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Plate Spinning

I am currently rehearsing for a musical, it’s a fabulous new piece called “Musical of the Year” and I’m having a lot of fun.  It’s my first musical for a while and although I sing regularly in a choir and take dance classes weekly, I haven’t had to sing and dance AT THE SAME TIME for quite a while.  When learning the high octane finale number the other day I couldn’t hear much soprano – partly I realised mid-pirouette, because I wasn’t actually singing.  Apparently my body, much like an old PC, was struggling to run both the “remember new choreography” and “sing correct lyrics in right key” programmes at the same time.

Thinking about this later, it struck me that this is what actors have to do quite a lot - multitask.  This is an overused phrase but it is quite apt.  Day job: Unless you are one of the lucky few who have a long contract or are a much sought after actor, most actors have one or several other jobs they have to juggle around auditions and rehearsals.  CPD (Continuing Professional Development): taking acting, singing or dance classes, keeping fit in the gym or going for a run to make sure you are on good form for when that audition/job comes through.  Support Group:  Maintaining relationships with friends and family and being there for them as much as they are for you.  If you have children or significant family obligations this will be an even higher priority.  Daily grind:  Cooking, shopping, cleaning…  All take effort and organisation – even the most disorganised actor is probably more on top of things than you may think.

For me, organisation comes in the form of a yearly offering.  I am pretty tech savvy, but I am old school when it comes to my diary.  When my Equity diary arrives around September every year, I carefully fill in significant dates and events and then usually decorate the cover (who doesn’t love stickers?) and this little book becomes my bible for the year.  I would be lost without it.


I’m not saying actors have it harder than anyone else, but there is certainly an art to running several versions of yourself simultaneously – the actor, the daughter, the husband, the carer, the receptionist, the front of house manager, the promo girl with a sample of shampoo, the guy in the voice class, the children’s Saturday morning dance coach, the girl mumbling lines on the tube while eating a banana, the waiter…  And people have the cheek to ask if we are “resting”!


 Twitter: @mirandacolmans
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