Meet London
One thousand pirouettes. Ten thousand rehearsals, over and over, do this, do that, look up, look out. Study, work, laugh, breathe, and… again! It’s all in the work. Whether you’re looking at Academy Award winners. Tony winners, Olympic Gold medalists, or Pulitzer Prize winners the road is the same. Winners work their butts off. Do you want it? Then you must go for it. This is the quest for Greatness.
The best part is that on this quest there is the journey. The book, the studio, the play, the tree in the park, the restaurant, the cup of tea, the place you can’t believe you discovered that charged the moment, catapulted the desire, and cemented your destiny. There are thousands of tiny moments. They add up. To. Your. Greatnesss.
Meet London
(My London, my places, and the moments that inspired me. The things that spurred me on, shook me up, and left me reaching higher…)
My 101 to Greatness in London
3 pounds, fifty pence. That was the cost of a brat with onions from the man in the park just outside of Buckingham Palace. It got so my mouth would water just thinking about it. Not good. Three pounds, fifty pence was a lot for me. But I sprang for it. I spent the three pounds, fifty pence every day for those brats, and then I ended up existing on one biscuit and yogurt for the rest of the day.
In St. James Park I sat and mapped my entire life in my mind. With my pencil in hand, I sat writing and dreaming about what I might do, where I might take an acting class or a magic class, who I might contact for my film project, and where I hoped to be in a day a month, a year, five years. I’m a writer, so I wrote.
Then the skies opened and it poured for the next week. I was broke, so I sat for hours in St. James Church. It was so quiet and beautiful. I prayed. I prayed for myself and for the world. I prayed for the rain to stop.
I sprang for a show in the West End and sat next to a guy who had seen this particular show fifteen times. He was amazing and beautiful to me. The first ten minutes we said nothing, and then I finally turned and spoke to him. I gazed in amazement at the show “Whistle Down The Wind” I thought about the musical that I want to write. It seemed possible and exciting.
I walked up to Notting Hill and checked out the tiniest thrift stores I have ever seen. I thought of the Julia Roberts film. I laughed and smiled to myself, I’m in London! I was walking the streets where legends had filmed. I was filled with bliss and possibility.
Shivering wet, I’d duck into hotels and order tea. A pot of tea with milk and sugar. Never had I tried milk and sugar in my tea. I was something new, and something awesome. I’d sit and sip and create all sorts of plots in my head about this new and exciting city.
Chinatown, Museum of Art, Raindance (a place where I had wanted to study for sometime). Next time! I have so many more places to explore in London. There is still so much more to learn, to study.
For get about how hard it is. Forget about the impossible wash of doubt. Forget about begrudging anyone’s success.
This is your journey. This is your story. It’s your name on the marquee. NOW, GO FOR IT!
I will be going back to London to study and grow as a performer. I would like to know about your journey, your places to study, and your places with the best pots of tea and park benches.
*Please note: This thread is not for speaking of places to stay away from. It is not for posting about a place you had a bad experience. This thread is for GREATNESS you have found in London.
I hope that by reading these posts you discover wonderful places to study your craft in London. I hope that we meet others in London, by way of this thread, who can tell us the excellent places where they study the craft of acting/performing/dance.
Show up. Do the work. Do more work.
What is your journey to greatness in London?
Edited by user Monday, August 9, 2010 3:33:36 AM(UTC)
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