I graduated college with a degree in Theatre a little less than a year ago, and it has been quite the ride since then. One of the best things about living in New York City is that you never know what new opportunities will present themselves out of the blue, since the city is abundant with creative people working on projects and bringing their visions to life. It goes without saying that the city is also abundant with successful people. When you combine those two, as well as my tendency to say yes to every opportunity, you sometimes end up in the same room with the founders of Quizard, featured in Forbes magazine, and starring in their latest commercial for their new app they are developing- that’s what happened to me this past December, and I have to say I was quite thrilled when I saw myself in the final video with hundred of thousands of views and reshares.
Another example of artists coming to NYC and bringing their vision to life is the musical Neverland Never Ends, (Sujin Moon, Miu Sato) which had its premiere in the New York Theater Festival in the beginning of March, where I played the role of Wendy-The Narrator. The musical had two staged readings before, but this was the first fully staged production, and its plotline and staging had been much developed since.
What I learned through this musical is how adjustable you need to be when working on new material. There can be re-writes, new distributions, a completely new take on a character, all happening from one day to the next, and it’s your job as the actor originating this vision to do it justice. Our musical is nominated for five awards, and we will be performing the finale song at the awards ceremony. Our music director re-arranged parts of the song, and we had to review it and rehearse it just two days before the performance date. While it can sometimes be stressful, I find a lot of motivation in such fast-paced circumstances.
In December, I took on another challenge that helped me evolve creatively. A close friend of mine, Andrei Kogolenok, directed his first short film, For Them, in which I was offered one of the supporting roles. Since we are friends and creatively both inspire each other, I offered to help with other aspects of production, which eventually led to me taking on the roles of Production Designer (Set and Costume Design) as well as Production Assistant for the shooting dates when I was not acting. These were all new areas for me, but I discovered a newly found passion for them, and started enjoying these new creative endeavors more and more. The process was deeply fulfilling and so creatively invigorating; it also gave me a whole new appreciation and passion for filmmaking, being on the other side of the camera for the first time and gaining a new perspective on the creation of a film.
Speaking of experimenting creatively, this fall I acted in an original play called Lysistrata White House, which was mainly developed through improvisation during the rehearsal period. This was a completely new and challenging process for me, especially since improv isn’t necessarily my most practiced approach. But this is exactly the kind of work I seek out—projects that push me out of my comfort zone and help me grow as an artist.
I performed in another play last November in Astoria, where I live. This one was entirely in Greek. Astoria has a vibrant Greek community, and it felt great to contribute to preserving Greek culture and connecting with the local community through theatre.
I have some more projects coming up for which I am very excited, and I can’t wait to see what more the future holds for me.
Contact: Micky Soler: [email protected]