WOW! I can’t believe that I have already been here for a month! It seems like just last week I arrived in the city. But looking back over this past month, I’ve already had a lot of amazing opportunities and I wanted to share a few with you now.
On my arrival to the city, I moved in with Jeffrey and his wonderful roommates Liz and Avery in Brooklyn. They live by the Parkside stop on the Q train. They have generously allowed me to stay on the couch for the past few weeks while auditioning, job hunting, and apartment searching.
Audition wise, I’ve only hit up a couple of auditions here and there. While I of course want to audition and work towards something I actually have a degree in, I also needed something at the moment that is stable and allow me to pay the rent in order for me to stay in New York. While here, I’ve auditioned for several shows for all over the country including Spring Awakening, Legally Blonde, and Book of Mormon. Also in the performance realm and as many of you know, I’ve also had the opportunities to do some extra work on Smash, Person of Interest, and a couple of audience pieces. (More to come on these experiences in my next blog)
Concerning a job, it has taken me a while to find something…really anything. I applied at over forty places, walking up and down the streets of NYC and stopping in whatever stores that were hiring…that is a retail store. I decided that since I really wanted to enjoy my time in the city, I didn’t really want to wait tables. So at first, I was looking for anything besides the food industry. Unfortunately for me, most stores weren’t hiring until late February or March since most where currently still letting go of their new holiday hires. Finally, after two weeks of searching, I finally heard back from NY Kids Club, a premier children enrichment center renowned for creative and innovative kids classes, day camps, birthday celebrations, and special events. I went through training with the company and have become a part of their Special Events Team. It means that I am only really working Fridays at 3pm to Sunday at 6am. This is a great job where I get to work with children, only work on the weekends, and allows me time to still audition during the week. The NY Kids Club also guarantees me work when I come back to the city if I get a theatre job that needs me to leave the city for a few weeks/months. It is a great job! Now I just need to work my up in the ranks so that I can become a more permanent part of the team and get more hours.
Apartment wise, my findings were similar to that of my job hunt. Looking for an apartment that met what I wanted out of a place was difficult to find. Not only was I looking for a place for myself, I was also looking for a place that I could share with Cynthia, a friend from TU that is moving here in March. In looking for a place, I just wanted something that had a good and safe location, that had enough space for the two of us, and that wouldn’t break my bank account each month. I realized very quickly into my search that I could only have two of the three!! My ideal situation would be something that I could sublet for 6 to 10 months, wouldn’t be more than $800 a month (including all utilities), and enough space for Cynthia and I not to kill each other. Lol. After about 3 weeks of searching, sending about a hundred emails to different sublets, and actually going to see 4 or 5 potential places, my friend Jessica called telling me that she had a room opening up at her place March 1st. You may remember me talking about Jessica during my Seussical blog. She went to TU but graduated before I got there. She and her fiancé, David, were looking for someone to start renting one bedroom in their three bedroom apartment starting March 1st. And, to add to this already amazing opportunity, they need someone else to start renting in April since their other roommate will be leaving then. That extra room is perfect for Cythia!!! Why Cynthia’s original plan was to move here in March, the new opportunity sort of forced her to wait until April instead. That just gives her more time to allow herself time to prep for the big apple.
Job: Check. Housing: Check. Now I just have to wait for March 1st to move in and continue to audition…
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