Someone recently asked what my status in the Performing Arts and Entertainment is. That is not an easy question to answer, because I perform many functions very well. Hence, it has always been difficult for me to sit out toiling away at only one thing, which is both a good thing and a not so good thing for me or anyone.
I happen to be one of those people whose mind must be kept busy with a variety of activities and functions, that is why I am different, and as result it is why I have such deep respect and admiration for people who limit themselves to one career or goal. That kind of commitment is what gets them places faster.
My problem is that I am only one person with the desire to do many things. I sing, I am a photographer, a graphic designer, a web designer, I am a realism oil painter, I compose and write music (with two of the songs that have been copyrighted, registered with BMI and are currently sold on iTunes and
http://www.ReverbNation.Com/CarmenAmoros as downloads - which by the way, also support Oxfam, a company that helps fight against global hunger).
I am an article writer and soon to be author and to confuse myself more, I dream (notice I said dream) of starting a clothing line (since I studied fashion design at New York's famous F. I. T. - the Fashion Institute of Technology) and have designed a lot of my own personal wardrobe and some pieces for weddings, fashion shows and sweet sixteen events.
Even with all my skill sets I prefer to try and behave with a bit of modesty and rarely toot my horn, to the point that few people (friends and industry professionals) know the breath of my talents and abilities. The fact is that I love doing all the wonderful things that I do as an artist. It is about the love. God has given the talent, so of course, I use them in gratefulness to God, but here is the thing that motivates me and sets me back sometimes - I am not one to hoard my gifts.
I have experienced the taste of the inner joy that one gets, when one reaches out in support of others. Not that I believe anyone needs or has to ask. I am just compelled to be a source of support and nothing gives me more gratification than when I interview an artist, write a review of the artist's performance or attend their rapturous performance. Rather than reveling at the thought of tooting my own horn (to me that gets old and boring fast), I find myself celebrating the talents and accomplishments of dozens of other great talented people. During the performance of a new up and coming artist, I luxuriate in envisioning them as I think they might dream of being seen, what they want to become and where I sense they may want to go with their talent. I strongly believe that supporting the work of fellow artists by attending their venues is important. You benefit from soaking up the wonderful energetic vibrations they release that inspire to inspire and they benefit just by your being there. That is me, I am inspired to inspire by watching really great talents at play. It is titillating, because I know what it's like to have a dream and a platform to express yourself from, through your own creativity.
Ira and I attend many concerts and comedy events, mostly because we get real personal enjoyment out of it, but for me, being a sort of energizing force in the life and work of another artist is vital, to feeding my own hunger for seeing the story of true success unfold. I enjoy the work of established artists, but there is nothing like being present at the Genesis of an artist's career. Just being in the audience makes me relish the artist's development, acquiring excellence over time, as his or her career life grows and unfolds through leaps and bounds right before my eyes. It's like watching something beautiful take flight. That is my reward, watching people soar and at times even supporting then perhaps just a little, if they should welcome it. Again, it is all about the desire to see people grow. Whether accolades come or not is of no consequence to me. If my role comes in the smallest of ways, simply by buying the ticket and sitting at their venue and enjoying their performance for example, that is a reward to me. My just being there in the audience when they come out from behind the curtain seems like a somewhat magical thing and a privilege, especially when you know that a person's dreams are wrapped up in the sum of all that they are doing to bring excellence to you, there on that stage. A reviewer has to respect that, whether he enjoys the production or not.
I see the performer's great significance to the audience, but ahhh, the audience is that place from which the artist's work is loved, cherished, appreciated and reviewed. Respect for someone's work, for their person, for their creativeness, their intelligence, their confidence in themselves, their drive and their ambition, are all too important to the reviewer and it is what actually kindles in me the inspiration to write an earnest analysis of someone's performance.
So in answer to the question about my status as a multi-tasking, multi-talented person in the field of the Performing Arts and Entertainment, I'd like to believe that I am an artist who is a friend of the performer rather than a fan and -
For the sake of clarity I thought I would share just a little history about why I love to support the arts so much. Reason number one: I earned the SAG-AFTRA union membership because way back in the 1980s I sang as a soloist with a Grammy Award winning group and we toured and sang in churches, at conventions and conferences, but earlier in my life I sang as part of a quartet with my younger sisters and sang in churches, rallies, visited jails where we sang to inmates and we sang at City Hall. In some small way, I feel this put me in the rather minute position of wanting to support the music of artists, comedy and the entertainment arts, with interviews and appraisals.
Having had such a rich musical history of my own. I never had to chase, stalk an entertainer or annoy people for favors to earn my way, other than to sing and do some acting work. Someone loved my voice, blessed me to sing as a soloist and soon I learned I could become a member of AFTRA, which later merged with SAG, making me a member of SAG-AFTRA (two for the price of one membership). I had prayed that I could become a member of both unions at the start, but did not have the finances for it, but I wonder at times if maybe, just maybe, God heard my prayer and made them merge. Ha ha ha! I will never truly know, but I am still tickled at the thought of the coincidence of this great occurrence. Seriously, God HAS BEEN amazing to me. I suppose my faith had much to do with it, because I had done little for it, but God looks at the heart.
Reason number two: I have a podcasting program that has a surprisingly high listener base on which I have had the honor to interview great talents and review them. I see other artists as people that should be honored and supported.
I have had mostly great experiences and out of those experiences I have been blessed with beautiful friendships, well, except for -
One rock and roll guy (who shall remain nameless) that backed out of an interview with me, which made me laugh. He needed the PR, because at the time he was having a hard time wondering why his fan base was not growing, but he was worried that I might be after his contacts, casting directors or to get details about who or what he was auditioning for. I laughed. I couldn't believe how insecure this guy was. I had to flip out my SAG-AFTRA Membership Card and my other Entertainment resource membership cards to prove to him that my agent list was saturated with hundreds more agents, than I could ever get from him.
"I do not need to chase you or anyone to try and satisfy my own personal agenda and work interests," I told him, "I don't need your interview, nor do I need to try and snatch your two casting agents or directors from you or take your casting call information to beat you to a casting call. I already had those agents in my contact database since 2003 anyway, from when I began to do background work and began to subscribe to proper casting agent list resources. I mean, what is wrong with you" I asked him.
New people in entertainment don't realize that the "cheese" (the money and the work) gets moved around quite a lot in entertainment and that work does not come from just one place, agent or resource. It takes lots of waiting, auditions and lots of call backs and spending lots of cash printing head shots and resumés to mail out to hundreds of agents. You are lucky if one agent likes you enough to call you regularly too. So I felt sad that this guy thought I was after his two agents by asking him to do an interview with me.
I never bothered to check, but I have no doubt that his casting directors were already in the contact list that I had to pay for, out of my pocket from when I was actively auditioning. I would never chase a celebrity down to do an interview just to try and get any favors out of them, that as a SAG-AFTRA member, I already have full access to.
So, to make my point and wrap this article up, I will end it by stating that I do what I do in support of fellow Thespians and artists. Sure I worked as background on seven major films, a bunch of Law and Orders, the Sopranos and other TV shows, but I got paid and that makes me a professional and it got me my SAG-AFTRA membership. To God be the glory. Whether as an actor, a designer, as a professional photographer, a writer and a professional singer, there is absolutely no need for me to try to bottom feed off of other artists or professionals. I am not saying that it never will happen, because it is known to happen in many cases and people bottom feed until they hit gold get tired and quit, but shifting back to what I do (mundane as it may seem to many) for all intents and purposes what I currently do, however small in scale it is right now, began as and still is, a fun hobby which has turned into something really productive and beneficial for dozens of artists, something that benefits me only by feeding a pure desire to support and enjoy being a peer, more than a competitor to them.
Whatever I do in support of our fellow artists and citizens comes straight from my heart and it comes with no interest in controlling their circumstances or becoming some part of their act, although, as it turns out people have been wonderful enough to ask us to open for them with music and we are so grateful for that. My husband Ira, a talented pianist himself after learning piano at age 8 and getting his Masters in Music Education (he has paid his dues believe me), shares my sentiments also and it is why we love to be out there taking in the sites and sounds of great performances in New York City and if we happen to attend an artist's performances with frequency, you can bet that it is because we really respect and enjoy the work of that person and they may even count on a potential review being written about their work at some point. To write something favorable about an artist, you have to like what you see and hear them do on the stage, in a movie or a concert. I hope I never have to write a bad review, but which ever way a review goes, there has to be earnestness in a review and a lot of respect to go along with it.
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