Great White Underground Way

Have you ever been to Broadway and wanted a better way to get between theatres? Say a secret tunnel only for us avid patrons. Well after a rather intense episode in the Charlotte Airport where I had to run .75 miles in about 7 minutes with a rolling suitcase and back pack; the following thought came to mind as I rest in my seat waiting for my drink...

Wouldn’t it be great if Broadway had walking escalators in an underground tunnel system similar to the subway just for theatre patrons?

Think about it. We would arrive at our own version of Penn Station; lets call it GWUW ( Great White Underground Way) for grins and giggles. And it would be under 45^th street maybe the Marquis theatre. Now I say like the subway but the only similarity would be its proximity to the ground. This station would be clean, and decorated with theatrical memorabilia from all the ages. Picture it, Showboat, 42 Street, Will Rogers Follies, Gypsy, Evita, West Side Story and the list obviously goes on and on.

And to top it all off how bout we have all the actors sign autographs after the show down below to omit having to deal with rain, snow, or whathavenots. You could go to get tickets at 42 street and realize there are none left, in about 3 minutes you could already be at the Gershwin on 51^st in line for Wicked and not even have broken a sweat. Obviously my times may be a bit off but I think we all get the picture. Ohh and another idea, to make it less congested how about only people with tickets can come below, granted we will have to work out some sort of pass to those who are wanting to get to a theatre, But I will save that issue for an urban engineer. If you are familiar with the secret tunnels of the Magic Kingdom at Disney world, think the same thing.

We wouldn’t have to deal with slow walkers, crowds, tourists (the ones who give others a bad name), and the city in general.  And to think we could avoid weather and taxies and what not. If airports can have traveling escalators (side note... when you run on those things you really gain some distance FAST), and Disney can have underground tunnels, I say that Broadway and NYC could make a combo of the two.

Food For Thought

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What is your backup plan? I DONT NEED ONE THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

As an actor we get upset when ask by random people, “what are you going to do with your life when you can’t do theatre anymore”, or "what can you do with a theatre degree?" I AM AN ACTOR, GOSH DARNIT, THATS WHAT I AM GOING TO DO! If I learned anything from my teachers at Circle in the Square Theatre school, if you have a back up plan that means you will fail at acting and use that back up plan. Yes I feel that we should always be able to do more than one thing but never depend on that as a way to escape from doing what we love.  

Even my father, when I was looking for acting schools, suggested I major in Computer Engineering because that is something I can depend on. Well after my slight disappointment that my dad didn't think I was good enough to succeed I made it clear to him that this is my life and that is that. He finally came around, and I realized it wasn’t about my talent just that he wanted to make sure I was going to have stable life.

The road you choose to take very well may have many twists and turns let alone potholes and construction (insert any metaphor you desire), but think of these distractions as stepping stones. I am the last to say this because I still don’t believe it for myself with some of the past choices I have made career wise. But I have to remember that I choose to do each and everything and I can choose what comes next. 

I have experience and or training in 7 different other aspects of entertainment from back to front of house. If acting doesn’t work out what can I do? Theatre management? Teach? Choreograph? Voice lessons? Who knows but that isn’t the point because it WILL work out. If you have the drive and passion, don’t let anyone get in the way.

Food for Thought...

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