A Working Actor's Lament (Chapter 27)
If a Quest is a Journey, what is a Question?
The actor woke up with "eye sleep" crusted in the corner of both eyes. He knew when he went to bed last night, he was going to be restless, for the next day had the potential to be big. He had decided to step out of his comfort zone and audition for a musical theater show. As he jumped in the shower, he practiced the audition song that he would perform for the artistic director of the Sierra Rep Theater in four and a half hours. Plenty of time to run it till it was perfect. Every note sounding like the morning bird gently waking up the drowsy town of Burbank.
He had rehearsed enough, now this was the day of reckoning. As he pulled his car into the parking lot and turned off the ignition, he pull his wife's iPod out and plugged it into the lighter socket. He practiced his song one last time, knowing that the next time would be in front of his judge and jury.
He sat in the lobby waiting for his docket number to be announced, a room which held seven of his fellow inmates, really only suited for two. As he tried to remember the lyrics to his song, he heard his name. Without hesitation, he blindly went into the audition room. Behind the table sat the producer, a man one year older than Death's cousin, Bob. Next to him was his translator. Behind the piano sat the pianist, because that is where you usually find them. He walked over to the pianist, gave him the music and went to his mark on the floor ready to perform.
As he walked back to his car with the realization that he would not be busy for the next 3 months onstage, a smile came across his face. He had stepped outside of the norm and did a decent job. Yes, he heard the obligatory "That was great. Thanks for coming in. We will be casting by Friday. We will let you know" speech. His deductive reasoning came out to play, figuring in the fact that he did not read the sides of any character and was told to "dress to dance" and never danced, he would have to be content with what he showed them and move on. It was not a good way to start off the day, but he knew it couldn't get any worse. That must have been when his deductive reasoning went back into hiding.
For the past couple of days, he had been keeping up on the film festivals that he had submitted his short film. The first one that would be notifying him was to be the Palm Spring International Short Film Festival, which was to start on August 24th. He figured he should have heard by now. Logging onto the internet, he joined in on a message board of other filmmakers looking for answers regarding the films they had submitted. After looking over weeks of worried comments, he read one that put his mind at ease. Someone had reached the production office and informed this filmmaker that they were running behind and that everyone would know by Wednesday of next week. The actor took a sigh of relief; he was still in the running.
He decided that he was going to treat himself after his audition and took his wife to see the new "Superman Returns". Upon returning home, his wife opened up their emails. Looking over at her husband, she had a look that could only mean one thing...
As he read the first line of the "form email", his good day began to fade away. "We regret to inform you..." was as far as he had to read. This prestigious Film Festival had turned away his baby. Why? What was the reason? He could assume it was because it didn't have any stars, a major staple in last year's festival. Or maybe it truly wasn't in the top 14.57% of the films the festival had received from around the world. Either way, it was a hard pill to swallow. However, this was not the "end all" of festivals, this was just the beginning. Yes, he could be bummed for this one day, but, to quote Scarlett O'Hara, "tomorrow is another day." He would now be hearing from other film festivals, and he knew that at least one would be a "Hell, yes, we want your film!!" Or, at least, an acceptance form letter.
As he put his head upon his pillow, he felt "eye sleep" forming in the corner of his eyes. Or maybe it was just a tear. As he drifted off to sleep, he knew this was going to be another restless night.
The actor woke up with "eye sleep" crusted in the corner of both eyes. He knew when he went to bed last night, he was going to be restless, for the next day had the potential to be big. He had decided to step out of his comfort zone and audition for a musical theater show. As he jumped in the shower, he practiced the audition song that he would perform for the artistic director of the Sierra Rep Theater in four and a half hours. Plenty of time to run it till it was perfect. Every note sounding like the morning bird gently waking up the drowsy town of Burbank. He had rehearsed enough, now this was the day of reckoning. As he pulled his car into the parking lot and turned off the ignition, he pull his wife's iPod out and plugged it into the lighter socket. He practiced his song one last time, knowing that the next time would be in front of his judge and jury.
He sat in the lobby waiting for his docket number to be announced, a room which held seven of his fellow inmates, really only suited for two. As he tried to remember the lyrics to his song, he heard his name. Without hesitation, he blindly went into the audition room. Behind the table sat the producer, a man one year older than Death's cousin, Bob. Next to him was his translator. Behind the piano sat the pianist, because that is where you usually find them. He walked over to the pianist, gave him the music and went to his mark on the floor ready to perform.
As he walked back to his car with the realization that he would not be busy for the next 3 months onstage, a smile came across his face. He had stepped outside of the norm and did a decent job. Yes, he heard the obligatory "That was great. Thanks for coming in. We will be casting by Friday. We will let you know" speech. His deductive reasoning came out to play, figuring in the fact that he did not read the sides of any character and was told to "dress to dance" and never danced, he would have to be content with what he showed them and move on. It was not a good way to start off the day, but he knew it couldn't get any worse. That must have been when his deductive reasoning went back into hiding.
For the past couple of days, he had been keeping up on the film festivals that he had submitted his short film. The first one that would be notifying him was to be the Palm Spring International Short Film Festival, which was to start on August 24th. He figured he should have heard by now. Logging onto the internet, he joined in on a message board of other filmmakers looking for answers regarding the films they had submitted. After looking over weeks of worried comments, he read one that put his mind at ease. Someone had reached the production office and informed this filmmaker that they were running behind and that everyone would know by Wednesday of next week. The actor took a sigh of relief; he was still in the running.He decided that he was going to treat himself after his audition and took his wife to see the new "Superman Returns". Upon returning home, his wife opened up their emails. Looking over at her husband, she had a look that could only mean one thing...
As he read the first line of the "form email", his good day began to fade away. "We regret to inform you..." was as far as he had to read. This prestigious Film Festival had turned away his baby. Why? What was the reason? He could assume it was because it didn't have any stars, a major staple in last year's festival. Or maybe it truly wasn't in the top 14.57% of the films the festival had received from around the world. Either way, it was a hard pill to swallow. However, this was not the "end all" of festivals, this was just the beginning. Yes, he could be bummed for this one day, but, to quote Scarlett O'Hara, "tomorrow is another day." He would now be hearing from other film festivals, and he knew that at least one would be a "Hell, yes, we want your film!!" Or, at least, an acceptance form letter.
As he put his head upon his pillow, he felt "eye sleep" forming in the corner of his eyes. Or maybe it was just a tear. As he drifted off to sleep, he knew this was going to be another restless night.
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