Confessions

Okay, so here it is. I am having some issues that I would like your opinion on. Adam and I are trying to be professional actors. We have found, in our experience, that you need to be a member of the Actors Equity Association to even begin to hope to make it. The reason we are currently residing in Jacksonville, FL is for the purpose of earning enough points (meaning weeks) to be accepted into the union. Once you are a member, you get to schedule auditions for professional shows, you have a 401K, you have health insurance plus you get paid more per show. Now I know that because of our situation with not being able to start a family yet we should really work hard and do as many shows as possible. You have to have 50 weeks in order to be accepted. Adam has 40 weeks and I have 31 weeks. Here is my problem.

Adam and I have a wedding in Vegas that we were going to go to June 14th. We were also going to go to Utah for a couple days and see all of our friends and family. I haven't seen any of my family for almost a year and I miss them sooooo much! Adam and I were going to have an actual vacation. Fun, right? See, since I started at this theatre in November, I have not had any time off. I got Christmas day off and Easter day off and I believe 3 more days periodically throughout the past 6 months, but really only 5-7 days off total. Meaning I work Sunday through Saturday. Now I am so blessed that I get to go to all of my church meetings and choir practice on Sunday's, and I am blessed to be able to work as a full time actor, but it is starting to get a bit taxing. Enter dilemma.

The owner/producer/director called me up and asked me to be in the next show. I didn't audition for it because I know how this theater works. Understudies do NOT go on. They are on paper and that is it. So if I do the show, I do NOT go with Adam to the wedding and to see the family. Now, I am very grateful for the work and the opportunity, but I also was REALLY looking forward to a little break.

Pros
*If I do the show, I catch up weeks with Adam and then we are both only 10 weeks away from our Union Membership
*Do a favor for the boss, he does have the power to just give me my Union Membership
*I get a raise if I do it
*I have guaranteed work till the end of July
*I get to add yet another show to my resume

Cons
*No vacation, time off, or family time
*Long hours for about 2 weeks while I am rehearsing one show and preforming in the other. 14-16 hours a day
*Stuck in Actionville no matter what for another 9 weeks
*Another show to add to my resume, but at the same theater

This may seem silly, but I do want your opinions. I really am so blessed to be able to have this as my big crisis. Thanks for you advice friends!