Hi!
If you've made it this far into my site, you know who I am. If not, hi. I'm Malia Lukomski. This is me:
And this is what I do.
I'm a student at Augustana University. I'm about to graduate with degrees in Theatre and Media Studies in May. I specialize in acting and sound design and have experience with podcasting.
I've wanted to start a blog for a while. Writing is something I like doing - if I didn't, college would have been more hell than it already is. I like writing, but I can never find something I want to write about consistently. I run out of steam really quickly when I get new ideas.
But then I thought - what's the one thing I never run out of steam for? What's the thing that I keep coming back to, even when I feel like curling into a ball and watching bad rom-coms for hours?
I'm going to sound super cliche and say - acting. Theatre. The stage [insert dramatic hand movement here].
For now, I'm not going to just ramble about acting and what it's done for me. I can't go on about how theatre improves worldwide empathy (a topic I have spent hours beating into the heads of my friends and colleagues). I am about to move on to a huge endeavor - transitioning from being a college actor to a "professional" one. Hopefully. Fingers crossed.
The transition into the professional world is already incredibly frightening, for me and the people I work with here at Augustana. What makes it even more so is that I don't know where to even start. If all the pieces fall into place, in six months I will be in a completely new city with completely new expectations and completely new people to impress. These people haven't watched me for the last four years, they don't know what my strengths and weaknesses are, they don't know who I am. I've been incredibly lucky to find a community that has allowed me to grow as an actor but also as a person. I'm about to move on from that community. Yeah, pretty scary.
And if you're still here, you're struggling with the same things. Or at least something similar. Maybe you're just starting out in theatre and want tips from someone younger than 40. Maybe you're trying to decide if you want to continue theatre or change your career focus to something more predictable. I've been there, too. Being an actor today feels a little like jumping into the deep end of a pool. Sometimes, you have a life jacket. Sometimes, you're afraid you're gonna drown. And sometimes, there's a bunch of people staring at you while you're trying to remember how to swim. It's scary and awkward and thrilling all at the same time.
Basically, I want to break your legs. You know that saying, right? It's bad luck to say good luck on opening night, so you say "break a leg"? I want to help you (and myself) make the transition from small-town college actor to big-city pro. It will involve personal stories, behind the scenes photos, and tips for both you and me. It will chronicle the adventure I'm taking and maybe get you to do your own.
Let's break some hecking legs.
M.
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