Philadelphia Theatre Caravan: Aesop's Fables Fall of '98

So it's the summer of 1998. I had just decided to take the year off from college to pursue acting full-time. My mother was very upset by this decision but I had to do this for myself. I enrolled in an acting class at the Walnut Street Theatre called Acting By Mistake with Bill Roudebush. I loved him as a theatre coach. He really loved working with me as well. After doing comedy improv for the past four years of my performance career with Peace Theatre, it was a welcomed change of pace to be doing dramatic scenes from the Amen Corner. I was recomended a manager from Antonio Benidict, an actor I worked with in Peace Theatre that summer. Her name was Debra Phelps with Quiet Tip Managment. She had got Antonio a gig as Dennis Rodman's stunt double in the movie Simon Sez. I auditioned for her in August of '98 and she signed me on the spot. She started sending me out imediately. I got called back for a Sean Conery film called Finding Forester and I had three call backs for Animal Factory directed by Steve Buschemi. You might reconize him from the movie Big Daddy with Adam Saddler. He played the homeless guy. He was also in Armegedon. I was very suprised to meet him at my call back. I couldn't put a name with his face. I then auditioned for Philadelphia Theatre Caravan. This company was run by Drucie McDaniel. They were doing a touring production of Aesop's Fables. The tour was going to upstate New York and parts of New England. I was very excited! I went to the audition and it went very well. I then had to wait to hear something. The next day Drucie called me at home to tell me I was cast! I tried not to sound too excited but I wanted to jump up and down like I won the lottery! I did jump around after I got the phone. I needed this gig so bad! I needed to prove I belonged in the real theatre world. I needed to be apart of real professional productions and feel like I belonged. I needed to be reconized as a significant talent. It was a vindication of sorts. I remember signing my contract and feeling such a sense of accomplishment. We started rehearsals in October of 1998. The cast included two other actresses. Monica Moran and Thea Chaloner. Our stage manager was also an actor named Jason Stockdale. Me Jason did a show together three years later called The Secret Garden. I learned from my cast mates and aspecially Drucie. She would coach me after rehearsals. To this day I never forgot how she preached about discovery. I needed to bring that element of discovery and newness to my role and performance. Thea and Monia were older than me. Thea was 24 and Monica was 25. They both held degrees in theatre. They taught me alot. We used to to these physical warm up before shows. Strecthing, jumping jacks etc. This got my body lose and ready to to do a physically demanding show like Aesop's Fables. We had great time doing that tour. Our first week on tour we drove straight to Buffaloe NY! The tour closed in January of 99. I wanted to compromise with my mom so I renrolled in Community College. That semester lasted a month before I left school again. This time to do a much bigger tour!