When I got to The Lion King, I realized that doing eight shows a week in a show as physical as The Lion King on an open ended run was a mix of positives and negatives. On one hand, here I am doing this amazing role, in this amazing show, telling this amazing story for 1,700 people each show. On the other hand, my knees hurt so bad I could barely take the stairs to enter and exit the subway, my voice was doing crazy things, I was newly married in a new city and I never had time to hang out with anyone or make new friends because I was exhausted.
As much as I loved performing in the Lion King, for the first time in my career I started to feel burned out, overwhelmed, tired, unfulfilled and stressed out. Isn’t that just crazy? To finally book the job of your dreams and to realize that it isn’t fulfilling you in the way you expected.
Singers lose their voice from time to time. But why are we so afraid to talk about it? Why is vocal loss a shameful experience? What can we do as a community to change that perspective and to celebrate vocal health and support vocal healing when our comrades lose their voice?
For me personally, I experienced my scariest and most prolonged vocal loss in 2019 during Kiss Me Kate and that loss carried over into my return to The Lion King. It was terrifying. I was doing everything I could to keep my voice and nothing was working. During that time, I did not feel comfortable sharing what I was going through. I have found that most singers are not comfortable discussing vocal issues. For fear of seeming weak, or inept, or a poor caretaker of their voice.
But boy did she give me some amazing advice. Here’s what I learned. For the purpose of this blog we will call her Julie.
We work in a super competitive business. So we have to do what we can to make ourselves look hirable and awesome! There are three key things you can work on starting today that will up your actor game.
First and foremost. Get a website. Having your own website is a game changer. Julie said that casting directors and talent managers, agents even, are curious. They want to know everything they can about us.
I have been in rooms where I’ve been made to feel like my hair is a problem that needs to be fixed. I have not booked jobs because the production didn’t wan’t to deal with my hair. I have shown up to jobs fearful & prepared to do my own hair because I know its going to be an issue. I have been the recipient of jeers, snide remarks, and flippant phrases in a professional setting because of my hair. I’ve been told how much better I look when my wig is on; “You should wear your hair like that more often.”
I was a reader for a major casting agency in New York for three years. Honestly, I think I’m still on their email list, should they have need for me when things open back up again.
I learned so much as a reader. I sat in on musical theatre and theatre auditions and I learned a ton about the audition process. I studied how actors walked in the room, how they spoke to the casting director, how they spoke to me and the accompanist, how they handled direction, whether they were off book or not, did being off-book matter, and how they left the room.
Pre-Covid, actors were performing eight shows a week all across the world, not just on Broadway. Heck, I was performing eight shows a week in Chicago and on tour before I moved to New York for The Lion King. But something shifted when I got to The Lion King that made performing eight shows a week more challenging than it had ever been before.
The show was very, very physical. So I quickly realized that a health and wellness routine was the only way I would be able to achieve successful shows repetitively.
The audition waiting area is littered with distractions. It’s actually something I dread about the audition process. In a small area queued up with other actors, all vying for the same position? It’s madness! How are we ever o be successful with that kind of set up? Not to mention the other distractions that come along with that.
Let’s talk about rejection. It’s a huge part of an actor’s life. So let’s talk about it.
I couldn’t count the number of times I didn’t book the job. Seriously, it happens almost daily. If I counted, it would make me sick. So instead, I focus on the opportunities I’ve had. I focus on how all of these auditions have only enriched my skills as a performer. This business is difficult. It can break you down. We all have our moments of feeling rejected, not good enough, crazy for choosing this profession, fill in the blank. What helps me is simply focusing on the work. I haven’t always been able to do that, but recently, I’d say in the last year or so, I’ve been actively working on just focusing on the work and leaving it there. Any opportunity, no matter how small, is still an opportunity to learn and to grow.
