Hi Diddlee Dee...

Probably the hardest part of being an actor is the audition-to-job ratio, meaning the number of auditions you have to go on before you get a job. Couple that with the fact that when you are working, you have to be thinking about your next job. Unless you're on Broadway in a huge hit show, you need to be thinking ahead to the day you no longer walk into that theatre.

Doing regional theatre is probably the best example of this point. You get hired to work at a theatre many miles from your home, you start rehearsals, go through technical rehearsals, and you think "this is great. I'm a working actor." But then the show opens and you are counting down to the last performance, knowing that in three to four weeks, you are not only going to have to say goodbye to these wonderful people that you are working with, but you will be put on a plane back to New York, Chicago, LA or wherever, and have to go back to waiting tables, bartending, temping, or just hit the unemployment line the moment you return. No amount of good reviews and acclaim from your peers can prepare you for that.

Probably your best bet in these situations is to scan the audition web sites, call your agent, contact people you've worked with before and try to line up something else before you close the show. The harder you work to get another job while you're actually working, the less downtime you will have between jobs.

But really, the only thing you can do to get through all of the post-show depression is to feel a sense of accomplishment for the good work you just did, to know that it's another notch on your belt, and to know that it will happen again. Maybe not for a while, but it will.