Hind Sight

I had an amazing week last week.

The first great thing was a possibility that is still in the works ~ something that I'm hoping to have more info on later this week. I am honored that I've been approached and I can't wait to see if it actually goes though. I'll share the details either way later this week.

The second was something that I'm not sure many people have a chance to do. I was able to thank someone who's actions unknowingly propelled my career.

This is probably going to be a long story, so get comfy...

Just before I left for my WWD audition, I was sent an email with all the names of the other people who were also auditioning. As I read through the 15 or so names, they struck me. They seemed familiar. So, as I usually do, I googled them. Nearly everyone there had an IMDB page. No wonder the names were familiar, I'd heard them, I'd seen them in credits. They had resumes like I was working towards. Then there was me.

It made me a little nervous at first, until I realized that none of us had ever done anything like this. We were all on the same level in that regards. They just had better pedigrees.

We all know how the rest of that story goes...but it leads to another...

A few weeks into our rehearsal, I approached one of the head puppeteers and very boldly asked, "How was it that I was able to audition for this show?". I never would have expected the answer I got.

He tells me that 10 years ago, he had an opportunity to shadow the head of puppetry at Walt Disney World for a week. He was taken around to all the shows and watched them from both the audience and backstage. He was so impressed with the diversity in styles of puppetry, the amount of shows available to perform in and the quality of those performances.

When my resume was presented to him, he saw all of those shows listed. Saw that I was a part of their workshop and opening casts. Saw that I was trained in multiple and sometimes every role in each show and that I had been performing them for quite some time.

He told me that he fought for me to at least be flown in to audition. Typically they've looked for people with film and tv backgrounds, but he was curious to see what I could do. Luckily, I didn't let him down.

The person who I was able to thank this week was the person who initially hired me as a puppeteer with Disney, who became my mentor and also conducted the week long session 10 years ago that exposed a puppeteer from Australia to puppetry at Disney.

It's an amazing feeling being able to see the big picture in a part of your life. To see how something that occurred a decade ago, put into play events that would change my life. It's even more amazing being able to thank those that played a part in it, when they weren't even aware they had such a huge role.