Friday, March 13, 2009

Look what's sprouting!

My title makes me think of this song from the musical Mack and Mabel called "Look What Happened to Mabel." It's the supposed story of Mabel Normand, who, in the musical starts as a waitress, is "discovered" by Mack, and becomes the "Queen of Comedy." Her song happens when she sees herself on the big movie screen, and cries out, "Oh Jumpin' St. Jude, Look What Happened to Mabel!"

I remember having that same feeling when I first saw myself in the NYU film, Sincerely Yours. That was a lovely 30 minute film about an unusual WWII romance conducted through letters, and the entire experience from beginning to end (auditions, callbacks, filming at 3 in the morning in an old diner in PA... walking across a bridge at dawn for a spontaneous shot, and then seeing the film 9 months later) was exquisite!

That wasn't the original reason for my post, but it might as well be. I was just marveling at how a "seed" I sowed somewhere around ten years ago just sprouted.

When I first moved to New York, I was a little girl with long dark hair, not unlike our silent moviestar above. :) I ended up meeting with a reputable Talent Management company that worked with young actors, and while we had a lovely meeting, it ended with them saying, "We'll keep you on file."

Zoom to ten years later. Yesterday, I heard from this same agency, requesting sound files from me for a very big commercial. I've just begun to do recordings for musicals, but do not have a huge voice over demo list. YET. You can BET I'll be remedying that this weekend. And they're waiting for me.

The thing that really hit me is that you never know how some audition/meeting you attended, or whom you might've met years ago, might have an impact on your present and your future.

One of my friends (a big gardener and herbal gal as a matter of fact) always talks about planting seeds and giving everything its chance to grow. You can't force the growth - you can't tug on the plants or you might pull up the roots. But you can nurture your seeds with water and light and love, sunshine and pruning, getting rid of the weeds, and your seeds will grow.

You just never know when. So keep on keeping on. :) And enjoy each day of growth!

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