Its Good To Travel

It's always good to travel. One thing about acting that I really like is that sometimes you get to be out on the open road among the nooks and the crannies of in-between life, outside of the main cities. The small town tempo with its lazy sunny days and its patient strolling sidewalks, the town's single post office, the fresh-pie diners, and the late night Wal-Mart hangouts, all quaint in their gentle quietude. I live in New York right now, and when there's no apocalyptic hurricanes to worry about, its actually a pretty nice place. But I've always had a thing for smaller cities.

Back in the fall I was able to work on a stage production of "Mice and Men" up in Connecticut near New Milford. The countryside was beautiful. Lush rolling hillsides and small winding roads connected the inter-woven townships of the area. And I have nothing but great things to say about the Sherman Player's Theater Company, they were a class act. Connecticut in the fall is legendary. I'd take the Metro-North Rail on the Harlem-Valley Wingdale line all the way up. It was a nice ride. It gave me time to write on the train, munch a quick snack, or nap just a little, all necessities of travel. 

Myself and one other actor from the play usually crashed at the director's house when it was a long rehearsal week, and for the most part I was up for exploring a bit of the area. I will admit though, I did decline the nature hike through the forest hills, even though I wanted to see the waterfall I had heard about. I've seen and been in too many horror movies to be comfortable being the only black guy on a nature hike like that. Sorry, but I know how that story ends. 

Once the fall colors really set in, the whole area took on a life of it's own. I was glad to spend the time up there. It's too bad that most actors would opt to cut themselves off from an experience like that just because it was a smaller production than, say an Off-Broadway endeavor, or because of the community theater pay. I think these are the kinds of things that give an actor an edge among the competition. There's a richness of life experiences that can't be faked, and especially when it comes to the interview process, it makes a difference. One actor from the show even joked that I should do a cross country experiment of some sort, couch-surfing my way through theater towns coast to coast. That would certainly be an experience to remember.