Acting is a weird profession sometimes.
I remember my father saying to me a few weeks ago, "Your life is so different from mine." My dad's a semi-retired environmental engineer. I'd say our lives are very different in many many ways.
First of all, I can't do a 9-5. Tried. Won't do it ever again. When I look at my calendar, every day is different. Sure, there are times when I have weeks of a standardized patient job, but that's usually 4 days a week and for a limited time. To look at my calendar now and see that in about 6 months I don't have work scheduled yet, doesn't bother me. Something always comes up, which is dangerous to rely on at times but that's the way it is.
It's taken me 5 years to get comfortable with all of this. I feel like I just now am getting a grip on my work scheduling, planning the actual work, and my finances. Getting older has been good to me.
As my friend and mentor Jess Conda once said to me, "It's a very calico lifestyle". We take work from everywhere and assemble a life out of that. I'd rather that than a 9-5 any day. And honestly a full-time job really exhausts me. I have mad respect for people who can do a full-time gig but also do more on the side. When I'm working those hours I have a hard time doing what I love (like seeing theatre or even reading) let alone going to the gym and having more work and responsibilities at home. I turn into a bit of a blob.
This summer, Ed and I are going up to Massachusetts again for our third year of Summer On Stage. So for work right now, since my Temple SP job just ended for the season, I'm focusing on this as well as doing a few odds and ends (including UPenn SP work and constantly working on A Little Night Music).
We love our summer camp. The kids are great, the families are fun, and I learn so much. This year because of schedules we unfortunately cannot be in Massachusetts for 6 weeks like the previous two years. So this year we pared it down to 3 weeks in total and we are bringing our friends and colleagues Brenna Geffers and Ross Beschler to teach with us. This is exactly the kind of growth we wanted to move towards. I think that because we have a shorter amount of time, we won't feel so tired by the end and we can give the kids an even better experience. And since we have more people, Ed can really focus on his responsibilities as Camp Director and run the camp, instead of having to deal with a bajillion other responsibilities. That way Ross, Brenna, and I (as well as our Stagecraft teacher, Sam, who's been with us all three years and is amazing) will be able to focus on our classes and rehearsals. We've learned so much from the past two years that I think this year we'll be able to run it like a well oiled machine (or at least a machine in need of a little WD-40).
Here's our website: www.summeronstage.com
Summer can sometimes be a lonely ghost town for actors. If you don't book acting summer stock work or a camp gig it can be deadly. Please tell me if I'm wrong on that because those are really the two jobs I've been able to get in the summer, one of which I had to create in order to get. Maybe I'm picky...
Anyway, I am off to run some errands. It's a beautiful day here in Philadelphia. Hope it's beautiful where you are.
-Cindy
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