It’s the last day of December, the holiday season has come to an end, and tomorrow, we say Happy New Year. It was this time last year that I made a New Year’s resolution to start blogging. It only took me about eight months into 2019 to achieve that, but proudly, here I am with my tenth story. One would think the holiday season would inspire this dancer to tell a Nutcracker story, or something along those festive lines. Of course not. Must have something to do with the need to feel warm, but my story today is about summer jobs. Still brain surfing the college memories, so summer it is.

After my freshman year at college, sixteen hours away in Indiana, I didn’t want to stray too far from home that summer. So, I chose to get a real, normal job that had nothing to do with dance. I did not enjoy the work….it was Burger King, by the way….but I did enjoy the paycheck. However, after the independence of college, then being being home for ten weeks, I knew that the summer after my sophomore year I needed to branch out and spread my wings. One day I was looking at a job board in our music school building and I came across an audition for a huge, well-known amusement park. They were looking for singers and dancers for their summer shows. The extra added bonus was they were doing an audition tour stopping at various college campuses, and they were coming to my school that spring. Hard to make an excuse not to go since my travel was limited to walking across campus! I threw together a song and dance and somehow summoned up the courage. As far as auditions go, it was mediocre. Fortunately, all the demands of the end of the semester kept me occupied, so I quickly stopped obsessing about the audition. May came, school ended, and I headed back to upstate New York. Shortly thereafter, the phone rang, and a lovely woman said, “Debra, we would like to offer you a position as a dancer in one of our summer shows, and we’ll teach you how to sing.” I got the job….and an insult…..all in the span of a three minute conversation, but I was thrilled to be employed. So, off I went, to my very first theatrical summer job, five shows a day, six days a week. It was four girls backing up one featured guy, and a piano player. Patrons threw their peanut shells on the floor and we shared the dressing room with a magician and a rabbit. But it was show biz!! Ya gotta start somewhere!

Here’s the thing, once you’ve had a taste of being away, and someone has actually paid you to do the thing you love, you want more. During my junior year, I pondered what I might do the following summer. At some point, a friend told me about a professional summer stock theater in Indianapolis, that held local auditions for the dancing ensemble each summer. Great job, great salary. They were doing two shows I loved, Funny Girl, and How to Succeed in Business. My friend said they were hiring six female dancers and one alternate. Actually, three of the dancers had already worked there the year before and were automatically rehired without auditioning. So, three dancers were needed. I, of course, being the incredibly confident person I was (that is a joke), said THREE?? Doesn’t sound like great odds. My friend responded with, you are a tap dancer, and you must go. She eventually wore me down. The first hurdle was talking my dad into letting me stay two extra weeks at the end of the semester to attend the audition. That was fun. He finally said okay. When the day came, I took the hour bus ride, met my friend there, and I will never forget walking up to the gate of the theater. There must have been a hundred girls standing there. I turned to my friend and said, didn’t you say they only needed three dancers? Look at all these girls! I’m not staying. I am NEVER going to get this. My friend was understandably annoyed with me, and spent ten minutes playing psychotherapist to convince me to stay. I did. Very unhappy about it. I signed in. The audition commenced. I made it through the first cut which was an extensive ballet combination, and now there were half the girls remaining. My friend was cut immediately, and I felt horrible, but she was so amazing, she stayed to support me. The next cut followed a musical theater jazz combination. They kept me. Tap shoes were required for the third combo and suddenly I found myself standing there among the last seven girls. It had been several exhausting hours and I assumed we were done. But oh no, they said, ladies, please put your ballet slippers back on. We had to execute an adagio, which is slow, technically demanding, and arduous. My legs were like rubber. Suddenly, it was all over and three of us were ushered over to a grand piano and told to sign contracts. I was so confused. I looked at my friend, who had waited all this time for me, and she mouthed, you got the job! I could not believe it, and was in complete shock that I was going to sign a contract without permission from my dad! Let’s remember these were the days of no cell phones. The long, and the short of it was, it was an amazing summer job. I became a member of the Actors Equity Association. I was a union member. I had no idea at the time what that was or how important it would be to my future.

My senior year was busy with ballet company auditions. As much as I knew my destiny was the world of musical theater, my heart still wanted the experience of a ballet company. My professors encouraged me to think of going to Europe where the dancing opportunities were plentiful. I almost considered it. However, I narrowed it down to five auditions closer to the home front. One was a total bust. Two said, we would love to have you join us and dance in some of our season, for no money. A fourth was a thrill because it was an offer of an apprenticeship with a reputable company in Chicago, but even back then sixty bucks wasn’t going to go very far. Lastly, the offer I accepted was a full position, with more money, and teaching opportunities, and felt like the right fit for me. I happily spent a second summer with the summer stock theater, as one of the lucky dancers who were automatically rehired, then that fall I went off to the ballet company. I didn’t end up staying long, but never regretted the decision.

Each summer dancing job prepared me for the adventures of my future. I have loved spending my career as a professional dancer turned singer, actress, director, choreographer, and teacher. I cannot wait to share the NYC chapter of my story. Please stay tuned. Happy New Year to all!!