What Brave New World
Posted on | March 5, 2009 | 3 Comments
My blog-hibernation for the last month belies a flurry of activity, as well as alternating currents of euphoria and terror which, if nothing else, are equally exhilarating. I am 87 days away from departing full-time, salary-paying, benefits-bestowing employment for … something else, and I’ve been figuring out how one makes that transition without, well, dying in a gutter. Much of it has been a process of pushing harder on fronts that until now had only been things I pursued when I had the time, in an effort to see if some amount of income might be on the horizon. In other cases, I’m taking the opportunity to take a big bite out of projects I relegated to the “if I had all the time in the world” bin, because I figure if I’m doing something crazy, why not do several crazy things?
What follows is a recap of what’s happened so far, and a preview of what’s coming soon.
Touch closed February 14th, to full houses. On top of all the things I’ve said here and elsewhere about the fantastic process and product produced by the New Leaf crew and the just stellar group that I got to work with, I’m reasonably sure that the show was a watershed for me. I am, of course, grateful for the loads of support and the nice things said about my performance, as any young actor looking to advance his career would be. But more importantly, I got the opportunity to take on a central, dramatic role and did not fall on my face. For now, at least, it’s taken some of the edge off the unrelenting desire to prove myself – if to no one except myself. I’ve found that in the midst of a rather chaotic period, it’s surprisingly comforting.
A day after Touch closed I came down with the bubonic flu that seems to be going around, and was laid out in a way that I don’t really have any comparison for: it left me unable to do any work at all for a week, and even several weeks later, I’m still feeling the lingering effects.
Thanks to Nick “The All-Giver” Keenan, I’ve been working with Sandy Marshall on some freelance projects – most notably, crafting seminars to teach the less tech-savvy the benefits and the basics of social networking, along with some strategies for how to augment offline work with online tools. It’s a new world for me, but one I’m finding I’m fairly well-suited to. And, as any teacher will tell you, figuring out how to explain things to others clarifies them for you, so I’m discovering tips and tricks for myself, as well.
The long New Headshot Saga has finally wrapped up: I finally bit the bullet and shelled out the big bucks for a session with Janna Giacoppo. You’ve probably heard this name before – many, many actors in town have used her – and with good reason. Janna and her team were incredibly helpful and the whole shoot was incredibly laid back – which got me some great results. These will probably show up somewhere on this site at some point, but check out her site, and seriously consider her if you need new shots and have the money to spend. It’s well worth it.
The New Headshot Saga was sped to its conclusion as a necessary plot development for the longer, sisyphian Agent Saga. I’ve been fairly criminally negligent in pursuing commercial work or representation in the past – the all-consuming nature of my day-job has been a limiting factor – so I know that these things take time, are often a case of luck or happenstance, and that impatience or a sense of entitlement lead to nothing but ulcers. I’ve gotten a lot of great advice from folks further down the road than I, and I have a good plan for “getting myself out there” as they say, and I’m content that all avenues that can be explored are being explored. That being said, if you know of any opportunities, I’m interested in hearing more – drop me a line at dan [at] chicagotheaterdb [dot] com.
Speaking of the Chicago Theater Database, as Nick has noted, we recently added a slew of new beta-testers to the site, which has revealed a number of much-needed user-interface improvements. Unfortunately, Nick’s consumed with the Goodman’s O’Neill Festival, and my programming skills still aren’t quite up to the task. The hope is that in the next few months we’ll be able to make some big improvements, leading up to the grand door-opening in the spring or summer. Stay tuned.
The whetting stone upon which I’m sharpening my site development and design skills is a ground-up rebuilding of the online home of my boys behind the cameras, Very Clever Productions. There’s no official timeline for that project, but sooner is better for all concerned, so I’ll point you to anything interesting that might come up along the way.
Lastly, the biggest development of the last several months will have some big impacts on this space. I’m knee-deep in the development of a new site dedicated to writing about the people and the art of Chicago theatre. The biggest difficulty I’ve had in writing I, Homunculus has been trying to serve two masters: writing about my personal experience as my career develops, and the yen to do something bigger, to rectify the fact that – in my opinion – you can’t get more than a partial view of Chicago’s theatre scene from the writing generally-available. A big part of the problem is, of course, the fact that theatre coverage is lately the ne’er-do-well nephew of commercial media outlets: a nice-to-have-but-certainly-not-crucial luxury to be indulged sparingly, and only when it can be afforded. My thought is to create a place for writing about Chicago theatre that’s produced in the same way most Chicago theatre gets produced – as a labor of passionate artists that asks no more than what it takes to sustain the mission. My plan is to launch on March 27th as part of the World Theatre Day celebrations. I’ll post a larger and more detailed announcement soon, but there’s good stuff in the works. Watch this space.
This means the ol’ Homunculus will probably undergo some changes as well – but just what that looks like, I’m not sure.
That’s all for now – it’s good to be back!
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3 Responses to “What Brave New World”
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March 6th, 2009 @ 9:27 am
Good to see you back! I happened on your blog by chance one day, and always enjoy reading the experiences and epiphanies of a fellow Chicago actor. Thanks for sharing, and all the best on your journey!
March 9th, 2009 @ 2:52 am
What was the total cost of the shoot? I know she asks for a $200 deposit, but what figure are we looking at here?
March 11th, 2009 @ 10:40 am
Trevor -
Shoot me an email at dan [at] chicagotheaterdb [dot] com and I can tell you about the process.
Thanks!