4 Months

Recently,  I just completed 4 months on a cruise ship and it has been an adventure for the books to say the least. 

Hello all, I hope that March has been a treat for each of you. I know mind has entered like a lion and will hopefully exit like a lamb. 

Being on this cruise ship, for living sakes, has been a journey. From extreme highs and lows, I have personally learned a lot about myself and what I need from a job. 

In short, this has been a very positive experience. 

In length, I am still blown away that it has been 120 days on a vessel. I have had 58 port days and 62 sea days. I can tell you that out of these days, I have been off this ship a lot less then that. When you work on a ship, you really are on the ship your full contract with hours off to explore the port or relax. 

My cabin, or I should say closet, becomes my little piece of heaven, a space to escape the ship for a hot minute. I have learned the movies on the crew tv by heart as they repeat so often. The outside world becomes a thing that you think exsits.  And WiFi is the best thing in the world, right behind downloadable TV movies and episodes. I have stated to read a lot and work on my style of art. All of this has had very positive experience to learn from. 

I still can't believe that it has been 4 months. I have made so many friends that will last a life time. I have had this honor to work with many cultures, learning different ways to do simple tasks 

Rough Seas Ahead

Ok, rough seas. To some they are a nightmare filled with fear of sinking and sickness.

For me, it is a free ride on an amausement park ride.

Yes, I just typed that and I love rough seas on the boat.

We have not had anything super bad yes, just bad enough for a lot of people to get seasick, to have an effect of your walking, and thing swaying. 

I enjoyed this experience, as I made it a game. Rocking back and forth reminded me of the Viking Ship rides at amusement parks! I love those rides. 

Hopefully, this love for rocking will not disappear or have an effect on my body, as of now I love it!!

From what I hear, the crossing to Spain could be very rough! I guess we will see!!

Daniel 

Christmas

Merry (belated) Christmas!!

I hope everyone had an amazing Holiday season. We only have one more holiday in 2015!! That is a crazy thought!!

Well, this was my first Christmas away from family, and to be honest it was not hard but it did not feel like Christmas! 

Onthis ship, they try to do everything they can do to make it Christmas. We decorate (not elaborate), Santa visits, they provide different types of mass, and us crew get different treats. 

The last part was the nicest!! They gave us 4 days of free internet! 2 very nice dinners! A large book bag (it is very nice to be honest)! And an all crew party!! This 4 day cruise has been very strange, but it has been a treat. To bad it won't last!;)

Other then the extra stuff the ship does for crew, the only other differences are the extra activities for guests. Over all, it just did not feel like Christmas!

Our next cruise, which is about to start will be our New Years Crusie!! I will be on duty so I will be pulling the ballon drop! Not going to lie, I am so looking forward to making 1000+ balloons drop!! 

I hope everyone had an incredible month of December. It seems that December is always the hardest month! I pray that everyone is safe and well!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Brilliance Entertainment

One thing I love about working the cruise ship are the people! Not only the crew or guests, but the entertainers!!

On this ship we mainly have comedians and singers, but we get some strong singers and comedians!

I have worked with people like Kenny James, Earl Turner, Revecca and Donovan and many other performers. All are insanely talented and a joy to work with. 

And this is just the beginning. We have had so many comedians that are incredibly funny I can't name them all. Some of my favorites have been:

 Michael Zigfield who was a ventriloquist and had an awesome collection of characters. 

I also loved The Heath Show by: Heath Hyche! He put on an original sketch comedy show and engaged the audience like no other!! Some of the stage staff laugh and claim he is my father because of personalities! 

Now Steve Morris and Lucas Brohn were both incredible comedians! They new their strengths and went with it. Both of them spoke their mind and had good simple comedy. That is the way comedy should be. Simple and sweet! 

I have only been one the ship for little over a month and the entertainment that we bring in is so much fun and each cruise we get new people! It is an adventure awaiting to see what happens!

Daniel Sukup 

Brilliance of the Seas

Well what an adventure this job has been! It has been everything I hoped it would be and more! The best way to describe this job is an adventure! 

Ship life is extremely different from land life. From working hours, to traveling, to living crew corridors. 

Let's start with the living corridors. It takes getting used to living in a closet. I am not joking by that either. We live in very small corridors with many of the cabins not having portholes. These cabins have everything you need, bed, storage, bathroom, shower. All cramped in a very small spot. But none of this matters to me, since you only sleep in your room. (And we do have crew tv! Which is awesome!)

Through out the ship, the crew have many hangout spots to simply chill on their time off. From the day room, mess hall, bar, and forward lounge, having a small area does not bug me as much!

Traveling has been something else I have needed to get used to. I love to travel, but have never been stuck on somthing for 24+ hours. Sea days are extremely strange and can be difficult. 

Strange because there is a lot more work (got to keep the guests entertained) but you can't get off the ship, you are stuck. That feel can get to you, but you find ways to entertain yourself. 

Difficult because, if you know me, I get bored easy. If I have many hours off I between shifts, I get bored because there is nothing to do. This has been a challenge for me. 

Finally the working hours! As for the working part, I work the same hours I do on land at a theatre. Nothing has changed in that. However, you never get a day off, you get hours off. Which has been another big adjustment! However, 3 cruises down and I love it. It does not bug me that I don't have a day off. I guess I was cut out for ship life. Hmmm...guess we will see where this take me. 

In other news, I finally got to check off another bucket list item!! I had my Birthday in a different country - COZUMEL, MEXICO!! What a treat that was! Look for a post about my adventure in Mexico on my birthday!!

Have a great week everyone and write to you all soon!

Daniel Sukup 

The Next Big Thing is here!

Yes, the next big thing is here and it is not a smartphone! It is my next career adventure! 

As most know that I am joining the Brilliance of the Seas by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines TOMORROW! 

I am thrilled for this new experience and can't wait to share every moment with all of you! 

Before all of this begins, I need to continue thanking my family, friends, and coworkers that support me in all of my decisions and adventures! I could not do this without you. I truly mean all of that. Without this support I would not be sitting here doing what I love and reaching my dreams.

The last two months have been a blessing and I can't say that enough either! It was a blast living with my family and sharing memories that will last a life time! I was extremely blessed to be able to have the time that I had with them! So Eldon and Tami Sukup Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you have done in the last 2 months. Thank you for all the great memories, moments, and adventures! This next one will be huge! 

So here is to the next adventure! Welcome Aboard!

Daniel Sukup

This is it.

THIS IS IT!

I feel like Michael Jackson for saying this, This is it! (to soon?)

We are in the final stretch of 'Tecumseh!' the worlds greatest outdoor drama. Only 5 shows left to see this amazing show! This summer has flown by so quickly and now the end is in sight. We close Saturday, so make it out to Chillicothe, OH to see this amazing show, but most importantly to see me! As we get close to the end, I have to look back at all of the amazing things this company has taught me!

The past three seasons have been amazing! This was my first big time professional theatre, and I have learned so much in the past three seasons. From stage combat, to horse riding, playing with fire, and my most favorite thing of the show: HIGH FALL! All of these skills will advance me even further into my professional career!

I could not thank my directors enough: Adam Burke and Jenny Male have been amazing to work with and giving me a strong base for my career!

Here are some number to think about for the past three seasons:

222 - Shows

555 - hours of show time

148 - Shows as Kothee

74 - Shows as Leaning Tree

451 - High Falls

11,275 - Feet fallen

148 - Tecumseh! body lifts

592 - Wig changes in the 2015 season

962 - Wig changes in all three seasons

370 - Quick changes

888 - Character changes

Over 100+ New amazing actors that I have met and have changed my life!

Most important: 0 Missed shows, 0 Injuries

All of these in the past three seasons! Some of the numbers are so crazy to me! It is strange to think that it is almost all over. The conclusion of my third seasons is here! Like I said, I have learned so much from this amazing company and there will always be a special spot in my heart for all of this! Tecumseh! 2016 will be here before you know it!

As I wrap up this season, I start to forward to what the rest of the year has to offer me! This is my first full year out of school and I have been working steadily for the last 9 months! Now it comes time to see what will be happening in the fall!

 I already know what I will be doing this fall, but I am not ready to announce this excitement! I will give you a hint that this will be the biggest movement forward in my career to date! In fact, it will be the world's largest! I am not joking about that either! All details will be released soon!


It is always a great thing to look at your past, to see how the dots have connected, to see your growth. Then take this information and fly with it. Reach the stars, once there reach for the end of the galaxy! The dreams only become reality, when starting from a strong base!

My love,

Daniel Sukup

Goals

Hello all,

It has been a crazy summer, some very interesting things have been in the works and continue to surprise me. I still can't believe that it has been nearly a month since my last post! Where has time gone?

This summer has been filled with great adventure, memories to last a life time, and simple fun times! From hitting up beautiful Nature sanctuaries, traveling to amusement parks, hiking, relaxing, see new things, and above all meeting new people!

As I head into this month, I have a few goals for the rest of the year. I feel that goals need to be apart of everyones life, otherwise how do you know that you have grown to a new height?

Goal 1) First and foremost, I am making it a goal to write more often. Simply spending 10 minutes to write something is better then nothing.

Goal 2) Next, I plan to unveil a new project of mine in the coming weeks. This will remain a surprise for a while, but it has always been a goal of mine to be expand to new horizons and now I will be!:)

Goal 3) I have another surprise in the works that should be able to be announced this week! It has always been a goal of mine to work somewhere new! I am being very vague on this because I don't want to spoil the surprise!!

Goal 4) Travel somewhere new! I am going to be going to a new amusement park this year: Holiday World for the best day of the year: NATIONAL ROLLER COASTER DAY!!! August 16th, I will be heading to a new park to celebrate my favorite day!

Goal 5) have one extreme adventure, meaning skydiving or zip lining, or some high adrenaline rush!

5 goals, 5 months, lets do it! In other news, keep a watch out on my Facebook page for updates on the happening this months!

See you later, or write you later?

Sukup

Inside Out

Hello all,

What a beautiful day, well cloudy weather here, to write words in a digital relam. Recently I saw the movie 'Inside Out' and Pixar did not disapoint me in my movie going adventures. I don't want to write a review on the movie, becuase it would the be world's shorest review: AWESOME! Instead, I want to write about something that it made me feel: Family.

I have been working away from my family for 9 months now. Unlike school, where I could visit and miss classes, real worldness you don't have that option as much! Out of these 9 months I have not lived closer then 13 hours away from my family, and the furtest being 22 hours, has been intesting to say the least.

It has not really hit me until recently on how much family means to me, even more so then in college. Family is my support beam that has been there to hold me up while I get my footing in this real world lifestyle. Pushing me to hold strong to my dream and never letting go of my drive to do the impossible.

Honestly, I miss my family so much and would love to spend a lot of time with them but I know that if I want to reach my dreams, I would be doing more harm to the support of my family by coming back to "safety". It is a tough road as an adult (I am finding out) but it is a beautiful one. It reminds me of summer vactions, just hasve to pay for everything!

How does this all fit into 'Inside Out'? If you have seen the movie, it deals with emotions and more precisely interactions with family. After seening it, it forced me to reflect about my family and my life. All in good vibes.

That is todays thought! 

Daniel Sukup

P.S. I hope you all are enjoyingn summer, we got nailed yesterday with ann extreme rain and flash flooding was a major concern. The stage is getting fixed today and will be ready for tonight preformance! Our AT's are some of the best people around this season and could not thank them enough for all the hard work they have done! So to al of the AT's THANK YOU!!

Tecumseh! 2015

This summer is flying by and I don't know what to think of it. It seems to me that as you get older, time just flies quicker and quicker. 

Anywho, this summer has been an excellent start to Tecumseh! 2015! We are officially 20 shows into this season and it is just getting started!!

Being back for a third season makes this place feel more like home then work. Being around this many actors for a summer is always an adventure making them your family away from family. 

This year I am back as Kothee, but doing so much more! Jenny Male (our incredible director) has added a lot of beautiful moments in the show that have transformed this show yet again. A narrator, who signs the voiced narration, has been added. I was given the honor to be that person this year and make it come to life. I could not be more blessed to be signing the narration. 

This year is already shaping to be an incredible season for myself and also the audience! 

Last 5 Years

Good morning Baltimore (I have always wanted to say that)! Yesterday I occurred to me that it has been 5 years since I graduated from, dare I say it, High School. A time in my life that was there to provide great lessons.... lets just leave it at that! A lot has happened in 5 years, a whole book has happened! Crazy thoughts, but it is true. Like my parents have always told me, I don't let grass grow underneath my feet!

Last 5 Years

Lets start off this post right! I will be interviewing myself to answer questions that will answer what has happened in the Last 5 Years (how many more times can I get this show title in this post!)

How many Cities have you lived in?

I have officially live in 5 cities. Omaha, St. Louis, New York City, San Diego, Missoula, and Chillicothe! 

How many state have you been to in the last 5 years?

Any where between 15-20 states (not all knew, just traveling)

What degrees did you get in college?

I recently graduated with BFA in Acting, BFA in Technical Theatre, and a Minor in Dance

Now time for the juicy questions: What have you done job wise in the last 5 years?

I have worked at a lake in Council Bluffs, that was a fun summer and that was also the summer of the great Missouri River Flood. The next summer, I worked at Six Flags St. Louis as a ride op for the roller coaster Mr. Freeze Reverse Blast, that was a chance to knock off items on my bucket list. Then for the last two summers, I have worked in Chillicothe Ohio, working on the show Tecumseh! I will be heading back there this summer for a third year. During college time period, I work as a House Keeper (that was a blast and I miss my boss Beth and Elvin!), also worked on countless productions professional and academic. My favorites being that I interned with Mike Kantz for a month and worked underneath Brian Ebbinghaus for 2+ years! Now in my post-college years, I have a solid 9 months of work lines up, first with Missoula Children's Theatre and second with Tecumseh!! I do have plans after September 2015, but I want to keep that a surprise.

What is something you are most proud of in the last 5 years?

To much to say. I think what has been the most rewarding is looking at life a different way. As I have been going through life, I have soon realized that we are not guaranteed tomorrow and we need to spend every waking minute doing what we love. 


What do you love?

Theatre, art, creativity, expression, etc. 

What is your biggest accomplishment in theatre or your art?

I have a few: First off, I think meeting the people that I have met in my life and getting to know their story. I count this as an accomplishment because I now know stories that some people will never hear, and these have changed my life. 

I think my other accomplishment goes to working in professional theater. I was told many times in my life that, "They don't need you, theatre is over crowed and you won't get work." I have told these people to watch me and learn! It has been a thrill and a huge accomplishment showing them that they need me in the theatre world, because there is only one Daniel P Sukup that is 23!! 

Finally, getting into stage combat. Last summer, I recommended pass my Quarterstaff testing. This was my first weapon I have ever trained on and it will now not be my last!!

You mentioned art, what type of art do you do other then theatre?

Any type of visual art! I love working with new mediums and coming up with new mediums to be able to tell the story that I want to tell. Unfortunately, being on the road I can't always work with new mediums, instead I have been working with photography. This is something that my parents have been pushing me to do longer then I can remember. Thanks to them I will be advancing it even further then before!

Getting back to the last 5 years, what is something you will take away for the next 5 years?

Self exploration and finding exactly who I am. This may sound weird, but in the world of technology, majority of us have lost this connection and are lost. We are addicted to these screens and not seeing the real world for what it is. This is something I am working with my photography to do. I want to capture the real world and get that connection back, as I move forward with the next 5 years.

Finally, what are 5 goals for the next 5 years?

1) Continue being a working Actor and not to lose the love for the arts
2) Continue to have the drive to explore and find
3) Be on a  National Tour 
4) Build my film career up
5) Write a book and get published

Bonus: Be a published artist

What do you want to tell your 28 years old self?  

Never lose the child in your heart. Keep the innocence alive with every new day. Never forget that tomorrow will never come and today could be your last. Smile and stay chill. Stress is worthless and not needed.


Thank you for reading this self interview. It has been an adventure writing and talking to myself. It really has gotten me to think about has happened. In the words of Steve Jobs:

"You can't connect the dots looking forward you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path." -Steve Jobs

Homestays

Good Wed-nes-day morning or as some cultures say: Happy Hump day! I have been gone for some time and today I really have the urge to write! Writing is like a meditation that feeds the soul and allows your mind to be cleared.




Before I get into today's topic, I want to let you know what I have been doing in the past few weeks! Ever since the beautiful app Enlight has been released on the app store, I have been working on my photography! I have attached some of the recent shots that I have taken!

Follow me on INSTAGRAM for more information and images! I have some huge news coming this summer, but you will have to follow this blog to find out more!



Now to todays topic:

Homestays

It has been very interesting working with Missoula Children's Theatre and staying with different families. At first this sounded as strange as monkey's talking to a pig. However as I am now officially done to one more week with MCT, this does not sound strange anymore! 

It is weird, when these families open up their home to us, it is more then providing us with a bed and a roof. It is a statement of "Welcome Home!" You are now home! Every single family has been more welcoming then I could ever had imagined! 

Being away from my personally family has been a little hard. I don't think I have ever made 5 full months being away from my family and this was the first. Having these homestays have been incredible and have been a huge help in making this much easier to be away.

I have been a part of over a dozen different families this tour and each on we were a part of them, telling us stories that would be shared to every family member, you know what I mean. This makes it hard to leave the families each week. 

I do know that I will have a lot of families to return to when I come back to MT in the future! As this tour comes to an end, I will miss a lot of stuff, but that is why social media was invented! I have a lot of people to keep in touch with!:) 

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I hope that your Winter/Spring has been amazing! Summer is almost here for majority of people and if that is one of you what are your plans?

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The side roads

It is strange to say that MCT is over. It was my life for the past 5 months. That is not a long time, compared to others, but it is my longest job I have had. 

I learned a lot from this job. Ironically the best lesson I learned is to take the side roads. 

This lesson was greater then the many others lessons because from this I was able to stem to these other lessons. There were three major lessons to stem from taking side roads:

1) Taking a side road will take much infer to get to your location, sometimes hours longer. This is where I learned to extend my patiences. When you finally train your mind that you don't need to rush, that you will get there eventually, you start seeing very positive changes in yourself. You don't anger as easy, you manta in a "stress free" or "chilled" life longer, and you present yourself with a more positive atmosphere. 

2) taking the side roads not only enhanced my patiences, but in the process of slowing down I was able to see beauty that I did not before. 

On an interstate, you zoom past everything at a speed that does not allow you to see things, to appreciate things. Taking a slower road, allows time for these things. Being able to see towns that one would not if they were on the fast lane. Being able to see monuments, historical markers, mama and papa stores, and simply unique items made for a slower drive simply beautiful. 

My level of appreciation increased 10 fold, allowing this to extend past the visuals of the road but to the people I was working with easy week. Being able to see through their "tough" mode or see them for what others don't made this experience so much more then what it was. 

3) with interstates, it is very easy to get to point A to point B. With side roads, your focus, concentration, and presentness have to be there in order to make it to point A and B. I made this harder on myself and did not use my GPS and would "memorize" the map before we started to dive to see how far I could get before I needed a map. By the end of tour I was able to make it majority if not the full route without a GPS. 

Allowing your mind the always think like this when driving, with enhance your senses. You will be safer because you are always on the lookout, always focused for problem areas, always present at the task at hand and never are you in "auto pilot" as this would kill you. 

Using this method, allowed for the job to never become a "job" as you were always fouced on what will happen now, what is different. It was harder to become "bored"

Side roads have taught me a lot about myself and how to work and live. Before I continue: there is a time for Interstates, they are not bad and I am not saying I now advoid them. Just learned different things from different roads. 

Side roads did teach me a lot about my self, and how to use these lessons for my job. I suggest that every person to take a moment when driving to take the longer route to point A and B. 

Moving on!

As this contract is about to end, I think it is about time to announce my next plan for 2015!

Moving On!

It is so much fun always moving on to the next project! This is one of many reasons that I love theater and being an artist, always finding new projects to work on. Some are short term and some are long term! Today I want to announce two projects that I will be pulling my focus to after this contract with Missoula Children's Theatre is over.

First I want to annoys that I will be back at Tecumseh! this summer for the third year! I will never forget the first summer there and I asked the returnees, "why do people keep coming back?" and the best answer I received was, "you will have to wait and see!" At first I unsure about this answer and exactly the meaning behind it, however that has all changed after my first season. I honestly don't know how to explain it, there is something about that mountain that keeps calling me back. Something is not finished and I still feel the calling back to the mountain! I am thrilled to be back again this year and I am crazy positive that it will be an incredible summer at the best outdoor drama there is!!

Second, for anyone that reads this will be the first to know that I am officially going to push my photography to the next level. Starting this summer, I will start pulling more focus to capturing and make these all available to each of you! There will be more information as I define exactly what I want to do. With all of the positive push I have receive with my photography, I have decided to find the next step!

These are my next two steps after Missoula Children's Theatre. This only covers the summer, but the adventure of what happens after August 31st! Be sure to follow this blog to be the first to find out!  

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Spring break

Just as the title says:

ITS SPRING BREAK!

What a crazy idea, I am graduated and I still get the beauty of spring break! I am so excited!! This week so far has been everything a person could imagine! From relaxing, to shopping, to sighting seeing, to bike riding, and even swimming! We have it all and we did not have to go to Florida for this!! We are in:

Sandpoint Idaho!

This town is obviously a very big tourist town, but not in the spring time! This town is alive with heart and not filled with tourist! That is the lake that we are staying on, and it is so beautiful!!! Mind you it is about 50-70 feet lower during the winter time period and full in the summers! 

This lake is the 5th deepest lake in the nation, at a staggering 1200 feet deep, some locals believe that it is much deeper then that!! 43 miles long, 111 miles of shore line and unlimited amount of fun, what better place for SPRING BREAK!! (ok, not going to lie, Florida would be amazing!)

We got up here on Tuesday, and will be here until Sunday when we have to go to Kalispell for our next week!! I hear there are four other teams in the area!! Can't wait to catch up with them all!!

Tuesday we really did not do much, got checked in and looked around. But the real big fun started Wednesday!!

Wednesday was our first full day in the city (7,365 pop.) and when shopping at all of the amazing cool stores this town has to offer! I came up with the Idea to rent a bike as it was to be very nice this week (50s with some clouds) and I found a very reasonable shop: $20 for 24 hours!! So needless to say I am going to rent a bike!! Oh, and I bought a rock that has water trapped inside, could be thousands of years old (the water)!!!

Thursday, was an amazingly tiring day!! I rented my bike and rode everywhere that was anywhere!!! Over 34 miles of biking today!!! Yes you read that correctly, 34 miles!!! I went to 4 different towns, including one that was 8 miles away!! In the picture above, that bridge (correctly called long bridge) I biked over to the next town called Sagle!! What a beautiful bike!! 

Friday, I plan to return my rented bike, see the Movie Paper Planes (the movie theatre that is showing it here is the first in america to show it), see the musical Venus in Fur, and rest!!

Saturday I have surprises planned, meaning I have no idea what I am doing

Sunday I am going to celebrate easter the best way I know! We also have to drive to our next town!:(

Anyways that is our spring break!! I can't wait to share all developments with you!! 

For the latest on Spring Break, follow me on:

Have an amazing day and make sure to also check out my professional website:

Sukup Online

Mid contract update

8 weeks in and 8 weeks to go!

I remember day one and how terrified it was to start this job! I did not know if I would be able to handle this crazy idea of doing a show in a week. I could not see how it was possible! After 8 weeks, about 600+ students and close to 16 shows, I can see that it is very possible to do this crazy idea!

Hello all! I hope all has been going well! This last week, was the official middle of this contract and boy have the tides changed.

This job is amazing, incredible, life changing, and so much more. As I have been able to relax more and not stress at this idea of a show in a week, I have been able to relax, because I now know my information, I have been able to explore these towns we go in and learn about these people! I can tell you there are some beautiful people in this world.

I love hearing, at the end of each week, students come up to us and tell us how much we have impacted them. It would be incredible to see what happens to them in the future, but I know that they will flourish to beautiful humans.

With less then half of our contract left, it is heart breaking but a blessing. I am sad that it is coming so quickly, but excited because we have so much more left of this tour and so many more lives to be impacted by theatre and the arts!

Thank you,

Daniel Sukup

The Good and Bad

Work is Work

Wait what!? Work is work? I am talking about the physical work, meaning that if energy is put out then energy is lost, and thus work has happened. 

This job is work, and there are times when I get done with rehearsal, I am exhausted and just want to curl up with a good book, or veg with a good TV Show. It can be very exhausting to speak for 4 hours a day, but also add signing and blocking and you have a recipe for tired. This job is work. 

When I walk out of rehearsal there are nights when I leave and feel down because something did not go right or maybe I did not get to do what I want to do in the rehearsal, but then there is this moment that I look around and realize that I am in Montana, in a town that I most likely would not have traveled to as a tourist and see the beauty of this job and the beauty around me. Then it is like a sugar bomb went off inside me and I am charged up to go!

This job is amazing, you do get extremely exhausted and that is a beautiful sign that you are doing your job correctly! This job is work to get this show up on its feet, but it is so worth it. When I look at what we have done in the 6 schools that we have gone to, I see students that gained so much in their confidence, see smiles, and fear wipe away from their face. 

When that sugar high hits after rehearsal I am not only motivated to start the next rehearsal, but also feel stronger as an artist, doing his thing. I have seen my photography get stronger, my visual art is getting stronger, and all of this is form this beautiful sugar high that I am getting when I see that I am doing my dream job! That I really am an artist!!

That is all I have to talk about now, thank you for listening!

Daniel Sukup

The Job Behind the Job

A Tour Update 

Missoula MT

What a crazy 5 weeks it has been on the road! I have been to 5 towns/cities that I may have never gotten to! I have seen the height of beautiful mountains, I have seen the flat of MT, I have seen the canyons that divide, and I have see the beauty in people that I have never met! 

What is beautiful about this job, is it is almost like we have two jobs. Meaning the first and most important job is to put this show on it feet in a week, and the second job is meeting all of these people who have the most amazing stories to be told. Now before I continue I have to define "job". From me this job is not a job, yes I get paid but it is so much more then that. Job simply means an activity that comes with pay. YES technically I get paid for one of the two I listed.

Columbia Falls, MT

We all know the show I am doing: The Jungle Book, and it has been a blessing to be on tour, an amazing experience around every corner, and a lesson builder for myself. Each of these have such a heavy impact to my life that I can not wake up each morning with a sad face, but instead wake up with the most enthused face I can have. Every morning I wake up, I get to work with students that don't get theatre, that don't have art, and this is all the have. Every morning, I get to push these students to their max and see amazing work come from them. Every morning, I get to live in communities that have crazy amount of love for Missoula. And every morning, I get to wake up knowing that I impacted their lives in a way that could change their life forever! I think I have one amazing job! 

Vaughn, MT

For 5 weeks I have been on the road, we have had almost 300 students work with us, we have had over 130 families see their child on a stage and rock it, and we have had people who have never see theatre and have their second thoughts about how this can be done in a week, and proved them wrong! This is just the scratch of the surface. This is the main job, but the second job is just as much fun!

When on the road, we met so many people. We have our home stays, our school contacts, the contacts helper, and then we also get to met the housekeeping staff, the teachers and professors, the community and everyone in-between. 

Meeting these people is such a treat, we get to hear their stories that they share with much delight. I get to know them on a level that makes the word stranger fall away from the vocabulary. I talk to these people and connect! This is the other side of the job that it just as thrilling as the main job!

Cody, WY

I can tell you about a person who just lost their mother and how hard it has been, I can tell you about a family who knows their family history here in MT, I can tell you about a person who works with young children and wants to know more about theatre, I can tell you about a person who is considering moving back to MT and she told me that I made her mind up and she is going to do it!

World's Shortest River - Great Falls, MT

This is just the starch, I could go on for hours telling you stories about people I have had the incredible opportunity meeting and hearing their story. That last one just happened recently, we were talking about where we were from. After telling her my story about living in STL and how we are building back as a community and then I told her what I have noticed about MT. She agreed with what I said and told me that I made her mind up and she is moving to MT! 

Again, I could type and talk for hours about this experience so far, but who wants to read pages of information like that? I will keep you all updated on the happenings of this tour!:D

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Gildford, MT

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Time to Balooo

Hello All,

What a week it was preforming as Baloo! This was the first time preforming with the children on stage. Working backstage for the last two week is something special and getting to see all f the great work that is happening and getting to really see the progress is tear jerking. Now I finally get to see what it is like on stage.

Last week was my first time, and it was something special! Getting to be on stage and see, visually seeing, and hearing the progress actually took me out of the production! I sat there amazed by what was happening on stage (I almost missed my line!). I am thrilled to be playing Baloo again this week and am already seeing great progress in rehearsal!

When I was playing Baloo, I did realize that I am doing my dream! I was on stage preforming and it hit me that I am getting paid to be on tour to act! I am a professional Actor! It felt so amazing to be on stage and be alive! This has never felt like a job and that is something I have always wanted!

We are officially on week 4 of this tour, and I can't begin to think how many students lives we have impacted and how much I have learned.  Doing the math really quickly, we have reached over 450 students just in 4 weeks time!! Some of these students have learned so much!

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Where I be in 5 years times, I used to be able to answer that! Now, I can't even answer where I will be in 2 months! I am ok with this because if we live life planned out, then nothing magical can happen, this journey we are on will cease to breath life into our hearts and minds. Not knowing is apart of the game.

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1) Follow me on Instagram to find more photos from my Tour: 2oculars
2) Flickr: dpsukup
3) Facebook: dsukup
4) and finally my website: www.dpsukup.com

Thank you for your huge support! As I was writing this blog, I started to write another!:)

Big Sky, Big Country

A while back, I finished a self journey... or at least I thought I did. When that one was taking place, I learned something extremely important that I need to bring that "child" back into my life. However I never thought I would still be on a joinery, until now.

This morning as I was showering, before the frozen pipes backed up our water in the guest house, I was thinking to my self about this tour. I have been noticing certain things that are very similar in each of our homestays. Something that is making me second guess God's reason for this tour.

I will not speak about this journey until I learned what I am to learn, but I am starting to realized that we are all on a journey. Some journeys will take days, some will take months, and even years. My first self claimed journey lasted 2 years. This one it just starting.

God's reason for this tour could be more then one. I thought it was about children, because my more recent jobs (other then MCT) have been with children. I am starting to think there is another lesson for me to learn, or maybe even more that I have not noticed yet.

Not all of these journey's are driven by faith, as my last one ( I claim) was a self journey. I needed it for myself and for me the artist. These journey's help me move to another phase in life, or strength need to head into a new level of faith.

One thing I need to clear up, when I talk about these journeys some people my get the wrong idea to what I am doing. All I am doing it learning about myself from the lesson provided around me. The environment is my visual canvas and when my eyes have been opened enough to see a lesson, then I can learn about it. Personally, I feel that we are all on these journeys, some people may never see them.

Enough about journeys and lessons, this is sounding like school again! :D

I have completed 3 weeks of this 15 week tour and I am thrilled to announce that I have officially played Baloo and I loved every minute of it! I will be going on this week as well, but with a different cast!

For everyone that is still wondering if I love this job, I will just say this, "I AM IN DREAMLAND PEOPLE!!" Each day brings a new adventure, each wee
k brings new memories, what more could I ask for! I am meeting people and hearing their stories that I would never have known if it weren't for this job!

We just finished up Cody, WY and I am going to miss that city! That was one of my favorite cities! There is so much to do, even in the winter! If you can't find anything to do then you are not trying or you are DEAD!

The community was incredible and they loved having us there. They support the Arts so much that I wish MCT stopped in the town twice, because we are almost all they have for theatre (other then a strong high school drama department!)

Anyways, it is getting late! I will make sure to keep updating my blog as much as I update Instagram! Speaking of which, please check out my instagram: 2oculars - you will find photos about the tour and so much more!!

dpsukup.com - my professional website!

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Look forward to tomorrow post specifically about my performance of playing Baloo! Also look ahead to the week about my adventures in Great Falls, MT and Cody, WY!


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