Every Little Step

Hey hey!

I just watched the documentary "Every Little Step" with my best friend Chris. We were going to go to "Alice in Wonderland in 3D" but it was raining and cold so it didn't take much to convince us to rent something and make cookies.

Anyway, I highly recommend that anyone who has ambitions to be a musical theatre performer watch this film. It was very eye-opening. HUGE reality check. The performers auditioning for "A Chorus Line" on Broadway were so amazingly talented and still getting turned away. That's what was really disturbing. I know I personally have a lot of work to do to be as good as the least talented person in this film - and that sucks! A lot of the hopeful auditioners had the same thing to say, "I was born to do this!" or "I've dreamed of being on Broadway since I was a little kid." Not only that, but their parents wanted them to be on Broadway too and enrolled them in dance classes when they were four!

Now, I started taking dance when I was twelve and then quit and then got back into it last year. Needless to say, I kinda suck (well, I'm better off than some people I've worked with, which still isn't encouraging.) Just to think that I might be auditioning with people who have been dancing as long as I've been alive, is some seriously scary shit!

Toronto isn't quite Broadway. I understand that. But if you have seen some Toronto musicals (real ones, not American national tours that Mirvish brings in so they don't have to employ Canadian talent), you tend to see the same few faces again and again. This is because in Toronto it isn't about who you know, its about who knows your work. If you haven't had any work, no one knows you and you never work! Its like the circle of death.

Then, I remembered I also had the opportunity to watch a documentary last week about the Toronto production of "The Toxic Avenger." They sort of followed the show's two leads, stage veteran and my hero, Louis Pitre and newcomer Evan Alexander Smith. It was so encouraging to see someone like Evan break into the theatre scene in a huge way. Playing the lead in a show which also featured big-wigs like Pitre (who was Tony nominated for originating the role of Donna in "Mamma Mia!"), Jamie McKnight (who was one of the Canadian Tenors) and Peter Deiwick (who's abs have been in, like, every Mirvish show, ever), must have been nerve-wracking, but he did it and he was amazing. Not once did he look out of place up there with those seasoned performers. Landing a job like that straight out of theatre school is everyone's dream, and look!, it happens!!

I guess the moral of the story is, just keep doing what you do. Hope to God you're good at it. Pray someone sees you doing it. Then hope that person is a major casting director or agent.

In the meantime, I'm going to eat the rest of this unused cookie dough and step, kick, kick, leap, kick, touch, turn, turn, out, in, jump, step, step, kick, kick, leap, kick, touch down the hall a few times for good measure. God I hope I get it.