Final Thoughts from Bret

I am back in my apartment in Brooklyn, listening to my favorite NPR show (The Brian Lehrer Show, for those who are interested). Needless to say, I am surprised to be back so soon. I was not looking forward to returning to NYC and now that I am here, that sentiment has not changed. Maybe it is because I have to go back to work. Maybe it is because I will be in the same place instead of moving every 3 days. Maybe it is because I am not with Emily all the time. It's probably a combination of all those things. But I want to bring the energy, fun, and pace of my life on the road to my life here.
In terms of the trip, I think we accomplished much more in 5 weeks on the road than we ever would have accomplished at home. And I do not just mean meeting people and making business contacts. I think that much of our "work" was in touching base with the friends and family we have around the country, and seeing where and how they live. Now, when I talk to Rich in Portland, Emily's parents in Milwaukee, or some future friend from Missoula, I know more about their daily lives because I have seen their cities and actually stayed in their houses (well, not the future friend's house). I like knowing the specifics of people's daily lives.
And we are also much more familiar with the specifics of regional theatre. We saw ten plays during the trip, and looked in on dozens of theatres transitioning into their next production. There are several vibrant, energetic, and skilled theatre communities outside of NYC. Where to settle down? As one theatremaker told us, "don't feel like you have to decide right away where to be." This theatremaker also told us to find and follow our spirit. I have heard that advice before. Hearing it from strangers reinforced the words of my teachers, friends, and (some) family. "Tap into your life-force," "focus on developing your craft," "value yourself for your relationships, not for the last acting job you had." So I think the world is sending Bret, perpetual worry-wort, a strong message.
Ok I will stop boring Emily with my over-long post. Stay tuned for more from us, as we go on our Lunar Audition Tour! Friends and family, please consider the cost of traveling to the moon when you consider Christmas gifts for us. Oh--Halloween update! The last trick-or-treater of the evening was a little girl dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. She even brought her little dog along with her, and said "trick or treat" and "thank you." So thank YOU, little girl dressed as Dorothy. This blog post is for you.

Wine and Nintendo

Here we sit, drinking wine and preparing to play Lynn Hyde's 8-bit Nintendo. Tomorrow Bret returns his car to its resting place. *tear* And Emily boards a plane set for the great metropolis of Brooklyn, New York.
Thus ends our physical journey, but not our artistic journey, nor this blog. We will return to give updates on what comes of our trip, and we will each write our own "final thought".
Today we had two auditions in Pittsburgh. They were both good, solid final auditions. We also took a tour of downtown Pittsburgh's cultural district, thanks to Kim Hyde, and enjoyed a celebratory nap.
Anyway, now our attentions must be put in their proper place. The Nintendo. And so we will save the wrap up for sometime soon.

Choo Choo! Last stop!

Bret and I have arrived in our last stop on this tour...Pittsburgh! We are staying with the wonderful and generous parents of the lovely Lynn Hyde in their amazing guest suite on the third floor. They had dinner for us (and wine) and they told us all of Lynn's deep, dark secrets. Just kidding. That was just to check if Lynn is reading this.
We stopped last night in Iowa City, as I'm sure you've read in Bret's blogs (I don't read his-they're boring), to equally lovely hospitality from Christine and her girlfriend, Claire. We had a great night making pizza and conversation. We also dressed up. Christine was a Sheriff, Bret was a Chip n' Dales Reindeer, Claire was Christmas (sexy Christmas) and I was a sexy cat doctor (as in I was a cat). We'll be sure to post a picture once I have my connecting cord back.
This trip is starting to wrap up and needless to say, I have mixed feelings about it. We have spent all of our post grad-school days planning and preparing for this trip, and sometimes I can't believe I'm on it, let alone that it's almost over. I know we have accomplished a lot, but it's such an invisible, intangible accomplishment that I feel a little anxious and empty.
Once we return home, however, we will have a million things to do to follow up and continue to strengthen these connections we have made. It is all about the courage to continue our persistence. After all, one auditor told me "I must admire your persistence in all media." And I got that appointment.
Two auditions left tomorrow. Afterwards? Utter collapse and celebration. Then, a flight home to NYC.

Halloween

Ok, for all you kids out there reading ACTORS ON THE ROAD, I have a few things to tell you about Halloween.
The requirements you must fulfill on Halloween are quite simple.

1) You have to dress up. This should be fun; you should WANT to dress up. You do it so that the people handing out candy can be surprised and delighted by the imaginative costume you wear.

2) You must say "trick or treat." Holding out your bag and saying nothing is not acceptable. You are not a homeless orphan (no disrespect to homeless orphans).

3) You must say "thank you." It is polite, and I just gave you candy for free.

It is surprising how many of your contemporaries do not do this. One girl, when asked what she was, actually said "nothing." And parents, taking extra because there are "two more kids in the car" is walking a very, very fine line. If your child cannot walk to the door, then perhaps he or she should not be out on a cold fall evening in the first place.

The Breadbasket

Driving through Nebraska and Iowa, I was struck by how friggin BIG this country is. It is humungous. I know I spelled that wrong.
And although I am not a huge fan of "America the Beautiful," there really are amber waves of grain. The drive along Route 80 through Nebraska and Iowa was pretty spectacular. Sure, it was flat, but the farmhouses and fields looked like the ones you see on postcards. We arrived in Iowa City a couple of hours ago, and now Emily is a Hot Pilates. Yeah, I am lazy. But I volunteered to stay at her friend Christine's house and hand out Halloween candy. So can I ask, where are the trick-or-treaters? The one year I am ready with a bucket of candy and a real house, they don't come.
And Happy Birthday to my bro Rich Jusky, who turns 25 today. Thanks for making this day even scarier.

High in Mile High

Just kidding. We arrived in Boulder, CO on Saturday night. First, we took in a terrible touring production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. If it is coming to your town, don't waste your money.
Auditions in Colorado went very well. One person Emily had been trying to reach for a logn time called her "the most persistent little auditioner" he had ever met. She did secure an appointment with him, and he loved our work. "Very clean work," he said.
Colorado is beautiful, by the way.

Na na na na na na na na...

They say it's your birthday.
Na na na na na na na na...
This post is in honor of my father's birthday, which is today! Without him, this trip probably wouldn't have happened, and I still wouldn't have known where "Do you know the way to San Jose" came from.
So say a special "Happy Birthday" to my Dad. Even better, visit his site (Zempel Strategic link on the right) and hire him as an economist for your next bar mitzvah, wedding, or children's birthday party.
He also plays the trumpet.

Day two at the lake.

Bret and I are still in the Saltyest of all Lakes. We had two appointments today, and they were both great. The first one was a HUGE theater with 970 seats, and the second one took place in a chapel with less than 200. We formed some neat-o relationships.
After appointments, and a short impromptu nap on the couch, we headed out to see the lake. Really, I just wanted to taste the lake, but that was harder than I thought it would be. We went to Antelope Island which boasts populations of buffalo (which we saw plenty of), coyotes (which we heard), jackrabbits, atelope, foxes, deer, etc (which we saw nor hyde nor hair of).
The island was great, but the traffic was horrendous! For a population of 1 million, they have the worst traffic we have had to drive through! So we just sat in the traffic and meditated on buffalo...
"Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam and the deer and the atelope play, where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the sky is not cloudy all day..."

Smells like Pepper

Actually, it smells like salt in Salt Lake City. Emily wanted that to be in the blog.
We drove through the top part of Nevada, and we both admitted that it was kind of creepy. And we thought there was nothing in North Dakota. I am sure it is a lovely place, but the highway does not give it justice. Kind of like how the New Jersey turnpike is responsible for people looking down on NJ. Very dry, relatively flat. I have to admit, it is amazing how big this country is. And yet everyone has a SUBWAY sandwich shop off of the interstate.
We got to our couch surfers place. Really rad basement apartment, very green (that means environmentally friendly), very cool atmosphere. More later (Em needs to check her email)...

San Francisco

We spent all day Wednesday in that wonderful city. Beautiful weather--70s and sunny all day. We hit up City Lights Books, where Ginsberg's HOWL was read for the first time. Really cool there, lots of history. http://www.citylights.com/. Apparently, although we did not visit that neighborhood, now there is a GAP on the corner of Haight and Ashbury. Boo.
That night, we were fortunate enough to meet my Aunt Engie for dinner, along with a lot of her coworkers. I am trying to think of a dig right now....oh well. Thank you, Aunt Engie and Uncle Jeff for the fine hospitality. Vanessa and Bryce--you better be checking the blog, that's all I gotta say. You wanted to be on it.
On to Utah--heading back east.

Do you know the way...

...to San Jose? Believe it or not, I don't even know where that quote is from, but I say it all the time!
Bret and I are now on our 2nd night in San Jose. We are staying with Bret's aunt and uncle, and they are taking such good care of us! We are well fed, well rested, and well everything else.
Yesterday we went to an open call for American Musical Theatre of San Jose for Little Shop of Horrors. It was a pretty full open call, though there was room for everyone. Several people had even driven up from LA! After singing my signature song, I was handed a bunch of sides for callbacks tomorrow for Audrey.
Few people know this, but when I was little I was obsessed with that movie! My sister and I watched it ever day for several weeks one summer (we used to watch one movie with lunch in the summer). I used to waltz around our house belting "Suddenly, Seymour" at the top of my lungs. All that training finally paid off.
So today we had three auditions, two appointments and one callback for me-and I spent last night and this morning working on two Audrey scenes (including the New York accent) and one song (Somewhere That's Green).
We are exhausted! The travel adds to it, I'm sure, but it is also being in a prolonged state of readiness. When I have several auditions during a day, I feel I need to be in that state all day, and it is exhausting. Today, as we walked to our first appointment, I said, "Well, I suppose we should get the video camera out" and Bret said, "Yeah, I guess". Then we laughed about how tired and unenthusiastic we were at that moment.
But just when you start to sink down, something happens to raise you up. Our first audition went well, and we were even met with a sign that said "San Jose Repertory Auditions--Mr. Jaspers and Ms. Zempel-->"
Our second audition was even better. Although the secretary was fairly unfriendly, the artistic director was great. We chatted a lot, and he really enjoyed our scene. He said he knew where he was right away, and based on our work suggested other places we could get work. He basically told us he would call us in if we were in town, and perhaps even if we weren't.
Between our appointments and my callback, Bret and I went to Starbucks to work on my sides. He was very helpful, although I was a little touchy. We are just a little on edge before auditions, and therefore we are always much nicer to each other when we are finished.
The audition was good, although they changed the audition song just before we went in. We sang "Suddenly Seymour" instead. I knew they would do that, I had a feeling, because it has the higher belt note in it. I know the song well, but it is just a little bit harder for me to sing than the other song.
In the room I read with another actor, which is strange, but the scene went well and I got quite a few laughs. Before the song I said a little prayer and I just went for it. It came out. It didn't sound amazing, but everything came out! (For those of you who don't know, belting is still fairly new to me)
And finally we were done and were able to spend a beautiful relaxing night in San Jose. Tomorrow we will be tourists in San Fran.

Craziness!

I did indeed drive to Ashland this morning. My sister, who leaves for work at 5:30, had to call the tow truck to move two cars parked in front of her driveway, so we were awoken a little early by her call and the cats! The cats like to wake us up. Jen, on the other hand, felt bad about it. But we made her eggs anyway.
The drive to Ashland was...tiring. Though I never was in danger of nodding off, I turned all the vents on high and made loud trilling noises with my lips to keep myself awake as Bret slumbered beside me like a baby, waking only to change the CDs for my book on tape (a thrilling historian/vampire adventure).
Ashland was great. Touristy, but full of hippy-dippy energy and amazing theater. As I said to Bret after the play we saw there--I didn't even think about the acting it was so good, I was just in their world.
But to add to nitty-gritty reality, I was very emotional afterwards. Perhaps it was the play or the drive, but I got very angry about not being able to close my backpack. Then I lost a contact. Then I cried at "Brick" by Ben Folds. Finally, after I took over driving for Bret so he could sing, we traded back when the curves in the road started to get to me. I think a good night's sleep, complete with Ruben's homemade soup, will get me back on track. How's that for reality? Take that, ANTM!

Ashland--Our Dream City

We set out from Portland, after much game playing, doughnut eating, and book browsing. We brought two Portland computer whizzes--Rich and Ruben--together for the first time. Emily and I make things happen, and touch people's lives.

Emily drove 5 hours to Ashland, Oregon, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The OSF is, according to a native Oregonian, "one of the crown jewels of Oregon." Well, that is no overstatement. We saw an excellent production of a new play, and could tell right away that some of the best theatre in the US is happening OSF. Great acting. The town is a cool little tourist town, with mountains in the background and lots of coffee and book shops. So I have to figure out who to sleep with in order to get a job there. We tried to make an appointment with them, but they are completely cast for 2008. Well, we'll keep knocking on their door.

Drove the rest of the way to Sacramento, where we are staying with another couch-surfer. This guy has just couch-surfed all over Argentina. Que excelente! I'm a nerd.

Breakfast at Rose's

Hello, everyone! Our last carefree, nothing- scheduled day in Portland. Rich was nice enough to show us a breakfast place out here. The sign between him and Emily says, "UNATTENDED CHILDREN WILL BE GIVEN ESPRESSO AND A FREE PUPPY." I liked that.
We are doing some errands today, then catching a play, then on to Ashland tomorrow to see a show at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Have any of you played a game called Apples to Apples? Thanks to Jen and Ruben for introducing us to the delight that is Apples to Apples.

In Portland

Well, we are staying at my sister's place in Portland which means two things: cats and role-playing games. Bret was introduced to the wild world of rpg last night. It was pretty fun. Since Bret and I don't know what we're doing, everyone else pretty much told us what to do, which was fun. But it was great to see my sister. We are so weird together and I love it.
This morning I warmed up and those cats were all over me! They either liked it, or were concerned for my safety.
Today we have two appointments and then we have free time until Monday when we audition in Sacramento. It will be great to spend some time with my sister and relax a little. We're a little more than half-way through now, so I guess we deserve a break. Maybe I can even do a tiny bit of yoga....

By the way, you can comment on a blog by hitting the link under the new blog that says comments.
We may get some pics up soon too!
And the poll is messed up. Sorry to whoever voted for Arthur Miller.

My two cents

This is Emily writing from Seattle. Bret took on the incredible task of writing three blog posts this morning--pre-audition. Though I'm sure I will write something lovely from the great Portland (our next stop), I wanted to say that Seattle is a really interesting city. Although compared to many other cities we've visited, there aren't that many companies at the moment (as one casting director said "Seattle is a boom bust town") the people here are really dedicated to the work, the art, and to figuring out the role of regional theater today. I have been inspired by almost everyone I met here and have been reminded of the fire in my own belly to act, create art and have vision. The regional theater movement is not dead, it is reinventing itself (although it isn't quite sure what it will be yet). Work needs to be done, and my generation should be gearing up to do it.
The more cities we meet, the more I want to devour them all, to work in them all, to see all of them succeed and try and win.
Whatever may come of this trip, I am more sure now than ever that this is what I must do. That fire just doesn't go away.

Space Needle, Day 2

So this was our first full day in Seattle. And it was an awesome day. Read more below.

We got into the hotel, got beautiful, and headed out to our first Seattle appointment. Apparently, every theatre in this town minus one is located in the Seattle Center. I am exaggerating. But a lot of them are.
We met the casting director at this one theatre, and he told us that our MFAs told him that we could do a monologue. He was happy to see our pieces if we wanted to show them to him, but he didn't need to. So we didn't. He talked with us for maybe an hour and a half about the theatre scene in Seattle, how he does his casting, and how we can best stay in touch. He is a former New Yorker--it was like being back at home. He actually is going to be in NYC conducting auditions in early November, and told us to keep in touch about those!! He was right down to business--specifically going through the rest of his season with us, and what we might be right for. It was great. Then he showed us the theatres, the backstage areas, the shops--very welcoming. It was great.

Later that day, we had a singing audition, and the auditor happened to be a Brooklyn College directing MFA grad. So he was one of Tom's students--Tom, you better be reading--and was realy chill. He told Emily to check out the original Starbucks, because the mermaid lady there has nipples. I guess nipples were too edgy for Starbuck to include them on their national trademark. But they are still at the original store. So we went to Pike's Market and saw the nipples.



That night, though, was pretty amazing. We went to a "Conversations with Artists" talk with the Artistic Director and Managing Director of another theatre we are seeing. They both spoke about their careers, their origins in the regional theatre movement, and their mission and role today. Fascinating. Fascinating. And both of them said they never imagined they would be doing their particular job. I should write more about it, but I would not know where to begin. We met them both afterwards, along with the moderator (who is a cousin of one of the BC dramaturgs--this is getting ridiculous), and the President of the Board at the theatre. "Good question," they told me. I had asked them to elaborate on the shift in what regional theatre's role is since they started. So yay me.
We were both buzzing that night---oh man. This is so frickin fun.

Space Needle, Day 1

Okay, we arrived in Seattle and stayed the first night with another couchsurfer -- really nice girl from Utah who might be moving to Portland to pursue Art Therapy. She is going to Europe first. We took her to a play at the Seattle Rep: MURDERERS by Jeffrey Hatcher. It was good--really funny. I was not expecting it to be good when it started--I thought there was a narrator thing happening, but it was a play with three really funny monologues. Great acting, Vanessa (our couch surfer) liked it. She said "I have to see more plays." So yay for us, for spreading the theatre bug.
But we realized the next morning that we could not rehearse or be prepared to audition if we stayed at her place: too small, no privacy. Couch surfing is great if you are on vacation, but we are not exactly doing that. It is great the crash at night, but we are working too. So we left the Capitol Hill area where she lived for a hotel close to the Seattle Center. Ah. I am basking in it.

Missoula

We drove ten hours on Saturday and arrived in Missoula, Montana, which is a hippie oasis in the middle of a huge red state. It was cool there--we stayed with an Environmental Science grad student at the University of Montana, and she showed us around the downtown--reminded me of Ithaca, NY. She had a big husky-like dog named Sasha (but Sasha is not a husky....according to dog aficionado Emily).
The scenery was beautiful, we had homemade tomato soup, bought new windshield wiper blades--thank you to the employees of O'Reilly Auto Parts in Missoula--and headed out again the next morning. The speedd limit is 75 miles an hour, and I must say, I was glad.
I think the most beautiful part of our drive, though, was through the panhandle of Idaho. Huge mountains, evergreens, and many larch trees. I guess there is a joke in Monty Python about "the larch"? I don't know--another Emily thing. We took video footage. We got gas in Coeur d'Alene, and I don't think I have ever tasted air for fresh.
The trip through Washington state was not as scenie--very flat, lots of grassland and brush, fewer farms than Minnesota even. But we made it all the way to the coast!

There's no there there!

We have arrived in Bismarck, North Dakota. The trip here was like a horror movie. Empty road (with occasional decorative fog) and black abyss on either side. The small town of Bismarck was a most welcome beacon. Hooray for the Kelly Inn!

How to Talk Minnesootan

How fitting that instead of doing a post about my own home town I get to do one about Minnesota and Minneapolis (in particular).
We left Milwaukee early on Wednesday with hugs and pictures, and a new load of food for the road (thanks to my very generous mother). Bret started the drive and I sat back and did some very important journaling. We are trying to keep detailed journals while we are here, but it isn't as easy as you might think. Between auditions and family gatherings and resting and rehearsing and ironing and much needed sleep, journaling doesn't always happen in a timely fashion. So anyway I journaled for several hours about our trip to Milwaukee. Milwaukee was really great for me, and though I wouldn't move there now, I would love to work for any of the companies we auditioned for while we were there. It would be a pleasure.
So our first stop on our journey was Lanesboro, Minnesota. This is apparently mostly a tourist town. It is surrounded by farmland, with beautiful rivers and tiny bridges and rolling hills. We arrived a little bit late (after having lost our path twice) and were amazed to see the theater on the tiny strip of downtown. Talk about a different experience than New York. The theater there was fascinating, and the people were lovely! The theater is really an artists' collective, dedicated to creating art and nurturing each other, while running the other aspects of the theater as well. There are 7 full time staff members, and other hired on for a season or a show. The theater has a house with 14 bedrooms in it to accommodate any actors that come to perform. The two people we met were so warm and open, and we talked about what we wanted to do and why we became actors and they shared their stories with us as well. We did our pieces for them and chatted more about who we are and who they are. I was really taken by what they do and the passion with which they do it. I think it would be an amazing experience to work for that theater for either a short or a long term stay. Theater in the middle of nature...kind of a dream really. So I decided that we were also moving to Lanesboro (as well as Chicago and Milwaukee).
We arrived in Minneapolis (well, St Paul first of all) at about 6pm when we met with the head of a theater dedicated to plays about local history. We chatted but didn't perform (they don't hire non-local actors). But we did learn about the theater scene in Minneapolis, and how the community interacts and things like that. It is great to find out how each city has its own local flavor.
We are fortunate enough to be staying at my Aunt Marcia's house. When we arrived we had a great homecooked meal and delicious peach cobbler. Everything was wonderful, and we went to bed around 10pm. It was really, really nice.
We woke up early for an appointment with another theater in town, whose artistic director must really be a morning person. In fact, he told me on the phone that he would have to leave by 9:45, and if we wanted to, we could come before 9. We decided against that (needless to say) and after waking up at 6:45 (grudgingly) we left around 8 to beat the traffic. And let me tell you, performing a monologue at 9 is not the same as performing it at 11.
Jack, the artistic director, was really great. We chatted again about the community, even more than the particular theater itself. It is obvious that this community is very supportive! We did our pieces, and a couple extra pieces. Jack said our work was good, although we could show a great range, a wider set of skills. He then gave us other names in the city. He was supportive of our work, and willing to help us get work. We will most certainly stay in touch with him.
Our next stop was the Guthrie (though in between we went to Nap-ville and Lunch-ville). They have a new building, as many people know, and it is really fabulous. As the associate artistic director mentioned to us that the Guthrie is the giant theater in Minneapolis, and all the other theaters are not nearly as big. And so they were also less accessible as people to some degree. Our audition was very by-the-book as opposed to the more casual chatting/auditioning meetings we've been having so far in Minneapolis. We explored the building afterwards, but we were unable to actually see the theaters. We saw pictures in postcards though!
After the Guthrie we ran several errands and arrived at my Aunt's for the pizza party! Actually the 3rd pizza dinner we've had on the trip so far, we'll see how many we have by the end. My Aunt Patsy and Uncle David, as well as my cousins Rachel and Jessica all came over for dinner (and lots and lots of dessert). This post is already too long, so I'll be short, but it was so great to be with my family. The Tollbergs are a ton of fun, and we spent a lot of time chatting and reminiscing and having a great time! Not to mention that Marcia and Patsy have provided us with even more food for the road! Thank goodness it's finally cold because it will be much easier to keep all the food fresh in the cooler now!
So tomorrow we have another appointment and then we are off for the BIG drive. Minneapolis to Seattle. We hope to arrive in Seattle in time to see a 7:30 show. We weren't able to see anything in Minneapolis, which was really a shame. Another trip perhaps...
Send us good driving thoughts...and good auditions thoughts can never go amiss either.

The Cream City....

has been good to us. And I am not just talking about Emily's mom's sour cream cake, or the beautiful lakefront, or the awesome warm weather (others say 'I wish it were fall,' but they've never worked outside). We had four great auditions, concluding Tuesday. The woman we auditioned for even said "that was good" after our Proof scene. And the monologues we bring in are surprising some people--most people have not seen them done or do not know the plays they are from. We were talking to the casting director at one of these theatres, and she said that "this is still the way to get seen," meaning visiting regional theatres in person. "Why be number 85 in New York?"


Aside from auditioning, I am surprised at how much there is to do, see, and experience in Milwaukee. They have built up their lakefront so well. I was told by a local authority (Emily's dad) that they filled in a lot of marshland in order to build a park on Lake Michigan. The warm weather allowed for some splendid views. I will show you the photos I took on my dinosaur film camera (or you can look up Milwaukee on google maps, whichever is quicker). The one downside, I guess I can say, has been competing with Emily's dog for her attention.

We also saw great theatre here--the production of Henry IV Part II that Emily wrote about, and then Seascape by Edward Albee last night. I also saw the archival videotape of an excellent production of Working produced by Nicolet High School in 1999. The actress playing the hooker is destined for great things, I am sure.

Now we hit the road again--this time to Minneapolis. Hey computer people--how do we get the city names to flash across the computer screen the way they did on Alias?

Relaxing in Milwaukee

Oh boy is it great to be home! I've been able to spend two lovely days just soaking in the homey goodness.
Yesterday we were lucky enough to see a production at Milwaukee Shakespeare. It was fabulous. I don't think I have seen Shakespeare done so clearly with so much passion in a very long time.
And Milwaukee really is beautiful. Small, but beautiful. The best part, however, is seeing my family. Having pizza with my grandparents, snuggling with my dog, and goading my parents. I have even been able to do yoga two days in a row! I feel sore but refreshed.
Tomorrow we have two Milwaukee auditions, including our first musical theater audition of the tour. Wish us bounteous luck.

Day 2 in Chicago

We took the number 66 bus to Navy Pier for another audition. Another beautiful day. The bus was very full at 10am on Friday, and somehow Emily and I were separated. The time alone was nice, though. It allowed both of us to focus and center ourselves before our next try-out. I wrote some thoughts into my journal on that bus trip. I cleared my head of some things that had been eating at me.
This time, our auditions were separate. The woman who met us (very nice woman) first had us fill out an audition form--another first on this trip. We both liked having our own time with the auditor. Neither Emily nor I impose on each other, but we cannot help but give a little of our focus to the other person when we are together at these auditions. This one was a nice change; we should try to create that same focus when we are in the room together.
Both of us were happy with our work. Afterwards, the woman showed us their mainstage space (modeled after The Swan in England). Interestingly, she said that they had been looking to Canada to find classical actors. "In Canada, their national theatre companies are both classical theatre festivals," she said (referring to the Stratford and Shaw Festivals. Canadian actors MUST be able to do the classics, whereas U.S. actors do not necessarily have to know them. I blame Nickelodeon and MTV.
After the audition, we went on the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier. I wanted to go around twice, but we dismounted after one time around. We then went to the Museum of Contemporary Art, where we saw a performance art piece. Two dancers doing a slow, sexual dance in an empty space between exhibits. As it turns out, the dancers were there with a class, and I crashed their post-performance de-brief. Their professor said to them, "people will watch you when they see someone else already watching." Seeing someone else watching tells a person that it is OK to watch it too. And while I was watching, some other patrons barrelled through. Art on the wall was worthy of contemplation; living art--happening between two people on the floor--was not.
That night we saw another play--this one a new play that had some good ideas but fell short on the execution. Then Emily drove through the mean streets of Chicago, hopped on the highway, and brought us to Milwaukee. She was on a mission, that's for sure!

From Carl!

Are you #@%& kidding me? I lost the @#*% poll? I'm gonna get you $*%& @&*(&%.
--CARL

First fight

Well, I was just kicked out of "emily's seat" at ther house in Milwaukee. Good thing I won the "who do you like best" poll. Thank you, readers!

That city is pretty windy...

More about Chicago. A few details if you will.
We arrived in Chicago on Wednesday night where we stayed with a lovely woman named Lydia in the city. We actually didn't see her very much (she was working a nine to five) but we did get to enjoy pizza together. We were able to get a good night's sleep (and sleep in a bit) before our first audition at 2pm. We explored the part of town we were staying in and found some yummy breakfast deals (our favorite) and warmed up real good before we headed downtown.
We were able to audition for a woman I interned for back in my crazy college days during my stay in the Chicago Arts Program. She liked our work and told us that if we moved to Chicago she would certainly call us in for auditions and readings. That was a pleasure to hear. She spoke to us about the Chicago theater scene in such a way that made me consider moving there.
Although part of this trip was to allow us to experience other cities and see where we might want to move...I wasn't expecting to actually consider moving anywhere. Chicago, however, has a lot of appealing aspects. I am seriously going to consider it. There are downsides of course, but there are a lot of upsides. Luckily one of the casting directors we weren't able to see told me I could call her anytime to ask questions. I intend to ask her many, many questions.

The Windy City

Just a quick post from inside the Mac store on Michigan in Chicago. We had two fabulous auditions here in the windy city. And we were able to see performances at both theaters. Tonight we see a play at Victory Gardens, and afterwards we drive to my home town---Milwaukee!!
More on the details of our Chicago trip later...from Milwaukee of all places!
Soon I will see my family and my dog.
Hooray!

Heyo from Cleveland!!!

It's been a long time since we've had the chance to blog over here! Since we last wrote we have traveled from upstate New York to Cleveland to Chicago!
Tuesday night we arrived in Cleveland. When we arrived and got off the freeway we were a little concerned. The freeway area was a little sketchy. I locked my door. But most of Cleveland was gorgeous to look at. Interesting architecture and lots of old buildings. And the place we were staying (which we found through couchsurfing.com) was great. It was a beautiful Victorian home owned by the lovely Dave. Dave, by the way, is running a costume website you should check out called www.instockcostumes.com. He has buttloads of costumes to choose from for this Halloween season.
We chatted for a bit and then settled into our couches and went to sleep.
In the morning we woke up and tried to find a breakfast place. We failed.
So we went into our cooler and had a breakfast of hardboiled egg, banana bread (thanks Bret's mom), and banana. A little redundant, I know.
Then we proceeded to make lots of noise warming up our voices and we rehearsed a few pieces for the day. Our appointments included Cleveland Public Theatre and the Great Lakes Theatre Festival.
The Cleveland Public has two great spaces, one black box and one old proscenium space that they use as a black box. The audience area is also the playing space. It is too bad we couldn't see a performance there. I kept saying "wow these are huge" and he kept saying "these are not so big." I guess I am just used to the tiny tiny spaces in NYC. We did our pieces for him, but they do not hire out-of-town people. Still, it was great to visit CPT because they are clearly very active in their community and try all sorts of new material.
Then we went to the Great Lakes Theatre Festival. We made a mistake: doing Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl for him. They are a more established company, and produce classics. We did that scene because we both wanted to do our dramatic Shakespearean monologues for him. In any event, he gave us very honest feedback, and it made us think more strategically about what material to use for auditions, both on this tour and after. Live and learn.
So then we hit the road......on to Chicago.

Syracuse

Hit Syracuse at 2pm yesterday, after packing up the Focus and leaving the Rock. Emily drove and did very well. I only yelled at her three times. Kidding.

Our audition was good. During our audition yesterday in Rochester, we got some adjustments on our PROOF scene. And we took them well, I think. But then in Syracuse yesterday, we might have taken the adjustment a bit too far. The person we auditioned for told us to take our time, and have the moments. Because there is a lot going on in the PROOF scene underneath all the talk about math and notebooks. They fell in love, and she is about to leave, and my character wants her to leave not only because she wrote an earth-shattering proof, but because I love her. And we were missing some moments. But when we did it again, they were back. He said it was clear that we could do it.

So far, we had two very nice experiences. We had more quality time with each person than we ever would have had in NYC.

The Family

Well, we are in Rochester with my family. Ah, going home. Tell me if this sounds familiar: "You know what you should do, you ought to do your trip like this...."

A lot of people in NYC and elsewhere have asked us what we would do if one of us got a job somewhere, and the other did not. People love conflict! Good thing that Emily and I will most likely not be up for the same role. We explain that theatre does not really work like that, that you are a jobber for one play, and then you go back to NYC or wherever you live. It WOULD be nice if there were more repertory companies in the U.S. I am approaching this trip partly to see what is out there in terms of places to live.

Right now I am at my uncle's house, changing the oil on my car, drinking coffee, eating bagels. Where are his cats? The car, by the way, is just as wonderful as ever. It will be our trusted companion and protector for the next month.

Oh, and I have to write this: she did GREAT driving stick shift. (she really did)

Rochester!!!

We have arrived in Rochester! We are staying in an internet-less house and so we have not been able to post. Since we have arrived I have had my first stick shift lesson in about 3 years (when I drove from Milwaukee to Boston with my best friend Anne). It was a little rough. After I got into first gear the first time, pretty smoothly, I gave a triumphant cry! But after about twenty mintues it turned from a triumphant cry to just a plan ol' cry. "What if I can't do it!" I said. Bret said, "Then I'll drive and you can read to me." So I Felt much much better.
I'm happy to say that this morning I drove on the real road from Bret's dad's house to Uncle John's house. No stalling on the road, and I've finally got the real smooth let go of the clutch in first. After first, it's smooth sailing. So wish and pray for no stop-and-go traffic when I'm behind the wheel. I'll just take my time.
Today is our first audition at Geva theater. We'll be doing a scene from Proof and two monologues (Bret's is from a Sarah Ruhl play and mine is from a Chuck Mee).
I'm sure we will kick much butt.

The Last Night

in New York City. Talk to you all later---from beautiful (what?) Rochester, NY. Stop #1.

The Local Response

We leave in 2 days. Lord help us. No, I'm kidding. We are very prepared and very ready/excited/going to explode/in the hospital. But I have to write about how the people I know have responded to this adventure.

Put simply, I have been truly touched by the amount of encouragement and generosity I have received. This has lifted my spirits even higher. I can't wait to take the good energy I got from people I know already and spread it around the U.S. to the strangers we will meet. So thank you, everyone! I feel incredibly blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life.

Oh, and Emily bought me a yoga mat so I can do yoga with her while we are out there. That was so....nice....of her. ("A domestic dispute erupted yesterday during a yoga class..."). I'm kidding, I like it. She'll keep me healthy.

I'm excited...no, terrified...no, excited...no, terrifed...

It's hard to sleep when you are the manager of your own business venture. It is hard to feel that everything is totally under control. About a two weeks ago, I started to lose it.
The first week of panic involved getting appointments. I began to think there would be no appointments! What if this is crazy, and theaters have policies set up to prevent this and everyone thinks we are raging lunatics?
Then we started to get appointments. Lots of appointments...all of a sudden.
And I thought to myself...Two weeks before we leave? Two weeks! Oh my God, we're not ready! Why haven't we worked on our material more? What are we doing? What have we been doing? What if no one will coach us? What if we have no idea what we're getting ourselves into? Really great people are going to see us and we won't be ready!!!
Those were the thoughts that passed through my head. Time seemed to slip through my fingers like so much sand in so many metaphors. Or similies.
Luckily we had our first coaching session. It turned out that we weren't as crazy as we thought. Our fabulous professor from Brooklyn College, Mary Beth, has been generous enough to coach us and managed to boost our confidence all at the same time. We found that we weren't actually crazy, and we had managed to learn something in grad school (and absorb it to this day), and we are actually capable, hardworking, talented actors.
Acting is all about putting yourself out there, both while you are working and while you are doing "the business". In a lot of ways we have opened ourselves up by working on this project. When you open yourself you create a risk. Risk can lead to pain, but it can also lead to great success. If you don't risk, you are protecting yourself from failure and triumph. You are embracing the ordinary and turning your back on the extraordinary. As one of my favorite poems says, "Only the person who risks is free."
And so I am excited...no, terrified...no, excited...

Here are some of the responses we have received to our phone calls:

-Yes! What time is good for you?
-Give us a call when you are in town
-Give us a call closer to when you will be in town
-S/he is on vacation/in a show/directing a show/on the moon; call back next week
-Um, yeah I think we can do that
-Are you Equity?
-We don't really "do that" here
-If we saw every actor who came through town, we would be "besieged," as you can imagine
-What do you mean, "show us your work?"
-Ok, come in around 10:30. Don't worry about material, just bring your resume
-We are crazy right now. Give us a call later in the summer and I might know what I am doing by then
-Ironically, I am going to be in New York casting a show when you will be in town
-Can you come to our general audition we are holding then?

And there were other responses (Emily's responses) that I did not write. These are just the ones I had. Not bad, right? And Emily did not do too shabby either (you know, for an actor). The people were pretty damn nice. Maybe it is because their job is to create theatre, and they do it in a place that is not New York.

So we have a couple appointments in upstate New York, two in Cleveland, 1 maybe more in Chicago (that was a harder nut to crack, with their own actor community to draw from), many in Milwaukee, Minneapolis, three in Seattle (so far), and the other cities are still To Be Determined. High five!

And as I was doing my research and writing my letters and making calls, I discovered that most of these theatres were founded in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Yet another reason to love the 60s and 70s. But seriously, that must have been quite an exciting time to be an artist. Not because of the drugs (well...), but because of the spirit of that time. Ah, Bret....you're just a wannabe hippie.

Yes, I Counted

We mailed out 83 letters. Eighty. Three. Just finished the last city--Pittsburgh. Yet one more city who has won a Super Bowl, while my Buffalo Bills have not. But if these Pittsburgh theatres see us, all animosity is forgotten.
Yes! Paperwork....done.

A Note on Phone Calls.

This is Emily. And I need to say a thing or two about blind phone calls.
Here are some things I would rather do than call people I don't know on the phone.

1. Eat oatmeal.
2. Watch morning television.
3. Stab myself in the eye with my phone's antenae.

But in the course of human events one has to make a blind phone call or two. And as much as I would like Bret to make all the phone calls, he was not to keen on the idea.
To make matters worse, if that is possible, my phone reception is sketchy. In my apartment my phone consistently tells me I have full signal until just after some very important Artistic Director answers the phone, and then I suddenly have two bars! I think my phone wants my career to fail. Little does my phone know that should I fail, no one will be paying its fancy bills!
And so I sat in a cafe, thinking my signal would be better there, clutching my phone and desperatly hoping a car would crash through the window and take my life, or at least my dialing arm. I spent a few futile moments reviewing theater information and repeating my speech and swearing under my breath.
Finally I made my first call. It was just as terrifying as I had assumed it would be. In fact, the man I spoke with was quite nice, and directed me to his casting director, a woman who works mainly at a different theater (who might be seeing us when we pass through). But success, or at least friendliness, did not seem to help me feel any better about my task.
It did not help that I started with Chicago. Now, don't get me wrong, Chicago is a great city, and a wonderful theater city. The problem is, Chicago has a lot of actors, and many of the theaters in Chicago are small enough that they cannot afford to bring actors in. So I heard a lot of very friendly people tell me that when I move to Chicago I can send my headshots and come in.
I also left messages, which was great in that people did call me back. If you let people call you back, however, they will call you when they want. They have called me at 9am, they have called me in the middle of the street, they have called me while I'm in the shower. I didn't answer that last one.
I have to say, though it may not seem like it, that one of the things I am most looking forward to during this trip is meeting all of these people across the country. Most of them seem very generous, very honest, and very helpful. And I swear that I am much much more interesting face to face. My face is very nice. Or so I am told.
All in all, I'm getting better at phone calls. I must be. At least it only takes me one deep breath before I call these days.
I would still, however, rather perform in 100 naked auditions than make one blind phone call.
If only that was an option.
I bet I'd get a lot of callbacks.
Hee hee.
Naked.

A Different Kind of Letter-Writing Campaign

Hey--this is Bret writing! This is my first post ever on a blog. And it is on my own blog. I am advanced.

In case you didn't know, Emily and I finished our MFAs in Acting from Brooklyn College in June. One of our professors there, Mary Beth, suggested that a way to create audition opportunities for yourself is to do a "regional theatre tour." Write to various playhouses around the country, and request an audition. And lucky enough for us, I have been loathe to sell my 2003 Ford Focus, and it has been sitting in the driveway of my father's house in Rochester for three years, ever since I moved to New York City. More on the car in later posts, I am sure....I love it.

So we plotted out our route (as the first post explained), and next came the letter writing. We spent a month researching the LORT and SPT theatres in the cities we were visiting. What kind of theatre do they do? What is in their mission statement? What plays and musicals are in their upcoming (and past) seasons? Which directors did they hire? I swear, I do not know what people did before the Internet. All the information we wanted was at our fingertips (well, most of it). A couple of the places we researched had their own blogs, which were helpful to get a sense of the vibe there. We found out who specifically to contact, and then began the actual letter-writing.

I am still not done with my letters--one last city to go (Pittsburgh). We divided up the towns--I took upstate New York, Emily took Milwaukee and Chicago, I took Seattle, etc--and wrote individualized letters to each place. If nothing else, we learned a lot of information about what type of plays are being produced and what the national landscape is for people in our profession.

But it was Emily who pushed me to commit (to the auditon tour). Initially, I was nervous about this trip; I had finished grad school like most people do--broke. But I am glad I came around. Being a young actor in New York is a little...daunting. A lot of the opportunities for auditions in NYC come from open calls. These are great--I have had luck with those, and you have to keep going. But planning this trip has given me a long-range goal to work on all summer. I feel like I have been building my acting business, by gathering information, writing dozens of business letters, searching for audition material (not to mention working my ass off). It is a project I am building towards, as opposed to waiting for the next audition listing to appear. And you know, there are a LOT of great places to act around the country. We even came across more than a few experimental companies, something I was not expecting.

What next? Oh yeah...follow up. Phone calls.

The Beginning

Well, not exactly the beginning.
This is the blog of the Regional Theatre Audition Tour that wouldn't die. Two actors, fresh out of graduate school are campaigning for their careers through the country.
It all began with a dream and a map. And lots of informational books. We began in May with a huge roadmap from a chain bookstore and a bunch of stickie flags. We stickied every city in that map that had a LORT theatre in it and then we planned our route.
We have decided on a month long tour that highlights the cities of Syracuse, Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Spring Green, WI, Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland, Ashland, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Salt Lake City, Denver and Pittsburgh. We had other cities in there but only recently decided that we were crazy and unless we had a time machine it would be impossible, IMPOSSIBLE to make every city we dreamed of.
But even stickies on a map were not enough to make this a successful tour.
The next step was writing letters. A million and one letters...