Thomas!

You've been luckier than most, in that you seem to be able to generate fairly constant employment. Bravo!

It sounds like you might possibly have some down time coming up. You ARE applying for unemployment, right? That will certainly help a little, in terms of income.

Meanwhile, it never hurts, even with employers who are fully staffed at the moment, to gently remind them that you're still looking. Positions open up at the last minute more often that you'd imagine, and if you're fresh in their minds you might have a chance for at least an interview.

Your tone and your approach in your contact letters/messages is all-important. You want to make sure you come across as being totally positive and upbeat, and never like you're downtrodden or desperate. And you should try to figure out how to make these employers feel that you're someone they'd like to spend a lot of time with. So perhaps a (brief) funny or heartwarming story from a show you've worked on. Or mention someone you know who's worked for them, and how much you admire that person. Or your admiration for the show(s) they've got scheduled, including whether you've done other productions of them or have always wanted to work on them, including ones you may not be overly familiar with but you know other work by the same writer(s) or directors.

All of that takes a bit of research. And then, when you've put together a letter/message (I always preferred letters, but I'm old-school), read it over with a fine-toothed comb several times to make sure there are no misspellings or words left out or repeated. THEN, if you have a friend or two who's willing, have THEM read it over to see what they think about the tone and the approach. (If you don't have someone like that in your life, then you'll have to do what actors do - read your own letter to yourself as if you're seeing those words for the very first time.)

Good luck. Something will pop up eventually if you keep at it with a positive and cheerful attitude.

Rich C.

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