Maryland, My Maryland?

I tried out for a string of shows right here in my home county here in Maryland, about 8 years ago.

I didn't get into any of them.

About a year and a half ago I auditioned for a show in a neighboring county. But due to sudden schedule changes, I had to withdraw from consideration before I even got word of it.

This March, there is an audition in yet another neighboring Maryland County. A bit of a commute. But I am giving it serious consideration for several reasons.

First, I have been meaning to expose myself to new theatres and groups of actors. It's just a good idea not to get too stagnant when it comes to your associations. (When you are in a clique, this works, but I have always been way too much of a free thinker to ensconce myself into any of the local theatre cliques.) So wading in a wider talent pool will be of benefit to me. Hopefully.

Secondly, it's a cast of 13 men. (Heaven Can Wait.) So, usually it's a safe bet that a person is more likely to get into a show when there is a larger cast. It will depend on how open minded this theatre is to casting totally new people. But more slots makes a difference, I would say. I'm not worried about having a huge role. I am interested in appearing on a new stage in front of a new audience.

And finally, excerpt for a stage reading, I have never performed in my native state. I became a semi-fixture in West Virginia community theatres years ago and have been bouncing back and forth there ever since. To be an actor this long and not perform in one's own state is amusing.

Ironically, this part of Maryland may take just as long to drive to as the parts of West Virginia that I go to. So it wouldn't be closer. It would just be Maryland.

Not that I am assuming I would get in. History indicates in fact that it takes a few attempts to get into a company with which one has no worked before. But still, everything from cast size to my feelings on the play (not overly attached) to the timing and the amount of time I would have to prepare for it seem to be conspiring to make it a good idea to try out.

Plus, it would end just as the summer production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, (which I am thinking of trying out for) would be starting.

So stay tuned.