My first theatre audition since finishing classes! Super excited, but also incredibly nervous. The audition is tomorrow for Steel Pier, for the Kristen Chenoweth role. So I am spending the rest of today trying not to over think things, while also singing as high as I possibly can. Its a fun combination let me tell you.
The audition breakdown for the role: On the surface seems innocent.
Wide-eyed. Fresh. She is, however, driven, steely. Determined to get her
shot so that she never has to return home. Soprano with a lovely high C
and an E above that, if possible.
Crossing my fingers.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
New Projects
As I start back into the professional world after taking a year away I am faced with several hurdles to get over. Most of them are the usual ones- trying to break in to the cliquey world of theatre, trying to compete with the millions of other actors out there just like me, trying to keep at the top of my game while I am not working etc. But there is one hurdle that is unique to my situation this year. That hurdle is the visa. I would very much like to stay in the UK, but at the moment I am here on my student visa which runs out in December.
I have found a possible solution though! It is going to take a lot of work, but I think it may all turn out OK. A new type of post study visa has been introduced this year (after they took away the wonderful post study options that used to be in place, grumblegrumble) and that is the graduate entrepreneur visa. Each school is allotted sponsorship slots, Central has 10, to give to students trying to set up businesses in the UK. The visas are good for a year, with the possibility of extending them further depending on the years progress.
Now there are several reasons why I am excited by this possibility. First of all there are a limited number of people vying for these 10 slots. The only people who can apply are non-EU, Central students, graduating this year. There aren't too many of those to begin with, and not all of them are planning on staying in the UK or trying to set up a business. Secondly I have now come up with a great idea that I think I can make work. It is still in the works at the moment though, I have a lot of work to do before the proposals are due in October.
I will tell you guys more once I have nailed things down a bit, but in the meantime I need your help. I need to brainstorm a list of musicals. Here are the criteria, the show must be: New (within the last 10 years), small scale (nothing with a huge chorus or with a big name like Disney behind it), and American. I am looking for fun quirky things, like [title of show] and Spelling Bee. Things like that.
Alright? ........Go
I have found a possible solution though! It is going to take a lot of work, but I think it may all turn out OK. A new type of post study visa has been introduced this year (after they took away the wonderful post study options that used to be in place, grumblegrumble) and that is the graduate entrepreneur visa. Each school is allotted sponsorship slots, Central has 10, to give to students trying to set up businesses in the UK. The visas are good for a year, with the possibility of extending them further depending on the years progress.
Now there are several reasons why I am excited by this possibility. First of all there are a limited number of people vying for these 10 slots. The only people who can apply are non-EU, Central students, graduating this year. There aren't too many of those to begin with, and not all of them are planning on staying in the UK or trying to set up a business. Secondly I have now come up with a great idea that I think I can make work. It is still in the works at the moment though, I have a lot of work to do before the proposals are due in October.
I will tell you guys more once I have nailed things down a bit, but in the meantime I need your help. I need to brainstorm a list of musicals. Here are the criteria, the show must be: New (within the last 10 years), small scale (nothing with a huge chorus or with a big name like Disney behind it), and American. I am looking for fun quirky things, like [title of show] and Spelling Bee. Things like that.
Alright? ........Go
Monday, September 10, 2012
Back to Work Again
Well, it is done. I am officially no longer a student, again. The thesis has been completed, bound and handed in. On time. I am pretty proud of it to be honest. I have never written a paper of that magnitude. And I think it turned out, to use my dad's phrase, 'absolutely not bad'. I am certainly glad to be done with it. Its a little bit weird to be done with the course. I mean, it has completely consumed my life for over a year now, and now its done. My student card has expired, I cant even get in to the building any more. I am very sad to have lost my student discount, let me tell you. London is expensive! And of course now I have to head back out into the real world.
The end of courses is only the first of the big changes that have happened in the last couple of weeks. Right after turning in the dissertation I moved out of my beautiful apartment, and into a house with my friends. Ultimately the move is a good thing, the house is gorgeous and I love the people that I am living with, but it happened at a not so convenient time. After spending the summer slaving over my dissertation the last thing that I really wanted to do was move. I would have much rather collapsed into a puddle and slept for the next month. However I did not have that luxury. In the end though we got everything done. Cleaned the old apartment from top to bottom, hauled my stuff all the way across town, and got myself situated in the new house. The new place has been great, there are five of us living in this beautiful and huge house in South London. It is quite a trek to get into central London, but not insurmountable. And that wont really be an issue until I land my big west end roles and have to be at rehearsal every day, and in that case I think I can manage.
Things on the job front are going slowly. Meeting with my agent on Friday to see what is going on. In the mean time I have found a part time job waiting tables (which I think means that I am officially an actor now). I am also starting to look into voice over agents. Hopefully that will lead to some work in the mean time.
The other big project on the horizon (as if trying to support myself as an actor starting out in London wasn't enough) is figuring out my visa situation. At the moment I am here on a student visa, which will run out at the end of December. I have a few options that I am looking in to, different types of visas that I can apply for. My agent has some sponsorship slots so hopefully he can keep me here. But the other option is a new option that has been introduced this year. In previous years students could extend their stay through a post study visa for up to two extra years after their degree. Unfortunately they have just gotten rid of that (just my luck). They have replaced it with the post study entrepreneur visa. Basically I have to submit a business plan to the school. They will then pick 10 students from all of the plans submitted to endorse for the visa. So at the moment I am trying to figure out how to write a business plan to present myself as a freelance artist. The upside of this is that I am only competing with other non-EU students graduating from Central this year, which is most likely a smaller pool of applicants than the other visas. So hopefully my odds are good. We shall see.
Now it is back to the grindstone. Off to write this business plan. What I could really use though is a few days of vacation.... Maybe at Christmas!
The end of courses is only the first of the big changes that have happened in the last couple of weeks. Right after turning in the dissertation I moved out of my beautiful apartment, and into a house with my friends. Ultimately the move is a good thing, the house is gorgeous and I love the people that I am living with, but it happened at a not so convenient time. After spending the summer slaving over my dissertation the last thing that I really wanted to do was move. I would have much rather collapsed into a puddle and slept for the next month. However I did not have that luxury. In the end though we got everything done. Cleaned the old apartment from top to bottom, hauled my stuff all the way across town, and got myself situated in the new house. The new place has been great, there are five of us living in this beautiful and huge house in South London. It is quite a trek to get into central London, but not insurmountable. And that wont really be an issue until I land my big west end roles and have to be at rehearsal every day, and in that case I think I can manage.
Things on the job front are going slowly. Meeting with my agent on Friday to see what is going on. In the mean time I have found a part time job waiting tables (which I think means that I am officially an actor now). I am also starting to look into voice over agents. Hopefully that will lead to some work in the mean time.
The other big project on the horizon (as if trying to support myself as an actor starting out in London wasn't enough) is figuring out my visa situation. At the moment I am here on a student visa, which will run out at the end of December. I have a few options that I am looking in to, different types of visas that I can apply for. My agent has some sponsorship slots so hopefully he can keep me here. But the other option is a new option that has been introduced this year. In previous years students could extend their stay through a post study visa for up to two extra years after their degree. Unfortunately they have just gotten rid of that (just my luck). They have replaced it with the post study entrepreneur visa. Basically I have to submit a business plan to the school. They will then pick 10 students from all of the plans submitted to endorse for the visa. So at the moment I am trying to figure out how to write a business plan to present myself as a freelance artist. The upside of this is that I am only competing with other non-EU students graduating from Central this year, which is most likely a smaller pool of applicants than the other visas. So hopefully my odds are good. We shall see.
Now it is back to the grindstone. Off to write this business plan. What I could really use though is a few days of vacation.... Maybe at Christmas!
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