I've made it to NYC and good things are happening FAST!!

Well it's official, my trip to NY was successful!  I am now currently a resident of Brooklyn, NY.  My flight up went extremely smooth with no hitches or problems!  Here is a brief description of my first few days in the city, some extremely exciting happenings!



Day 1. After arriving, my roommate and I took a cab from the airport to our apartment in Brooklyn, the weather was amazing and everything was so beautiful!  My neighborhood is great and about a 2 min walk from the largest park in Brooklyn.  Upon arriving at our apartment we moved all of our luggage in and met our third roommate, who is awesome!  After dropping our stuff off we left the apartment and went for a walk around our neighborhood to scope everything out.  Everything we need is so close, with the subway station a block away, a grocery story and pharmacy a block away as well and plenty of restaurants nearby it is in the perfect location.  After that we took a visit to the park where I took this picture of the lake within its borders.  We then ate some pizza, stopped by the Pharmacy for a few things and that was it for the night, not the most exciting of nights but a wonderful first night as a New Yorker.





Day 2. What easily has been the best and most exciting day so far.  As my first full day in New York, I was already extremely excited and ready to get out and do stuff.  The day began with our Broker stopping by to finish all of the paperwork.  Once that was finished one of my roommates and I got ready to head out to get some things done.  We had literally been out the door for 2 seconds and I had reached to lock the door when I received a call from an unknown number.  I had no idea who it may be but I answered it anyway.  It just happened to be an agent from one of the top modeling agencies in NYC!!  I had submitted some polaroids to a few of the agencies in the city the Thursday before I moved and had already gotten a call from one of them!  They talked to me for a little bit and said that they would like to set up a meeting with me the next day or if possible later that day!  I told them I could come in that day and it was set, I was already meeting with a modeling agency on my first day in NY.  After my roommate and I ran some errands we parted ways as she went to her job at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and I headed to my meeting.  As I arrived at the location of the agency I was extremely nervous but told myself to just act normal and I'd be fine.  I walked into the lobby and checked the floor list to see that they were located on the top level, the penthouse!!  I took the elevator up to the penthouse and walked into the offices.  The office was really cool, all the walls were white with framed magazine covers with models they had or currently represented lining them!  There was a neat netting structure behind the front desk with the word "CLICK" in huge pink letters hanging.  I was told to sit and wait for the lady I was going to meet with.  I waited for a little bit and then was called over to meet with the Director.  We talked for a little while about myself, where I was from, what I did in school and so on.  She was extremely nice and it was actually a very casual conversation!  After we talked she got her camera and we went into an office where she took some digital photos of me against a white wall.  After that I waited for a little while more and then was asked to fill out an info sheet with all my measurements and info.  We then talked a bit more and she told me "You are very cute, the camera likes you and we would love to sign you!  But you need to go tanning because you are very pale".  This was the last thing I was expecting to hear, that they wanted to sign me and that I needed to go tanning.  I literally think I just sat there for about 5 minutes listening to her directions and saying "ok" over and over again because I couldn't think of anything else to say!  She then gave me a contract to look over and told me to come back when I was ready to sign!  By far one of the most exciting things that has ever happened to me in my entire life, and an especially amazing start to my new life in NYC!

After that I went and had dinner with my roommate and her friends and went to the Hanson concert where we had VIP passes and went backstage afterwards.  It was an incredible day!

Day 3.  Much less exciting than day 2 but still a great day!  Today started off a little chilly and rainy but still wonderful!  I woke up early to go run and workout so that I can get into the best shape possible for modeling.  I ran over to the park and ran around the lake, although it was rainy and a little cold, it was a great run and I enjoyed every second of it!  As big as the park is and all of the small trails that split off from the road that runs through I don't think i'll ever get tired of running there.  After my run and workout my roommate and I ran some more errands and then I worked on my job search for a little while before I met up with a fellow TU Musical Theatre graduate for dinner!  I met my friend at Penn Station in Manhattan and we ventured up and almost to the top of Macy's to a little sandwich and salad restaurant.  Dinner was delicious and we talked for hours about random theatre stuff and how our lives were going!  It was wonderful to catch up with her, she is doing very well in the city and I'm pretty sure we will be hanging out quite a bit in the near future.  That was the end of my day.

Overall, the past 2 days and a half have been pretty amazing, some very exciting things are on the horizon and I am thrilled to see where they will take me!  Hopefully they are for the best, for now it's just about working hard and being persistent!!

That's all for now, Peace!

Okay for real, the journey is about to begin.

As I begin the adventure of moving to NYC I also begin a larger and much more important journey, Blogging.  To be honest, I don't know how much I will actually be blogging in the future but I plan on trying to quite often, which is why it is so much more of an adventure..  I feel as though it may be one of the few things keeping me sane in my adventure to world of rejection and trial by error that is professional theatre.  On that note maybe i'll update 5 times a day and drive everyone crazy, especially my grandmother who's eyes will be strained by my unnecessary rambling.

Alright, so today is the beginning of Saturday, October 15.  That means I have 2 days to finish up everything I need to do prior to my move, which is an outrageous amount.  I did make some progress these past days in that I basically went through all of my old paperwork from college and separated what was trash and what I may need or use in NY.  This was quite a fun and interesting time due to all of the old acting paperwork I found.  Some of the stuff I found was quite encouraging because it showed me how much I actually grew as an actor in the four years I was at TU.  What wasn't encouraging was one of the monologues I found that I once used as a freshman in a Acting Class.  The monologue itself is great, however it is a monologue by an eighty year old black man in the show.  I am nowhere near 80 nor am I close to being black.  That was a complete failure at the time but a definite good laugh upon discovery of it the other day.

I have finished packing pretty much everything but still have a few things to do in order to be completely ready.  It's an odd feeling to be packing everything without the ability to just drive a few minutes home to grab something if I forgot it.  That is becoming something I'm not enjoying.  I have seen a lot of my friends this week and it has been fantastic to be able to see so many of them before I leave, but it has also been pretty sad.  I have made some pretty awesome friends in my time at TU and while living in Tulsa, it's gonna be hard to leave such incredible people to move to a place where I know about 5 people.

That's all for now, I'll update again once I have arrived and settled down in NYC.  Good Bye.

New Apartment!!

As of yesterday morning, the apartment my roommates and I have been in contact with the broker about became ours!  We actually have an apartment in New York City!!  Well technically we are living in Brooklyn but it qualifies.  We were incredibly lucky to get the place we got, it is just about perfect.  One of my roommates is already up in Brooklyn staying with a few of her friends so she was able to look at the apartment and handle in-person business with the Broker, which was extremely nice and helpful.

It is in an excellent location in Brooklyn, just a block from the park as well as the subway station with lines running directly into Manhattan, which means no transfers!!  It is a very large 3 bedroom apartment (large by NY standards) and was recently renovated and completed about 3 days ago so it should be just like new.  I am flying up on Monday with just my suitcases containing as much clothing as I can pack as well as all of my audition materials, music, and necessary miscellaneous items that I will need.  Some time later, when my parents are able to drive up, they will bring a U-Haul truck containing my and one of my roommates furniture as well as everything else I will need that I couldn't take with me on the plane.  So unfortunately I will be sleeping on my camping mattress for a week or 2, which really isn't a big deal to me seeing that I will be living in NYC.

With all that being said, say hello to my new home, Brooklyn, NY!

 

I am more than excited to move in and explore the neighborhood that I will be living in for the next year.  I also am extremely excited to meet up with one of my fellow TU Musical Theatre Graduates who is already living up there.  Hopefully she will be willing to be my guide for a short time until I get the hang of things, especially the auditioning process.  I also plan on spending a good amount of time discussing everything that has happened with her over some good quality brews.

All in all, everything is working out extremely well and looks to be not only an exciting adventure but a very productive and well executed move.  Lets hope for the best.  More to come soon.

The Journey Begins

Well, this is my first post in what is to be a long list of posts concerning my move to NYC and new life there.

The Journey has begun, that's all for now!!

- Jeffrey