Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Check out the bulletin boards!

I love to observe - to read, to listen, to look around.  Whether it be at a grocery store, the public library, or at Starbucks, I love to check out the bulletin board. Full of thumb tacks and tear-off strips of paper, bulletin boards are full of opportunities - to learn, to buy, to network, and maybe even to get a job!

You see, back in 1995, I came across an ad on my university's bulletin board.  Japan Arts was seeking students to be extras and was holding auditions.  Though it took some courage just weeks into my stay in Tokyo, I decided to go by myself to a hotel at the designated time.  I took a number and taped it to my chest, then stood in a line from shortest to tallest.

The stern looking Japanese staff came over and pointed at me and the three guys around me.  Seems we were the perfect height for the costumes and since we were roughly the same height, we wouldn't look strange standing beside each other on stage.

I got a call for my first show the next week.  The pay was great - transit paid for, $70 US for each practice and $110 US for each performance.  And that wasn't the best part...

It was for the New York Metropolitan Opera's tour of Japan.  I got to be in Tosca, directed by James Levine, set design by Franco Zeffrrelli, and starring Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo.  Opening night was attended by the Japanese Royal Family and I got to stand 5 feet from Pavarotti as he sang his solo.

They picked us 4 guys because, literally, we carried the fat lady off the stage (when she died in Lucia di Lammermoor).  How cliche.

Here is a picture of me (to the right) backstage at the Ueno Bunkakaikan with my friend Scott (to the left), now working for a multi-billion dollar private hedge fund in New York.




So, stop once and a while and read the bulletin board around you.  You might find a babysitter, a gently used bike at the right price, a new local yoga studio, or even, a terrific career opportunity.

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