Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Vine.
Michael, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve been acting since the fourth grade when my older sister made me audition for a play with her. When I went to college, I decided that I should focus on getting a “real job,” since I’d been told my entire life that you can’t really make a living as an artist – so I double-majored in Public Relations and Theatre at the University of Alabama (Roll Tide).
Over the course of my junior and senior years, as I was looking for public relations internships and jobs, I realized that I was just as likely to be unemployed and poor doing the “real job” as I was pursuing my dream. That was a big turning point for me – I had more job offers in theatre than I did in communications when I graduated. I haven’t looked back since! I worked for almost three years at the Barter Theatre in Virginia, where I did almost a thousand combined performances of more than 30 plays and musicals, before moving to Atlanta in January of 2017.
In the last year and a half, I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some incredible artists all over the city of Atlanta in many different ways. I serve as the Education Manager at Georgia Ensemble Theatre, where I teach, direct, and mentor students and our acting apprentices throughout the year. I’m also a producer of Shakespeare on Draught, a young company (recently recognized by Best of Atlanta magazine!) that brings free Shakespeare to Atlanta every other month at Orpheus Brewing Co. When I’m not doing those things, I’ve been able to direct at Marietta’s New Theatre in the Square, Georgia Ensemble Theatre, and The Performer’s Warehouse, and act at the Alliance and Marietta Theatre Company, among others.
This fall, I’ll be joining the cast of “Reykjavik,” a new play by Steve Yockey, at Actor’s Express and directing “Junie B. Jones is Not a Crook” at Georgia Ensemble Theatre.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It’s never a smooth road when you work in the arts. Our industry is one that is filled with rejection and disappointment. I was blessed to work nonstop for three years out of college, but when I arrived in Atlanta I had to re-train my brain a little bit. I feel like I’ve been very lucky more than a few times since moving here and I still have days that seem like I’m going nowhere. It’s a battle that you fight your entire career.
I realized fairly quickly that if you only define “success” as a result that is out of your control, you’re going to feel like a failure a lot of the time. I had to redefine success for myself so that I could embrace the process instead of worrying about the outcome. It’s something that’s easier said than done, but sometimes success means “I convinced this person to let me audition for them” instead of “I got the job.” At the end of the day, you have to find ways to believe in yourself and build yourself up.
I also moved into a terrible apartment when I first arrived in town, because I didn’t know any better and simply picked the first cheap apartment I could find. That living situation was so bad, I almost left Atlanta after three months – before any of the wonderful things started to happen in my career.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Michael Vine – what should we know?
Georgia Ensemble Theatre is a professional theatre company in Roswell. My primary job with GET is the managing of a Theatre For Young Audiences tour that serves more than 30,000 students every year. We perform four shows “in rep,” which means that the same six actors might perform “Junie B. Jones is Not a Crook” in the morning and “A Wrinkle in Time” in the evening of the same day. Those shows tour all over Atlanta and all of Georgia, and occasionally even out of the state.
Shakespeare on Draught brings Atlanta’s best actors together in barely rehearsed, barely directed, kinda tipsy, and absolutely free one-night-only productions of Shakespeare’s comedies & tragedies – in bars (or their parking lots).
We cast local Atlanta actors, and plan in advance so they can memorize and prepare. We gather once to read the script after casting and then again to figure out the fights and/or dances. The day before the performance, we hold one official run-through of the show.
The performance features live music. Our actors might ad-lib to keep things going, but if they call for their line, the entire bar is asked to take a drink. The end result is an experimental, ephemeral, entirely unique evening.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
You don’t have success in this country without help – and gobs of it. There’s no such thing as a “self-made” anything. Before I even made it to Atlanta, Katy Brown and John Hardy taught me more about being an actor, director, artist, and human than I ever thought I could learn. My family is a giant Michael fan club and keeps me positive when I want to be negative. Laurel Crowe and Anita Farley gave me a chance at Georgia Ensemble Theatre, and encourage me to pursue my artistic career and push myself outside the walls of GET.
Elizabeth Miller has been a friend, confidant, and inspiration at Shakespeare on Draught. Jody Feldman was the first person in the city to say “you can have a successful career here,” and she said it at a time when I needed it the most. The Barter Players make me want to be a better artist every single day. Emil Thomas gave me an opportunity to direct at Marietta’s New Theatre in the Square because he knew I was ready before I knew myself. My University of Alabama family is there no matter what I need, whether it’s a hug, or a laugh, or a beer, or a trivia night.
I could go on and on and on. The artists that I work with and watch and root for in this city and all over the country are some of the finest, most dedicated artists I’ve ever been around, and I am completely humbled by the fact that I get to learn from them on a daily basis.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @MichaelJVine
- Twitter: @MichaelJVine
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