MIA by John Lansing: Guest post
Careers are a long time in the making. I thought I’d share a glimpse into how mine got started. I was a theatre major at Hofstra University on Long Island, but I knew the action was really in New York City. So, I’d take the Long Island Railroad into Manhattan and audition at cattle calls when I didn’t have class. Amazingly, I booked my 1 st big job as an understudy in the First National Tour of Grease. I traded my shoulder length hair for a DA, and ditched school for a trip to Chicago where I began the tour. I wasn’t a very good understudy. The job description was covering Danny Zuko, and four other characters. But in all honesty, I was all about Zuko all the time. I’d seen Barry Bostwick’s brilliant performance on Broadway, and that was the roll I wanted to play. Our director, Tom Moore, in his infinite wisdom, schooled the cast that pacing was everything in Grease. He drilled into our heads not to milk the moments. Not to take dramatic pauses. Keep it moving. I was the newbie in the