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The Art Of Showing Up .
by Michael John Foster
There is a notion that people in the arts are flaky and overly sensitive . That is a correct notion .... at least in my perspective .
I ' ve spent almost twenty years as a performer turned producer and I ' m always amazed by the performers I meet who simply fail to show up for opportunity . Perhaps it ' s that sensitivity that leads one into the arts that also undermines their confidence . Or maybe it ' s the very active mind that yields to over-commitment . I ' m not certain of the reason , but I know that I ' ve seen many actors , singers and dancers relinquish great roles simply by being irresponsible .
As someone who wants to employ people and see a project succeed , as I think most producers do , it ' s almost painful to watch someone miss their chance . I once helped produce an international art festival that included submissions and performances from around the globe . It promised lots of publicity for all involved and so I tapped a young professional director to create a fifteen minute segment to be shown jointly with the main artistic installation . She was excited for the opportunity , but decided to pull out at the last moment . The reason she gave was that she she had committed to a few other small projects that were taking too much time . In some manner of speaking , you could say that she was mentally not in the game . She had neglected to organize her schedule and had to relinquish the paid opportunity that would have yielded a lot of new opportunities because of the esteemed people at the festival .
In another situation , there was a man playing the lead in a show I directed who almost had to bow out of the production because he didn ' t allow enough time to memorize his lines . His inability to prioritize led to problems with his cast mates since he couldn ' t adequately rehearse his dialogue , and it led to problems with me since I was the one who was responsible to get him up to speed . It required a lot of running lines with him late at night to coach him through . Again , mentally , he just wasn ' t in the game . In both cases , I say that there was a failure to " show up ." Physically , these artists were present , but mentally , they were elsewhere . Consequently , they made my job much more difficult meaning that I will never use them again . That may sound harsh , but one has to understand that producing and directing a show requires a lot of up front risk in both the investment of money and time . And when you decide to work with a performer or collaborator , you hope that there will be a return on that investment . Performers that are in some ways irresponsible are less likely to create a return on investment .
A performer who is more steady in personality is often easier to cast . You know that they will get the job done . They show up not only physically , but mentally as well . Their consistency puts their collaborators at ease . If all performers knew this , they would understand that the biggest part of landing the gig is simply showing up . The more dependable that a performer seems , the easier it is to hand them greater and greater responsibility in the aspect of roles .
If you want to be cast , your first step to success is to keep showing up . Show up at auditions , at rehearsals , at meetings , at break-downs , at set-builds , at as much as you can . Your presence will send the message that you can be trusted . Those who can be trusted will reap the reward .
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“ If you get a chance to act in a room that somebody else has paid rent for , then you ’ re given a free chance to practice your craft .” — actor , Philip Seymour Hoffman on auditioning
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