In life, there are things that you like to do.
…and then there are things you LOVE to do.
Some may call me foolish for settling into a job that I simply like to do and leaving my passions for my downtime. But you know what? I’m OK with that.
In case you were wondering, one of my absolute favorite things in the world is theatre. There’s nothing quite like the thrill of being onstage and sharing the energy of a performance with an audience.
Thankfully, I have been fortunate enough to be able to take part in this experience many times since moving to Lubbock for college. (And take note, even though this city might seem like a rather unassuming dot in the middle-of-nowhere, Texas, Lubbock actually has a rather large base of people who love to participate in theatre and other arts.)
Before I started grad school in 2008, I had a rather eventful year. I participated in a production at Texas Tech to finish out my theatre minor in my undergrad, I directed a show at CATS Playhouse, performed in a musical with Lubbock Moonlight Musicals, acted in an original production at CATS, and THEN had my first lead role in a musical at Lubbock Community Theatre. This was all back-to-back in the span of February through September.
And then, it came to a rather abrupt halt. Graduate school happened. And as anyone who has experienced the masochistic joys of getting a graduate degree knows… you have no life. Granted, I found ways to do bit roles in little shows here and there when a director called on me to be in their show, but I wasn’t getting to do the kind of theatre that *I* wanted to do.
However, it was interesting… After taking that break, I felt really rejuvenated, I guess? (Maybe it was from lack of being rejected at auditions for so long! Haha!) But I came back strong, auditioned for a few things I felt I was perfect for…. and nothing. Two projects in a row that I was itching to do and nothing.
Finally, I was cast in the musical “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.” I worked my butt off on that show. Plain and simple. I loved the music, the book, my cast… It was one of those productions every actor has that they will remember for the rest of their life.
And what I feel was really interesting about it for me was just having the chance to do something I loved and finally have people tell me that I’m good at it.
For so long, the only place where I could get cast as a leading role was the smallest theatre in town where they had a surprising lack of ingenue aged females. And finally, here I was performing with one of the larger places in town and killing it. AND having people tell me that I was killing it. …I don’t know about you, but “words of affirmation” are probably one of my biggest “love languages.” So, getting that verbal recognition that people saw what I was doing and took notice… it meant so much to me.
Now, here I am. Eight months later.
I’m in my first dramatic production. (Technically, the one show I did at Tech was dramatic, but it involved bunraku puppetry, so really I was only voice acting.) I’ve been doing theatre in Lubbock for five and a half years now and this is my first dramatic production. And that’s DEFINITELY one of the things I am most excited about. I’ve wanted for so long to have the opportunity to not have to traipse around onstage pulling physicality out as a crunch constantly or use the easy switch of the voice to crack up an audience. Now don’t get me wrong, I know comedy is my forte. Being a character actress is definitely my niche. But, pardon my analogy, I don’t want to be just like a Will Farrell or an Ashton Kutcher who does comedy after comedy and then has one moderately received drama and that’s it. I want to be well rounded as an actress. Call me odd, but I’ve always respected John C. Reilly. There’s a fantastic clip from the Oscar’s one year of him singing with Jack Black and Will Farrell. They’re talking about how you have to balance your body of work. And, THAT’S what I want to work towards now.
Coming back to the current production, there’s definitely an excitement. We have such a wonderful, WONDERFUL cast. There had to have been at least 50 people that came out for this show. Maybe even closer to 60.
We have a cast of 8.
Last night was our first rehearsal. Some people I’ve worked with before, some I haven’t. But everyone I know their work. And it’s GOOD work.
I think back to my days in high school playing basketball. I used to HATE playing against teams that were worse than mine. Why? Simply because they didn’t challenge us. Many times, we would sink to their level and come so close to losing games. However, as soon as we stepped on the court with a better team? Immediately, we KNEW that if we wanted any hope of winning that game, we had to step up to the plate and push ourselves harder, and harder than ever before.
I feel like that today. If I want to play at the level these other actors are at, I have to push myself. And I’m ready. This is a challenge I have been waiting for for quite some time. And there are no words to describe my willingness and eagerness to make this happen.
JacieDawn 