Perpetual Notion
The Bodies Exhibit was working out just right for Krista. She was taking home almost $400 every shift she worked, between the salary and the cash tips. Everything was handled in cash, which was just fine with her. If she could get just three shifts per week she could cover all her ordinary living expenses and then some. It left her lots of time and flexibility to go on auditions and go-sees, almost as many as she could get. She had told her sister and only a few close friends about what she was doing, not because she was embarrassed by it, but because everyone had limitless questions about it and she was getting tired of it all. Hanging around a room full of skinned Chinese convict bodies was getting old, but the pay was good. Krista had a well-trained sultry voice, so she proved to be a very effective phone receptionist, booking appointments for groups and VIP visitors (the source of most of her tips). She had no moral concerns about the way these bodies were sourced in China (there were lots of rumors about that), especially since it made possible the continued pursuit of her musical theater acting career.
Krista had come to New York thirty-five years ago from Connecticut. She had grown up in a small town in upper Fairfield County. Most people in the county made their living by commuting into New York City, but her family owned a small party-goods store that barely kept the family afloat. Her father and mother were avowed Democrats in a Republican county. They lived as though the 1960’s had never ended. They were a happy family that encouraged their children to pursue their interests in the arts. Krista had been in every play or show in her schools from grade school on. During high school she was primed to be the leading lady in every single semi-annual play, both drama and musical. Her voice, a clear and strong soprano, was as good as any in the county. Krista won awards for song, dance and drama every step of the way, all the way up to and including state-wide contests. Everyone in her school knew she was headed for a career in the theater.
In her senior year, starring in a Cole Porter review at her high school, she was noticed by a Broadway producer who was visiting his sister for the Thanksgiving holiday. He was smitten with Krista’s good looks, auburn hair and clarion singing voice. He noted that she also moved well on stage and had an ease about her that struck him as a clear sign that she was comfortable on stage and perhaps the next great ingénue discovery. He was casting for a new show about a Robin Hood-like character that was called The Robber Bridegroom that had made it through workshops and was headed for Broadway. There was a role for a young, naïve woman, a girl named Rosamund and he had his eye on Krista for that role. Generally, actors and actresses had to work their way through off-Broadway to get a shot at the “Great White Way”, but he knew better than most that the public loved a “shot in the dark” new person, especially if it was a beautiful young woman with a dewy quality that he sensed Krista had.
He spent the time getting to know Krista and her family and offered her a small stipend to move to New York (just enough to get her positioned in a small shared Greenwich Village apartment with two other actresses he knew). She jumped at the opportunity since she had graduated from high school and wasn’t sure about her next moves and party-goods didn’t have the margin to allow easy funding for college beyond the community college level.
Krista read and reread her part from the bootlegged script he had secured for her. She couldn’t practice the songs since she didn’t have access to the music. She was ready and getting bored waiting, so she decided to get a “survival job” as her two roommates (also aspiring actresses) called their jobs. She spoke to her producer every few days, but he had explained that show logistical preparations always took time. Then, one day he called and asked her to lunch. Krista was not so naïve as not to be wary of unwanted advances from producers, even one who had met her parents. Lunch seemed safe and she was ready for the next step in her Broadway journey.
At lunch, her producer looked nervous and edgy right from the start. He made a few pleasantries and then explained the realities of life in the big city. It seemed that the director, who was considered critical to the investor support for the show, had taken a strong point of view on the Rosamund character (it was not the lead, but was the lead female). He did not want an untested ingénue and was already set on another young lady who had received some critical acclaim in her first production a few years ago. He was insistent on casting her even though she was not particularly well-known either. Her name Patty Lupone.
Krista got her first real Broadway lesson that day. The producer made his apologies, gave her a few shrugs as though to say, “That’s the way the cookie crumbles, kid.” And off he went with a polite handshake and a lightness of step that said he had taken care of yet another unpleasant task that needed doing. Krista stood outside the restaurant with a stunned look about her, needing to gather her thoughts.
After doing some soul-searching and decidedly NOT calling her parents yet, she quickly did the math and determined that she could earn enough money to stay in the apartment and start auditioning for other roles. She was sure she would be able to find another role because what one producer saw in her she was certain others would see. She was optimistic even though a touch devastated by having the rug pulled out from underneath her so early in her career (if you could call it that yet).
Krista found the process much harder than she expected. Auditions were plentiful, but there were tricks to figuring out how to get on the lists for the best of them. If you didn’t make the call-back list you never heard anything. This struck her as rude until she realized that it was simply part of the program. Juggling jobs and auditions was harder than she realized…the rent came due very regularly and groceries in New York were not cheap. When she finally landed a job in a minor role (being understudy for two other roles as well) with a touring company of one of the major Broadway hits she was thrilled. Then she faced the realities of keeping or giving up her apartment, quitting or taking a leave from her jobs, and all the minutia of the life of an itinerant troubadour.
Krista kept her Broadway dreams alive over the past thirty-five years, and did once get close to a real Broadway part, but so far, it has been mostly small off-Broadway or touring company and cruise ship roles. She did move into the Belvedere Hotel in her own small place and adopted a cat. The years had flown by and now she was faced with an opportunity to transition from a temp job at a law firm to a full-time job with benefits at that firm. It was a tough call. On the one hand the security and stability were appealing after years on the fringe. On the other hand, she heard there were some new role coming up that would be just right for her and anything could happen at any time on Broadway. You had to keep the faith and maintain a perpetual belief in the notion that your big break was just around the corner. As she opened the cup of ramen noodles for dinner she scanned the Variety audition listings and noticed a new remake that would include Patty Lupone in a cameo role.