Christmas 2016

Merry Christmas one and all!

This has been a very happy Christmas for me.  It is the first Christmas where I have had a job through the season, so expensive iTunes gifts for everybody!  It is also the first Christmas where I am not able to spend a week in Logan.  Money is awesome, so I'd rather go back to work on December 27 than ask my incredibly generous boss for another week off (I had one in November).  November also killed me financially and I'm just now crawling up out of that hole I dug for myself.

But what did I get for Christmas, you ask?  Well...

My amazing coworkers got me this for Christmas.  I love it because I'm a Shakespeare nerd.  It reads, "To quote Hamlet: act 3, scene 3, line 87, 'No'."  I say "no" a lot, so it will come in handy.  it already has multiple times, actually.

This is from my dad.  Little alcohol bottles and a penguin for some reason.  He said the penguin was from his christmas cracker and, "What would you do without a wind-up penguin."  You can see the corner of the box that my bluetooth speaker came in.

Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts!  I was very confused about what to do next, because I love it so much.  I ended up playing multiple games of Clue.  The best part about it is that it has opening and closing doors and secret passages.  I also have clothes and bluetooth headphones.

My brother gave me a backup charger as well, so now I can backup charge my phone.

After this happy Christmas, I get to go back to Archive and witness the pure destruction that is "Christmas Carol."  I also get to have a break from show laundry before "Cash on Delivery."  I am going to a "Harry Potter" symphony on January 3 and HTCO's thank you party on January 11.  I'm going to be having a wonderful time over the next few weeks.

Canadian Stage

Yesterday, I was emailed about the Canadian Stage program at York.  It's an exciting time, because not only is it my first direct contact with a renowned Canadian theatre company where I would love to work, but they have also given me a photograph to analyze/provide commentary on.

I am a creative person, and analysis is not good enough for me.  Sure, I could take a Picasso painting and write 800 words on how it makes me feel, on what techniques were used in it, but that's boring.  I'm a director/actor/writer.  I want to create a story around the photograph, like how I did in college with the Goya project; it was even for a directing class.

I also feel that this will make me stand out.  The average director is simply going to provide a very clear analysis of what the picture is and, probably, how they would stage a photograph to match it.  I don't know that people are going to think about coming up with an entire narrative as well.  It'll be a written live action version of the photograph, which, I think, is pretty cool.

York U

Yesterday, I received a second very exciting email that York has received my application.  York is my preferred school, so I am very happy to know that I am now, officially, in the books for this school.

Guelph and York are the only schools that I have applied to, much like how the only two schools that I applied to for my undergrad were Utah State University and Southern Utah University.  I was accepted into both universities, and I can only hope that this time around is the same.

Step One: Complete

Today, I received a very exciting email.  The University of Guelph has officially received my application, which means that I can now start making myself look good through essays.  Two were senior essays that is just work that I did in the Spring of 2013; I knew I was holding onto them for something.  The third is a statement about research goals that can only be 600 words.

Directing research, what I'm applying for, is a type of research that really can't be put into words, which means that there's A LOT of explanation.  For example, I want to put on "Macbeth" for an audience in a way that will make it real for them.

How?  By using a thrust stage to bring the action to the audience, rather than the other way around.  The thrust is so named because it thrusts out into the audience.  The style of staging is called three-quarter staging, literally playing to three sides of a four side stage, meaning that, at any one time, a person watching the action is also watching another person watching the action and the former person.  If done correctly, this type of staging allows for a complete immersion in the story as the audience is transported to whatever place the story takes them.

The entire story could use this three-quarter style and not lose any of it's emotional intensity, but audiences need help picturing the scene sometimes.  If the budget allows, I would like the thrust to be attached to a proscenium stage.  Proscenium stages are stages where the audience is seated on one side of the stage.  The style of staging, rather than being called one-quarter, is simply called proscenium style staging.  This is, in my opinion, the simplest way to set a scene, since there are not audience members around the stage; simply keeping the actors in front of the scenery provides for a clear view of them.  One can think of it as a television screen.  There is only a two-dimensional space to worry about when critiquing what an audience sees, rather than the three dimensions of the thrust.

Incredibly, that was over 200 words.  Only six of those paragraphs and I'm over the limit.  I haven't even gotten to the part about how I would pull off that ghost scene (hint; there are multiple actors).

I was cornered by Kris one day and asked, "Are you leaving us?" in the tone Kris uses for anger, both real and mocking.

I explained that it was not for sure yet and I needed to wait until they got back to me.

"When are you leaving?"

Again, I tried to explain that it wasn't for sure; that if I wasn't accepted I would stay at Archive.

"When will you know?"

Probably sometime in March.

This is part of the reason that I love my job.  In addition to getting to work in a theatre every day, it is incredibly apparent that my boss and coworkers care about me as a person, not just as a nameless worker (shoutout to Survey Sampling International).

This is what has been added to my plate today in addition to all of the Santa costumes that need TLC.  That and the realization that the cotton shirts are shrinking like mad and I'll have to pull new ones.

December 2016

Well 2016, it's been fun.  My first real-ish year as an adult.  Let me go over what happened:

I hit 3,000 page views this year.  About 1,000 per year.  Of course, it's probably just that 10 people visited 300 times over the course of 4 years, but that's okay, I'll still take it.

I went back to Advantage Solutions.  That was a real "if I have to" moment for me.

I moved to Salt Lake City.  I finally got out of Logan and can actually make a life of my own.

I got an acting job in Skagway, Alaska.  I got laid off 30 days later.

I got a job working as a Costumer for Hale Center Theatre Orem.  It's the best job I've had so far.  I've been there for five months, so go fuck yourself, Karl.

I moved into my first apartment.

Donald Trump got elected.  That says more about America than I ever could.

I'm applying to schools in Canada in order to advance my career.

Will anything else worth mentioning happen?  Probably not, but we still have 25 days in 2016 and one can never tell with these things.

With this post, I have completed my goal of posting every month for a year.  It's the little things...

Ah... healthcare.

For those of you who don't know, America elected a reality TV star for president on Nov. 8.  Why?  Because reality TV is DEFINITELY reality and Trump knows how do put his name on tall buildings. He also knows how to repeal things.  He is the best at repealing things.  No one is better at repealing things than him.

As you may know, Americans LOVE to say that they will move to Canada every four years if a certain candidate loses.  This is terribly clichéd, and it has been said in every election this one can remember (5).  However, this was not an idle threat for me.

I was diagnosed with an ependymoma brain tumor when I was 9, and have had too many treatments to count since.  This alone barred me from being able to get health insurance without having to resort to shitty, full-time employment at McDonalds.  When Obamacare was passed, I rejoiced, as did millions of Americans, because I would be able to get insurance.

I have made the decision to move to Canada.  Why?  The most important reason is that I will have access to affordable healthcare.  This is of the utmost importance to me.  Trump has made it a top priority to repeal Obamacare, therefore, I will not be able to get insurance without having a shitty, full-time job at McDonalds.  Reason two is that Canada is home to some of the best theatrical graduate programs in the world, and I have been thinking about going back to school.  Reason three is I have dual citizenship to Canada.

I was explaining all of this to one of the Assistant Managers, Madi, at work.  I told her that I was looking at grad schools in Canada.  "You're moving to Canada?"  She put on a strange expression as I tried to explain what my reasons were.  Before I could even get into reason one, she said, "Fucking do it," three words which either meant she supports me whole heartedly or wants me to go away really, really badly.  She even offered to be a reference.

Yes, I am moving to Canada.  No, it is not because of Trump (though he was the deciding factor).  I have a wonderful opportunity to study and work professionally in Canada, and I'll be damned if I don't take it.

Westworld

We are three episodes in to the HBO series "Westworld", based on the Michael Crichton movie of the same name, and it is glorious.  The writing, set, and direction are spectacular, and the actors pull you into the story with their incredible performances.  Like any good story by Michael Crichton, it is based in reality.  Westworld seems, all at once, immensely futuristic and within our grasp.

Speaking of Michael Crichton stories, I have been fascinated by "Jurassic Park" for a long time.  Seeing dinosaurs that are alive and breathing and not some robot in a roped off area would be amazing.  I just watched a documentary called "Dinosaurs: The Hunt for Life" that brings this concept to the forefront.  The Hell's Creek formation in Montana contains incredibly well preserved dinosaur fossils that have been shown to theoretically contain dinosaur, specifically T-Rex, DNA.  While it is still theory and contamination cannot be ruled out, this is exciting for people like me to think that seeing a live T-Rex might only be a few years away.

Just because...

It's almost my birthday, and that means that I get to buy myself something that I want.  Seeing as Now You See Me 2 is available for purchase, I will buy that for myself.  Yay for the wonderful world of fake magic!

Halloween at Archive Costumes!

Happy Halloween from Archive Costumes!  Yes, I realize that it is only September, but I have to talk about the awesome stuff that we have going on during this Halloween season.

First, "See How They Run" is now playing at HCTO.  It is a truly hilarious production that you won't want to miss.

Second, "Catch Me if You Can" opens at HCTO on October 6.  Our very own Madeline Minor and Leisl Sorensen are assisting with the costuming for this production, so you know it has to look good.

Third, the children's production of "Legally Blond" will be playing from October 8-15.  It's an hour and a half of clean, family fun.

Now on to Archive awesomeness.  We have HUNDREDS of character costumes available for rent as well as well as THOUSANDS of individual costume pieces available from our stock.  Want to be a Prince?  Sure!  How about Professor Umbridge?  Of course!  If we can't get it spot on, we'll get closer than anyone else and you'll look better than anyone else.  During the month of September, we are offering an early bird discount of 20% if you are renting a costume for Halloween, and the first person to come in gets 50% off instead of 20%!  All you need to do is mention this promotion to get the discount.

You can find a redirect to the Archive Costumes website above and will find links to HCTO and other theatres to the right.  We'll see you soon!

'Tis the very witching time of night.

This is a black witch costume, now on display at Hale Center Theatre Orem.  Everything is rentable, so come on down to Archive Costumes to see what we can do for you!

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Harry James Potter, who turned 36 today!  As some of you may know, J.K. Rowling also released the official eighth story in the "Harry Potter" series, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child", which had it's world premier last night on the West End stage.  I binge read the entire script today and am hungry for more!

I pulled some white tux shoes for Sir Nicholas de Mimsey Porpington yesterday and that made me extremely happy.

July!

So I have been incredibly busy over the past week and forgot to update you with some very exciting news.  I had been interviewing in SLC for positions over the phone because coming in would mean spending eighty of my own dollars to get from Logan to the greater Salt Lake City area and back.  When I was called by Archive Costumes at Hale Center Theatre Orem and asked to come in, I booked the outgoing and return trips because I love the theatre and costumes are fun.  Well, I went all the way to Orem, interviewed, was told I would hear back in a couple of days, and made my way all the way to Lehi before getting the call that I had been hired; this being less than an hour later.  Madi, the interviewer, wanted to know if I could come in that day.  I said no, because I had really only planned for a day trip, but that I would come in the next day.  What she doesn't know is that meant that I would only get two hours of sleep, less than five hours to pack, shower, eat, and basically be a functioning human being, spend another $40, and a total revision of my schedule for this week.  I completely forgot why I put myself through that hellish experience on the morning of the 28th, but quickly remembered why.  I love Hale Center Theatre, both in West Valley and Orem, and love working in a team of creative people.  In addition, we rent to and work with customers, one of the other things that I love to do.  In short, I love my job more than any other permanent job I have ever had.  Visit Archive Costumes in the basement of Hale Center Theatre Orem.

Writing

I am working on a screenplay with one of my SLC friends to be produced sometime this year.  Heres a hint:

Until next time!

Update

I have now come to terms with this fact and I suppose I should tell the internet.  I have been laid off by the Historic Skagway Inn.  That's the end of it.

I am looking for things within my craft, so I'll update you on that as I go.  I've been applying for things outside my craft as well, but I sort of hope that goes nowhere.

Here's to keeping my head above water!

ATTENTION SKAGWAY!

ATTENTION SKAGWAY! The Historic Skagway Inn on 7th and Broadway needs YOUR help! We are looking for a lucky person to fill the position of dishwasher immediately. It's a great atmosphere and great pay. 40+ hours/week. No housing available. Call 907-983-2289 for more information.

Last night...

Last night I had a surreal moment; as I do most nights, but this one was especially powerful.

The Historic Skagway Inn owns a restaurant called Olivia's Bistro, named after the Klupar's only daughter.  Although this experience mostly happens after 11pm, I have to start there.  I had been waiting since six for Olivia to process my discount which I did not receive yesterday (I am an employee, not a priority, and had watched a few people come and go; this story bears no reflection on the restaurant) when I got to thinking.  What else did I have to do, really?  I had moved from the lobby to the bar to the restaurant with no end in sight.  That was when a little thought popped into my head: what if I started my theatre company in Skagway?

Before you tell me that it was an ill thought out idea brought on by three hours and a beer (I'm a lightweight and Alaskan beer is much stronger than the "Utah 3.2%"), let me assure you that this is not a new idea.  My idea for what would eventually become a theatre company in the planning stages on my MAC started in 2006 during a simple conversation about a show I was doing with a friend.  I was talking about CVCB's "the Nutcracker" and musing about building a building and putting a snow machine in it.

Fast forward to nine years later.  I am calling an Executive Director and a Director about the Salt Lake Fringe Festival.  I had a script written and was ready to push my idea off the ground.  Well, it got to the third week and everyone dropped out; starting a theatre company is definitely an uphill battle.

Fast forward to last night sitting by myself hearing Olivia ramble to herself (we all do it; don't judge).  I saw one of the other Klupar kids, Ian, sitting in the restaurant as well and figured that I'd go talk to him.  During one of our thirty second bursts of small talk (we're both very introverted people; me more than him) an idea came to me that I had to share with him, more to hear how it sounded out loud than anything.  I confessed that I had wanted to start a theatre company for a while, but that I had been having trouble coming up with an approach that would make my company stand out from all of the other theatre companies in Utah; well guess what?  Skagway has no theatre companies.  That was revelation A.

Revelation B came when a co-worker, Dennis, bought a round of coffee/Jameson's for himself, Ian, Karl, and I (Karl is the owner of the inn and my boss).  Karl was giving the kitchen crap for using Cool Whip instead of actual whipped cream (that's a whole other story) and I was thinking to myself, "Where else do you walk thirty feet from your house to a restaurant, sit down to contemplate life, and have a drink with your boss?"

Dennis took us all to the "Elk's" (one of the many private places he is a member of) and bought us all a couple Jameson's on the rocks.  We also got dinner and dessert there.  During the walk home (I was stuffed, so it wasn't bad at all) I had revelation C; I was looking up at the dimly lit, snow capped mountains thinking, "This is my job.  I work about eight hours six days a week serving to the needs of the masses and then I go to the restaurant that takes thirty seconds to get to to eat or just hang out with co-workers and/or my boss.  I get to see this incredible scenery every day when I wake up and go to bed.  I should start my theatre company and live here."

If anyone wants to contact me about cruises and "Legends and Lies", I am compiling a list of all of that information that will be available on a tab to be named at a later time.  Until next time, Cheechakos!

Ah... laundry day.

It is Sunday, which means absolutely nothing in Skagway, and it is my day off.  No shows, no cleaning rooms at the inn, just a lazy day.  Being such a day, it means that I have time to do laundry at the laundromat and call whomever I haven't called to keep them in the loop.  Laundry is about twice as expensive to do here and I have to walk, but I figure that's a fair trade off for living and working in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Tuesdays in Skagway

This is my fourth day living and working with actors, chefs, and other general inn running people; I have to say, it's been a good experience so far.  The cool thing about the people working in Skagway is that everyone knows everyone else.  It is sort of like being in a college and listening to people talk about what happened in the last few years.  I've already been running into people that I've met just since Saturday.

I've got my first show at noon today, so if you're in Skagway and looking for something to do we'd love to have you stop by for the show and a few drinks.

T minus 1

I am in Skag... oh, wait.  Due to a technical hiccup, I am spending the night in Juneau and flying in to Skagway tomorrow.  Additionally, I do not start work until Monday, so I will actually get to watch the show tomorrow.

One of the cast members and I just spent a good chunk of time at a sports bar here and I know him all the better for it.  Now, I need to try to catch some sleep and leave early tomorrow.

T minus 2

Two days more!  I now know generally what I am doing on the trip from Juneau to Skagway, and I am very glad because that is TOMORROW.  I will get in to Skagway tomorrow at about 4pm Alaska time, which is 6pm in Utah.  I am basically at or in between airports for the entire day.

What is happening today?  Packing, packing, and more packing.  Then a drink.  Then more packing.  The amount of packing I will do is huge.

Until next time!

T minus 5

Crunch time!  I am back in Logan to get everything I need from here and consolidate my stuff that I haven't wanted to make the effort to move down to Salt Lake.  I say that it's crunch time as I watch TV and eat a donut.

The first hurdle of my trip here revealed itself today: I have no food!  I haven't even left for Alaska yet and I'm starving.  I'm already wanting to go back to SLC and eat all my hot pockets, eggs, and whatever else I have before I get to the airport at 5:30am on Friday.

I am starting to seriously contemplate my layover in Seattle and still have no clue how I'm getting from Juneau to Skagway.

Anyway, I really just wanted to check in before I have dinner and finish consolidating.  Until next time!

T minus 8

Alright, eight days until I leave for Alaska.  Not freaking out.  Breathe.

I only have eighteen hours left of work for ASM and I'm excited for those eighteen hours to be over with, but I'm also excited I get to do those eighteen hours.  It's a fairly complicated event, which are always some of my favorites to do.

I have been practicing drinks over the past three days; now to practice games over Monday through Wednesday in addition to packing.  Oh what fun this will be!

T minus 12

Just a dozen days left until my official start date, and only two days before the show opens to the public.  Yes, I have ten extra days to get everything that I need to do done, and, judging by the fact that I freak out a little every time I look at my counter, that's a good thing.  Of course, it still seems forever away.  I still have three days off and four days of work and I'm spending four days packing, so I'm right on schedule with everything that I need to be doing.

These past few days have been days of buying supplies that I will need in Alaska.  Thankfully, I have a lot of it already, but I haven't bought a new pair of hiking boots since freshman year of college, and I haven't had a real need for a waterproof jacket.  I'm buying those, plus a few toiletries and specialty laundry supplies that may not be available in Alaska.

I have picked up bike riding again as if it were last month when I stopped; I am still struggling with tight turns.  I plan to hit the open road tomorrow to see how I do with the added distractions of vehicles and pedestrians.

I am learning to make a couple of different types of drinks and learning a card game for the Alaska project, so hit me up if you will be in Salt Lake on Wednesday!

T minus 17

Okay, so I rode a bike for the first time since high school today; it only cost me $7, and I can definitively say riding a bike is a skill not soon forgotten.  There is a bit of a story behind this, so I'll start at the beginning.

My meeting yesterday went well for the most part.  We went through company policy and what not (did you know that there are two grocery stores in Skagway and the barge that brings the groceries comes late Monday, so the grocery stores are out of almost everything on Sundays and Mondays?), and read through the script a couple times.  Everything was dandy until we got to the tour part.

I can literally only remember the first few words of what I assume was a rather long speech; I think I blacked out from shock after "Andrew drives the bus..."

A bit of background: I do not drive.  There are viable medical reasons behind why I do not drive.  That is not to say that I do not want to be able to drive.  It would make many thing more practical for me, especially in the business I am trying to break into.

Back to the moment after I blacked out.  I politely waited for a sentence break before I interjected.  "I was not informed I would need to drive and I cannot drive."  Rosemary asked me if I could get a license.  I told her that I could, but that due to my medical history it would be much harder for me to get a license.  I was afraid that she would fire me on the spot, but she just said, "We can work around that."  In retrospect, that's probably one of those reasonable accommodations that they talk about in contracts.

I am now riding a bike to the dock and back instead of driving, and I am much less intimidated by that prospect today than I was yesterday.  You see, Salt Lake City has a bike share program, so I was able to go out today and try out a bike.  After a shaky start in a parking lot, I moved to the sidewalk to practice not running in to people.  It worked super well and I didn't fall or run in to anything once!

Other than that; I have to practice alcohol recipe's and card games.  Oh darn... guess I'll have to have a drinking party soon.

T minus 19

Today is the day where I start getting really anxious.  I have my first production meeting tomorrow, two weeks of ASM left, stuff to finish up here, and a packing list that just keeps growing.  In addition, I am thinking about what happens when I get back to SLC; it's way too early to be thinking about being unemployed, right?  All of that, plus the fact that there are still unknowns about living in Alaska for five months, and your head is likely to explode.  I've had constant headaches for a couple weeks now, but what are a few headaches in the entertainment industry?

I am 80% memorized at this point, and that is better than good enough for read through number one.  Pending any special requests in tomorrow's meeting, my next hurdle is consolidating in Logan and bringing any necessary materials from there as well.  My Dad already offered to get me to the airport; so; thankfully, I don't have to worry about that.

T minus 24 days

As I get back into acting after a year long hiatus from doing legit shows, I was reminded today of a sobering fact: learning lines on your own sucks!  Seriously.  It's better than doing anything else that doesn't involve theatre; even better than the ticket office at a theatre, but still...  The good thing about having that year where I did the boring, repetitive jobs is that I learned a valuable lesson: pace yourself or you will get burned out.

Pacing myself in college never worked out.  I would be doing a class for an hour a day, memorizing and doing homework for three hours a day, and usually doing a show for an average of three hours a day.  That's seven hours of theatre a day and, while doing the physical act of theatre is something I could do for twelve hours straight, the mental toll of all of that work would make me not want to do the things that I could put off; like memorizing.  The problem with that system is that cramming for a rehearsal or a show or an audition never works.

Here's what I've learned about memorization; I can only memorize during the first hour or so of memorization; and usually not the length of the "Henry V" prologue, but more of the length of the "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow..." speech in "Macbeth".  I also have to learn naturalistically, meaning that I can't just learn the words; I have to learn the ideas and the thought process behind them.  This "hour a day" method means that I am excited to memorize the next day and not looking forward to having a day off memorization.

But I didn't just write this just to share some mildly useful knowledge, I also have news from New York!

Rosemary Libert and Karl Klupar (yes, they live in NY), the two owners of the Historic Skagway Inn, have decided on a date for our first production meeting!  How am I getting to NY?  Some of the other cast members and I will be joining them via the magic of Skype.  We'll be going over the entire show, and I will tell you all about it here once the meeting is over.  Just kidding!  You'll have to buy a ticket to learn all about the show.  Princess Cruises has some awesome deals going on right now starting from $699.

T minus 27 days

It's T minus 27 days until what I am going to refer to as "The Alaska Project".

I received my work schedule for my final week of work at ASM today.  It's a good reminder that we're coming up on this project very quickly.  I am already stressing about what to pack and figuring out what I can afford to leave behind for five months.  I don't think I'll actually realize how tough this is going to be until I have that first layover in Seattle.

I have my first production meeting this or next week via Skype.  We are going over all of the information necessary to work in Skagway as well as doing our first read-through of the script, which I will receive later this week.

What a change from handing out food samples!

T minus One Month

It's T minus one month until I head off to Alaska for five months.  What spurred this blog post?  I received my ticketing information today!  That's right; this is now too real to scoff at.

I head out of Salt Lake City when most people are having their morning coffee and arrive in Juneau seven hours later; with a bit of a layover in Seattle somewhere in there.  From Juneau, I fly in a small plane to Skagway; where my work begins at 9am the next morning.

There is a link to the Princess Cruises company on the right where you can book cruises to Alaska from $699 and many shore excursions; including Legends and Lies in Skagway.

Until next time!

April Update

Hello peoples!

I have added a countdown to my blog that gives the exact time left to my starting work in Alaska.  I am super excited to be working as a production coordinator for five months on Legends and Lies at the Historic Skagway Inn.  I figured I'd get started by telling you that Legends and Lies is an exclusive excursion sold onboard cruise ships that dock in Skagway.  That is all I know up to this point.

Getting ready for the move:

I have started compiling a list of things that I will need to take to Alaska, as well as figuring out what I can get there.  I'll be staying there for five months, so my regular compact system of a backpack and a carry-on suitcase will not cut it.

Other than that, I don't have much to tell you.  I bought "The Force Awakens".  It's still amazing and I love it.  I am super stoked for "Rogue One".  That is all.

Exciting News

I can now announce that I have officially been offered and accepted a position at the Historic Skagway Inn, LLC as a Production Coordinator/Inn Front Desk Service for Legends & Lies: A Gold Rush Saloon Experience (there's the tie-in).  I leave for Alaska in May and return to Salt Lake City in September.

In other news; I have a splitting headache.  Thank the stars I don't work today. 

March Update

I am now working in Sal Tlay Kasiti (like that tie-in?) part-time as I pursue acting.  I've been able to work at a couple different stores and meet some new people.  I also get to ride trains a lot.  It's rather fun.

I was able to audit an acting class last week.  It seems like a good fit, but I'll have to see more of what they are able to do before I actually pay for it.

I just had a really exciting conversation with a casting director this morning.  I don't want to say too much, but the price of gold could be set to skyrocket!

Sal Tlay Kasiti!

You'll figure the title out eventually.

This month was a huge month for me, as I finally made the move to Salt Lake to pursue a film acting career (theatre just doesn't pay enough, though it is my first love).

The auditions didn't pan out as hoped; neither did the callback, so we're back to square one on this whole acting thing.  I have decided to pursue a film career in lieu of really great opportunities in theatre (not to say I won't do theatre, I just have decided to put that on the back burner).

I passed the drug test for ASM; not surprising since I'm not on drugs, and have my first training today.  It was supposed to be last week, but due to a mixup it was not (I actually had some last minute medical stuff for which I had to cancel RMSSTA, so it wasn't a total loss).

I am shopping around for Agents in Salt Lake.  I had an interview at Urban Talent Management yesterday.  I do not recommend them if you are a professional actor with little to no film or commercial credits or if you are an amateur actor.

I am interviewing for Broadway Talent Management on Tuesday.  They seem more friendly to actors making the transition from theatre to film.  We'll see what they're like on Tuesday.

I signed into the Utah Film Commission database as an extra.  While it isn't guaranteed work by any means, it never hurts to put one's name out there.

I created a seventeen step personalized roadmap to my own idea of success after taking class #1 of Amy Jo Berman's "Discover Me Blueprint" program that is really helping focus me and my choices.  I highly recommend it to actors that have not been acting professionally for too long.  I am currently on step 2 of my personalized roadmap (get an agent in SLC).

Until next time!

February News

Exciting news this month!  

If all goes as planned and there are no false readouts from the drug test, I am going to be working part-time at Advantage Solutions in Salt Lake City next week; making my goal of establishing permanent residence in Salt Lake that much closer.

As for acting news, I had four auditions for both theatre and film last week and one callback for the film.  I am also going to the Rocky Mountain Summer Stock Theatre Auditions again this year on February 20.  There are nine companies signed up to attend so far; including Lagoon Entertainment, for whom I had a callback last year.

I also interviewed at Harmon's last week; we'll see how that goes, I'm not terribly hopeful.

I'll keep you updated on what all's happening with Salt Lake in the coming weeks, and I'll also let you know about RMSSTA.

Happy 2016! - part 2

Now that things are starting to get back to normal, I figured I would update you on a few things.

1. I signed up for a website that will pay me to lifestream myself doing current events type things.  It pays next to nothing, 50 cents per hour I think, but it's a good way to earn little tiny bits of change.
2. I scheduled an audition for the film 1 vs. 100 for January 16.  Here is the casting notice: Casting "1 vs. 100," a feature film. Synopsis: After Malia's father mysteriously dies, she must confront her past and learn to live with the decisions that lead to her becoming a stripper.  I've read the script and it has quite a few interesting themes to explore.

That's all for now!

Happy 2016!

Happy 2016!  As I do not have any theatrical news to report, I'm going to talk about a major environmental disaster that you've never heard of.

Way back in late October 2015, a pipe carrying methane gas burst in Aliso Canyon just outside of Los Angeles, California.

Methane is over 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide and it is spilling out of the canyon at about 62 million cubic feet per day; the same as the total carbon dioxide output of 7 million cars.

This environmental disaster is ongoing and is being completely ignored by the media.  I am doing what I can to raise awareness about this and I ask you all to do the same.  Please go to the Environmental Defense Fund's website to learn more and spread the word locally and on social media.