so the craziest thing just happened to me. A week or so ago when I was freaking out about majoring in theater, I came across a blog called Unnaturally Green, by a woman who was the Elphaba standby in the San Francisco production of Wicked. I loved reading this blog because it had a whole bunch of cool behind the scenes type stuff. But about halfway through reading this blog something very unsettling occurred to me: Broadway shows are every night of the week except for Monday. This means that if I ever did end up with any type of job for which I would need to be there during the actual show, I would be required to work on Sunday.
This was a little unsettling for me because as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we are taught to keep the sabbath day holy which usually includes not working on Sunday. Needless to say I was pretty upset when I started thinking about this whole situation. Even on the off chance that I WAS good enough, would I EVER be able to get a job on Broadway? I started searching the internet for answers when I came across a Deseret News article about LDS performers on traveling Broadway shows. One of the actresses mentioned was Nikki Bohne, who has the lead role in the traveling tour of Legally Blonde. I went to her website, found her email and decided to ask her my questions, not really thinking I would ever actually hear back from her.
I had actually pretty much forgotten that I had ever sent her an email until this morning, when I got a reply! here is part of what she shared with me:
"Cutting right to the chase. You will have to work on Sunday. There are
enough actresses out there for the job, that at first you won't be
able to say no. Some people who have established themselves in the
business with a certain job may be able to contract Sunday's off, but
I would say that is the exception, not the rule. The advice I would
give would be to decide within yourself what is most important to you
and your specific relationship with heavenly father. Everyone has a
different outlook on the gospel and so it's important to create your
own personal "code of honor." In my personal opinion, the good that I
do outweighs working on the Sabbath. I work really hard to attend
church each week, so I normally do not miss th sacrament, but it is
hard. It is a personal decision you have to make and in this business
it is tough to find the motivation for the small things. But it's
possible! Maintaining a regular plan of scripture reading and prayer
is essential. I listen to conference talks while traveling and study
the Book of Mormon with my family.
But what it comes down to is your own personal decision. Being an
active member of the church in this field is hard...really hard...but
definitely possible! Most importantly, enter your career knowing who
you are and what you stand for. If you are wavering at all, the world
will get to you. But the lord really is on our side and I feel his
spirit every day, even in the show. Wait, especially in the show ;)
performing is such a spiritual experience for me and singing my shoe
every night brings me closer to my father in heaven.
If you are dead set on Sundays, there is hope. After months of
switching shifts to attend church and showing up in a dress with my
food for the whole day in a bag, Disney finally gave me Sundays off!
It took a lot of work and I wouldn't count on that being a regular
occurrence."
this is just a little of what she emailed me, and I honestly just couldn't believe she emailed me back. What she said really made me feel better because at least at this point, I don't have to give up on this dream. I dont know what the future holds, but as of now, this may still be a possibility for me if I work hard
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