Sometimes in life you have to stir the pot to keep the excitement alive. Since I last posted anything here, I have finally begun to embrace change. For years, my closest friends have told me that I needed to get a different agent, a better manager, or basically just a better team to help me get my foot in the door. I entertained those comments with polite obligation, all the while maintaining my loyalty to the agency that gave me a break to begin with, hoping that something would happen. My hopes were raised to new heights after the HOUSE booking, but nothing really came of that progress all spring. Once I realized for myself that a change was needed, I set a date to walk, regardless of whether or not something else was lined up, and I did. Honestly, it felt amazing. I have the whole world ahead of me and the freedom to meet with whoever I want to truly discover the best team to help me break into this business in a real way. Although I have had some near signings with a couple big agencies, the cards haven't fallen into place yet. I am not discouraged though because in the meantime, my work as a performer has grown leaps and bounds through the constant work with Ivana Chubbuck. In fact, because of the toolset I have been acquiring and fine-tuning with her help, I took on the lead role of Clifford Glimmer this summer in the Tony-Award winning Warren Leight play, SIDEMAN. This amazing and eloquently written piece takes the audience on a journey through the memory of Clifford Glimmer on the night before he leaves the dysfunction of his family behind to go pursue his own life, embracing his own, independent, manhood. The show has been a true test of growth in that I have numerous interactions with the audience through the form of monologues, which can be deadly for any actor if the relationship is not established between the actor and the audience. It is truly amazing how sometimes life imitates art, as to some degree I am having to move into the next phase of my life and embracing the changes that are involved with the progression. Granted, my relationship with my parents is a complete 180 from Clifford, but in becoming my own man out here in Hollywood I have had to face the flames of change, challenge, religious opposition, and self-doubt head on and overcome them on my own. Like Clifford, no longer can a depend on my parents to protect me, provide for me, or plan for me.
My growth through the past year can best be described in the different stages of John Eldredge's The Way of the Wild Heart. Through each stage from Boyhood, to Beloved Son, to Cowboy, to Ranger, to Warrior, to Lover, and to King, I find myself truly growing into my own manhood, and away from the safe little world of innocent, naive, Anderson Reid Gormly. This progression will only serve to make my work as an actor stronger as I no longer approach the work from a place of weakness, but rather that of power. The experiences I have been through, the battles, the opportunities to perform, the challenges embraced, have aided me in becoming my own version of a True Sideman- A man that knows himself and his capabilities so well that he can swap in and out of numerous roles and stories and find the win in his objectives and ultimately being a jack-of-all-trades.
If you are in Los Angeles this weekend August 27, or 28th. Come check out the last two shows of SIDEMAN at the REP EAST PLAYHOUSE in Newhall-
