A Working Actor's Lament (Chapter 67)
Why, Dear God? Why?
The first drop took his breath away. Was this how it was supposed to be? As the actor held tight to the safety bar keeping him in his seat, he knew this was just the beginning of the ride. "Please let the coaster stay on the tracks", he pleaded...he just didn't know who he was pleading with.
He was dragging. Sure, it was 6:25 PM, but that was way too early to be feeling this tired. He could feel his body fighting the virus that had been spreading around his office for the past month. He had already taken his vitamins in hopes that would keep him well. Maybe he was losing the fight. Walking to his acting class, he passed the coffee shop, the one that had just opened a couple of months ago and beckoned him every Thursday night. He would succumb to it charms tonight.
As he opened the door and walked into the eclectic cafe, he reminisced on his one and only addiction: caffeine. Was he becoming an addict, or was it too late? He would have his answer by the time his blood shot eyes closed this night. As he ordered his Cafe Mocha, he wondered why the previous Coffee Frappaccino, 2 Diet Cokes and the Sugar Free Red Bull were not doing their jobs today. Paying the barista, he hoped this would get him through class.
Twenty five minutes later, he began to think about all the water that he hadn't ingested. Surely this was not a good thing to deprive his body of. He could toss the rest of the Mocha in the garbage and run next door to the local grocery and pick up a water before his acting teacher would even know he was gone. He ran, quicker than normal, over to the store. He thought to himself, "Wow, that Mocha really kicked in fast." As he opened the cooler door where the water was shelved, he realized that water with vitamins might just do the trick. His hand clasped around the bottle of liquid vitamins forgetting all about the previous multivitamin and Sugar Free Red Bull that had already loaded up his body with over 1,000,000% of the recommended daily dosage for the average human. What could 100% more do?
Getting back to class, he was confronted by a fellow student who wanted his information in case they wanted him for a future project. This was great. He was finally showing people out there what he could do and they were responding in a positive way. As he handed them his phone number, he was handed his sides by his teacher and proceeded to go outside and learn his lines. They were simple:
"Yes, I do"
"No, not at all"
"Thank you"
This was going to be a piece of cake. But what was this? A line with more than 4 words. The actor tried with all his might to try to memorize the line but every time he thought he had it, it would slip away. This was not normal. Why was this happening? "Alright, everyone back in," he heard the teacher say. The roller coaster had started it's downhill fall.
The first drop took his breath away. Was this how it was supposed to be? As the actor held tight to the safety bar keeping him in his seat, he knew this was just the beginning of the ride. "Please let the coaster stay on the tracks", he pleaded...he just didn't know who he was pleading with. He sat in his chair mumbling to himself the words on the page. Why could he not get these lines?
"Are you talking to yourself?"
"What?" he heard himself say to the actress to his right.
He was. He looked like a crazy man on the streets. He thought all he would need was an empty cup and a bird-infested beard and he would fit right in on Hollywood and Vine. Before he knew it, he was called to the front of the class. This was it. Was he ready? Was he going to remember his lines? Would he be able to make it around the sharp turn up ahead? He kept his hands up in the air for as long as he could, but the force of the turn was too much for him to handle.
He was thrown into the side of the roller coaster car when his scene partner step on his first line. It threw him so hard that he seemed to lose conscienceless or the coaster was in a tunnel for the next couple of lines. When he emerged from the darkness, he realized the line that was giving him all the trouble was upon him. He put his hands up in the air and decided to go along for the ride.
Watch out for that bird!!! BAM!!! That rail seems pretty close!!! SLAM!!! When did they add that turn??? POW!!! He was mangling the words worse than the coaster was mangling his body. If only he could end with his head intact.
As he pulled into the loading dock bruised and battered, he was on the verge of tears. How could this happen? All of the training he had over the years was missing. Memorization skills shot...confidence pulled from the recesses of his soul...
While the actor walked back to his chair, a mere shadow of a thespian, he caught the eye of the fellow classmate who had requested his phone number. As he sank into the corner of the room, he knew three things: He knew the phone call from his fellow student would not be in the near future, he knew he would have to prove to himself that he should still be in this town, and he knew he still had the one thing that would help him go on...
...he could still be dramatic.
The first drop took his breath away. Was this how it was supposed to be? As the actor held tight to the safety bar keeping him in his seat, he knew this was just the beginning of the ride. "Please let the coaster stay on the tracks", he pleaded...he just didn't know who he was pleading with.He was dragging. Sure, it was 6:25 PM, but that was way too early to be feeling this tired. He could feel his body fighting the virus that had been spreading around his office for the past month. He had already taken his vitamins in hopes that would keep him well. Maybe he was losing the fight. Walking to his acting class, he passed the coffee shop, the one that had just opened a couple of months ago and beckoned him every Thursday night. He would succumb to it charms tonight.
As he opened the door and walked into the eclectic cafe, he reminisced on his one and only addiction: caffeine. Was he becoming an addict, or was it too late? He would have his answer by the time his blood shot eyes closed this night. As he ordered his Cafe Mocha, he wondered why the previous Coffee Frappaccino, 2 Diet Cokes and the Sugar Free Red Bull were not doing their jobs today. Paying the barista, he hoped this would get him through class.
Twenty five minutes later, he began to think about all the water that he hadn't ingested. Surely this was not a good thing to deprive his body of. He could toss the rest of the Mocha in the garbage and run next door to the local grocery and pick up a water before his acting teacher would even know he was gone. He ran, quicker than normal, over to the store. He thought to himself, "Wow, that Mocha really kicked in fast." As he opened the cooler door where the water was shelved, he realized that water with vitamins might just do the trick. His hand clasped around the bottle of liquid vitamins forgetting all about the previous multivitamin and Sugar Free Red Bull that had already loaded up his body with over 1,000,000% of the recommended daily dosage for the average human. What could 100% more do?
Getting back to class, he was confronted by a fellow student who wanted his information in case they wanted him for a future project. This was great. He was finally showing people out there what he could do and they were responding in a positive way. As he handed them his phone number, he was handed his sides by his teacher and proceeded to go outside and learn his lines. They were simple:
"Yes, I do"
"No, not at all"
"Thank you"
This was going to be a piece of cake. But what was this? A line with more than 4 words. The actor tried with all his might to try to memorize the line but every time he thought he had it, it would slip away. This was not normal. Why was this happening? "Alright, everyone back in," he heard the teacher say. The roller coaster had started it's downhill fall.
The first drop took his breath away. Was this how it was supposed to be? As the actor held tight to the safety bar keeping him in his seat, he knew this was just the beginning of the ride. "Please let the coaster stay on the tracks", he pleaded...he just didn't know who he was pleading with. He sat in his chair mumbling to himself the words on the page. Why could he not get these lines?
"Are you talking to yourself?"
"What?" he heard himself say to the actress to his right.
He was. He looked like a crazy man on the streets. He thought all he would need was an empty cup and a bird-infested beard and he would fit right in on Hollywood and Vine. Before he knew it, he was called to the front of the class. This was it. Was he ready? Was he going to remember his lines? Would he be able to make it around the sharp turn up ahead? He kept his hands up in the air for as long as he could, but the force of the turn was too much for him to handle.
He was thrown into the side of the roller coaster car when his scene partner step on his first line. It threw him so hard that he seemed to lose conscienceless or the coaster was in a tunnel for the next couple of lines. When he emerged from the darkness, he realized the line that was giving him all the trouble was upon him. He put his hands up in the air and decided to go along for the ride.
Watch out for that bird!!! BAM!!! That rail seems pretty close!!! SLAM!!! When did they add that turn??? POW!!! He was mangling the words worse than the coaster was mangling his body. If only he could end with his head intact.
As he pulled into the loading dock bruised and battered, he was on the verge of tears. How could this happen? All of the training he had over the years was missing. Memorization skills shot...confidence pulled from the recesses of his soul...
While the actor walked back to his chair, a mere shadow of a thespian, he caught the eye of the fellow classmate who had requested his phone number. As he sank into the corner of the room, he knew three things: He knew the phone call from his fellow student would not be in the near future, he knew he would have to prove to himself that he should still be in this town, and he knew he still had the one thing that would help him go on...
...he could still be dramatic.
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