Back to school?

I always thought I would go back to school for theater. I love love LOVE to act on the stage. The rehearsal process is always fun because not only do I get to create and learn about my character, I also get to know my fellow cast members and make new friends. I love being on stage, the joy of creating a new world that I get to bring to the audience for just a few hours, and the rush of happiness as I go out for curtain call and they give our cast a standing ovation! It is the greatest feeling in the world to me, and I miss it terribly.

So why don't I want to go to school for acting?

I finally came to a realization about this subjet last night while talking to Cindy. I made the decision awhile ago that I did not want the lifestyle of an actress. When you're just starting out, there's a lot of money that you have to spend for training, headshots, mailings (that you generally send out yourself), stamps, and on top of that cost of daily living. And while I have many friends who are actors/actresses and are doing their best to make a living at it, the late nights, the cost, the lifestyle is not something I desire. One of us in this business is enough, and I'm ok with that. I would rather keep acting as a hobby, audition for the plays that have characters that I can relate to and want to learn more about.

Of course, every play in this city is treated like a jumping board for those who want to act in film. It's incredibly comepetive and each person is better than the next. The one play I did audition for a few years ago completely backfired. I was terribly nervous and shaking, BUT I rocked my monologue! Then when it came to the group audition I didn't know what to do and the other actors just outshined me. While I was waiting in the hall, I came to find that they all knew each other and had all this history, which was evident when they all got on stage.

I didn't get a call as to whether I got a part in the play or not, which was fine. An audition is like a job interview. Just going can tell you quite a bit about the director, their crew, and who they want to work with. It would have been a group of aspiring, young actresses full of gossip and drama which is not what I want to invest my time in (imagine that, drama among actors!). I seek community theater, people from the same area who want to bring arts and stories to their neighbors, to take them away into another world, even for just a few hours.

So with all of this going through my head, Matt and I were on the way to my work this morning, listening to NPR. I love NPR and the stories that they tell. Every time I tune in, I hear someone new telling their stories, and it fascinates me. So far, I've heard Sara Tavares, Jimmy Carter, Stephen Colbert, and this morning was a new band called Band of Horses. It suddenly dawned on me that maybe, just maybe, when the time is right, I could go to school for journalism. I'm not really into the news (more like the headlines) but I love reading and listening to people's stories. I haven't felt this inspired in awhile, and now I want to go look on line to look at creative writing and journalism programs. :)