Showing Off, Pt. 1

So today, I decided to show off a bit and post something of myself. This is me performing "Who I'd be" from Shrek the Musical, at Don't Tell Mama's, here in New York.  This was the first song I did from the showcase that I talked about in my "Pitter of Patter" posts, back in October.  I've got a couple of other videos that I may post here that you can find on You Tube and on my website www.MarcusConerly.com. Let me know what you think.

The Yearly End of Layering!

Ok so, I've spent almost three years living in New York City and I still haven't gotten used to the cold weather.  I'm a Florida boy, you see.  Born and raised where t-shirts, shorts and flippies (TSF) are the norm.  I'm used to having a Christmas day with a high of 72 and rain clouds hovering.  A cold front, for us, means getting down to 50 for two days.

The Real World

     So I've been wondering, would it really be a horrible thing to quit my job?  I've been working at the same place for over two and a half years and have grown so frustrated that going into work just ruins the whole day.  I seriously just want to cry or hit someone it makes me so unhappy.  A lot of it has to do with the fact the place has become very actor UNfriendly in the past year.  I feel like I'm constantly having schedule requests denied and trying do last minute changes to keep them happy.  But I think, after over a year of complaining about it, I've finally had my fill.  I'm done with having to apologize for wanting to advance my career.  This job was NEVER intended to be my final stop.  It was simply my way to pay my bills while I've worked on being an actor.  

     I'm lucky in that, I've been able to save quite a bit over the past year.  So when my time there is done, I'll be all right for a few months.  The main goal, of course, would be to get cast in something that gives me a reason to quit.  I think most of my hesitation comes from the fact that I have nothing to fall back on and would be unemployed for the first time since living here in New York.

     I'm curious what any readers would think, if anyone has an opinion.  Oh well, I'm just randomly venting.  I'll figure it out soon enough.  Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll be figured out for me.  I really hate having to make decisions like these.  Someone else do it!

     Until next time...

Extra! Extra!

     So on a whim last week, I decided to submit myself for background work on the new HBO/Martin Scorsese series, Boardwalk Empire.  I thought that there would be no way that I would be chosen because the submissions were supposed to have been in by the day before I saw the listing but, I thought, "Why not?  They won't call but, what can it hurt"?  Lo and behold.... they called me that afternoon!  By the next day, I was getting a haircut and at a wardrobe fitting.

Audition season opens... let the games begin!

Well it's a new year and in the world of the average stage actor, it means the mad rush for auditions has begun.  This is the time of year when most theater companies are auditioning for their spring and summer productions.  It's also the time when most actors in New York get very comfortable at places like the Equity building and Ripley-Grier.  Some will do everything they can to get to, sometimes FIVE auditions in one day.  No, that was not a typo.  I've known one friend who actually did EIGHT in one day.  I, myself, am not one of those people.  I can do maybe two a day but, that's the limit.  These things can be stressful enough.  Why would I want to add running through streets into the mix?

The Pitter of Patter, pt. 4

    Ok so, I've finally gotten my showcase put together.  Well, I've got the songs chosen and the basic outline for my patter decided.  Now, comes the part of putting it all together and making it flow into a nice little mini-cabaret that will, hopefully, get me noticed by someone who'll want to use me for ANYTHING!

     Anyway if nothing else, I'm hoping to at least get a recording of it so that I can post it and show people that I don't just talk about performing and can actually do it.

     So, the showcase itself will have a little of this,

some of this,

and just a smidge of these thrown in for good measure:

    Somehow I'll tie it all together and, hopefully, it'll make for a nice little showcase.  We shall see.

    Until then....

----MC

  

Brighton Beach Memoirs

   So last night, I had another lucky opportunity to see a show that I didn't think I would have the chance to see.  It turns out that a friend had a pair of comps that she wasn't going to be able to use and so, with a little begging to get the night off at my job, I got to see Brighton Beach Memoirs.  I have to say, it was worth the begging!