months ago. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I've learned a great deal about trusting my instincts in crafting a song, a character, and a complete arc through the show. I'm able to see where I would like to go with my character, how he relates to others onstage, and how to contribute my voice and my energy to the collective theatrical process. I hope I make April Shawhan proud!
The third, and most interesting, lesson is that how I perceive myself as a performer and an artist, and the set of skills that I have worked through and honed in the past few years is now different from how I'm perceived by those casting. When I danced a great deal, I was what you could call a real ensemble kid. I loved working the chorus. It was a comradeship; a coming together of people, usually just out of college, who wanted to put on a show. It was loud and boisterous and silly almost. I loved it.
But I realized, sadly, that I'm no longer that kid. I've been pushing myself to deepen as an artist, and having neglected my dancing ability, I found the realization of my lack of skill both a slap in the face to my sense of self, and somewhat bittersweet. I saw that I was growing into a different kind of artist, even if I couldn't move like those kids at all the dance callbacks I went to. However, many of the theaters still see me as that kid. Thankfully, I now have life behind me, and experience that I hope has deepened my other abilities and given me something else to offer. Maybe not the wide-eyed eagerness, but a deeper sense of self awareness, and a richer well of expression and experience. I wouldn't change the last four years for the world, and I'm prepared to show the world a maturer, quirkier, richer performer than that kid from then. I'm ready now; who wants to see it?
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Stop worrying where you're going, move on.
August 2, 2011- Note: This post is rather personal, and is really my final say on a matter that I reflected on for a long time. As I wrote it, my inability to expound on my feelings seemed to give way to clarity. I had finally uttered what I had spent so many months trying to find words to define. When I finished, it was with enormous relief. That day I let it go. I hadn't expected it, but it came nonetheless. I leave it here as a reminder of where I was. With grace, it weighs me no more.
I love that line. In seven words, Sondheim says so much. You're constantly seeing ahead, projecting ahead, that you forget that you are already moving ahead. And in that regard, you get stuck in a strange purgatory, never fully present, but not living out a real future. Just an envisioned one.
That's a lot like some relationships, isn't it?
My last relationship saw me at probably one of the most vulnerable and unhappy times of my life. The future loomed ahead of me, and because I was touring the country, having left behind my new home and newly formed friendships in New York City, I had very little stability. That coupled with some antagonistic tourmates made life a bit of nightmare, and from which I found little escape. My only escape was my long distance relationship, which in retrospect (being 20/20) I shouldn't have started in the first place. Our relationship existed solely on the phone. No shared memories. No time spent in the others company, save the one time he was able to visit. It was like having someone to tell you the things you wanted to hear, without the actions to really back it up. And it occurred on both ends of that line; we both did that to each other. I acted like a teenager, with the attendant highs and lows. I needed a life line from touring, I grabbed it, and after it ended I have to say I was rather ashamed of, and stunned by, my behavior.
Why had I behaved this way? Why was I so volatile? I had made explicit to myself what I would and would not like in a relationship, and yet all my rational thought had simply and singly been thrown out the window. I'm fairly levelheaded when it comes to my friends and their issues and problems; I understand many different opinions and sides, and try to give them all equal weight. I understand that ambiguity. However, for myself, I became victim to the whims of my emotions, and I wanted the answers that served MY purpose. In other words, I couldn't practice what I preached, and that started me to thinking.
I'm the kind of guy to whom the phrase "Still waters run deep" applies in spades. I spent most of my teenage years in a bit of a daze. I had lost all personality, lost my own voice. Numb to most anything but this deep sense of something wrong that I couldn't articulate until my final year of college. When I finally sought help and learned to feel something, anything, it wasn't at all what I expected. Instead of the jubilant emotions that I had hoped to feel, I was left dealing with the huge sense of loss I couldn't fathom. Where had it come from? And then it came to me, like a door opening onto a vast and pitch black hall: My parents' divorce. I had never realized it before because I had buried the anger and frustration so deeply that it seemed to disappear. Of course, it hadn't. Upon reflection, it became a defining moment of my life. As a friend once told me, "It's as if all the color was sucked out of the world."
The pain had been more than I could handle, and an emotionally withdrawn armor had formed, mostly against letting myself love someone, or be loved by someone, lest I get hurt again. I wasn't antagonistic or bitter, but aloof to life and work, taking little interest in the things I used to love, and only seeking out relationships sporadically. When I felt that people were starting to get too enmeshed in my life, I'd find a new place to be or move. It seemed to manifest as the restlessness I've mentioned before, and I always justified it because of my natural need for adventure and endeavor, but on reflection, I realized it was partially running away. I liked being alone, and doing things on my own, only because it prevented people from seeing the hurt I was in, from which I was sure most of my friends would flee to avoid. Only when I would get intimately involved with someone would I have to confront my deeper turmoil, and even then I didn't have the ability to understand and articulate it. However, the end of my last relationship threw it all into high relief, and I decided to finally let myself grieve, both for the relationship and for the past. I wanted to be conscious of every emotion, every nuance of feeling that passed through me. I began to piece myself together. I began to trust myself and those I loved.
Today, the sadness, the ache has diminished and changed somewhat, but I realize it may never quite go away. However, knowing it's there, and respecting it, is much of the battle. Each disappointment feels greater because of it, and each triumph is infinitely more rich. Thankfully, I can now see it, when before, I was merely coasting through life not knowing. The process of stripping it of its negative power may take a long time, but if that's the price to pay for the freedom from, or the acceptance of, it, then that's the way this cookie has to crumble. That's the way to move on. And that's what I think Sondheim meant.
I love that line. In seven words, Sondheim says so much. You're constantly seeing ahead, projecting ahead, that you forget that you are already moving ahead. And in that regard, you get stuck in a strange purgatory, never fully present, but not living out a real future. Just an envisioned one.
That's a lot like some relationships, isn't it?
My last relationship saw me at probably one of the most vulnerable and unhappy times of my life. The future loomed ahead of me, and because I was touring the country, having left behind my new home and newly formed friendships in New York City, I had very little stability. That coupled with some antagonistic tourmates made life a bit of nightmare, and from which I found little escape. My only escape was my long distance relationship, which in retrospect (being 20/20) I shouldn't have started in the first place. Our relationship existed solely on the phone. No shared memories. No time spent in the others company, save the one time he was able to visit. It was like having someone to tell you the things you wanted to hear, without the actions to really back it up. And it occurred on both ends of that line; we both did that to each other. I acted like a teenager, with the attendant highs and lows. I needed a life line from touring, I grabbed it, and after it ended I have to say I was rather ashamed of, and stunned by, my behavior.
Why had I behaved this way? Why was I so volatile? I had made explicit to myself what I would and would not like in a relationship, and yet all my rational thought had simply and singly been thrown out the window. I'm fairly levelheaded when it comes to my friends and their issues and problems; I understand many different opinions and sides, and try to give them all equal weight. I understand that ambiguity. However, for myself, I became victim to the whims of my emotions, and I wanted the answers that served MY purpose. In other words, I couldn't practice what I preached, and that started me to thinking.
I'm the kind of guy to whom the phrase "Still waters run deep" applies in spades. I spent most of my teenage years in a bit of a daze. I had lost all personality, lost my own voice. Numb to most anything but this deep sense of something wrong that I couldn't articulate until my final year of college. When I finally sought help and learned to feel something, anything, it wasn't at all what I expected. Instead of the jubilant emotions that I had hoped to feel, I was left dealing with the huge sense of loss I couldn't fathom. Where had it come from? And then it came to me, like a door opening onto a vast and pitch black hall: My parents' divorce. I had never realized it before because I had buried the anger and frustration so deeply that it seemed to disappear. Of course, it hadn't. Upon reflection, it became a defining moment of my life. As a friend once told me, "It's as if all the color was sucked out of the world."
The pain had been more than I could handle, and an emotionally withdrawn armor had formed, mostly against letting myself love someone, or be loved by someone, lest I get hurt again. I wasn't antagonistic or bitter, but aloof to life and work, taking little interest in the things I used to love, and only seeking out relationships sporadically. When I felt that people were starting to get too enmeshed in my life, I'd find a new place to be or move. It seemed to manifest as the restlessness I've mentioned before, and I always justified it because of my natural need for adventure and endeavor, but on reflection, I realized it was partially running away. I liked being alone, and doing things on my own, only because it prevented people from seeing the hurt I was in, from which I was sure most of my friends would flee to avoid. Only when I would get intimately involved with someone would I have to confront my deeper turmoil, and even then I didn't have the ability to understand and articulate it. However, the end of my last relationship threw it all into high relief, and I decided to finally let myself grieve, both for the relationship and for the past. I wanted to be conscious of every emotion, every nuance of feeling that passed through me. I began to piece myself together. I began to trust myself and those I loved.
Today, the sadness, the ache has diminished and changed somewhat, but I realize it may never quite go away. However, knowing it's there, and respecting it, is much of the battle. Each disappointment feels greater because of it, and each triumph is infinitely more rich. Thankfully, I can now see it, when before, I was merely coasting through life not knowing. The process of stripping it of its negative power may take a long time, but if that's the price to pay for the freedom from, or the acceptance of, it, then that's the way this cookie has to crumble. That's the way to move on. And that's what I think Sondheim meant.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
LA to NYC...did I sign up for this?
Okay okay. I understand the concern. "Where have you been?", you might ask. Or perhaps,"We were sick with worry." Maybe even, "We couldn't function without your insight." Or you actually probably didn't think a nit about it. Because I know I forgot.
So here I am again, keeping myself accountable. It's been a good four months since I last wrote anything, so here's a brief recap:
-I went to upstate NewYork to workshop a children's musical.
-I got cast and shot an independent film/pilot presentation in LA.
-I had Thanksgiving with my Mom for the first time in three years in NYC.
-I went home for the holidays for the first time in two years in LA.
All in all, not terribly eventful and yet enormously so. Most people accrue a couple thousand frequent flyer miles in six months to a year. I accrued 8000 in three. And for the first time in my life I got tired of travel.
Now let me explain. For as long as I can remember, I've loved travelling. I couldn't get enough. Flights, to me, were like something out of magic. I tried caviar for the first time on a plane (loved it). I tried coffee for the first time on a plane (hated it....but not for long). It was the most intense, awesome experience. To be in one place and in the span of a few hours to find yourself somewhere so foreign, you had to recalibrate everything. That was amazing to me!
So I thought nothing of the travel plans some four months ago before I started. Just another adventure.
But this time around, it wasn't an adventure. It was work, and for long stretches of time. And each time I realized that I was leaving behind friends in either place. I had always thought that we would pick up right where we left off, but in actuality I was missing out on hanging around, being with them, joking with them, doing stupid things with them. I'm putting each friendship/relationship in stasis. To constantly travel and work. I love what I do, but I think a bit more balance might be in order.
Somewhere in my soul is this incredible feeling of motion. I love stillness, but invariably a moment of pure adrenaline will rush me off to do something. And travel has become a huge component of that. My chance to discover a new place, a new perspective, new people, if just for a little while. If there was a shuttle to Mars, I would be the first one on it.
So now I am in the middle of a dilemma: How do I find the balance within work and life? How do I give and respect each in equal measure? For now, I can only be where I am and enjoy where I am. But something is coming. What? I can't say. But I can keep my eyes open.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Dance One, Looks Seven
I haven't taken a dance class in over three years. Before then, I was a fairly good dancer. Admittedly nothing spectacular, but I had rhythm, some solid technique, a modicum of style, and could count to eight. Not bad.
As part of my new regime I took stock and realized it was time to dust off my La Duca's (AKA tennis shoes) and finally partook in my first dance class after spending the last three years primarily singing and acting. With a painted smile not unlike a geisha and a faint remembrance of how to move I walked into Lori Leshner's Musical Theater Jazz class at CAP21. Let me preface this by saying I used to dance all the time. Every day for at least five years.
I was a trainwreck.
Nothing worked. Any technique I once had seemed completely out of reach; all my flexibility was out the window. My brain couldn't string sequences of movement together. My body couldn't relate to the steps, and any muscle memory of basic dance vocabulary was pretty much nil. And I loved it. I was so bad, but I was so excited that I had actually started to dance again that I didn't care how embarrassing I was. And embarrassing is definitely the word for it.
I guess you start somewhere. And it's always harder than you remember, but more rewarding than you anticipated. I'm going back next week.
As part of my new regime I took stock and realized it was time to dust off my La Duca's (AKA tennis shoes) and finally partook in my first dance class after spending the last three years primarily singing and acting. With a painted smile not unlike a geisha and a faint remembrance of how to move I walked into Lori Leshner's Musical Theater Jazz class at CAP21. Let me preface this by saying I used to dance all the time. Every day for at least five years.
I was a trainwreck.
Nothing worked. Any technique I once had seemed completely out of reach; all my flexibility was out the window. My brain couldn't string sequences of movement together. My body couldn't relate to the steps, and any muscle memory of basic dance vocabulary was pretty much nil. And I loved it. I was so bad, but I was so excited that I had actually started to dance again that I didn't care how embarrassing I was. And embarrassing is definitely the word for it.
I guess you start somewhere. And it's always harder than you remember, but more rewarding than you anticipated. I'm going back next week.
Friday, September 24, 2010
I've got a year....
Sorry Tina Fey, I ganked your line.
Seriously, how can three words completely encapsulate a mindset? How did she reach into my foggy brain and pick out exactly what I've been trying to articulate without having met me? Damn Tina, you're good. Or omnipotent. Or Voldemort.
So here's the whole reason for this shebang. It's been a tough year, emotionally, financially, and spiritually. That in turn has made me become a person I'm not really familiar with, and quite frankly, I don't like all that much. Who wants to be with a whiny, morose, lazy, self absorbed person? And on top of that, who wants to be with him 24/7? You know what it feels like to bring this asshole home every night and then have to sleep with him? To quote Sophia Petrillo, "It ain't pretty."
Which now brings me to the purpose of this slice of internet pie. I'm holding myself accountable. Taking charge of my life, my destiny, and my wallet (ugh...). If that sounds too hippy-dippy, crunchy granola for ya, well tough. I'm not one to stand idly by while I turn into a complacent New York gay. That cardigan doesn't fit, is not my color, and worst of all doesn't show off my arms. So he's going downstairs to the recycle bin (someone, I'm sure, will want that cardigan), and I'm reassessing the way I see the world and my place in it. Remembering the awe that I once had (and mostly still do at times) to see all the beauty and passion and humor around me. And I'm asking you to hold me accountable, because frankly I slip up alot. I'm not perfect, and I can't be. But I'm gonna make a contribution come Hell or Tina Turner...I mean high water.
I have one year. That's the goal. We start today.
Seriously, how can three words completely encapsulate a mindset? How did she reach into my foggy brain and pick out exactly what I've been trying to articulate without having met me? Damn Tina, you're good. Or omnipotent. Or Voldemort.
So here's the whole reason for this shebang. It's been a tough year, emotionally, financially, and spiritually. That in turn has made me become a person I'm not really familiar with, and quite frankly, I don't like all that much. Who wants to be with a whiny, morose, lazy, self absorbed person? And on top of that, who wants to be with him 24/7? You know what it feels like to bring this asshole home every night and then have to sleep with him? To quote Sophia Petrillo, "It ain't pretty."
Which now brings me to the purpose of this slice of internet pie. I'm holding myself accountable. Taking charge of my life, my destiny, and my wallet (ugh...). If that sounds too hippy-dippy, crunchy granola for ya, well tough. I'm not one to stand idly by while I turn into a complacent New York gay. That cardigan doesn't fit, is not my color, and worst of all doesn't show off my arms. So he's going downstairs to the recycle bin (someone, I'm sure, will want that cardigan), and I'm reassessing the way I see the world and my place in it. Remembering the awe that I once had (and mostly still do at times) to see all the beauty and passion and humor around me. And I'm asking you to hold me accountable, because frankly I slip up alot. I'm not perfect, and I can't be. But I'm gonna make a contribution come Hell or Tina Turner...I mean high water.
I have one year. That's the goal. We start today.
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