Why two strong-willed girls can move to NYC with no money or fear

Last year I stage managed Volume of Smoke and it was one of the most important events of my life. I met Clay and Isaac, and through them Shelley and I got internships at the Crown Point Festival. We left school for a month – I had $140 to my name – and slept on people’s floors.

On the chinatown bus from DC to NY, Shelley and I laughed about how leaving the safety of school with no money and no place to sleep was probably a horrible decision. We were busted and broke the whole time. I lived off of my sister’s diet coke and the one provided meal a day. We did all right, we made it to the end, and came back to Richmond a different version of ourselves.

Shelley and I talk a lot about ideals-is it better to hate your show but do legit stage management (as we were trained) or make cool theatre and live with makeshift, ghetto stage managing?

We don’t know, but we plan on spending a significant portion of the future finding out.

So I took a job working with the Debate Society and we are moving in 1 month. Just like last October, we are taking a scary leap and hoping that it pays off.

As much as we want to plan our plans, organize our thoughts, and keep putting it off as we are wont to do, we both know that this is the right time. It’s now or never!!

And if we can’t get jobs, and we crawl back to Va with our tails between our legs, well I bet we had a great time failing. Lucky for me and Shel, we always have each other.

-Hope

Me and Shelley backstage at CPF

~ by ---- on September 12, 2008.