Free #SOBLESSED: the Annoying Actor Friend's Guide to Werking in Show Business by Annoying Actor Friend @Actor_Friend Page A

fight the only way I know how –
by venting to you over cocktails and then never attending a meeting or voting
in any union elections.
    I’ll drink to that… I could use another drink… Does
anyone still wear a show jacket?
    ***
    OLD TIMES IS HARD
    It was at that moment when my First-National Relic
completely blacked-out on the bar at Chelsea Grill. I appreciated their story,
but isn’t it just like the Old Annoying Actor Friend to highlight how much
better life was when they were in their prime? Things might not be as good
– but who are they to discourage us from following our dream of touring
the country doing what we love?
    If the SETA contract was only created to make jobs
available for union members, then we should jump on those opportunities because
it’s a chance to perform! We should be #grateful. Performing gives our position
within this business some credibility and validates our life choice. Even if
the SETA contract is just a Sad Excuse To Act, you can still have a lot of fun
– even if you can’t afford to buy fruit when you’re hungry in between
shows. #workiswerk.
    However, there were some valuable life-lessons about
touring that I was able to deduce from what my Old Annoying Actor Friend mumbled
through their boozy-delusional-fog. This business is a job. You go to a job to
make money to support your life. When you go out of town, you forfeit your life,
in an effort to have a better life when you get home. You don’t go on tour
because you want to see Scranton. If you have a valid reason to go on tour,
then by all means, do it. If you’re breaking out of the ensemble to play a role
– go on tour. If you just got out of a relationship and need a
distraction – go on tour. If you’re a vagabond or right out of college,
without an apartment, bills, or responsibilities – go on tour. Do not go
on tour just to scrape by. If you go on tour, find the appropriate time to do
so, know when to quit, and know when to make the decision never to do it again.
Much like “swinging,” touring credits on a résumé only take you so far before
they risk becoming your identity within this industry.

CHAPTER FIVE
BROADWAY: (DEBUT!)
    Can't wait until Tangled and Glee comes to Broadway so I can make my broadway debut already
    *
    Congratulations! You booked your first Broadway show!
You’ve worked and #werked, and you’re finally #livingthedream. You’re about to
become a full-fledged proud member of the Broadway Community. That means multiple
morning TV show press tours, BC/EFA events, Tonys, free cookies from Schmackary’s,
and only six months before you’re completely over all of it. I can’t tell you
how personally proud I am of you, and I would be so #grateful if you devoted a
few words in your Playbill bio to thanking me. You get like fifty now. You’re
in the big time!
     You’ve dreamt of it all your life, but you
never truly know what your Broadway debut will be like until you’re face to
face with it. Many different variables will affect the overall quality of your
debut. The Cast. The Creatives. The Content. The Critics. These are all determining
factors in whether or not you will enjoy going to work every day. This is the
first time you’ll be performing in an open-ended show in the city where you
live. You’re not living in a bubble this time. You get to do-kick, get-check,
and then go home to real life. This is the closest you’ll ever get to a normal
9-to-5 job, so your quest to stay #blessed is all the more important now. After
all that hard work, it would suck if you ended up in a “what now?” situation.
You want to love your job – and to love your job, you need to love the
people you work with.
    COMPANY DYNAMICS
    The dynamics within your cast were set in motion
before you even auditioned. It began with the contract, content, and creative
team. The contract sets the stakes before the first Equity Meeting. A touring
contract, for example, dictates that the company will be living in a