Avoiding Clowns (and other G-ville things)
It occurs to me that most people are probably seeing my posts and pictures and have little to no context as to what I’m actually doing down in the land G-ville, SC. So consider this my official “context” post.
Hey Cat, what are you actually doing in Greenville, SC besides drinking coffee, getting quotes from kids on tour, being in Footloose, and taking snapchats of that curly-haired guy and the company of random 20-somethings??
Well, I’m glad you asked!
Guy with Curly Hair
This is Carter. He’s my roommate and also a resident actor. We were hired and informed that we’d be housed together.
“Hi! We’re so glad you’ve decided to join us here as an actor…in a place you’ve never lived…at a theatre you’ve never been too…with people you’ve never met…for the whole year. Here’s the name of the guy you’re gonna be living with for the next year…who you’ve also never met in your life. See you soon!”
A little nerve wracking.
Thank goodness we get on well. The first day off of work, Carter and I took a mini-adventure to a brewery to try a lot of beers and introduce ourselves to eachother. We’re friends now. He likes Doctor Who, physical comedy, Improv, cool cinematography, and yelling at stupid drivers.
Everybody, Carter.
Carter, Everybody.
Now we’re all friends.
Great.
Crew of 20-somethings
These are my friends. At least I hope so or I've been taking exceptionally animated photos with complete strangers. Which I suppose is also cool in it's own way...
Tour
It is a traveling children’s production of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Based off the book by Judith Viorst. Seven of us make up the Resident Acting Company at The Greenville Little Theatre. That means we’ve been hired on a year-long contract to work full-time for the theatre. Specifically to act, but we do other things as well—I’ll get to that later.
On tour, the seven of us load up a van with all of our sets, costumes, and selves. We travel to elementary schools all around the southeast—covering South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. And it’s year-round. We tend to have 2-3 tour days a week.
Shop
This is my hourly work at the theatre. Basically the “day job” that most actors have, it just happens to be at the theatre where I also perform. I work backstage doing whatever needs to be done.
Building platforms.
Painting sets.
Sewing buttons onto costumes.
Running to Home Depot for supplies.
Making coffee (there is free coffee at the theatre 24/7).
Doing the dishes.
My hours are 10-6pm when I’m not in rehearsals for a show, 10-4 when I am, and everything adjusts for tour. So on a day that we return from tour at noon, and I have a rehearsal that evening, my day would be..
7am?-12pm: Tour
12pm-4pm: Shop
4pm-7pm: Dinner break
7pm-10:30pm rehearsal.
Just as an example.
Shows
These are what I was specifically hired for. We just closed Footloose and are currently in rehearsal for Miracle on 34th Street. Other shows this season are Peter and the Starcatcher, Lying in State, I'll Be Back Before Midnight, and Hairspray.
These include 6 weeks of rehearsal (M-F: 7pm-10:30pm. Occasionally some weekend rehearsals for tech or dance) and a 3-4 week run of the show.
So now you know what I’m doing down here! Besides avoiding clowns when I go running. I’m also still going to the gym, spending lots of time writing in coffee shops, going to church, meeting new people, spending time (both in person and on skype) with friends. My parents live only two hours away so I’ve been able to see them quite a bit more which is great—a significant change from living in Colorado for sure. I don’t know if you could say this is a “typical” theatre job. But “typical” could be hard to pinpoint anyway since every gig is different.
So far I’m loving it here. The people, the job, the locale… I’m gonna enjoy the rest of this contract.
Stay curious, Bears.
-Cat
