evenings? weekends? what are those?

Well, Schoolhouse Rock Live! ended three weeks ago, and it sure has been nice having my evenings and weekends back. At some point during the rehearsal process, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't play for any more musicals until I get my career on track. While I enjoy playing the piano and being paid for it, and have made many friends by doing community theater, I just can't make the time commitment anymore.

From a purely monetary standpoint, at $15 an hour, I should have been paid about $2500 for the time I put into Schoolhouse Rock Live -- and I did that show entirely for free, because Workshop Players doesn't pay anyone. My justification was that I was going to audition for the show anyway, which meant I was willing to get up on stage and memorize lines and sing and dance for free. By playing piano, I don't have to memorize anything, don't have to learn any dance steps, and have a considerably easier job. The difference is that usually I get paid for such work, but as I just said, I had already planned to do more work for the same pay (none). Also, I knew that several of my friends would be auditioning, so I figured it would be fun to do a show with them.

In any case, there are few theaters that will pay $2500 for a mere rehearsal accompanist. A music director who also plays piano, maybe (I'm told Beechwood pays pretty well), but I'm not good at *teaching* music, and I'd need to have considerable experience and/or skill under my belt to get up to the amount of pay that would make it worth my time. The "but I enjoy doing it" thing can only be stretched so far -- I also enjoy having time to myself, and not having to rush home from work, glort down dinner and drive off to rehearsal five nights a week. Sure, it feels good to put on a good show and have an audience applaud for a job well done, but here's the other thing...

This isn't what I want to do for life. I don't want to be a poor graphic designer for the rest of my life, nor do I want to spend all my free time making meager sums from community theaters. The whole reason I became interested in art was because I wanted to be a syndicated freelance cartoonist, but I knew I should go to college and get a degree right out of high school in case the cartooning path didn't pan out. But when I graduated from college, I immediately started looking for a full-time job related to my degree (Computer Art, minor in Graphic Design), because, well, that's what you do after college, right? It wasn't until months of searching and unemployment that I realized I should also be working on my comic strip. After all, I was living at home, didn't have to pay for rent, food, utilities, etc. -- just a car that has needed one repair after another. By this time, I found a part-time job, and then a full-time job, so the cartooning thing fell by the wayside.

At the encouragement of some friends, I became determined that once Schoolhouse Rock ended, I would turn down any and all requests to play for musicals and focus on cartooning. First, I need to pack up my huge Snoopy collection into boxes and put it into storage, so that I will have a place to put in a drawing table. Second, I need to discipline myself to actually work on my comic strip ideas. Third, I need to send off copies to syndicates, wait 6-12 months for their replies (most newspaper cartoon syndicates receive hundreds or thousands of submissions each year, and only accept three to six, because newspapers are reluctant to make space for new strips when old standbys are still drawing reader attention). If, by some amazing chance I become syndicated and make enough money that I can comfortably live on my own, I'll then move out and quit my full-time job. Those are my goals.

So for those who were wondering, those are my reasons for not playing for musicals anymore. I don't want to lie on my deathbed and ask myself why I never made time to try my hand at cartooning.