Premature Christmascarolation

So i'm taking the job in virginia - 'a christmas carol' at a really good company i've worked with before. Took a moment to consider, as it may very well result in me losing the office job i've been working for almost the last year - that's a mixed thing in that i get good pay and benefits and all that stuff, though i won't pretend it will be terrifically heartbreaking to give up the work.

See this is the thing: acting work tends to pay pretty crappy except at the very highest level; there is no insurance or pension benefits or any of that kind of thing unless you're in one of the unions; and even then, you have to work a certain amount before the bennies kick in (in the theater actors' union, it's 20 weeks a year, which may not sound like much, but it is far from guaranteed that any given actor will work on shows 20 weeks in any given year); so it's a plus to have a day job that pays ok and provides bennies, etc. But at a certain point, if you're spending too much time there you lose yourself. And when you start turning down acting jobs because of office work, you ain't an actor, you're an office worker. And i'm looking at about a 50% pay cut to take this gig, followed by... uncertainty. And i'm one of the lucky ones - i'm in the union, i've worked at a bunch of good theaters, as well as a some tv and indie film. This gig is seven weeks. Thirteen to go for basic health coverage.

But this is a really good role that i'm perfect for in a good show at a good theater. So that moment i took to deliberate didn't last too long. The show is a little jesus-y for my taste (sorry sis), but it's still a very good piece of work. I mean, ok, it is christmas carol, so there's gonna be a little bit of the Big J going on, but it's usually more about the acts of charity/goodwill toward men/milk of human kindness business than the let's-go-to-church-and-pray stuff. And now that i think of it i'm not altogether convinced that the 'roadmap to good behavior' provided by the bible, taken as a whole, is really that much better than what dickens gave us.

But i digress.

My point is that it's a fun and rich show, and i'm psyched to be doing it, even though it may mean that my christmas present to myself is a little bit of financial difficulty.

The other downside is that i'm apt to miss the november festivities: thanksgiving with my family (or my new york family) and the ultra-fantabulous t-day celebration with that crew (aka, 'the best friends the word has ever known') Unless i can talk them into bringin' the party down to virginia...