How I Started Touring

Or as my mother would call it, How I Ran Away with the Circus.
I have had the opportunity to tour under a couple different job titles. I had a theatre background, but I got my first touring job through a marketing company.  I had been working in promotions consistently for about a year when I got an interview for a performing position.  A marketing company was looking through their pool of promotional models for those with acting experience to help a company do some internal training.  I applied and was thrill to be the youngest selected to be one of four touring trios.  This was a short term position, but helped me to put "touring experience" on my resume.

Next, I decided to focus on applying for touring theatre positions.  I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do on the road, but I started looking up touring shows and the companies that run them and submitting my resume and seeking out auditions.  I was able to sing on the stage of the Fox Theatre in Detroit(gorgeous!!!) and attend a true dance audition in Chicago (not my forte, but a great experience).  Sadly, nothing came of this.

The tide finally turned when I was a volunteer actor in a local show (the world premiere of The Twelve).  I met a lot of great people including someone who had spent several years touring.  We stayed close when he returned to touring and one day I got a call.  The tour was going to Canada and one of the touring novelty sales staff wasn't going to be able to go.  They asked if I would be interested.  I know this isn't exactly the position that I wanted, but I love new experiences, so I said yes!!!

It all happened very fast.  I got the official call and the next morning, I was on a plane to Duluth to learn a new position and join the tour.  I was able to be a "plush cart operator" for the remainder of the tour, so I sold toys and lights to little kids.  In my downtime, I would try to watch the show load in and learn from the technicians.  I made a little money and a lot of friends and headed home five months later with a greatly enhanced resume and a focus on spending as much time learning in local theatre as I could.

I updated my resume and sent it out to wherever I could (Though one supervisor friend said he found my lack of focus a turnoff, but what can I say, I was willing to learn anything!).  As luck would have it, I got a call asking me about my background in theatrical lighting and electrics.  I would find out later that when the show I was working on headed back to the main office a few of my friends sat down with the gentleman in charge of electrics and talked about how excited I was about the industry.  I was offered an assistant electrician position and spent the next three years touring throughout  South America, Japan, Taiwan, France, and the U.S.A.

Never underestimate the power of networking, flexibility, and a drive to learn.