have enough confidence in your abilities
to know that when you make a decision it
is one hundred percent the right one for
you you should you know yourself better
than any one else I decided when I was
seven years old that I was going to be
an actor now prior to that I was going
to be a paleontologist I know boys and
dinosaurs but at my seventh birthday I
got to see my first Broadway show I knew
from that moment that that is exactly
where I wanted to be in what I was going
to be doing now my parents who were
eminently more practical than I was
convinced me that well I needed to
finish school first apparently living in
New York living in columbus and trying
to pursue a career in New York City when
you’re seven years old just isn’t a
really good combination but I had to be
on stage my elementary school didn’t
have a theater club so I started one I
wanted one I did my research I convinced
my mother and a few other like-minded
adults that it was feasible and we dived
ahead and did it I started the columbus
academy in sixth grade now this was
because a elementary school teacher of
mine had convinced my parents that if I
stayed in public schools had become a
juvenile delinquent apparently getting
all of your homework and all of your
schoolwork done before the morning
recess and spending the rest of the day
getting into trouble can earn you a
reputation at academy I started my
second theatre company this is one of
the shows that we did I decided in my
junior year that I was going to attend
Syracuse University at that time
Syracuse had the best theatre department
in the United States unfortunately this
gave my college advisor some serious
heart palpitations they were only
accepting 30 people into the program
every year and the school is expecting
over
three thousand applicants I’d done my
research though I knew what they were
expecting I polished my two contrasting
monologues until they shone I trusted my
instincts I dived into that audition
like I’d been doing it for years 60 days
later I had a letter asking me to join
the freshman class at Syracuse
University that following September when
I began classes I found out that I was
one of only three students who’d been
accepted on their first audition the
other 27 had to go through a first
second or even third call back I had
trusted my instincts that much now we’re
gonna jump ahead a few years to my first
national tour yeah I looked like that
yeah my first national tour it was a
horrific experience but I wouldn’t trade
it for anything in the world I was doing
what I loved on stages all over the
United States granted the company I was
working forward didn’t care if we got
enough rest or if we had time to eat or
if they paid us in a timely manner but I
was young I ignored the hardships but I
learned to really important lessons
during that tour the first one should
have been obvious the arts are always a
part of our lives whether you realize it
or not it’s subtle and so arts education
has to be their proficiency in
mathematics leads to proficiency in
music and vice versa dance classes can
improve an athlete’s performance out on
the field and acting classes should be
mandatory for anyone who is considering
a career as a minister or a politician
or a teacher or in any job are you going
to talk to more than three people at any
given time the other thing that I
learned was that the entertainment
industry will absolutely chew you up and
spit you out if you do not do the hard
work I realize that’s true in other
businesses but people don’t think about
that in the arts but it’s true talent
guarantees you nothing there are a lot
of really famous actors out there with
no
talent but they’re willing to do the
work the days are hard they’re long if
you’re doing a Broadway show you are
rehearsing all day long you are
performing at night if you’re doing a
movie you may have a makeup call as
early as five a.m. you may not be
released from filming until midnight and
then you start all over on that same
timetable the next day taurine is not
any easier tour buses are cramped and
uncomfortable and after two weeks they
smell okay the job is a 14 hour a day
minimum you don’t have guaranteed sick
time you don’t have paid vacation you
don’t have a retirement plan and you
were always having to audition for your
next job you only get paid if you work
and too many theater companies are
willing to pay you next to nothing or
nothing because actors will work for the
experience try paying your rent with
experience now twice my career was
almost derailed the first time happened
20 years ago I broke two disks in my
back now the workers comp doctor who
looked at the x-rays the first time
diagnosed a sprain I thought he was
wrong because I had sprained ankles I’d
sprained my wrist it didn’t feel like
that it felt like ground glass in some
pepper grinder was in my back every time
I breathe deeply every time I bent if i
SAT too long if I stood too long doctor
said it was a sprain it didn’t get any
better two weeks went by before I
finally convinced a doctor to look at
the x-rays again he found the fractures
they changed the diagnosis I got the
treatment I needed that doctor told me
that I was lucky that I was so pigheaded
because if I hadn’t convinced them to
look at it again I could have
permanently damaged my spinal cord now
five years ago I woke up with no voice
literally I couldn’t speak I could growl
out a few sounds but they had no power
and it was very hard to understand it
thank Harvey Fierstein only multiplied
by a million times alright I went to the
doctor and she said I had laryngitis now
I had had laryngitis I’m an actor
laryngitis should throat hurts it’s red
and swollen I had none of those symptoms
I just couldn’t talk but I wasn’t the
doctor so I accepted that I had to come
back in seven days I did she said I
still had laryngitis now at this point I
was starting to worry I had already had
to drop out of her production in
Cincinnati my contract was that theatre
company stated that if I missed more
than two rehearsals I could not do the
show I couldn’t speak so i could not
rehearse I was starting to panic I thank
God every day for my mom and for my
boyfriend at the time he was now my
husband they kept me sane during that
time period went back to the doctor she
said it’s laryngitis I scribbled no I
demanded to see a specialist now
remember I’m a working actor I had no
insurance I was paying for everything
out of my savings account this
specialist that I went to ran test after
test after test five weeks later he sits
me and Matt down in the office and he
says I don’t know what’s wrong you might
have cancer not to see an oncologist but
you’ll never speak again your career is
over I was devastated but Matt bless his
heart made me go on facebook and reach
out to my network of other actors and
singers and find out what was going on
that’s how I met dr. Eric forest at OSU
it was because of dr. Eric forest that i
found out that what I had was common a
virus had wrapped itself around the
nerves to my vocal cords and paralyzed
them this happens to one in a hundred
people in their lifetimes it could
happen to you it could happen to you if
it did your doctor would most likely
prescribe the regimen of twenty four
dollars and ninety-five cents worth of
antiviral medication and steroids two to
three days later you would have your
voice back in my case because my doctors
were looking for something exotic it was
six months from that morning when I woke
up with no ability to speak until I was
successfully able to audition for
another show now the lessons here are
simple do your research
if you are armed with your facts you can
deal with any situation in business in
personal relationships in life do your
research make the most of your
opportunities when my back hurts so
badly that I didn’t want to move or when
I could not speak I couldn’t work as an
actor but I could still write since then
I’ve written six plays I might work on a
novel I’m about to start an
autobiography you can always find that
opportunity align your vision with your
dream you do not have to be six foot
nine to play pro basketball you have to
work a heck of a lot harder than
everyone else but you don’t have to be
six foot nine so be realistic but be
imaginative and be willing to do the
hard work when the time comes and
finally trust yourself every time I have
second-guessed myself I have been wrong
so trust your instincts trust yourself
thank you [Applause]