"Behind the Curtain" is back! Again, I know that this kind of post isn't for everyone, so my apologies if you were hoping for something else this week. We will return to your regularly scheduled programming next Wednesday! But in the meantime, here's what's been going on in ✨The Wonderful World of Heidi-Liz Johnson✨.
On the previous "Behind the Curtain", I was announcing my first NYC booking: I've officially made both my NY and my Off-Broadway debut (look, Ma, I'm doing it!)! I made my debuts in Literally Alive Family Theatre's production of Alice in Wonderland the Musical at The Players Theatre.
Jumping into the rehearsal process was like coming home. I had sorely missed being in a show. You know how it is -- auditioning frequently is great, but it does not give you the same satisfaction as being in a show and molding a single character (or in this case, two characters). Alice was an exceedingly joyful process, and both the cast and creative teams are absolute joys to work with: I feel very blessed that this has been my introductory experience. We opened our little show just about a month ago, and it's very strange to think that we're already more than halfway through our run. But it has been a wonderful production (pun intended), I hope I get the chance to work with these talented individuals again.
I must say, auditioning while working on a show is a difficult balancing act! Last time, we talked about how I tried to attend an audition a week but sometimes would attend three to four? Yeah, I'm LUCKY if I find time to sneak an audition into my week, let alone multiple. Regularly auditioning really can feel like a full-time job, so when you're juggling seemingly fifty things from day job to mental health to sleep schedule and you find time to attend an audition, DO IT.
Because the end of Alice is fast approaching, I've been spending a lot of my free time worrying about what comes next. Actors, back me up here: you know the fear the phrase, "What's next for you?" can instill! While I haven't been attending as many live ECCs and EPAs since Alice began, I have turned to submitting a lot more non-eq online projects -- non-eq so that I have a better chance at being considered, online so that if I'm invited to a live callback, I can make an appointment that fits into my ever-changing schedule. Sometimes that makes for fewer "exciting days" doing the actor thing because I'm not physically in the room nor amongst my peers, but I've enjoyed the hiatus from the big auditions -- it's allowed me to focus on some really fun and interesting auditions.
I subtitled this post "The Ball is Rolling" because that's the phrase that I'm using the most often when talking about my acting career recently. Being cast in Alice and officially having a NYC / Off-Broadway credit on my resume was my start: it got the ball rolling. I told myself that once the ball was rolling, it would gain momentum and traction, and slowly but steadily, I'm seeing the momentum. I was texting my mom and sister this afternoon, and we were celebrating the fact that four emails landed in my inbox today, all in regards to potential, prospective, or upcoming projects. And I am feeling so humbled by all of it.
I'm off to work on those emails (this week quite suddenly became very busy for me!), so wish your girl all the broken legs, and I'll see you back here next week, maybe with new projects on the horizon!
Thanks for reading, #DreamTeamHLJ, and be patient: you're gaining momentum.
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