Just keep showing up. That’s the advice I’d get over & over from teachers & colleagues when I started to pursue an acting career after college. And so I did. Then, several years into it, I moved to Boston to attend grad school at ART, and couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to get in the room to show my stuff. There were occasional notices in the Phoenix back then, for off-the-map projects, and then later the Equity hotline, but that was it. No Backstage, no Central Casting, no open calls, no agents; it was all a mystery to me. I really wanted to audition for the couple running the Lyric Stage at the time, but it seemed like they just hired people that they already knew, and I couldn’t even get an appointment. Sound familiar? I happened upon a copy of the Source while producing a showcase with a friend, and realized I knew absolutely nothing about the wealth of resources that were available to me. After familiarizing myself with the contents of that guidebook, I attended my first StageSource auditions. I did my first audition solo, then the following year, presented a scene. Some people kept my headshot. I got a few phone calls, sure, but more importantly, it gave me a sense of belonging & of purpose. A place to go & be seen. After months of floating around in a random haze of professional opportunity, a reliable system had been revealed to me. A home base for advice & support. We are incredibly lucky to have such a wellspring for our endeavors. Be ready for anything. And just keep showing up.
Sarah Newhouse, Actor and StageSource Board Member
MCC
It’s the same advice I give my students! Keep showing up. “But they’ve already seen me!” Not for this role, they haven’t. Not with this monologue, they haven’t. Not today, they haven’t. Keep showing up. Thanks for the post, reminder, Sarah!