Transitions

I am writing this on the subway, on the way to an audition before my second-to-last day at my current job. After I say what I am sure will be a tearful farewell to my colleagues tomorrow, I will have another (probably also emotional) good-bye on Sunday following the final performance of the play we have worked on since May.

I will start a new job next week. I feel privileged to have worked at my soon-to-be-ex-agency. We have done some great work and had very good times doing it. But after four years of working on Saturdays, being on call on my "off hours" for very high risk patients, and coping with increasingly stringent and extensive state documentation requirements, I am ready for a change. I will miss my colleagues but have high hopes of an equally good experience at my new job, with more congenial hours, actual time off, and minimal paperwork.

I have had some promising auditions and callbacks, but have not at this point nailed anything down except a delightful audio play that will take only 2 days to rehearse and record, and a tantalizing offer of a part in a TV episode that I can't accept because it would entail taking time off on my second week of the new job.

My fellow actors in this play, all more experienced professionals, were much more proactive in auditioning and networking earlier in the rehearsal process, and are already looking forward to their next projects.

There is something to be said for taking a break — I need to schedule some dental surgery, for example, that I had put off for fear that it would interfere with my ability to speak clearly for a while. And I hope to begin to catch up on sleep, filing, laundry, and numerous other activities that have gotten short shrift lately.

But I know I will feel better when I have a major performance project to fill the void after this play closes. It amazes me how quickly, after a hiatus of nearly 30 years, this business got back into my blood.