IT'S REZOLUTION SZN BAYBEE. While this year may have consisted of cobwebs on your dance shoes and scrolling through IG instead of AA, 2020 is DIFFERENT. New decade, new you. You're done listening to the inner voice of fear and negativity, and you have an arsenal to finally defeat it: 

• You have a new planner with positive, inspirational quotes like "You have the same amount of hours in a day as Beyoncé!"
• You're hitting dance class at 5 AM daily because rest days are for people who are NOT ON BROADWAY.
  
• 3 open calls per day, every day? HOLD MY THROAT COAT. MAKE IT 5.

THIS is the year you turn into a ripped, screlting discipline machine. You're going to cook all your own vegan food, book so many dream roles you have to turn down OTHER dream roles, meditate for an hour each morning in your Stephen Sondheim shrine, AND somehow get 8 hours of sleep.

You've got a detailed, color-coded plan in your planner, and all it requires is that you work REALLY, REALLY HARD. Feeling...

Tis' the season of holiday parties and that probably means you've been getting this question A LOT:

"So, what have you been in lately?"

or

"What are you working on?"

or, worst yet,

"Are you still acting?"

Take a deep breath. 

In most cases, these questions are not meant to make you feel panicky or small. 

More often than not, it's just a friendly person trying to make small talk. And if you are in the middle of a project right now, or just closed a show, you probably don't mind this question at all! 

But, if you've had a slow fall, (as many actors do) let's talk about how to navigate that conversation. 

My #1 tip for navigating the holiday party minefield is: 

Ready for the Audition Rep Matchmaker’s patented one-step process to attaining a beach body?!?!

Step 1.  Take your body to the beach.

There is no step 2.

Boom.

Beach body attained.

Now, I know this is not new information. Memes with this very message abound across the internet.

However, given the HUNDREDS of messages we receive each day that our bodies are not acceptable as they are, I think it bears repeating.

ESPECIALLY this time of year.

‘Tis the season of street harassment and body shaming, when temperatures rise as self-esteem falls!

Plus, if you’re like me, as audition season grinds to a halt if you’re probably antsy for a new project.

Something you can control and fix.

How about your body?!

That seems like a good place to direct all your frustration and anxiety!!!!

Right?!?!

…right?

In my experience, this does not make for the most enjoyable or productive summer…

Here are five gentle suggestions of things other than your body...

Audition season can be tough.

Sometimes you just need a meme-able burst of inspiration to keep pounding the pavement in those tattered LaDucas!

So these are for you, all my Broadway dreamers!!! 

WE GOT THIS!!!!!!!!

1. Not to get biblical right away, but these first two quotes always remind me of Matthew 7:7. "Ask, and it shall be given to you..."

2. "Seek, and ye shall find." 

3. So, go ahead and ask for what you need!

4. A reminder that the answer you're looking for may be right in front of you.

5. Or it could come from the most unlikely place!

6. So, don't be afraid to put yourself out there to the community.

7. And never hesitate to look to your elders for wisdom.

8. They challenge us to ask the important questions.

9. This quote gets misattributed a lot, but I believe it was either Uta Hagen or Ben Franklin who said it first.

10. For when you need to really OWN it.

11. When you need a reminder that sometimes, it's okay to say "No."

12. Because self-care is...

I don't know about you, but as the days get shorter and colder I am STRUGGLING with motivation. 

I look at my to-do list in the morning and the temptation to open a new browser and watch a YouTube video or two (or five) is great. 

I put off the thing I need to do, I berate myself for putting it off, make myself a cup of coffee, I check my Instagram, berate myself some more, and then before I know it it's noon. 

But here's the wild thing:

Once I'm doing the activity I'm supposed to be doing, it's not that hard. 

I rarely find myself ten minutes into a yoga class saying to myself, "Why am I doing this?! This is soooo haaaaaarrrrrd."

(Note: I don't do hot yoga. That could very well be a different story...)

But truth be told, I have this experience with 99% of the activities I put off doing.  

The activity itself isn't painful—Getting started is. 

That's where the five minute rule can help us!

Last week I did an...

I woke up feeling a little weird this morning.

Not terrible—just oddly uninspired and unmotivated.

I did NOT feel like writing a blog post.

(This, unfortunately, is usually a pretty good sign there’s something on my mind that I should write a blog about.)

That’s why I’m in your feed today.

To talk about transitions.

Fall is hands down my favorite season. (The sweaters, the tea, the crunchy leaves, what’s not to like?!?!)

But, like many people, the stark shift from summer to winter can leave me feeling unmoored. My schedule has changed, but I haven’t yet fallen into the daily and weekly routines that ground me and make me feel like a person.  Auditions have started to pick up, but we’re not in the reliable chaos of winter audition season yet.

In short, we’re in between.

And if you’ve ever taken a song interpretation class, you know that “in between” is one of the most difficult and crucially important...

Hi.

My name is Sara, and I'm a recovering perfectionist. It's been about 33 minutes since my last nit-pick.

Sound familiar? Welcome to Perfectionists Anonymous.

I used to wear my perfectionism like a badge of honor. Perfectionism meant I was prepared. I was diligent. I was SERIOUS about my craft. I thought it made me competitive.

In reality, perfectionism was killing my career.

Perfectionism is the voice that advises, "You should really wait until you have a solid double before you take class at BDC."

It protectively whispers, "Once you lose ten pounds, you'll be ready to pursue representation."

It sagely warns, "If you go out for that show, they might call you back to dance. You're not ready for that. It's probably safer to stay home."

Perfectionism is NOT your friend.

Perfectionism is a toxic boyfriend that says, "I love you, babe. But no one else will. Stay home with me."

Perfectionism may feel safe and familiar, but in an industry that values vulnerability and risk, it is...

Alright, folks.

I know we spend a lot of time talking about how to be our best selves in the audition room, but I think it’s time we back it up a step and talk about…

The Holding Room.

Allow me to take you there.

The room is small and windowless.

The fluorescent lights perfectly highlight the girl in the center of the room casually stretching her center split… at a singer’s call.

The air is perfumed with the smells of sweat, burning hair, and—wait is that actual perfume? Who is wearing all that perfume right now?!?

You close your eyes and take in the sweet sounds of nature:

• The man furiously muttering his monologue to himself
• The belter “That’s Mine, THAAAAAAT’S MINE”-ing to the heavens
• The gaggle of recent college grads loudly discussing the callbacks they have this week and the fact that they heard this show is already cast

Just when you think you can take no more, another sound pricks your ears…

The monitor is...

Guys…I gotta tell you about last week. I had my first stint as an audition reader, and honestly, it kind of blew my mind. I highly encourage you to find a way to do it sometime because it is an EDUCATION. I could probably write about 5 separate blog posts about what I experienced, but I’m short on time so I’m going to distill it into the the 5 lessons that hit me the hardest.

1. ANSWER THE QUESTION YOU’RE ASKED.  NOT THE QUESTION YOU THINK THEY MEANT TO ASK.

I know—when you’ve got that adrenaline pumping it can be really hard to take a breath and listen. But fight the urge to game out why the creative team is asking you a question and just answer the question.  Almost every person who got asked, “What else is in your book?” provided one option.  They answered, “I have song A? That’s contemporary. Does that work?” The CD would cheerfully repeat, “What else is in your...

Hey friend,

I’m going to level with you. I’ve been having a weird week.  I’ve been having trouble sleeping, my focus has been scattered, and I’ve been interpreting interpersonal interactions less than generously.

(What does that text mean?! DOES SHE HATE ME NOW?!?!)

…You get it.

Nooooooot my best self.

And until this morning I couldn’t figure out what was going on.

Then it hit me…

The Post-Closing Blues. 

I closed “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” on Friday and like clockwork come Saturday morning I had that creeping “you’re-never-going-to-work-again” anxiety.

So what do we do to combat the post-closing blues?

Here’s my checklist:

STEP 1. DO THE THINGS THAT MAKE ANY HUMAN FEEL BETTER.

I know these may seem painfully obvious, but when we’re spinning out sometimes we needed to be reminded about the very basic things that make all human beings feel marginally...