Welcome to the 60's! (Nov 2012)

From the Green Room:

I can't believe it's only been a month since last G2GR, so much has happened! The Buddy Holly Story had a great, albeit short, run. It was so bittersweet to say goodbye to that production and cast. We were really just hitting our stride when we closed. The day after Buddy closed, I flew right from Sullivan, IL to Syracuse, NY to begin rehearsals for Hairspray at the Redhouse Arts Center. I landed at about 7pm, and was in rehearsal by 8pm! I've been having a blast playing the role of Link Larkin so far (we open this weekend). This has been the “bridesmaid” of roles for me... Always a callback, never a call. I think I've been called back for this role for nine different productions, so it feels very good to finally be able to do it. This production is very special too because the Redhouse is an educational theater that utilizes professional actors (Equity Guest Contract), community members, and inner-city youth. It's so neat to be performing in a professional caliber show while passing on my knowledge to upcoming and community actors! Something I can definitely see myself doing more of later in my career.

From outside the Green Room:

As I mentioned, the Buddy contract was too short but I had such a blast doing it. That is quite possibly one of the most multi-talented casts I've ever worked with. Everyone could play several instruments, so we enjoyed several pretty awesome jam sessions. We also treated ourselves to a “Hallow-giving”, a huge potluck feast on Halloween. We ate amazing food and watched horror movies all night. Since being in snowy Syracuse, I've been very busy with rehearsals, but did get a chance to get away for Thanksgiving. I took off to St. Louis for a few days to spend Thanksgiving with Morgana's family. They have a HUGE family reunion feast with tons of people and food... such a great time! I also got to see where she grew up and spend some quality time with her family. It was a much needed break from rehearsal... although it was a little daunting to come right back into a 10 of 12 (12 hour tech rehearsal)! Besides that, this cast is great and I've loved working/living with the other “NYC professionals”. We live in an amazing apartment in the same building as the theater. Obligatory theater shenanigans ensues... Very “Real World” -esk!

Lessons Learned:

Green to Green Room was started to chronicle my journey from businessman into working actor. Ironically enough, if I keep it up, it may follow the journey back into the world of business, just with a brand new focus and much more direction. I say this because my new long-term career goal is to someday own/executive direct/artistic direct my own regional theater company. Don't get me wrong, I hope to still have plenty more performing days ahead of me, but I've started to take note for the distant future. My past several contracts have really allowed me to pin-point aspects of each theater company that I really enjoy. I love the production value and reputation of Ogunquit's main stage shows, the venue at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, the “school” of the Little Theater, and the diverse educational aspects of Redhouse. So now my request to everyone, if you know of anyone that could set me up with a “theater biz” job, especially in NYC, I'd definitely be interested in speaking with them. Paid internships, production assistant, etc... Although, performing jobs still take priority! Thanks!

Peace and Love,
Andrew Mauney
www.andrewmauney.com

Another Openin', Another Show! (Oct 2012)

From the Green Room:

This month's G2GR is coming to you live from the dressing room of The Little Theater on the Square in Sullivan, IL where upstairs Buddy Holly is currently rocking the Apollo Theater! We are currently in our opening weekend for Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story after only ten days of rehearsal. This show is more of a play with music, as all the songs performed are done in a concert style with the actors playing all the instruments. This has made it a beast of a show to tackle in such a short period. Our director, Erik Hayden, is a fantastic musician as well as director and has been very helpful in assuring everything runs smoothly. Another big help is that many of the cast members have done the show before which allows more focus to be placed on the technical aspects of the show (sound, lights, sets, etc...) than scene work and music rehearsals. This is all well and good, except if you've never done the show before! I definitely had to put in many extra hours for line memorization, scene work, and music rehearsals. But it's all fun work to do! Overall, it's been a great experience and wonderfully refreshing to work on a new project! It is, however, a little overwhelming getting emails about my Hairspray rehearsal schedule before I've even wrapped my current show, but that's a good problem to have!

From outside the Green Room:

Things wrapped up nicely in New York before I left for my current contract... I had finally gotten back into the swing of coaching and was really starting to love ushering as well, but those things will always be waiting for me when I get back. I packed up my room and got it ready for my subletter a few days early because Morgana and I were headed down to the Washington DC area for my brother's wedding. It was a great venue, beautiful ceremony, awesome party, and all-around perfect weekend getaway with Morgana before I had to leave. You can read more about it on my new sister-in-law's blog! On the day of the wedding, we had some extra time to kill in the morning, so Morgana and I went horseback riding through the country. It was so nice to get outdoors! I don't think I've been on a horse for over a decade... I left Sunday and flew into Chicago where a theater representative picked me up and we drove the four hours down to Sullivan. It's a very quaint little midwest town but we've had some fun at a local Chili Cook-off and The Great Pumpkin Patch, among other fun little adventures!

Lessons Learned:

I was going to talk about how preparation and personal practice time are key in such a short rehearsal period (we put the whole show up in ten days, I remind you)... but decided to focus on something else because today at the Saturday Matinee, I got a little emotional at the Clearlake Concert which is basically a giant 20 minute concert of all of Buddy's greatest hits to finish the show. I play Keys 2 during this part so I get to look out over the audience and watch everyone. It really hit home that the majority of the people in the audience lived these moments for real... They may have never seen Buddy Holly live, but they definitely went and saw other shows like this and are very familiar with the music. It must have felt like a time-warp for them to be there. I saw elderly men and women literally dancing in the aisles like they were 16 again, smiles ear-to-ear, because the last time they shared this experience they were 16! The pure power of music and theater was made very evident to me today... and it's always nice getting reminded of that every now and again.

Peace and Love,
Andrew Mauney
www.andrewmauney.com

Better late than never... (Sept 2012)

From the Green Room:

I apologize to all who follow my newsletter for skipping a month and being late this month. New York City is all I remembered it to be! Hectic, hectic, hectic! But it's been great being back. I finished up in Ogunquit in the middle of July and headed back to Pittsburgh for some much needed R&R. I finally moved back to NYC on August 1^st to get back to the grind. I've been pounding the pavement and making the rounds at auditions and have fortunately had some luck recently! After several rounds of final callbacks for the national tours of Elf and Hair (for the role of Claude), as well as several cruise ships and regional theaters... I finally got a bite! I'm taking off on October 15^th to head to Sullivan, IL to play Norm Petty in The Little Theater on the Square's production of Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story. That wraps up November 4^th and I immediately fly to Syracuse, NY to begin rehearsals for the Red House Arts Center's production of Hairspray, in which I'll play Link Larkin! I've been wanting to play that role for a while now, so I am very excited! I also get to play piano in Buddy, which will be challenging but fun! So, as soon as I'm back in NYC, this crazy industry ships me off for the rest of 2012... and I couldn't be more excited about it!

From outside the Green Room:

After a much needed break in Pittsburgh, I made the move back to my apartment in New York City and began the process all over again. First on my list was to get that income back flowing! I had a little lull in the beginning of August where I was able to fit in some background work. It's a thankless job, but I really have a good time doing it! Look for me on future episodes of 666 Park Ave and Girls! I was then able to line up a great job working as an Usher at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Theater in Times Square. It's a great off-broadway theater currently hosting Jake Gyllenhaal's American stage debut, If There Is I Haven't Found it Yet. I've loved working in the front of house, it really keeps my focus on where I want to eventually be! Finally, I started coaching soccer for Super Soccer Stars again which pays well and is a very rewarding job... who can complain about playing soccer with kids in Central Park! Outside of the “survival jobs” I've just been enjoying having Morgana and friends around and trying to take advantage of all NYC offers!

Lessons Learned:

Patience is a virtue... and so is focus. My two lessons learned (since I skipped last month) are patience and focus in this career. First off, it's important to know what you want and what you need to do to get it. I thought I wanted to do tv/film/print work when I got back from tour, but I did nothing to get myself there! I just kept going to musical theater auditions, and poof! I book musical theater jobs! I don't know why I'm surprised... but even this old dog can learn new tricks. I've been going to seminars with industry professionals and learning as much as I can about on-camera work, so I can really be ready to pursue that when I'm back. Piggybacking off that idea, I need to slow down my goals and set realistic benchmarks for myself, redefine my “personal success” if you will. I was back less than two months and I was already getting antsy for my next project. This is an industry where you've got to hear 100 “no's” before you hear that yes, so you better allot time for those hundred “no's” and not stress out too soon! Especially when trying to explore a new genre.

Peace and Love,
Andrew Mauney
www.andrewmauney.com

A(nother) New Chapter (July 2012)

From the Green Room:

So I'm currently writing this from the dressing room of the Ogunquit Playhouse where we are finishing up our last week of South Pacific. It has been an amazing run and we've been incredibly well received! However, it is starting to become a little more real that I will soon be done with this show... for good! The difference this time is that I don't have anything lined up after this contract. I almost did though! I was offered a Lead Singer role in “Jersey Nights”, a casino style version of Jersey Boys in Reno, NV. Unfortunately, due to schedule conflicts, I was unable to accept it. It would have been a great gig because Morgana was offered it as well, so we would have been able to work together again which would have been amazing! With that being said, I'm very excited to get back to NYC and begin the process again. First on the “to-do” list is to make a dedicated effort to getting an agent, primarily for purposes of TV/Film and Print opportunities (any leads are appreciated!!!). I also look forward to getting back in voice lessons and various classes. This past year has been amazing to be constantly working, but also makes me realize that I still have lots to learn! If everyday I strive to be one step closer to that proverbial Green Room, I guess being in NYC is a good first step! Oh yeah! I've also completely revamped my website!! Check out the new and improved www.andrewmauney.com!

From outside the Green Room:

Ogunquit, Maine in the summer is beautiful! It has been such an honor getting to perform in this historic theater in this beautiful little town. Days off have been spent at the beach/pool or exploring the town. One show days include time at the gym, grilling dinner with friends, or throwing the football/frisbee/lacrosse ball around outside. Finally, after show activities have included hitting the (few) bars here, building camp fires to make s'mores, or game nights in the communal kitchen. It's a great first "Summer Stock" experience. Tour was amazing, but this has been a nice transition back into normalcy. It has been really nice to be in one single place for a prolonged period of time. It's getting me excited to be back in my old apartment in NYC!

Lessons Learned:

Ambition can easily cloud judgement. As great as it is to be a working actor, it's even more important to stay focused on what is truly important to you in your life by setting priorities. If nothing is more important than working, that's fine, but it will come at a cost. If my business degree taught me anything, it's that there is always an opportunity cost. I was faced with a very tough decision when it came to this Reno show. The job sounded fun, the money was great, but ultimately I had to put family first. Being a best man in my brother's wedding this fall and making sure that family remained a top priority ultimately made the decision a no-brainer. There will always be more jobs, but you're only given one family. That's my view on the matter, but to each their own!

Peace and Love,
Andrew Mauney
www.andrewmauney.com

A New Chapter (June 2012)

From the Green Room:

Tour's over. Crazy. We had an amazing finishing stretch. There was some exciting news during our week in Rochester (besides my birthday!), I got to perform the role of Luther Billis! It was terrifying, exciting, and gratifying all at the same time. By throwing me into the fire, it helped me learn what it actually takes to be a successful understudy. It's important to have done the work and trust yourself and your cast, but then you just have to go out there and have fun! I absolutely progressed in my craft in three little hours. Finally, we wrapped up our nine month adventure at the amazing Filene Center in Wolf Trap, VA. Such a beautiful venue. If you ever have a chance to see something there, do it! After which, I was fortunate enough to head up to Ogunquit, Maine to be part of a different production of South Pacific at the beautiful Ogunquit Playhouse (OPH)! We've just wrapped up our first week of rehearsals. It's certainly a weird thing being in rehearsals for a show I've done 235 times, but it's a new cast with a new creative team, and therefore a new show. I also get to play a new role, taking on the personality of Yeoman Herbet Quale. Our brilliant director Shaun Kerrison, and the rest of our creative team, has emphasized the importance of not growing complacent. Keep searching for that new piece of information that inspires you, motivates you, deepens your character, etc... Basically, don't slip into the comfort of the work you've done before, but build ON TOP of that work. A great message for all walks of life.

From outside the Green Room:

I was fortunate enough to have a ten day layoff between Rochester and Wolf Trap in which I spent the time back in New York City! It was so great to be back. Morgana had planned an amazing birthday “day” for us which ended with us seeing Once on Broadway. This show is possibly my new favorite musical. I loved the movie, but the show is even better. I also saw Sister Act which was a fun, vocal gymnastics display with some stylized comedic acting. Finally, I won the lottery for Newsies, which was just incredible. Jeremy Jordan is a freak of nature and the dancing in that show is out of this world. I even got to see a concert dance show that one of Morgana's companies was performing in. Finally, once in Maine, I saw Always, Patsy Cline starring Sally Struthers at the OPH. I have loved watching so many different varieties of performances these last two weeks. It really helps broaden my horizons and gain a deeper appreciation for all styles of performance.

Lessons Learned:

I just got off the phone with my Dad and we were joking that work isn't called play for a reason. But the cool thing is, what I get to do everyday is put on a play. There's got to be something to that. As I now am doing this regional production, it's easy to focus on the fact that I'm back in rehearsals or that I get paid a third of what I was making on tour. That's what makes it all the more important to remember that I get to do what I love. I “play” for a living... and that's pretty cool. It's that “play” that allows us to enjoy the “work” I mentioned before. Not resting on our laurels, but instead striving to be better in all elements of our craft. It's just like going on as an understudy, trust your previous work, be open to new things, and have fun and you'll get better every day.

Peace and Love,

Andrew Mauney
www.andrewmauney.com

Last one from the road! (May 2012)

From the Green Room:

Here we are, show #221 of 235... A mere 14 shows remain in this grand adventure. Two more cities. Two more sound checks. Two more travel days. Next G2GR will come from the land of the unemployed actor! Crazy... After a wonderful two week sit-down in Ft. Lauderdale, we had a split week through the southeast, hitting north Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. We flew out of Birmingham into a week long sit-down in Buffalo. We played the fantastic Shea Theater to sold out audiences all week. It was, however, a bittersweet week. We enjoyed the crowds but also had to say goodbye to our wonderful Nellie, Mrs. Jennie Sophia. She left us to play Guenevere in a production of Camelot in Chicago. We were excited to draw from our own cast and promote the incredibly talented Rachel Rhodes-Devey into a full-time Nellie role for the remainder of tour! Our final split week took us through the northeast, finishing with a weekend sit down in Worcester, MA. Our show today was informally nicknamed, “Understudy Appreciation Day” as Nellie, Emile, and Cable were all out. Everyone stepped up and we put on a great show! Chaotic, but great!

From outside the Green Room:

This job is pretty awesome. I can't think of many other professions that would allow you the opportunity to hang out on the beach on work days, eat from the very first chicken wing joint, and be part of an epic marriage proposal... all in a month! We were able to recharge the batteries with our two weeks in Ft. Lauderdale. We stayed right on the beach, so most days consisted of beach, pool, volleyball, etc... It ended too soon, but it was good to get back to reality (and the Croswell bus... well, maybe not the bus!). In Buffalo, I grabbed wings at the Anchor Bar, home of the very first chicken wing. They were pretty good! I also got up to check out Niagara Falls which was really cool. Taking the cake for the month was witnessing my good friend (and fellow Steelers fan) propose to his girlfriend after a show this weekend. You've GOT TO read this article. It was truly magical and I wish them nothing but the best!

Lessons Learned:

It's okay to get tired. The key is learning how to cope with it. Our final push, meaning the last two months of tour have been: 16 straight shows, 2 days off, 8 shows, day off, 17 shows, day off, 16 shows, day off, 8 shows... That's 65 shows with five days off. It's completely normal to get tired with that schedule, but the important thing is to take care of yourself so as not to get sick or injured. I've been forcing myself to get a good warm-up in before every show and it's really been helping. The days I'm too lazy to warm-up, I end up giving a sub-par performance and in pain. I have also been constantly reminding myself that this won't last forever, and it won't take long of the audition circuit before I'm yearning for my days on tour again! It helps keep me focused on what I have, not what I want. A dangerous trap to fall in so near the end.

Hope all is well,

Andrew Mauney
www.andrewmauney.com

From The Beach! or, Thank Your Swing! (Apr 2012)

From the Green Room:

Well, I'd say this is well deserved! This edition of "G2GR" is coming to you live from the beach side pool in Ft. Lauderdale! (Well that first sentence was, I got distracted by sunny skies, cold drinks, and good company... I'm now in the green room at the theater.) Whew! We had a very busy month. Since Chicago, we have traveled 5,810 miles (103 hours) on a bus, it's been 47 performances (141 hours of South Pacific), but we are FINALLY rewarded with a two week sit down in beautiful Ft. Lauderdale at the Broward Center of Performing Arts. We've had some great audiences through New England, New York, the Midwest, and several cities in Florida. One of my favorite theaters was in Scranton, PA at the Scranton Cultural Center. The theater is actually a converted Masonic Temple! We just did another PR spot here in Ft. Lauderdale, check out the links to the video and pictures! Also, our crew took a cool time lapse of their load-in. These guys are incredible to do this day-in and day-out... I do not envy them.

From outside the Green Room:

You wouldn't think there IS any time outside the green room except on a bus, and you're not far off! With that being said, this has still been a really neat month on tour with lots of great experiences. I'll admit, I'm not much of a Frat Star anymore, but I have had the pleasure of getting to see several other chapter houses of my fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta. This month I got to see the houses at U of Vermont, U of Maine, and Indiana University. One of my favorite stops on tour so far was when we were in Portland, ME. It's such a quaint little New England coast town with some great food and awesome crowds. Plus, it's the home of Otto's Pizza which is some of the best pizza I've ever tasted. We stopped over in Columbus, OH for a night which is where I lived my “other” life as a computer dork business man before my quarter-life crisis. It was great to catch up with old friends, but I wish I had a show there! I've been loving Florida. I even bought goggles to play in the pools and ocean!

Lessons Learned:

It's really been a teaching experience to have such a tedious string of one-nighters, split-weeks, and long bus days into shows. Through all of that, I remain healthy... then as I'm in the midst of a two week sit down, I buckle my knee during a scene and have to sit act two out. It was so hard to sit in the green room and listen to the show happening without me, but so important that I rest and ice so that I can return healthy and avoid further injury. The lesson learned for this month is to swallow your pride and take care of yourself. This career needs to be looked at as a marathon, not a sprint. Also, thank your local swing. Our incredible swing jumped right into my track and finished out the show without skipping a beat! Yay Alex Pepper!

Now, as a side note. I'll be returning to New York this summer and would love to explore TV/Film/Print options. If anyone knows any connections, agencies, or means of exposure, please pass those on! Thanks so much y'all!

Hope all is well,

Andrew Mauney
www.andrewmauney.com