True Life: I Commute to NYC

I don't live in New York. Not the city, and not even the state.

I work in New York City. I audition there. I rehearse there. I do background work there. I do photo shoots there...

But I live in Connecticut.

I take the Metro-North train in whenever I need to be in NYC. It's roughly an 80-minute ride to Grand Central, and then I continue on my journey from there. If my audition is in mid-town, it's a piece of cake. If it's in Brooklyn or the Bronx (yes, I've had auditions in the Bronx... and I would be very, very happy if I never had another audition in the Bronx), or even just the Upper West side, then it's a pain.

There are days when it's tough to talk myself into going to auditions. I'm primarily talking about EPAs. For those who are unfamiliar, EPAs (Equity Principal Auditions, which I can get into with my Equity Membership Candidate card) are open call sorts of auditions, and I have as of yet to find the willpower to go to one. From what I've heard, they sound just terrible. A bunch of people waiting in line from an ungodly hour of the morning hoping they get seen by the casting director proxy that the theatre company has sent because they need to have the appearance of hosting EPAs even though they mostly cast out of agent submissions...

Now, I know not all EPAs are like that. And I have a friend (also EMC) who just finished the run of a great show that he booked through an EPA. But if you have to spend 3 hours on a train and pay $30 (the cost of a round trip ticket + Metro card) to get to an audition, it's harder to mentally justify it if you're not sure that you'll even get a chance to get seen.

Sometimes it seems like it would be easier to live in New York, but when opportunites have arisen, I've resisted.

As unpopular of an opinion as this seems to be, I dread the idea of living in NYC. I like being able to come back to a nice, quiet neighborhood filled with two-story dwellings. It gives me perspective. It relaxes me. It washes away all the anxieties of city life.

So I continue commuting.

And yes, it's frustrating when I'm doing work as a stand-in, get off of set at 5am, catch the 7:37am train, get back home after 9am, and then have to leave my house at 2pm in order to make it to my van call at 4:15pm, and I know that I could've had about 3 more hours of sleep if I lived in the city...

But I wouldn't have it any other way.

 -- Angela Sauer

Comments

[Ana]

-_- You know that Manhattan isn't the only part of the city, right? There are some very quiet, nice neighborhoods in Queens (Astoria, Forest Hills and Kew Gardens for example.) I've lived in Astoria my whole life, and I'm only 15 minutes away from midtown. Even NJ. There are some affordable places 30 minutes away from NYC

[joe]

I do the same thing, sometimes I'll find a sublet for a short while. It sucks though coming from new Jersey. With fares and tolls I'll spend 50 dollars.

[Justine]

Good for you for being so motivated. Personally, I hate that kind of commuting..I haven't done Metro North, but I commuted from central NJ to Manhattan via NJ Transit trains a few years ago before I moved to Brooklyn. Granted it was for a 9-to-5 job, not for auditioning, but I found it so stressful on a daily basis.

My advice for what it's worth? Keep doing it for now, if you feel it's working for you...obviously you have to decide what's right for you, in terms of a living situation. But if you increasingly feel like it's tough to get yourself to go to auditions, then you might want to weigh the pros and cons (again) of living in CT and see if you can come up with an alternative.

Keep in mind too that if you live within NYC, you'll only need the MetroCard so can save on your commuting costs (even though you might end up adding to your rent costs, although I don't know how much you pay now)

I also agree with Ana that parts of Brooklyn and Queens can be kinda peaceful, so there's that too.

[Justine]

...and places to find peace in Manhattan too (although you'll pay more)

http://www.amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/need-peace-quiet-nyc-nabes-where-you-will-and-won-t-get-it-1.3602959

[Dominique]

Astoria really does have a nice community vibe. Check it out! There are a ton of artists living out there and rent is reasonable.