Okay Steemy friends,
When I joined Steem I had a sprained ankle, wasn't sure what was coming next and now I feel like I always have something exciting to share on here. That isn't always the case of being an actor, but I'm going to enjoy that feeling right now.
I'm so excited to let you all know I'll be headed back to The Stratford Theatre Festival next season where I'll be playing Abigail Williams in The Crucible and I'm also in The Never Ending Story.
https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/WhatsOn/PlaysAndEvents/Production/The-Crucible
The Crucible is one of my favourite plays and is based on The Salem Witch Trials and Abigail is a dream role!!! I remember feeling really great about my audition, but I also knew that so many talented women went out for the role. My rule of thumb is you have to audition and forget about it...buttttt this one was lingering because it just felt SO GOOD in the room. The Director and I really got along, I felt like from all of my improv I had a fearlessness about my approach to the work and the lead actor was reading with me in the room and it felt great.
But...weeks went by. No one knew who booked it. I had to make myself forget about it.
I got accepted into The Second City Conservatory and was so excited and really had forgotten about the audition. THEN... I see an email from my agent that says in the subject line "You have a Stratford Offer"
I leapt up, I was home alone and I scrambled to call her. She started to read the offer and first told me about Never Ending Story and my heart sank. Not because I'm not excited about the show..but in that moment I assumed if she didn't lead with "You booked Abigail" I hadn't booked it. She was talking but I was only half listening and thinking okay it's not the offer I want...I'm not sure if I'd want to uproot my life to go back to Stratford if it wasn't for that role and blah blah blahhhh the chatter was happening.
Then, I tuned back in as she said and "Abigail Williams in the Crucible"
I BURST OUT BAWLING! Like ugly crying and she was shocked. I stay pretty composed about work stuff because it's so easy to have your emotions run away on you when it comes to auditioning. She hadn't heard me that emotional before. Through my tears I had to double check she said Abigail Williams...and then I had to double check that it was in fact the part I wanted/auditioned for, and then I had to call her again after we hung up and make sure she said I was playing it not understudying it.
There are a lot of times you don't get what you want as an actor...well let's be real, as a human. So in this moment receiving something I worked really hard for felt amazing. Even writing out the story here I am getting goosebumps again.
I start my contract end of February 2019 first working on Never Ending Story and then when it opens I start rehearsing for The Crucible. Once I was able to calm down a bit about The Crucible I was able to actually look at my Never Ending Story offer and get so pumped up for that piece. It will be a magical, puppet filled, physical, ensemble based type of show in contrast to the Drama of The Crucible. Truly a dream season for me.
What's nice about knowing I have work lined up in the new year is that it takes some pressure off and I can truly enjoy the work that I'm doing now and making my film (get ready for the next month of wild updates because this is when it starts to really get lit up and I will need all the help I can get)
In sharing this story it's nice to remember that you never know what email in your inbox, person, phone call or project that could have a huge impact on you. But you can't just wait for that to happen, you have to stay active and work hard so when an opportunity comes... you're ready!
xo
K