Are You READY?

It's holiday season...

It's opera audition season...

It's always theatre audition season...

Sometimes, it's successful,  sometimes it doesn't seem to be.

If you aren't getting the auditions,  or the callbacks if you get the auditions;  if you aren't getting seen;  if you feel frustrated,  disappointed,  despondent, ready to take a hiatus...

Your feelings are valid.  Acknowledge them,  give them permission to exist and let them move through so you can get to the next.

What is the next?

A simple, yet complex question:  Are you ready?

Your answer may be:  Yeah, but Susan, ready for what?  I am not getting seen/getting appointments/getting callbacks/getting ANYTHING.

Ah, but what happens WHEN they call?  WHEN you get the audition appointment?

If you are stubborn and crazy enough to pursue this career choice (and you have to be a little or a lot of both!) - you have to be ready.

Once the disappointment wears away,  get your big girl panties on and GET TO WORK.

There is nothing more devastating than to watch someone who SAYS they want a career,  who may go through disappointing seasons of no work/no auditions,  suddenly get an opportunity, and they just are not ready.

It happens more than you think.

Make a commitment to yourself this season.  Make a commitment to be ready.

Sometimes you wonder if a casting director, or an artistic director even remembers you.  Then, out of the blue,  you get a call.  Are your ready?  (and that's not a story, it DOES happen)

What are you doing to be ready?

Is your voice is tip top shape?  Are you studying regularly enough,  are you practicing consistently to access your talent at will?

Are your arias ready to sing and PERFORM?

Is your audition book ready so if the casting director says "what else have you got in there?"  you could sing that cut exactly the way you want it?

Do you know what you want them to see about YOU in an audition?

Vocally?  Dramatically?

Are you ready to take on those roles or those projects that you say you want?

Is your head shot working?

Is your resume up to date?

Have you up'd your game in order to stand out for all the right reasons once you have a chance to show them what you do?

What if that phone call came today?  Are you going to get excited,  get focused and prep or are you going to start making excuses as to why it might not work?

If you say you want it,  then DO IT.  Prepare even when the opportunity isn't beckoning you.  Prepare precisely because it is not there.  This allows you the opportunity to be ready when the pressure isn't breathing down your throat!

Is the presentation of YOU accessible at a moment's notice?  This is the time to assess and ponder and then do something about that!

Little secret:  the business isn't going anywhere.  You can take some time to get yourself in order to truly be ready when the call comes and they want to see you this afternoon, tomorrow or next week.

So, instead of letting the lack of work, auditions, callbacks get you down - let it be permission to get it all together!  Organize!  Plan!  Study!  Practice!  Discover!  BE!!!!

Yes, sometimes being ready means you hurry up and wait.  Waiting doesn't mean dormant.  Waiting means prepared.  Our business is fickle,  and it's temperamental and it changes its mind quickly.  If you aren't ready to meet the challenge when the opportunity beckons or demands your attention,  you will be stuck in your own decisions.

The opportunity will come.  Be ready for what you need to do, in order to DO IT.

Don't settle for kinda, sorta,  maybe.

Kinda, sorta, maybe isn't memorable for the right reasons.

You want it?  You gotta go get it when it presents itself.

That's the best gift you can give yourself this season:  ALL OF YOU!

What Does a Singer Need?

Happy 4th of July to all of you who celebrate!

As we enter the lazy days of summer,  it can be a great time to re-evaluate,  to re-negotiate,  to re-discover what you need,  what you want,  what your goals are for the upcoming season,  what you want to achieve through the summer.

So what does a singer NEED in order to create an environment to learn, to develop & to succeed in their development?

Talent aside,  there are many other things that can be more tangible or realized.


Talent is nothing without development.  Potential sucks if it's not developed.


What do you need?

A burning desire to sing.  Not a plan B or C;  not an excuse;  not a "yeah, but";  Just a simple burning desire to sing because that it was gives you a sense of yourself like no other.

You need to WANT to sing.  You need to WANT to learn that role, that song, that aria.  You cannot WAIT to throw yourself into the learning process because to sing is to be alive.


A capacity for major doses of reality.  The DESIRE is fueled by this.  You have to know what you are capable of doing and why;  and what you are not ready to do,  may never do,  and why not.

Do you know what it will take to pursue a career?  Are you ready to commit to that?  What are you ready and willing and able to commit to?  What can you glean from that commitment?

Knowledge is power,  and power is knowing.  The singer must have both and recognize that the balance of the two is constantly in flux.

AWARENESS is key.   Where am I?  What can I do?  What am I willing to do?  How do I make that work to achieve my goals?  Are my goals realistic to my talent, my desire, my tenacity, my commitment?  If not,  how do my goals shift in order to make my choices more realistic?

What are my priorities?  Do they line up with what I want or say I want or do they reveal something more important that I need to pursue or acknowledge?

Are you aware of your own psychology?  Are you clear what it represents?

Are you aware of your emotional and mental strengths, and even more importantly, your weaknesses?  Do you know how to develop your sense of self awareness?
Do you acknowledge self-doubt?  Self-sabotage?
Do you recognize what you need to do to move through it?

Are you willing to take responsibility for your emotional life in order to be healthy enough to explore a professional life as a singer?  What are you doing to achieve that goal?

Find a mentor.  Find that person that is willing to invest in you and challenge you.  A mentor will hold up a mirror to give you permission to see what needs to be seen.  They will help you continue to ask the questions in order to discover some answers, and probably some more questions.  They are not there to enable,  to tell you what you want to hear, but rather, to encourage,  and create an environment safe enough to hear what you NEED to hear and help you find ways to DO something about it.

I think mentoring is like reality training in a safe environment.

As singers,  as human beings,  we need this desperately.

What else do you need?

A solid,  unrelenting work ethic.

A focused consistency.

An unapologetic self-discipline.

The ability to laugh at yourself but always take the work seriously.

The ability to forgive yourself.

The emotional and psychological fortitude to say "no".

The emotional and psychological fortitude to ask "why".

The self-discipline to take a day off and not feel guilty.

The self-discipline to get back to work,  even when the obstacles take your breath away.

The desire and focus to always follow through.  ALWAYS.

So,  what are you working on?  What do you need?  What are you willing to do to acknowledge it,  and develop it and find more of it?

Nothing is promised,  but you have RIGHT NOW to make some choices that will allow you to find your "next".

Happy discovering!!

Dear Singer...What is it about the Business?

Dear Singer,

First,  you have to identify the difference between making music and being an artist AND making a living making music.   You have to know how to separate those two.  They are not,  nor have they ever been the same.

There are rules that apply to each of those facts,  and you have to find them and acknowledge them and follow them.  You haven't done that yet or you wouldn't be feeling they way you are feeling.  Acknowledgement of rules,  prevents you from taking it personally.

Even if you were Equity,  the stats are 95%  unemployed at any given time.  This is BUSINESS of show.

You have chosen a profession that has a ridiculous unemployment rate.  You have to want it badly enough to stick to it.

Knowing how your voice works, or  how to be an actress and all the craft associated,  is NOT how the business works.  The two are not the same, nor do they necessarily go hand in hand.

You have to learn how the business works and the time it takes to figure out the game and how to play it.   You have to be prepared to be in this game long enough (sorry sweetie - 2 years is no time - or 6 months or even 5 years...)  to find out whether it's what you want to be bothered with long term,  or simply walk away and find another way to keep making music for your well being.

Just wanting something doesn't make it so.

We work not because we are good enough,  but because somebody thinks we are,  and sees us playing the game to their reasoning.

The game is often bullshit and it has NOTHING to do with craft or artistic integrity - but it is what has to happen in order to work.

So - prepare to learn the game.  That takes time. A lifetime really.  There are no assurances in this business.  None.

There are no answers but the ones you discover for yourself,  about yourself and about how you function or not, in the business.

The level of the business doesn't matter:  same game, just another day and another process.   Community theatre, regional professional theatre, Broadway - ARE ALL THE SAME.  The players and venue change.  The stakes may change.  Learning to play the game in the venue you are in is what the business is about.  Discover your game.  Play it.  Get good at it,  or walk away.

I am just trying to be honest with you.  The work you do on your artistic self will always be there;  don't misunderstand that.  Artistic self has NOTHING at all to do with BUSINESS self.

Learning the business,  learning the game,  and how you navigate those land mines - is up to you, and takes more time than you realize.  If our artistic selves continue to evolve and develop over a lifetime, then so,  do does knowledge of the business and the business self within the business of show.

Chin up!!! Your path is your path.


Accept it,  experience it,  walk it - or choose to walk elsewhere.  Wherever you,  BE THERE.  Fully, honestly, and completely.




Sending you good wishes,
Susan

I Know...But...

Sunday musings...

How badly do you want to be an artist pursuing a career?

How hungry are you?

Do you know what you need to do, and how to do it, how to find it, how to evoke it, how to develop it, how to challenge it,  how to see it,  how to discover it,  how to claim it?

If you don't,  are you willing, able and ready to find out and actually DO it?

I see, too often, people who say they want a career, yet even when given the information, don't actually do anything with it, and then will say how frustrated they are.

As I get older, my shorthand gets shorter.   When I see that,  hear that,  my response is:  figure it out or do something else. 

And let me tell you a little secret:  it's okay to do something else.  Everybody isn't going to have a career.  How talented you are isn't really the issue.  Some people just cannot, will not, don't know how even if it is explained to them,  DO what I just asked above.  Period.

Not having a career doesn't mean you don't have artistic value, can't perform,  can't be involved in theatre or singing, or something creative.  It just means you don't make your money doing it.

That's okay.  Why pretend?  What's in the way?

As I have said many many times, delusion is a great protector against stress.  At some point, however, that protection is going to snap, and then what?

YOU are your product.   If you aren't honest about how you are seen,  what is seen,  what you have TO be seen, then how do you know how to sell it?

Your product needs to be known.  Honestly.  You need to be using the tools of the business in a way that gives you VISIBILITY.   Are you doing that?  Do you know how to evoke your type/your person/your product through your head shot?  Through your website?  Through your video and audio clips?

And as I ask this,  I hear:  "I know...but..."

Well,  my dear snowflakes, if you KNOW, then why aren't you DOING IT?

Procrastination,  excuses,  all the "buts",  are your way of stress management,  and preventing you for doing anything and coming to the honest truth of what you really want and why you want it.

I heard someone say last week "in the last 15 years of my career".   The absurdity of that comment as part of this person's narrative was astounding,  as there has been no career.  Pursuing a career?  Maybe, but very loosely as nothing has happened;  Actual career?  No.  That would assume making a living at it,  really knowing what you have to offer the business, and how to do it.

We all,  at different times, due to our capacity for self doubt,  make statements that aren't quite right.  It is a coping mechanism.  I get that, trust me.

HOWEVER...

Now it is time to shit, or get off the pot.

If you KNOW,  then do it.

If you KNOW,  then why aren't you doing it?

If you KNOW, then why don't you know?

If you DON'T know, then ask.

If you ASK,  expect some answers, or expect more questions that YOU and only you have to figure out.

If you ASK,  prepare to hear the truth, not what you want to hear.

If you WANT it,  you have to work for it.  Nothing is handed to you on a platter. 

If you WANT it,  how hungry are you?  What are you willing to do?  REALLY??

Where are you in the development of your craft?  How do you know?

What do you want to do with that?  Why?

Says who?

What are you passionate about?

Just because you did a BFA or a theatre degree or a BMus, or something in the arts, doesn't guarantee nor preclude you are having a career in that focus.

If you say you want a career,  why? 

Have you figured out what you NEED to begin that journey or restart that journey or get you onto the right path of that journey?

Have you started to pursue those necessary steps?

Or are you procrastinating?

Why?

Have the excuses started already?

I know...but...

But what?

YOU are the business.  If you want to be in the business,  your product has to be purchase-ready. 

You have to hone that product to make it purchase-ready.

The business of you doesn't have anything to do with the artistic you. 

This is business. 

There is an enormous difference. 

If you don't figure that out,  should you really want to pursue a career,  then the business will make a decision for you,  and will simply call   "NEXT!"

YOU have to know.  YOU have to hone.  YOU have to present it to them or you leave them making their own decisions or dismissing you.  That's up to YOU.

This means getting to work.  This means getting to nitty gritty of how you are seen;  what your energy reveals in a room;  what your voice does;  what characters you will be seen for and why;

Remember, there is ALWAYS a why.  Sometimes we have the power to change HOW,  when we learn the WHY.  However, you are never going to know the how or the why if you don't start asking questions instead of answering "I know..but..."

An excuse never got anybody anything,  except a chance to create more delusion and not move.

Free yourself to do your work - whatever that is - by dropping the excuses. 

Do the work,  or don't.  Claim it.  If you decide, you don't want to be bothered with all of this to find a career path in the business,  then find whatever you are passionate and DO THAT!!!!

Doing what you are passionate about is NEVER failure. Doing something because you think you have to prove it to someone,  or because you went to school for it you have to try,  is just going to drain you and cause you to put up more walls.  You will be miserable,  and chances are you will miss something you might really love doing.

If you have an answer for everything I have said,  as in,  an excuse of why you HAVEN'T done it,  then I would really truly consider what you are doing.  Life is short,  and you don't want to let it pass you by with excuses and "I know, buts".

If you feel motivated again;  if you KNOW where your passion lies;  if you are getting HUNGRY for that career;  if you can not only claim your fears or self-doubts, but realize what you need to do, and are willing to get on that path to do it,  then DO IT!

Start it.  One step at a time.  Create your business.  Develop goals.  Make a business plan. 

Nobody does it but you.  However, utilize the assets around you to help enhance that plan so you can hone it as expertly as you would hone your craft and artistic temperament. 

What is holding you back?

YOU.

Shhhhh.

 The answer is NOT "I know...but."


The answer is a nod, a quiet acknowledgement.  Now GET TO WORK ON YOU!

The Mentality of Professional vs Amateur

The title needs work.

Professional is not versus Amateur.  It is simply opposite.

There are lots of ways to define both words.  I tend to let those words evolve through behavior, and how you view your work,  how you hear what is being said to you and what you do with that information.

There was a time in my life where I would have spent TONS of time to try to "get through" to a singer/actor only to be completely ignored, or hear from them something that was absolutely not said nor implied.

The longer I work with singers, and am in the business, the more I realize how this truly divides the professional mentality from the amateur one.

I see more and more that what you take from a conversation really determines where you are in the process of becoming or maintaining your professionalism or leaving you simply in amateur-land.

Some people are hard-wired professional.  They simply have the ability to see a larger arc,  and know what they need and who they need to ask to get the information in order to develop a career, and a more importantly,  a way of preparing to create a career.  They grow,  they are willing to be accessible,  they listen and hear the full extent of a conversation and then are able to hone in how that affects them specifically and what they must do to grow and develop.

The amateur is probably hard-wired too.  The amateur isn't just about not knowing.  Their hearing is suspect;  their ability to translate is limited;  they find ways to hide, to make excuses and to fixate on one or two things to create a narrative that keeps them safe.

Again, there are many ways to define professionalism and amateurism.  I am speaking about mindset and what could be hard-wired,  versus what could be potential untapped but has the ability to grow and become.

If potential isn't realized,  it's amateur.  It's okay to be amateur as one is developing potential.  It's okay to be amateur even if you don't develop potential.  It is finding one's level that is crucial in all of this.   Amateurs can think they are ready for the deep water,  but the only ones they are kidding are themselves.  Professionals can be in an amateur environment and still find success with others who are like minded and grow.

I see the amateur mindset so often in the development of the vocal instrument.  That instrument is ALWAYS growing and changing.  It needs constant and CONSISTENT attention.  Hard-wired amateurs don't see that need or dismiss it,  and actually say it's good enough.  Professional mind-sets always find a way to keep studying and keep growing.

Professional mindsets ask questions.  They keep the options open and never tie it up with a bow.  They know there is more and they are constantly striving for more craft, more knowledge, more understanding.

Amateur mindsets set up small pockets of fixation.  They only hear what they are able to.  There is not an initiative to truly find more of what is needed, but rather, excuses of what they think is enough.

Professional mindsets often have more questions than answers.

Amateur mindsets find quick answers so they don't need to ask more questions.

Professional mindsets don't make excuses, or hide behind tired humor or excuses or look for sympathy.

Amateur mindsets find the excuses to keep them exactly where they are.  They can be told EXACTLY what is needed, and simply do not hear it,  or choose not to hear it. 

Professional mindsets require challenge and want to know what they need to do.

Amateur mindsets want no conflict and want to be told they are wonderful.

And guess what?  It's okay to be an amateur.  Just don't pretend it's okay to bring the amateur mindset into the professional arena and wonder why nobody is giving you the time of day.

Every singer that walks through my door will be made to feel safe.  They will also be challenged to find their best self.  They will be encouraged, and applauded when they leave better than their previous self.  The professional mindset will realize leaving better than their previous self means there is still work to do.  The amateur mindset will think they are "ready". 

The professional mindset will listen and HEAR.  The amateur mindset will only hear and translate what they are able to, and may even misunderstand.

These are the hard-wired mindsets.

If you really really want to move from amateur to professional in your mind-set you really really REALLY have to work to hear what you need,  by the people who know - and not interrupt.  There are no "yeah, but..."  in a professional mindset.  None.

Learn to ask the right questions, and if you don't know the questions to ask,  ask THAT question.  If you take the time ask,  expect an answer,  and then it is up to YOU,  to discover what the answer reveals for you.  Often, it's not comfortable.  There is nothing comfortable with self-examination.  We learn how to accept the reality and work with it,  or dodge it and remain in that amateur mindset.

Better is simply,  better.

Progress is simply,  progress.

Potential is simply,  potential.

Realizing,  developing and claiming gives us the opportunity to find the changes, makes the changes and live the changes.

Your mindset is up to you.  Claim it.