Job: I'm an actor.
Weren't you just in Sarasota, FL? What for?
Yeah, I was down in Florida for about three months. Kate Alexander, who is the Associate Director for Florida Studio Theatre, in FST’s production of Shotgun , had cast me.
First I guess I should tell you a little bit about what was happening with the play. Shotgun is a new work by John Biguenet and was picked up by the National New Play Network.
The NNPN is a sort of alliance of regional theaters who develop new work, and FST was one of three member theaters to pick up Shotgun . All three get credit in a "rolling world premiere" which, in theory, is to help promote new plays. All of this is to say I owe everyone involved a great deal because it led to me getting a job.
Shotgun itself about two families in the months immediately following Hurricane Katrina, one black and one white.
When the play opens, my mom has died. My father and I are moving into half of a shotgun apartment, hence the play's title. From there, you can sort of imagine the crucible. You have five characters, are wounded and sort of lost, and most not entirely comfortable with one another.
Image to the right, below - Tom Patterson as "Eugene" (left) with William Peden as "Beau" in National New Play Network rolling world premiere of "Shotgun" at Florida Studio Theatre
The play is about New Orleans, clearly, but it’s also about people living with death, which is something we all have to do. That said, I'm proud that it can remind audience that New Orleans isn't recovered. It's in the process of recovering and has been abandoned by the government and the collective American conscious.
You went to Tisch. What a privilege!
Well, I went to Tisch because it was in New York and part of NYU. I really didn't look at it beyond that.
Heh. Tisch was five years ago. I went to the undergraduate drama program which... has a lot of faults. I liked some of my teachers. Vicki Hart and Per Brahe were very influential. As far as professional advantages there's a lot more schools that offer a better "in" as far as the industry is concerned.
I received some good training, but I felt the program, as a whole, is unfocused. I've been out for a little while, and while I think there are programs that might serve you by getting you in the room, ultimately its up to you to bring the goods. You can look up any alumni list and see there's people who work and people who don't. A program can be a boost, but it won't give you jobs. Man, school was a while ago. It's not really something that I think back on or try to reason out. When I auditioned, I think I came in with the idea that I'd be famous a year after graduation. Now, I want a Tony.
It's not that I don't look back, it's just that I don't think where I went to college has a massive influence in my current career or lack thereof. NYU didn't grant me a "launch" and I feel everything I have I've hustled for.
