We need to learn to say "no"...

If we are lucky enough in our careers (and it shouldn’t really be luck if we have done it right) we earn the choice to be able to pick and choose the work we do, the companies we audition for, or better yet, the directors and music directors we work with.  Meaning, we can decide to attend this or that audition, or work for/with this or that company or director, etc.  But with our integrity in check and a respect for our own values, why does one feel the pressure to say ‘’yes” and work with an undermining director, or a music director who puts our most precious instrument and vehicle with which we want to have a long career in jeopardy?  Why do we attend the audition for the director who verbally abuses actors and feels he has the right to criticize their weight or body type, their previous experience, or the fact that they are young and “green” when these are exactly the actors who are going to be willing to give 100% of their heart and soul for the very little pay they offer? Is it because we want it that bad? Or is it because we have been so used to picking ourselves apart, “perfecting” every single note, nuance, expression, nook and cranny in our craft? Is it a little of both?  As the teacher, the voice coach, the music director, and “momma bear”, I say no more.  The company whose director criticizes and offers detrimental vocal health advice, the company who humiliates a just-out-of-college aspiring actor will lose my endorsement in audition season, regardless of how many Jeff Noms and Awards or great reviews.  The budding little company with kinks to work out will win in my book over you, mister.  Here is a call to all coaches, teachers, agents out there.  Let’s send our lovely and most precious future of Chicago Theater to those who demonstrate a RESPECT for the people who create on their stages, for those who tell the stories, and for those who sacrifice much in exchange for little. That is just, that is right, and it is crucial.