Taking the Red Eye
I have woken up at crazy hours in order to travel from one gig to another. We don’t get first class in this industry. I was on tour with a musical for one month. The contract, though short, was rough because they had us in a different town everyday. We’d get to one town a couple hours before our call - time at the theatre, do a show, and then wake up early (meaning around 5am) the next day to hop on the bus to travel to the next venue. It sucked. Everyone made the most of it including myself. The hard part for me was when the gig ended. I had rehearsals for my next gig starting the next day in New York. We were scheduled to take an evening flight, which was very delayed. I remember sleeping on the ground in the airport along with many other fellow cast members. We couldn’t do anything about it … only wait. I’m sure there were many people who had hoped to even get the gig. It was rough.
Right now, I am in the process of my travel to my next gig. I finished choreographing a piece in California last night and now I am “en route” to Lancaster, PA. I am flying directly to New York to have two hours to get things I need. I have a list of exactly what needs to be done … absolutely. I don’t have time to mess around. I will be arriving in Lancaster, PA at 9:40pm to pass out and wake up in the morning for my first rehearsal.
If you expected this to be a life of luxury, you could not be more wrong. It is driven by your passion and love for your craft. That is why you do it. Who knows? You could eventually start making the big bucks, but it is a long journey to get there.
February 4th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Perhaps eventually you’ll get first class in this industry?