An Intro...

Mars:

I came to this city and this business about 25 years ago when I stumbled into the Metropolitan Opera Chorus from my newly acquired Master's Degree and I thought I was hot stuff...but in reality I was just LUCKY. I've learned since then how difficult a struggle it is to even be seen in this town. And that's only the beginning!

 

I recently returned from a concert in Texas and on the way home struck up a conversation with a woman whose daughter just earned the right to attend V. C. U. to study voice. She's never done a show. Not a musical...not a play...nuttin'. But her mother, convinced of her talent, asked about moving to New York. This is for her and those like her...

 

1.) It's a big city and not always pleasant. Come prepared. It would be great to arrive in possession of your Equity Card (Actor's Equity Asso.) but not necessary. Fewer than 10% of dues paying members of AEA are working in any given week. But AEA is as much about protection as it is about making a living. And you need protection. Horror stories abound. The current Production Contract minimum is around $1300 weekly. Each Broadway show employs roughly 20-25 actors. There is an average of about 20 shows running at any given time. That's about 500-600 jobs. Sound like a lot? There's about a couple hundred people auditioning for that job. Almost all of them are submitted by their agent or manager. How about you? It's possible to do a series of auditions for any given job...sometimes 4 or 5 auditions. Or you may get a job like I did for the 20th Anniversary tour of Evita. "Hey Ray. Wanna play Peron on tour?" I sure did.

2.) Have a professional resume...please! Not a job resume - a performing resume. That doesn't mean something with amazing professional credits. Just what you've done...honestly. I have to tell you a story... a young man came to an audition for a production we were casting. One of his credits was for a production of South Pacific in a small theatre in San Bernadino, CA. His resume said he played Lt. Cable in the show. I asked some general questions about it and he gave me some vague and generally negative comments about it. I asked more specific questions like..."Who was the director"..."Who played Emile and Nellie"...and he couldn't quite recall. But I could. I directed that show. I played Emile and my wife played Nellie. I didn't hire HIM! And I didn't hire him again this time. Oops!

 

3.) Please have a headshot that looks like YOU! Your school photo doesn't qualify. Glamour shots don't qualify. The Polaroid your mother/brother/friend/lover/wife/husband took does not qualify. Get a professional job done.

 

4.) Most important of all...get some experience and training. As much as you can lay your hands on. If it's possible to get a degree - get one. Preferably in Business. Because Showbiz is a lot of Biz and not so much Show. There are tons of acting schools...and keep training. You'll never learn it all. Learn new monologues, new songs, see shows, keep at it! Acting, singing, dancing! Never forget that this is a business. The more skills you have, the more chances for work! Just like the real world!

New York is expensive. Rent, transportation, training, headshots, coaching...the list is endless. Be prepared to work outside the industry. Most of us do. If you can't suck your parents account dry - get a job!

Most of all...come prepared to meet the most amazingly talented people you've ever met. Anything you do well - somebody here does it better. But they'll feel exactly the same way that you do...insecure as hell and proud to be a part of the most challenging, frustrating and satisfying group of people on Earth. But! Nothing comes without work. And perseverance will outlast talent. And enough of this Venus crap...that's HER job.

Venus:

Having been raised in New York and cast in my first professional show at the age of ten, it hadn't occurred to me that most of the aspiring performers in this world had never seen a live show, never mind one on Broadway. It wasn't until I began teaching, at the request of Stella Adler, at her Conservatory, that I had the opportunity to interview thousands of students from diverse backgrounds who shared this same performance dream, without the necessary information leading them to the next step.

I remember going into a department store, while on the pre-Broadway tour of "Jekyll and Hyde", in Louisville, Kentucky, where my husband was playing Simon Stride. I was approached by the Lancome representative, who had followed my "J & H" tee-shirt with a starstruck gaze and breathlessly asked what advice I could give her to get her to New York to begin her acting career. She was working at the Lancome counter because someone advised her this would be a great first step to having a career in acting. I suggested she'd be better off taking acting classes and working, even if it's selling tickets for the Actors Theatre of Louisville, an award-winning repertory company in her own backyard . I also suggested that she begin to read...every play she can get her hands on, and every collection published by the Actors Theatre of Louisville, so she could begin her own collection - of plays and monologues with which she has an affinity. She then asked, "What's a monologue?" That next morning I booked our first teaching tour, across the nation, to coincide with the "J & H" tour schedule. We offered workshops to every college and university that would have us. I was determined to dispel the myth that a career in acting was ever going to be attained by working from the outside in. Many have tried, and if they haven't failed in their career, they have failed themselves. We've all seen the results of their broken lives in the headlines. Stella Adler taught that the actor's soul knows the difference between the truth and that which is fake; she vowed it would not let you rest until you made this connection conscious and chose what is true. She received five honorary doctorates for her work, and awakened all whose lives she touched.

In this series of columns, we will attempt to answer all of your questions about performance, from beginning to master levels. The first question asks about preparing for the journey to New York: "If you can make it there, you'll make it anywhere; it's up to you...New York, New York!" should be taken literally.

Ray already warned you of the expense of living in New York. There are too many survival issues with which to contend without having to combine the additional stress of staying employed as an actor. New York is not a first step in your acting journey. New York is the ultimate step. It is where your dream of performing on a Broadway stage is realized! Since very few shows originate here, but rather migrate here after receiving great critical acclaim, the most recommended path is that which takes you here as a member of the cast. You can then spend your days auditioning for your next job.

If you're not yet ready for that step, you should come here as a student, and while you're earning your degree, see as much theatre and take as many professional classes as possible...in acting, singing and dance. I'll answer questions about what to look for in a teacher in another column.

One of the first things I learned as a Conservatory student was that it takes ten years after graduation to develop a career. This means that after you have come to understand theatre from Classical to Contemporary, have polished your five audition monologues, which you have chosen from the 1000 plays you have studied; mastered five dialects, as well as singing, dancing, fencing, and the language of the fan(not to mention learning how to breathe with a bone corset crushing you as you proudly carry with you an encyclopedic knowledge of the History of the Undergarment); you have only begun your ten year journey toward being considered an actor, by profession. You have a closet full of period costumes, and rave reviews from your town's local newspapers, and are ready to face your first New York audition? Wrong. Even if you feel this does not apply to you because you only want to sing or dance, these are the actors who are competing with you for your role, and those who only dance or sing will rarely leave the ensemble.

In one of the next few columns, we will cover your headshot, resume and representation questions, but first you need to know that thousands of accomplished actors who arrive in New York every year, many with their graduate degrees in performance, leave by the end of the year after choosing a new career. Why? Partially because a degree in acting is not a confirmation of talent; partially because talent as an actor is not an indication of courage against all odds and partially because, for 1000 reasons, you were not at the right place at the right time, with the right material, look and attitude. There are only so many contracts to go around. Those still standing at the end will have the opportunity to sign them. The end refers to the long haul as well as the individual audition process for each one of those jobs. 

The Audition is a process which has less to do with talent, experience and acting training than it does with psychology. It is about giving a Broadway level performance with brand new material, that you may only have received within the last 24 hours, for a few strangers, in a flourescent lit room, while you make them feel as if they have found the one for whom they've been searching for their whole career. It is simultaneously a disguised business interview, a Broadway performance and the beginning of a long affair, with five hundred talented and beautiful performers clawing their way to take your spotlight. This all needs to happen without your giving away one ounce of your power.

The solution to making this union a successful one is a technique which can be learned in three hours, but it must then become a way of life, as natural as breathing (the subject of a future column). Otherwise, you, the artist, choose torture and chaos over living your dream.

Most classes in the audition process are offered by representatives in the casting industry. Although you will learn a lot about the business from them, you will not learn a technique from them. These classes, often referred to as "Cold Reading" or "Audition" workshops should never be confused with acting training. In the same way, college acting classes should not be confused with professional acting training. A professionally trained actor arrives at this status by mastering a technique, and performing as often and in as many styles possible.

Most of all, the actor's role is that of interpreter. Study Shakespeare. Even if you only dream of Musicals. Shakespeare can teach you more about Musicals than you can imagine! Read plays of all styles. Read many plays by the same playwright. Read their autobiographies. You'll find that they write about great ideas for which they are willing to fight to the death. Many have died still fighting these wars for which you now are being asked to fight. Know what you are fighting for! You will speak these words as if they are your own, so you need to understand them and connect to their passion even more than the playwright. When you realize that you have the power to awaken, not only your own, but the souls of everyone whose life you touch by these ideas, eight times a week, you will understand the importance of your purpose here on earth. And you will finally rest knowing you have made the connection.

There's no church that can give you that guarantee. It's the journey, not the result upon which we reflect when we reminisce. Don't allow the fear of others to take your breath away. This means your parents, your spouse, your casting directors, Venus, Mars...anyone! It'll make you dead inside.

If you can't sleep at night, find out why. It may take ten years or a lifetime, but if you find that you are one of those rare beings who can truly be called an actor, it will be worth the wait.

All in all, in the journey of this great transformation, I hope that my Lancome rep. finds her way to her dream from the inside out and that all the others who have been misguided on their way to the

Great White Way

 realize that no amount of make-up will disguise unpreparedness. You are only given one chance to make a lasting impression. When you are ready, I'll see you downstage center!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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