Decision 2011: L.A. or New York

   Settling in. So, Eric and I have spent a lot of time mulling over the possibility of staying in LA for a while, when the tour ends. It seems that Eric has some excitement about his availability for working with his agents out here. We did the old fashioned pros and cons list. Then we looked to our gut. In this business, there is no guarantee of work wherever you are, so we just are trying to make the best decision based on projections. My agent in NYC had just began calling me about auditions, since the baby, and with knowing we were to be returning to NYC in a few weeks. Her excitement felt good to me and like a fresh start would be waiting. My first call was to come in for Bring It On. The popular movie, turned musical was beginning a tour that was to begin in LA for a long sit down and then headed out on the road. This led us to the realization that our criteria for touring was now extremely different than ever before. The money had to be good enough that it was worth it to bring Soph. The thought of a lifestyle that had us not seeing each other that much was why we toured together with Shrek. Secondly, Eric needed to really work off of the steam that he had from doing Shrek in L.A.. As most mommies find out and cannot predict, going back to work has different stipulations than you can imagine. You have to factor in the cost of childcare, the emotional cost of being away, and how much you will actually be bringing home. I called my agent and told her what I had recently discovered about myself...I was no longer interested in touring. Touring is what makes up half of our viable jobs in the theatre world, but now was just not the time. Soon after, Eric was met with the same question concerning Les Mis and came to the same difficult conclusion. If we hadn't just come off of over a year if touring, we would all feel differently about it.

   One of the main factors for our decision was the thought that the springboard of Shrek would only happen once in LA. Eric had always wanted to try LA and it seemed as if all signs pointed to now being the perfect time. Eric was set up with meetings with casting executives from almost every major network, as a result of playing Shrek and playing it well. His agency was bi-coastal, so he already had a team of guys in place working to get his career off the ground here.

   I felt a bit sad myself. Just as I had finished the commitment to tour for a year with a newborn and was ready to make a comeback after losing my baby weight and spending the first year as the primary care-taker. It looked as if we I was going to have to rethink my plan. My agent was only in NYC so I was left with no representation on the West Coast. The difference is in NYC, there are auditions you can go to without an agent and here in L.A. you can't get into an audition without representation. It seemed as if my career was starting back at square one. Theatrical credits don't mean as much in Los Angeles.

   I did decide that if this is what Eric wanted and if his dream to be a series regular on a sit-com was to ever happen, we needed to be here. So, I retained my realistic outlook on what my situation was, but decided to look to what I needed to do to get things rolling for me.  I took registered for some imrov classes and reached out to the few actors I knew to get representation. My friend Jane, from Mamma Mia recommended me to her agent and we began a series if meetings. I was told by a huge agency that they only work with celebrities and another big agency that they work only with people with reels. We'll, the LA experience just wouldn't be complete without a touch of rejection. Here we go!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad