When I had my costume fitting for Lead Bumblebee in my second-grade production of Anansi the Spider, I had found my calling to perform! But it took until the first Broadway show I ever saw, Jason Robert Brown’s Parade, to know I had to be a part of that brother/sisterhood.
I worked my way through various reputable regional theaters (including the Walnut Street Theatre and the George Street Playhouse) as a TYA artist by day and an understudy/bartender/usher/teaching artist by night and on weekends. I earned my points, networked and watched, listened, learned from all I could — right up until the invited audition one of my networked directors arranged for me.
It was my first time auditioning for a show that could get me my card! I wasn’t asked to stay for the final round of callbacks, and I received no feedback when I wound up riding the train home with the director. After thinking ‘#awkward,’ I figured, ‘Ya done good for your first time out, kiddo! You’ll get ’em next time!’
Originally published in Equity News, Autumn 2016.
