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Your Theatrical Resume Needs These 3 Things

Laura Enstall — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 18:08:49 +0000

If you’re an actor, you most certainly need a theatrical resume. It’s different from a business resume for job applications, and it’s different from an educational resume for college applications. Here are three things your resume needs, along with a free theatrical resume template to help you get started.

1. Your Contact Information

Directors need to be able to reach you to let you know, “Hey, we want you in our show.” Provide a phone number that you answer regularly, and it’s even better if you have a voice-messaging system or voicemail set up.

If you’ve been using your school email address—or your original email from middle school—make sure it’s easily recognizable. I recommend using your first name and last name (or, in reverse order, last name and first name) @ domain.com. Try to avoid using lots of numbers, or fun names like “Broadwaybaby1234” (which may or may not have been my first email address).

Having a silly or fun email address, or one with lots of numbers and random letters, is great for personal use—but it’s not great for auditions. It leaves so much room for error if someone is manually typing it in. It’s easier to see your name on your resume, audition form, headshot and email address if they’re all the same—less room for error.

When it’s time to apply for colleges, you definitely want to have a professional email address. The only exception here is if you’re a child actor and your parent(s) want to use his/her/their email address.

You can include a social media handle as well if it’s appropriate. Some actors have their Instagram or TikTok ready for public viewing. You could also create an account where you post updates and performance videos. Some people like to put a small thumbnail headshot in the header of their resume. It’s not required but it’s an option.

2. Your Experience

You should include an accurate portrayal of your theatrical experience. Do not lie or embellish facts on your resume. The theatre community is small, and it can be figured out quickly if you haven’t told the truth about a role you’ve played or a show you’ve listed.

It should also be easy to read. Format your resume so important information is easily seen. While it can be tempting, you don’t need to get fancy with various font colors—black text is sufficient.

Here are key experiences to include:

Title of the show, the role you played, and where you performed the show. Place this in three columns (see the template for an example).
Training in dance, voice, and/or acting. If you’re a dancer, you should include classes you’ve taken. If you’re a singer, include voice lessons and choir. If you’ve taken acting classes, list them as well.
Masterclasses or workshops.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a large theatrical resume. Remember, everyone starts somewhere. If you do have a large resume with much experience, make sure it all fits on one page.

3. Special Skills

This section is fun because it gives the auditors and directors an idea of who you are as a person. Include info that helps you stand out or makes you unique. Can you juggle, whistle, make animal noises, yodel, roller skate, or skateboard? Can you do a handstand, or are you a tumbler? Do you have a driver’s license? Do you play an instrument? Give this some thought, and be ready to do any of these things in the audition room or provide supplemental material if asked.

The PDF link above should help guide you as you create or tweak your own theatrical resume. There isn’t one perfect way to do a theatrical resume, but it should be clean and easy to read.

One other thing to remember: You’ll want to staple your resume to the other side of your headshot, which should be 8×10 inches in size, so you’ll want to trim accordingly. Have fun putting together your resume!

Laura Enstall is the owner and founder of Audition Well. She helps students conquer audition fears, stand out in the audition room, and find the theatre program that’s a perfect fit. Follow Audition Well on Instagram for audition tips @auditionwell.

The post Your Theatrical Resume Needs These 3 Things appeared first on Dramatics Magazine Online.

A New Age of Criticism

James Palmarini — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 17:00:00 +0000

CRITICS HAVE ALWAYS been part of the ecosystem of theatre. Ideally, the task of a critic has been to assess work and serve as a mediator between the art and the audience. Historically, theatre critics have influenced what plays get seen and even produced — for a Broadway production, a good review can help ensure a long run for the show, and a bad review can result in quick closure.

While the delivery methods have shifted — from print newspapers to online media — the individuals who write or record theatre criticism hasn’t: The field is dominated by white reviewers with common cultural experiences. But that is starting to change. The best example is the BIPOC Critics Lab founded by cultural critic Jose Solís.

The Honduran-born writer has been covering theatre, film, and the arts for nearly two decades, including for The New York Times and American Theatre. He also co-created the podcast and web series Token Theatre Friends, which brings a person-of-color perspective to the performing arts.

Solís had long wanted to create a critic mentoring program. When he found himself quarantined at home in Brooklyn last March, he launched a Zoom-based class to give aspiring critics the chance to learn the fundamentals of the craft and to engage in dialogues that would help them pursue their best path as critics. A few months after he launched the Critics Lab with eight students, Solís was approached by the Kennedy Center to replicate the program as part of its annual American College Theatre Festival. When Dramatics.org spoke to Solís in a Zoom interview, he was a few weeks into the 10-week Kennedy Center version of the Critics Lab. Solís was generous with his thoughts and time, talking extensively about why he decided to start the Lab and about the state of criticism and why it needs to change. Here’s what he had to say.

Let’s start with you. How did you get started down this career path?

SOLÍS: When I was 10 years old, I had this journal that my mom gave to me. I didn’t want a bike like most kids because, Honduras, my home country, was very dangerous. So I spent a lot of time watching American movies and TV shows and writing about them in that journal. I would see the kids in the movies hanging out and think that must be what it’s like. The first time I watched ET, I remember being worried that, when the kids go out on Halloween, they were going to get kidnapped. Every weekend, my dad or grandma would take us to the movies. When I got home, I just started writing in the journal about the things that I’d seen in the movie. There really wasn’t much theatre for me to see so writing about movies that interested me was what I did.

After your graduated from college in Costa Rica, you came the United States. In another interview, you said that when you got to New York, you felt like a brown spot in a sea of white. How did you meet that challenge?

SOLÍS: To begin with, I guess I am what you call a light-skinned Latino. I knew I wasn’t white, but when I moved to New York that became really clear to me. Racism is almost impossible to explain to someone who doesn’t live here. Many times, when people back home ask about my anti-racism mission to bring more BIPOC voices to criticism, they say to me, “but you’re white.” When I was growing up, in the Hollywood movies I watched, the people of color were always the villains. Latinos were the drug dealers, Black guys were thugs, and Middle Eastern guys terrorists. That can make you learn to root against yourself and to cheer for the white heroes and aspire to that kind of whiteness.

Could you talk about why you created the Critics Lab?

SOLÍS: When I was growing up my mentors were basically the critics that I was reading, because I didn’t know any critics in my country. I always wanted someone to ask things, to find out whether I was right or wrong about something. I’ve always felt that it’s really important to have someone who can give you feedback and also engage with you on your own level.

When I got to New York, I was surprised at how many theatre critics there were—it felt like my mecca. But even here most people really didn’t have mentors. If they did, it was through an experience with a college professor.

That lack of mentorship strikes me as one of the many things that has made this field so anti and white. If you can’t find someone who’s willing to take into account your cultural background and who instead just tries to tell you that what you’re doing is wrong because it doesn’t fit into the parameters of what they think it’s should, that’s a problem. It also means that someone who aspires to become a critic may never discover who they can be. That’s why I started talking to friends and doing research, trying to figure out what I could do.

So you created the Lab?

SOLÍS: When I was fresh in New York in 2013, I started working with magazines. I always brought up that there needed to be some sort of mentorship program for critics of color, because it didn’t exist. I went to the National Critics Institute at the O’Neill in 2016 and I think of 14 of us, only two of us were not white. I didn’t want to be the token BIPOC critic all the time. I knew then that the system needs to catch up. As the non-white population in America continues to grow, its criticism should reflect that.

So in the five years since then, I had this conversation with lots of people who always said that a mentor program for BIPOC critics sounds like a great idea. But then nothing ever happened, it never moved past a meeting or an email exchange. I just wanted a place for people like me to go. I had designed the program in my mind years ago, so when I was quarantined at home in March, I decided to do a primitive version and run it on my own and see what happens. I launched it last June, putting out the call on Twitter. I gave the first slot to the very first person who responded.

Did you really have the course worked out before you started?

SOLÍS: I had the curriculum in mind for years and I knew exactly how I wanted to structure it. But I did have help. My mother’s undergrad degree was in pedagogy and she was an elementary school teacher when I was growing up. So when I explained to her what I was doing, she told me what I wanted to do was disruptive education. That made sense to me — I am not one for anarchy, but disruption needs to happen to change things. I loved knowing that I was doing something that could challenge the status quo.

How did you choose participants for the first class?

SOLÍS: Basically, it was pretty much first-come, first-served. When people saw that what I was doing was for real, I started hearing from more and more people who wanted to be part of it. At first, I was going to take five and then it became six, then seven. I finally settled on eight because I thought that would be manageable. The application I used was the same one I’m using at the Kennedy Center. I asked them for two things. The first was a résumé, but not like you submit for a job or something, and I didn’t care where they went to school. I specified that I wanted this to be a résumé of your proudest moments. I also asked for a cover letter, but that was different too. They could submit the letter in whatever medium they wanted. So I got video submissions, along with written letters. I wanted to learn more about who they were as people and not like, you know, beings in a society where only certain things are considered important.

Could you give some examples of what is included in the curriculum?

SOLÍS: Some of the course focuses on basic things every critic needs to know, like how to engage with publicists and press reps and work with editors. And I talk about how to make a pitch for a story — simple but important things like that. For BIPOC critics, this can be particularly challenging because you are trying to preserve your soul and dignity while working within a system that really doesn’t want you.

How do you begin the discussion about criticism itself?

SOLÍS: I explain that there is a history that we don’t know and highlight the fact that what we know about criticism are things that were decided a very long time ago by dead white men that we haven’t really challenged. Even now this is true. Critics are expected to meet standards that should have been evolving along with the field. No one expects billboards to be powered by gas lamps, right? We’re OK with electricity. So why should we still try to meet standards of criticism that were cool in the 19th century?

How did the opportunity to run the program under the sponsorship of the Kennedy Center come about?

SOLÍS: When they contacted me, I thought at first it was a prank. I didn’t know anyone at the Kennedy Center. They said we see what you’re doing and we want to make it part of our upcoming American College Theatre Festival. My pilot ended in late October, so I started planning it out right after that.

It’s the same curriculum but I have more students — 17 — and guest artists to help me. The only limitation for applicants is they needed to be at least 18. The class includes everything from a freshman in college to parents who are getting their PhD. And I think we have something like 40 percent men and 60 percent women. Every session has a different BIPOC instructor. They’re all given the same guidelines, but I don’t give a manual that tells them exactly how to teach in my lab. I just say, based on a given subject, share what you know about this specific thing before you became a professional.

How do you measure your students’ success and engagement?

SOLÍS: I guess the way in which I measure success is whether they show up or not and are participating. I do have assignments for every session, but it’s up to them if they want to do the work, and if they want feedback or not. I don’t want to force them into anything because I know they have a life — either school, a job, or both. This isn’t really a reverse psychology thing — I want the Lab to be an experience more than a program.

Recently, one of the Kennedy Center Lab critics said on Twitter that instead of doing their college homework right now, they were doing the assignments that I left them. I think that says something powerful about the program.

The one thing I really enforce is maintaining a Zoom gallery view for the entire class period. My visual box or that of my guest instructor’s box shouldn’t take precedence or be more important than anyone else’s. I want all of us — critic and teachers alike — to be on the same footing. The idea is that we’re literally in the same space and time right now, the same way we would be in a classroom. I think it’s important that we acknowledge everyone in the room by reacting together in any given moment because I believe that’s the best way for us to learn from each other.

You’ve said you want the critics to come away with a sense of humanity from the program. What do you mean by that?

SOLÍS: I used to be embarrassed saying I was a critic because people immediately have all these connotations that they relate to the word, like it’s not a good thing to be critical. Some reviews and pieces of criticism are popular because they trash a piece of art that someone and maybe a team has spent years putting together. The trouble is, there are so many critics in every field that are doing this kind of writing but not actually interacting with readers and with their audience. That’s what I mean by gaining a sense of humanity.

Most of the time, the public only calls for critic accountability when they make factual mistakes or they say something that’s sexist, racist, or homophobic. And that shouldn’t be the case. If critics are part of the ecosystem of art, we should be available all the time to everyone, not just through our reviews.

Do you think the pandemic will change how and what theatre is produced in this country and perhaps in schools?

SOLÍS: One of the pros about the pandemic, at least when it comes to the arts, is that many works that were previously inaccessible to people became available all over the country and much of the world. The Lab is an example of that—we have a critic who is in India and one in Liverpool. I think this globalization that has given audiences access to theatrical works that were previously reserved for a much smaller population will help expand the cannon of plays produced.

For school theatre, we know the cannon of plays represents a particular challenge. To begin, the voices of BIPOC theatre makers need to be heard. It’s also about teaching white kids that their voice can also be a Black person or Latino. What I mean by that is you need to be open to someone’s voice who doesn’t share your cultural background and knows truths that you should be open to.

What would you say to a young BIPOC student interested in becoming a theatre critic?

SOLÍS: If you are not getting the encouragement and access to the resources you need, find and communicate with those who can help you. If I was talking to them directly, the first question I would ask is, “What’s your favorite piece of art and why do you love it?” I would also tell them it’s important to remain true to who they are; that there is nothing wrong with them and that it’s not their fault that the system doesn’t want to include them. Students need to learn how to protect the most sacred part of themselves, their essence, so long as it doesn’t involve something that is factually wrong or is causing harm to others.

How would you expect a BIPOC critic to review a classic American play?

SOLÍS: The first thing you do is to ask yourself is, why is something a classic? Why is it valued? Is it because someone else said so? For any piece of art that is considered a classic and widely respected, we want to get to why that is. What happens in this exercise is that we often end up realizing that these are truths that were accepted as the absolute truth, rather than the truth for someone during a specific time in history. Nothing is sacred, really, when it comes to art, other than the fact that it is meant to be dissected and to be interpreted, whether by BIPOC or white critics. All critics look at a piece of art differently, whether it’s theatre or something else. Our processes are the same, but our results are not. With the field of criticism so white, those opinions are going to be taken as truth because these people all have a similar cultural and educational background. A BIPOC’s critic’s perspective is always going to be disruptive and different because we haven’t made room for them to communicate.

You talked earlier about criticism being a sort of town hall opportunity to engage in a dialogue. Could you talk a bit more about that?

SOLÍS: I cannot think of anything more exciting than talking to people about something that you love. If you get an exchange going, maybe someone will tell you that something you loved was the worst thing that they’ve ever experienced and why. And then you create a flow. I feel like so much criticism right now is like a stagnant pond in a museum. The criticism that I dream of is a river flowing, always flowing, with a constant back and forth exchange. It’s in that exchange where the beauty is. I’ve always felt that way. Even when I was a kid writing really bad reviews in my journal, what I wanted was to know was what someone else thought about the same thing I was writing about.

Does the profession of criticism need to be totally rethought?

SOLÍS: It doesn’t need to be rethought. It just needs to open up to the possibilities and accept that a truth cannot be the absolute truth for everyone. Writing criticism and reading it should continue, but we need to acknowledge that it comes in different forms. I mean, even Twitter is written criticism.

What I am saying is that we don’t need to go to same place about same show over and over again. The thing that frustrates me the most is that we, as critics, are constantly demanding that works of art give us something that we’re not willing to give them—the possibility of evolving.

Interested in writing and theatre criticism? Learn tips and advice in Jose Solís’ workshop at Thespian Nation Live, January 29-31. Learn more and sign up online.

The post A New Age of Criticism appeared first on Dramatics Magazine Online.

Make The Arts Happen

Alexander Nathan Kanter — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 17:32:59 +0000

PACKING MY SUITCASE for the 2019 International Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska, where I was to teach 12 workshop sessions, I remembered a high school junior packing a similar suitcase as he prepared to attend his first ITF. Twenty years ago, almost to the day, I had traveled from New Jersey to Nebraska with my high school theatre director and my three best friends for what would be a life-changing week of theatre. This “full-circle moment” brought a wistful smile to my face. Our director, who taught makeup workshops in 1999, has since passed away, so part of me felt like I was carrying the theatre teacher torch for him. I also thought about the theatre student I was at the time and all the steps of the journey that made me the theatre artist I am today.

In high school, we are led to believe that, if you don’t pursue performing or technical theatre professionally, then there are no other career options in the field. Theatre is just a hobby you’ll likely give up when you find a “real job.” Even festivals like ITF can inadvertently reinforce this belief given the high visibility of college BFA auditions and tech portfolios. High school students and their parents have difficulty imagining a post-collegiate life in theatre that doesn’t involve “pounding the pavement,” waiting tables, attending cattle-call auditions, and facing financial insecurity.

Current high school senior Adrian Gomez acknowledges that he observes a lot of “fear with pursuing theatre and the arts in general” as Thespians in his thriving Troupe 3035 at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in New Jersey ask themselves, “Will I be good enough to make it and not just scrape by?” The good news, Thespians, is there’s a multitude of stable careers in theatre and the performing arts, all of which are essential to the artistic product. And yes, Mom and Dad, most of these jobs offer healthcare and other benefits.

So, what are these full-time jobs, and where can you find them? I hesitate to use the blanket term “arts administration” because it is just that: a catchall that has become synonymous with the misconception that arts admin is for those who can’t cut it as artists. But according to the Association of Arts Administration Educators, “The arts administration field was established to meet the ever-growing demand for leadership and organizational acumen within arts and cultural organizations. Arts administrators bridge the worlds of performing and visual arts with applied managerial, financial, and programmatic skills.” Arts administrators are not people who didn’t make the cut; they are folks who undertook focused study to master behind-the-scenes forces that make the arts happen. Without them, there would be no concert hall in which to play your violin, no audience to watch your ballet, no website to promote your exhibit.

In my circuitous career path over the last 20 years, I’ve had the good fortune to work in or alongside many of these positions in venues across America and around the world. The following provides a starter map of alternative performing arts careers that you may have never heard of, let alone considered. But read on. You might find a role that fulfills both your artistic and practical needs.

Box Office

The performing arts are expensive, so lots of money goes in and out of theatres, concert halls, and production offices. To handle these transactions, organizations need arts administrators who are comfortable with cash, bills, and budgets, though these may not seem, at first glance, like theatrical or artistic skills. For example, high school students often overlook jobs like ticketing services representative or box office manager, since they seemingly have little to do with the stage. These positions, however, can be very fulfilling, especially if one is looking for part-time employment (during college or while auditioning/pursuing the craft) or a foothold in a theatre’s administrative offices.

These jobs require excellent customer service, friendly attitudes, poise under pressure, and cash-handling ability, all skills transferable and greatly valued in a variety of fields beyond theatre. But unlike waiting tables (which requires the same skills), these jobs are inside a theatre. They involve interaction with other creative personnel and often include benefits such as free tickets, backstage tours, and other chances to gain valuable industry know-how. My current box office manager, Thespian alum Laura Wilson (Troupe 6185, OCVTS Performing Arts Academy, Lakehurst, New Jersey) adds that the most rewarding aspect of her job is “being responsible for such a huge part of the audience experience at our shows,” from distributing accurate information to patrons to allowing them access to the venue to ensuring their comfort during their time with us. A box office manager may even make pricing, discounting, and promotional decisions based on market research and industry standards. In other words, you could be deciding ticket prices and special promotional discounts in order to build audience attendance and help make the production a success.

DEVELOPMENT

As important as the box office is, revenue from ticket sales alone doesn’t cover all the operational expenses at many professional theatres. The Theatre Communications Group’s fiscal analysis “Theatre Facts 2017” reports that, among the 173 nonprofit professional U.S. theatres surveyed, ticket revenue (both single ticket purchases and seasonal subscriptions) accounted for just 36.7 percent of total annual costs. Combined with other sales and income, including concessions, advertising, and rentals, earned revenue covered 58.5 percent of total costs.

Where does the rest of the money come from, and whose job is it to find it? The answer is the development or fundraising office, and there are many positions to be found behind these doors. Though terms like individual giving, donor services, and corporate relations sound more like website portals than job titles, in an arts organization these positions fulfill the same role as every treasurer of every Thespian troupe: raising money.

According to “Theatre Facts 2017,” total fundraising, or contributed income, covered 45.7 percent of total expenses for the 173 theatres surveyed. People working in development need to be budget-savvy, well-mannered networkers who are just as comfortable drafting year-end fiscal reports as schmoozing with potential donors at gala benefits. Included in this group are grant writers, who collect pertinent information for foundation or corporate grant opportunities, compile the data and narrative into a compelling application, and submit the proposal in a timely manner for the chance to be awarded thousands if not millions of dollars for their institutions.

Anyone working in these departments has to be involved with the artistic programming at their institutions to do their jobs effectively. For example, a development officer who has been backstage on opening night or sat through several rehearsals for an upcoming ballet will be able to write a more convincing appeal letter to potential donors than someone who sits in an office all day making cold calls and writing mass solicitations. The socializing and networking required of development staff make these jobs exciting, with lots of patron/donor interaction, event planning, fine dining, and more. With their outgoing personalities, innovative imaginations, and great communication skills, effective development staffers know how to put the fun in fundraising.

MARKETING

Just as with arts journalism, publicity and marketing roles offer the chance to apply communications skills to a love of theatre. Sometimes labeled external affairs or communications, these departments handle news releases, poster design, social media and web presence, advertising, promotional events, interviews, and more.

Marketing personnel must be detail oriented and tend to be design savvy, as they are responsible for creating and maintaining the brand of an institution or production. Their responsibilities vary from planning media junkets to proofreading website listings to choosing logos and fonts. Now, with the omnipresence of social media, arts publicists often play the role of photojournalists as well, documenting the artistic process of an organization or production and sharing images and stories through Instagram, Facebook, podcasts, livestreams, and blogs.

According to Jessie Bagley, director of marketing and public relations for the Spoleto Festival USA, this shift to the digital world allows arts publicists to “expand their marketing reach in meaningful ways by providing ‘behind-the-scenes’ images and videos to wider audiences,” delivering compelling content to more people at an affordable cost. This visual documentation supplements the standard fare of writing and editing news releases, assembling brochure content, and scheduling interviews and TV/radio appearances, making these positions dynamic and engaging. Publicists and marketers interface with both internal and external parties on a daily basis to promote an institution’s artistic and philanthropic work.

Tour Management

Speaking of the outside world, there are plenty of performing arts careers that provide amazing opportunities for travel. Many performing artists or groups go on tour, and these tours require organizers, management, and operational support just as their home performances do.

As the director of performance management for Westminster Choir College of Rider University, I am responsible for planning and executing performance tours. Last year, I traveled to Texas; Oklahoma; Washington, D.C.; Kansas City; and Beijing (twice!). Tour managers, company managers, and film location scouts — not to mention cruise ship entertainment staff and road crew for touring productions — all travel extensively.

Yes, there’s the disadvantage of living out of suitcases and creating offices out of bus seats, but there’s also the excitement of new destinations, daily adventures, and worldwide sightseeing. What’s more, your lodging and transportation is paid for by your company, and you often receive a per diem cash allotment to cover daily food costs. The physical demands and nomadic lifestyle of these careers can be challenging, but as my colleague Carolyn Sauer, who used to be a concert tour manager in Chicago, noted, “Your ‘home’ becomes the people you’re surrounded by, and working with them to bring art to so many audiences around the world is incredibly rewarding.”

Education/Outreach

Educational specialists or teaching artists associated with arts institutions combine performance skills, teaching, and community outreach, and these positions are great ways to get your foot in the door of an arts organization. As with tour management, these jobs frequently involve travel, bringing small, kid-friendly shows on tour to local schools, as well as hosting informative talkback events after main stage productions and concerts. For recent college grads who may be unsure of the next step in their careers or who aren’t ready to settle down with houses and picket fences just yet, these arts jobs are valuable stepping stones to a lasting career in arts management.

Operations

Productions and arts institutions require many different elements working together toward a unified artistic whole, and each of the elements requires coordination. Venue managers or facilities coordinators take care of the operations of physical buildings where productions take place, such as theatres or concert halls. These people handle budgeting, staffing, front-of-house operations, scheduling, maintenance, and sometimes even technical direction for their respective spaces. Theme parks offer another great opportunity for this type of management position. Anyone who has attended Walt Disney World or Six Flags can attest to the volume of live entertainment in these parks, and these high-energy shows need their own management teams to keep things running smoothly.

Artistic Planning

All performances begin with artistic planning or producing departments within arts organizations. Most often responsible for selecting the productions that will make up the company’s season, people in these departments spend a large amount of time researching specific works, negotiating and contracting artists, and facilitating rehearsals and performances. Behind-the-scenes, jigsaw puzzle-like strategizing is what excites Stephanie McGurren, artistic planning assistant for the New York Philharmonic, about her job. Even after earning a master’s degree in performing arts administration, she was surprised to learn that there can be entire departments devoted to determining season or concert repertoire, rather than just an artistic director or conductor making those decisions alone.

Getting Started

This brief summary just scratches the surface of alternative arts careers. Do a little digging, and you’ll find entire fields, from dramaturgy to casting to arts archiving, that remain to be explored. With so many exciting jobs in the performing arts, a student can easily become overwhelmed trying to figure out which path to take.

The good news is there’s no wrong way to embark on this artistic journey. Scan arts organizations’ websites for internships, take an arts administration class in college, or look up the email addresses for administrators at your local regional performing arts center and ask to meet them for an informational chat.

I remember sitting for an interview with a producer my senior year of college. He said to me, “Alex, you’re what, 21? I wish I were in your shoes. It is physically impossible for you to screw up. Try everything, quit everything, learn from everything.” That last sound bite, those seven words, became my mantra for the next 15 years. I would never be the artist, educator, or administrator I am today without having followed his sage advice.

We get so caught up in making our five or 10-year plans and trying to stick to some prescribed, linear path that we often forget there is no prescribed, linear path to follow. We are the trailblazers of our own uncharted artistic territories, and as long as we continually challenge ourselves, advocate for ourselves, and push ourselves to make art happen, we will succeed one way or another in creating meaningful and fulfilling careers in the arts.

This story appeared in the December 2019 print version of Dramatics.

The post Make The Arts Happen appeared first on Dramatics Magazine Online.

So, You Want to Work on Broadway?

Brooklyn Chalfant — Mon, 02 Dec 2019 14:47:47 +0000

LIKE MANY YOUNG Thespians, I once dreamed of working on Broadway. But in my tiny Midwestern school, I thought that was all it could be — a dream. By age 17, I decided to be “realistic,” and I placed my performing days behind me. But my love for theatre endured, leading me to found and serve as president of Thespian Troupe 8096 at Christian Academy of Indiana my senior year. This experience taught me about leadership, how to advocate for school theatre programs, and the impact of arts education.

As a result of my high school theatre experience, I attended Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, where I studied theatre education with hopes of becoming a high school teacher. In association with the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, our university co-sponsored the Spotlight Awards, a regional affiliate of the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, also known as the Jimmys. As a future high school theatre educator, I looked for ways to get involved, helping my professor, the director of the program, with various administrative tasks.

That year, my friend Hatty was nominated for a Spotlight Award. Hatty was a senior in high school and planning to attend Lipscomb University the next year. Before she matriculated, she won the Spotlight Award for Outstanding Lead Actress and was named one of eight finalists for the Jimmy Award for Best Performance by an Actress.

When she returned from New York and we became college classmates, I saw the positive impact that experience had on her and the Nashville high school theatre community. I wanted to learn more about The Broadway League Foundation, which manages the program. Consequently, I did what any young dreamer would do: I applied for an internship.

The league offered four summer internships, and the one I wanted was in education and audience engagement. I knew that applying for such a competitive internship was a long shot, but with the confidence of Millie Dillmount singing “Not for the Life of Me,” I sent in my application anyway.

Applying

Internship applications typically consist of three parts: a cover letter, résumé, and references. The cover letter is your first impression to your potential employer, so make it stellar. This is a chance to convey your passion for the position that cannot be expressed in your résumé. I always end my cover letters with specific positive feedback to the company, because that tells the reader what you love about the organization, and it proves you researched the position. Be honest, be professional, and proofread. Definitely proofread. (Did I mention proofreading?)

An arts administration résumé is not the same as an acting résumé listing hair color and vocal range. It is instead a business document detailing your work or volunteer experience relevant to the position. If it’s not obvious how your experience relates, use action words to argue why it does. Perhaps you worked as a babysitter? Don’t say, “I watched my cousins on Fridays for some cash.” Instead, say, “I supervised school-age children, managed behavioral conflicts, and supported positive emotional development and relationships.”

When it comes to recommendations, ask an adult familiar with your work ethic or abilities and willing to speak on your behalf. Make sure you give your references details about the position and a month to compose a quality recommendation. Always follow up with a thank you letter.

One month after applying, I was offered an interview, which in the business world is like a callback and requires similar preparation. Revisit your research and remind yourself why you want to work for the company. Prepare questions that demonstrate your knowledge of the company and interest in the position. Find a friend or family member to review your application and ask you practice questions. Finally, dress for success. Since I was living in Tennessee, I interviewed over the phone, but you better believe I wore business attire. My preparation paid off. After a week of waiting, I was offered the internship.

Yes, and …

Being from a small town, the biggest city I knew was Nashville. Moreover, I had never lived on my own. Navigating New York turned out to be an adventure.

I arrived in May, just as the weather turned hot. I didn’t have a car in the city, so I learned to use the subway, and I walked … a lot, maneuvering Times Square to get to work (headphones in, head down, hopes high). Everyday tasks turned into afternoon escapades, as I learned to haul groceries or laundry 12 blocks north and up five flights of stairs. When the hustle and bustle overwhelmed my flower-child heart, I visited city parks and gardens. As I adjusted to a New York state of mind, I took advantage of living in the city, winning Broadway ticket lotteries, participating in Times Square yoga, and attending the Tony Awards — all results of keeping my eyes open for opportunity.

Adapting to this new environment helped me see life as one big improv show. I began saying “yes, and …” to the prompts around me. While working at the Broadway League, I jumped at the opportunity to volunteer for a special event. This put me behind the scenes at Stars in the Alley, greeting Broadway performers. During the week of the Jimmy Awards, I was asked if I would mind “waiting with Vicki.” It turned out that Vicki was a beautiful, regal woman with a kind smile and the best stories. We spoke for the next half-hour about the talented kids in the awards program, she asked about my dreams and plans, and I asked about her son, whom she adored.

The next week, while working the VIP ticket table, I heard my name across the crowded lobby. I like to imagine if Sarah Ruhl wrote a play about my life, that scene would go like this:

VICKI: Brooklyn!

A goddess divine in a royal blue jumpsuit, VICKI, crosses DSL to where BROOKYLN stands in a sequin frock, smiling and sweaty, per usual.

VICKI: It’s so good to see you again.

BROOKYLN: So good to see you, too!

They do that Italian kiss-on-both-cheeks thing. Music fills the air, angels sing, and BROOKLYN is suddenly acne-free and fabulous, in the style of VICKI.

BROOKLYN: Here are your tickets. Enjoy!

VICKI: Thanks!

VICKI exits. BROOKLYN turns to see her fellow intern, mouth agape.

FELLOW INTERN: OMG, how do you know Victoria Clark?!

BROOKLYN realizes her new BFF VICKI is the Tony Award-winning actress who starred in, among other shows, The Light in the Piazza. Brooklyn considers for a moment chasing VICKI to tell her all about the time she directed that play for a term project. Instead, she faints dead away. Fin.

Okay, so that was a slight exaggeration. The point is, I quickly realized that saying yes opens doors to new possibilities, unique experiences, and amazing networking opportunities. Take advantage of the position you have been given and make yourself available.

Act well your part

The Thespian motto is Alexander Pope’s famous quote, “Act well your part; there all the honor lies.” This doesn’t just apply to being onstage. In a company, every person is vital to the success of the organization. There are no small parts, only small interns. (And at 6 feet, 1 inch, I don’t qualify as a small intern.)

My daily office tasks began with showing up on time. This may seem straightforward, but remember when you worked tirelessly to represent yourself as the best candidate for the job? Don’t lose your good impression first thing in the morning. As in rehearsals for a show, early is on time, and on time is late.

After arriving at work, my first step was to review my personal task list to see which projects needed my attention. As a summer intern, my primary work was assisting with the Jimmy Awards at the end of June. The event is a weeklong marathon in which 80 student nominees gain exposure to Broadway shows and attend master classes with theatre professionals, all while preparing for a Minskoff Theatre performance and the chance to win scholarships. While that week is rigorous, administrative work for the event began long before I showed up.

Mid-morning, I would meet with my supervisors to see if they had additional tasks for the day. Then, I would move forward, documenting meetings, filing, managing databases, and whatever else came up. As an intern I was part of a team, but I was expected to be independent and reliable. I had to keep track of projects throughout the department, which taught me organization and priority management. I also drew on skills I learned as a Thespian, such as collaboration, confidence, and problem-solving. One of my favorite activities was reviewing materials from regional awards programs and learning about the education initiatives produced by Broadway venues across the nation.

The business of Broadway

The Broadway industry is so much more than the phenomenal performers who put on eight shows a week. Backstage there are dressers, wig artists, stage managers, and security personnel. In the theatre buildings, there are house managers, ushers, box office workers, and theatre owners. Before a show gets onstage, producers, directors, choreographers, and designers make it happen. And I still haven’t mentioned the personnel involved with Broadway shows that travel across the country in more than 200 regional venues. I worked in administration, which includes marketing, education, legislation, membership, and much more.

As an intern, I worked in an office with marketing masters, brilliant administrators, and fellow interns who stunned me with their abilities and helped me develop mine. When my supervisor realized I had a knack for organizing, she opened doors for me to improve the office by creating systems for organizing office materials and honing my spreadsheet skills. Knowing that I wanted to be a teacher, she allowed me to be onsite during awards week, where I spent time with the student nominees. Tiffany, a talented graphic designer working as the digital content intern, saw her advertisement designs printed in the New York Times, and Brittany, the membership and professional development intern, used her management skills to create online networking opportunities for young theatre professionals.

Broadway is a business that employs more than 100,000 people and contributes more than I can comprehend to the culture and fabric of our country. Suddenly my high school mindset that “I could never work on Broadway because I am not a performer” was replaced with the realization that all kinds of people with various talents comprise the beautiful thing that is Broadway.

Unlimited

I wish I could tell you that this story ends with a movie-worthy montage of me being discovered by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber at Ellen’s Stardust Diner. Or that Lin-Manuel Miranda heard my story and is turning it into a hip-hop musical. Alas, that is not the case.

Instead, I am living out my own version of “happily ever after.” After the internship, I stepped off the plane back into my tiny-town life, followed by the encouraging words from one of my colleagues in the audience engagement department: “Brooklyn, you are a fantastic administrator, but you belong in a classroom. I have never seen anyone light up the way you do when you are around kids. You have to take some time and give teaching a try.”

Despite my amazing experiences as a Broadway intern, I knew that my heart belonged in a classroom. I now work as a high school teacher, directing Thespian Troupe 8096 (yes, the same one I founded at my old school). In the faces of my students, I see the same passion for theatre that propelled me. I use my résumé writing advice to help them apply for jobs. We use “yes, and …” to seek opportunities to grow and learn. We act well our parts as collaborators, problem-solvers, leaders, and dreamers. I know that every one of my students has a gift they can share, and that’s why I became a theatre teacher: to help students see that they can create the world they dream about.

So, you want to work on Broadway? Go for it! Use your talents however you can, whether onstage, backstage, in a studio, or at a desk. As Elphaba famously sings in Wicked, “Unlimited … your future is unlimited!”

This story appeared in the December 2019 print version of Dramatics. Learn about the print magazine and other Thespian benefits on the International Thespian Society website.

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Imagining Theatre’s Future

Ryan Leeds — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 14:16:00 +0000

JUDGING FROM PAST and present young professionals at last month’s TEDxBroadway conference, the future of theatre-making is in good hands.

Several hundred people gathered at New World Stages in New York City on September 24 for the eighth TEDxBroadway event, which annually asks the question, “What is the best Broadway can be?” Speakers within the theatre industry and those who contribute to that ecosystem spent the day encouraging attendees to challenge their worldviews and inspire change.

Among the participants was a group of industry professionals under the age of 30, attending free of charge thanks to support from the Nederlander Organization. Their fresh perspective about challenges in the industry benefits the broader conversation, while they profit from networking opportunities at the event.

Felicia Fitzpatrick, who oversees social media at Playbill, and Corey Steinfast of Disney Theatricals both attended as young professionals in 2016. “TEDx might not have an impact on getting jobs, but because my personal and professional lives are so intertwined, the contacts I made here have made a difference,” Steinfast said.

Fitzpatrick was born far from New York City. “I grew up on the West Coast, and Broadway was always geographically challenging. It was always a community I wanted to be a part of … but it seemed like a distant dream. When I found out there was an administrative and media side of theatre, that piqued my interest. TEDxBroadway is a good intersection of that. There is a true sense of community here.

“Broadway is full of tradition, but it’s hard as a young person to feel as though you can break through the gate to become part of it,” Fitzpatrick continued. “The TEDx Young Professionals program is a way to break into the community. It helps you get involved.”

Jim McCarthy, co-founder of TEDxBroadway, is acutely aware of the industry’s hierarchical challenges, addressed by both speakers and other young professionals at the event. “There are relatively few power brokers on Broadway,” he said. “I think if we had not been having these conversations … we’d be surprised when we fast forwarded to today how many [barriers to change] might have been kept in place by those in power.”

Event co-founder Damian Bazadona agrees, but points to a boldness unique to these TED talks. “Those power brokers are the sponsors of our event, and we discuss topics that might make them uncomfortable. It’s cool to see that conversation happening in a pretty transparent way. That doesn’t happen in other industries.”

Improving access was top of mind for many of the young professionals attending this year. “It’s possible to absolutely love something and also be critical of it,” said Shakina Nayfack, a trans actor whose TEDx talk touched upon the challenges of writing for the hit television series Transparent. Throughout the day, others echoed a similar desire to make the performing arts more diverse.

According to Jorge Acevedo, casting and executive coordinator at Signature Theater in Arlington, Virginia, the “administrative side still needs more diversity. We talk a lot about diversity casting, but not so much within the admin world.”

Writer Morgan Smith shared similar views. “My biggest issue is that there is a very limited number of people telling the stories and a very limited set of people attending those stories,” they said. “We’re excluding stories about women, queer folks, people of color, differently abled. There is a lack of access to stories being told. It’s focused on name brand recognition. We are in a revolving door of grabbing successful movies, putting them onstage, and saying it’s our artform. If we really want to create change, we have to bring new stories, change who has access to those theatres both physically and socioeconomically, and create a system that allows new voices to enter.”

Smith pointed to the Situation Project as an example of positive change. Bazadona’s company, Situation Interactive, invites low income, high performing school districts in New York City to attend a Broadway show to interact with the cast and crew.

“The fact that we have 2 million empty seats each year on Broadway is staggering,” Smith said. “We have an overabundance of resources that need to be better utilized.”

In her role at Dramatic Solutions, Kelly Carmody works on dynamic pricing for theatres. “We’re trying to get more tech and analytics into the theatre scene,” she said. Regarding half-filled houses, Carmody said, “There’s no reason for it. I think theatre should be more data driven in general.”

Sam Cornbrooks, a senior at Marymount College, participated in the event through his lens as a young producer. “Hearing the perspectives of those outside the incredibly small bubble we call Broadway opens up the opportunity for meaningful — and sometimes critical — analysis of tasks we, as industry administrators, habitually carry out every day,” he said. “There is so much more to learn in this world than what is written in textbooks. It takes individual experience and life-altering narratives to fill those gaps. TEDxBroadway made that clear to me.”

In addition to diversity and inclusion, Cornbrooks looks forward to more nonprofit representation on Broadway. “As of today, just three not-for-profit organizations present work on the Broadway stage,” he said. “Creating more opportunity for nonprofit work on Broadway has the potential not only to give strong platforms to the next generation of national and international writers but also to remedy many of our community’s most common complaints regarding the level of work presented on Broadway. While spectacle is undeniably fun and entertaining, our community will have to find a way to marry that with modern literary excellence.”

TEDx was founded to stimulate dialogue — among communities, organizations, and individuals. The Broadway event shows there are many questions facing the future of the industry and no easy answers. Yet, with the passion and excellence of these young professionals, the theatrical scene will continue to improve far beyond the Great White Way. “We never intended to focus solely on Broadway,” McCarthy said. “TEDxBroadway is not a theatre conference. It’s a conference about a neighborhood where theatre is really important.”

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I Learned That Onstage

Alexander Nathan Kanter — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 23:07:49 +0000

AS A THESPIAN, you know theatre provides skills you use in every area of life. But you might find it difficult to articulate what those skills are and how they help you offstage. Whether it’s convincing your parents to support your theatre addiction or proving to a prospective employer you have what it takes to succeed, you need to show that taking theatre classes or participating in productions makes you ready for any job — especially if you don’t plan to pursue theatre after high school.

The answer can be found by connecting the dots between what you learn in theatre and what skills employers want, which are often divided into four broad categories: interdisciplinary; learning and innovation; information, media, and technology; and life and career. Thespians not only practice but also master these talents daily in the world of high school theatre.

INTERDISCIPLINARY SKILLS

Increasingly, employers want workers who can look at the world across disciplines. As a Thespian, you learn a lot through theatre, including important global, financial, and civic lessons. For example, plays and musicals teach you about the world. Watching Hamilton or The Sound of Music offers lessons in history. West Side Story and A Raisin in the Sun instruct us about racism and cultural awareness. Hamlet teaches psychology.

Studying diverse theatre traditions such as commedia dell’arte or Suzuki helps Thespians understand global cultures. Budgeting for sets and costumes, fundraising for new light fixtures, or selling tickets in the box office enhances your financial know-how. And you practice civic engagement every time you take part in community productions or attend regional performing arts centers to see the latest tour of a Broadway show.

LEARNING AND INNOVATION SKILLS

Thespians have learning and innovation skills — like problem-solving, communication, and collaboration — in spades. You want creativity? Just ask a stage manager how many uses she’s discovered for gaffer’s tape. Every time a co-star drops a line, a prop breaks in the middle of a scene, or a lighting instrument won’t focus, Thespians engage in critical thinking and problem-solving. Actors’ brains go 100 miles per minute every time they’re onstage, thinking through the millions of scenarios that can pop up in live performance.

Communication is at the heart of every theatre production. Thespians are always communicating to an audience, to each other, to the camera. Plus, theatre is one of, if not the most, collaborative art forms. Actors must work with directors who must work with designers who must work with stagehands — and they all must work with stage managers and producers. The adage that there is no “I” in team applies equally to theatre.

INFORMATION, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY SKILLS

Many Thespians don’t realize how adept they are at information literacy, which is the awareness of where and how to find needed information. You use these skills every time you prepare for an audition by memorizing a monologue from a different play by the same playwright or research a character by watching a documentary about the period in which the play is set.

Most theatre students are also experts in media, using a variety of methods from posters to video clips to social media campaigns to promote their productions. You use media tools to create your resumes, headshots, websites, and video reels.

Finally, theatre is the perfect place to learn technology. Thespians engage with high-tech equipment, such as lighting consoles, microphones, fog machines, and computer design software every time they put on a show. And I’m not just referring to designers and stage crew. When actors “find their light” or use proper microphone techniques, they, too, prove how technologically savvy theatre students must be.

LIFE AND CAREER SKILLS

Life and career skills are traits that define how well an individual can work in a dynamic 21st-century organization. The challenges of live performance force theatre students to master flexibility and adaptability, two skills exemplified in the clichéd phrase “the show must go on.” Initiative and self-direction are part of every good audition and rehearsal process. When actors are asked to “make a strong choice,” they’re required to take initiative with their characters rather than waiting for directors to give them explicit instructions.

The trust built among cast and crew members exudes social and cross-cultural skills. Additionally, high school theatres are notoriously identity-inclusive, judgement-free safe havens for artists of different creeds (“Let your freak flag fly,” anyone?), a model becoming more prevalent in the 21st-century workplace.

Regardless of whether a Thespian troupe puts on two, three, or eight shows a year, the productivity and accountability required for any one of those productions is admirable. It takes a lot of work on every student’s part to memorize lines, build sets, focus lights, hem costumes, design programs, and sell tickets.

Leadership and responsibility are perhaps the most difficult life and career skills to define, yet the most important. Read ten articles and you’ll find ten definitions for leadership, but most include discussion of the relationship between a leader and the rest of the team. Leaders must be understanding, empathetic, and supportive of their teammates. This is where theatre plays a key role.

Most high school theatre programs operate on a revolving cycle, whether by design or not. Students who perform in one production may decide to work backstage for another then usher or sell tickets for a third. Even among performers, it’s unlikely one student will consistently play the starring role in every show for four years. This cycle ensures that when a student does take on a leadership position (as a stage manager, director, or leading player) that same Thespian will have worked in other roles on the team. Diverse experiences build understanding, empathy, and a collective sense of shared responsibility essential to effective leadership. Few quarterbacks have also played wide receiver, linebacker, or punter positions, but most directors have also served as actors, designers, or stage managers at some point in their theatrical careers.

So, the next time you’re tasked in an interview with answering questions about your strengths or skills, don’t sweat it. As a Thespian, you can take pride in your theatre experience, knowing it’s supplied all the beginning skills you need.

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So, You Want to Teach Theatre

Michael Daehn — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 13:07:10 +0000

IF I COULD HAVE any superpower in the world, I would choose to be a theatre teacher. Other teachers do their jobs admirably: arriving early, sharing lessons to the best of their considerable abilities, and assessing student learning, before heading home to their other life.

The life of a successful theatre teacher, however, is much more akin to those friendly neighborhood superpowered protectors typically found in comics. Their timeclock runs later, their investment in their charges runs deeper, and they re-energize as best they can whenever life allows a brief respite, which is seldom during the school year. They regularly transform the trajectory of young lives, teach highly desired 21st century skills arguably better than any other discipline, and still manage to put magic onstage several times a season. Sounds like a hero’s calling to me.

Should you possess that rare combination of heart, intellect, devotion, drive, and vision required by the difference-makers in this field, you can expect plentiful, amazing, and lifelong rewards as a theatre educator. If that’s the sort of heroic journey you’d like to consider, here’s what you need to know about licenses, training, and job prospects in the field.

TEACHING LICENSES

Most U.S. state boards of education require a teaching license specifically in theatre to be hired as a secondary classroom theatre teacher. Some states adhere without exception to this rule, others much less rigidly. Other states do not require a theatre license at all to teach secondary school theatre but rather a certification license in another subject area and an expressed interest in theatre.

States that require theatre certification expect you to pass two tests to qualify for your license: a theatre content area knowledge test and a teaching pedagogy test. The easiest way to learn content needed to do well on both tests is to pursue a preprofessional college degree in theatre education.

DEGREE PROGRAMS

There are two types of college programs that train you for a future in theatre education: those I call self-contained programs and those programs students blend themselves.

Self-contained programs
In a self-contained program, students pursue a theatre education major requiring teaching methods classes specific to theatre and a clinical curriculum in area schools or other community partners that provides authentic teaching and directing experiences. Theatre classes are supplemented by education-specific courses. Your degree will say theatre education. There are B.F.A., B.S., and B.A. programs in this category.

Blended programs
Students in a blended program pursue theatre AND education degrees (sometimes with a theatre teaching methods class or two offered, sometimes not). They connect the two separate programs. For example, general teaching concepts are taught in an educational psychology class, and students independently consider the implications of those concepts for an acting class.

GETTING INTO YOUR DREAM SCHOOL

Before you’re accepted into a theatre education program, you must be accepted into the college, university, or conservatory of your choice. Your high school GPA, AP classes, a compelling essay, standardized test scores, letters of recommendation (at least one from a drama teacher, if possible), and extracurricular involvement are keys to that process.

Some programs only require that you be accepted by the college to be automatically enrolled in the major, while others require an additional interview. Both types of programs generally require interviews for department scholarship consideration.

PREPARING YOUR INTERVIEW

Be prepared to discuss your high school grades during the college interview. It often takes a cumulative college GPA of at least 3.3 for student teaching candidates to secure a school placement. If you have a strong GPA in high school, college interviewers will know you can handle the work. If you don’t, this is your chance to explain how college will be different.

Interviewers will want to discuss both your theatre and non-theatre experience in detail. Everything helps, especially if you bring some unique or oft-needed skill to the program. Make sure your résumé is of professional quality. If you bring a promptbook, it should be organized and reader-friendly with well labeled tabs.

What you say or do in the interview reveals your heart, work ethic, student-centered teaching approach, creativity, vision, sense of humor, charm, mystery, goodwill, passion, and character. Are you collaborative (which is great) or all about you (which is not)? What drives you to teach theatre education in a way nothing else could? Those are key qualities interviewers try to detect in their short time with you.

Following are sample questions you should be prepared to answer during your interview.

What do you see yourself doing in five years?
Why did you decide to become a teacher? Why theatre?
What would you say is your greatest strength as a potential theatre teacher? Weakness? If your best friends were describing your strengths, what words would they use?
How has your background prepared you for the pursuit of teaching theatre?
What positive contributions might you bring to the program?
What are your grades and test scores? Have you applied for university scholarships?
What questions do you have?

VISITING CAMPUS

When you visit campuses, talk to current students about their satisfaction with the theatre education program. Attend classes and meet the primary professors in theatre education. Ask yourself: Do I have a good first impression about the people who would be teaching me?

In addition, research the following information about any theatre education programs you’re considering, whether face-to-face, on the phone, or online.

Are scholarships, tuition reciprocity agreements between your state and theirs, or department job opportunities available?
Is the program connected to any community partnerships?
Is theatre education valued within the larger department by administrators, faculty, and students from other areas such as acting or musical theatre?
Are there opportunities to teach? Are there opportunities to direct, design, coach, or stage manage?
Can you double major? Can you declare an emphasis within theatre education (e.g., technical theatre)? Can you pursue a minor?
Is the program affiliated with EdTA, AATE, or other professional associations?
Do you have to connect dots between separate theatre and education programs, or do methods classes do it for you?
What’s the quality of the education school (if there is one), and are faculty more concerned with teaching or research?
Do theatre education students hang out with each other outside of classes?
What’s the faculty time investment outside of advising and classes?
Where do student teachers teach, and who from the university supervises them?
What is the quality of student teaching partner programs and cooperating teachers?
Can theatre education students audition for department plays? Are there restrictions on participation for first-year students?
How does the program prepare students for interviews and post-graduation needs?
Do opportunities exist to make an impact outside the department either on campus or in the community?
Are national and regional guest artists in theatre education or in other theatre and education fields brought to campus regularly to enhance offerings?
Is there a student theatre education club? What do they do?
Is the theatre education program responsible for its own season of community productions? If so, what is the range of shows produced in recent years?

POST-GRADUATION PROSPECTS

A final question, and one of the most important you should ask, concerns your potential job prospects after graduation from each program you’re considering. The good news is that, as the baby boomer generation begins to retire, most comprehensive theatre education programs report high job placement rates for graduates. You may have to move a little farther away from friends and family than you’d like, but jobs are out there once you finish school, as long as you maintain good grades, possess solid beginning teaching skills, and demonstrate some directing experience.

Now you have a better understanding of what you need to know and do to pursue theatre education. If you choose this quest, know this: Theatre classrooms of the future are ready and waiting for you to join a new wave of superpowered educators. We call them theatre teachers.

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Focus on What’s Next

Mark Famiglietti — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 13:21:03 +0000

AUDITIONING can be invigorating for performers. More than a mere opportunity, an audition represents hope. Whether auditioning for the newest play, hottest television show, or most fantastic superhero movie yet, an actor’s natural inclination is to imagine playing the part and everything wonderful that goes with it. Almost instantaneously, a fully formed fantasy springs to mind.

That fantasy is wonderful … when you get the part. The reality is that if you’ve chosen performing as your profession, then you must be equally comfortable knowing that, more often than not, someone else will get the role.

Even Academy Award-winning actor Brie Larson spoke of the sting of rejection early in her career. When she read for the part of Toni Collette’s daughter in the Showtime series The United States of Tara, she didn’t get the job. She likened this rejection to being “left at the altar,” because she had come so close. Fortune later found Larson when she was awarded the role after recasting. She points to her time on that series and her connection to Collette with giving her the confidence to continue pursuing her dream of acting.

Let’s not gloss over how Larson landed her role on that series: She had a pre-existing relationship that came into play. Handling rejection gracefully and moving on from it is an important journey all young actors must learn to make.

PUT THE CHARACTER IN YOUR BACK POCKET

To be successful, actors rely on playing similar characters throughout their careers. This might be referred to as someone’s “type.” It stands to reason that, based on your physical appearance and acting range, you will be seen repeatedly for similar parts. In my career, I’ve often been cast in guest-starring roles where I’m seemingly unassuming but nefarious beneath the surface. Let’s just say, I’ve committed many a TV crime over the years.

What those roles have in common is that they have similar beats in the audition scenes. While I would never advocate imitating a previous performance, you can draw from it to craft subsequent auditions.

What does that mean? Building on the example above, let’s use crime dramas, which are prevalent on both broadcast and streaming networks. Imagine you are the main suspect of the case, and the good guys are on your trail. Often, the first audition scene is filled with denial, while the second features a confession. If you’ve successfully auditioned for a similar role, you can apply everything that seemed to work then to the new part. What tools did you use in the denial scene? Did you challenge, persuade, or pacify the people running the interrogation? In the confession scene, did you rely on self-pity or sympathy? Make these tools available to you as you prepare your next audition.

REMEMBER WHO YOU MET

Brie Larson received a call to join the cast of The United States of Tara after originally losing the part. Although the initial audition did not go her way, the network, studio, and producers remembered her when they decided to make a creative change.

When you audition, make note of who is in the room. The core team of the producer, director, and casting director should be your focus. Store this information and remember it when an opportunity arises down the road. For example, I’ve shot episodes of CSI, Grimm, and Without a Trace with the same director because of a positive experience in an initial audition. Mentioning to your representatives or the casting director that you have a prior relationship can lead to an opportunity you might not otherwise receive.

FOLLOW THE PROJECT

You’ll audition for many more projects than you book. While it can be challenging to remain supportive of a project you were not chosen for, it’s important to follow that project closely and see if a new opportunity presents itself. For example, watch the finished film and send congratulatory notes to the creative team expressing your continued interest in working together in the future. If the project was a television show, watch casting announcements for opportunities to fill new roles on the series. Speak with your agents and alert them to your connections. If a casting director brought you in to audition for a show once, they are usually more apt to do so again if reminded.

ASK FOR FEEDBACK

This is a tough but critical lesson. While we would all love to hear that we absolutely nailed every audition and there is nothing we could improve, that is not reality. Reality is that the creative team probably read a lot of actors for the same part. And while some factors that knocked you out of contention are out of your control (such as physical attributes), others — namely, every acting choice you made between the time the director called “action” and “cut” — can be adjusted. Speak to your representatives and ask them to solicit feedback from the casting team about your appointment. While many times you may simply hear “They were great,” every now and then you’ll get useful information that can inform how you approach the next audition.

For example, after a comedy read, you might learn that a choice you made was too big or too broad. You’ll know to temper your choices next time. In drama, you might hear that you were too small or internalized. This is code to make bigger choices. So much of auditioning is getting your point of view across to the creative team. Adjusting the scope and size of your choices can help you achieve better results.

TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY

Upon hearing that Netflix canceled his show One Day at a Time, writer and producer Norman Lear said, “I can testify that, at my age, you’re never too old to have your heart broken.” I understand his reaction. If Lear still feels that way in his mid-90s, then the sentiment is, for better or worse, ingrained in the profession.

The bright side is that, unlike other industries where change can be slow or movement inflexible, artists have a new opportunity every day of the year. There is always a new project. Get back out there and find the next audition.

I’ve often said that to be an artist, you need to have a baseball memory. A baseball player never thinks about his last at-bat. He only focuses on the next plate appearance, using skills and knowledge learned from his past and applying them to his next swing.

When you don’t get the part of your dreams, remember these five tenants, get back in the box, and take another swing. You won’t get a hit every time, but if you remain committed to your craft and hone your talents, the law of averages will balance out in the end.

The post Focus on What’s Next appeared first on Dramatics Magazine Online.

Beyond the Classroom

Abigail Cline — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 13:22:52 +0000

COLLEGE IS AN EXCITING time to learn about yourself and the art of performance. It’s a playground in which to mature into a skilled, polished professional. You will learn how to be a strong actor, get hired, and leave a good impression.

In 2016, I graduated with a B.F.A. in musical theatre. I found that the professional world wasn’t quite like the one I had prepared for. While my degree was invaluable, some instructions I learned in the classroom didn’t apply to every audition.

Here are five important lessons I’ve learned since graduating college.

LEARN THE RULES, BUT DON’T BE AFRAID TO BREAK THEM

There is a delicate balance to handling the audition room. College professors will shower you with rules about attire, material, callbacks, and every moment of the process. Master class guests will offer additional perspectives about how to nail the audition. You’ll consistently juggle contradicting expectations.

Do not fear. While all of these opinions are valuable and worth considering, they are opinions. The real world changes constantly. The solid-colored midi dress or tucked-in, button-down shirt that triumphed in 2018 may not be the look by the time you graduate. College programs condition students to fit a particular mold. These expectations are important to understand. However, there are times when breaking a rule gets you the job. Sometimes being the only girl ditching the dress for pants or the only guy with an untucked shirt gets you noticed.

TRASH THE TERM “PLAN B”

Schools and peers pigeonhole those of us in the performing arts. They’ll tell you that, if you love performing, it must be your one and only goal to win a Tony or an Oscar. If it doesn’t consume you, you must not love it enough. They’ll say every artist should have a “Plan B” in case acting doesn’t work out.

But Plan B is an unhealthy mindset. Theatre isn’t medicine or law. You don’t pass a slew of exams, get employed, and then have a stable career for decades. Having other options is vital to surviving in this business. It doesn’t mean you aren’t talented or diligent enough. Everyone hits a dry spell at some point.

Instead of thinking about those alternatives as a Plan B, consider what other passions can be Plan Aa, Ab, and Ac. Have more than one simultaneous option. There are jobs that require similar skills to acting. What other performing options do you have? Consider nearby theme parks, public speaking, princess parties, hospital patient training modules, or customer service. Get creative.

Consider your natural nonperforming skills. Are you good with a pen? Write content and articles for theatre websites, blogs, and magazines. Do you play an instrument? Play in a show’s pit. Do you have graphic design skills? Put them to work as a member of your local theatre’s marketing team. Having other options doesn’t mean you’re giving up on acting. It means you are sustaining yourself until your next acting opportunity comes along.

YOUR CLASSMATES AREN’T YOUR COMPETITION. THEY’RE YOUR ALLIES

The relationships you form in college or working on a show offer numerous networking opportunities. In and out of school, your competitive juices will flow whenever you’re up against someone in an audition. This is natural. Even your best friend can frustrate you in this situation.

In the years after graduation, I found that our small, close-knit acting class didn’t keep in touch all that much. Despite how close we were, everyone went in various directions. Occasionally I bump into a former classmate at an audition or social gathering. Practically everyone is struggling. Social media has clouded our judgement. We only recognize when people are #bookedandblessed. This is an illusion.

We may be after the same jobs, but at the end of the day, we are friends. These are the people who understand your hardships because they experience them too. This business is brutal and requires heartfelt friends. Don’t forget you have them.

WHEN PEOPLE SAY IT’S A BUSINESS, THEY’RE RIGHT

It’s critical to come to terms with this fact. The hustle for jobs never ends. Many people believe once you land a Broadway show, you’re there for life. That’s not the case. You get hired for short-term shows, yearlong tours, or staged readings. You work hard to earn one job, and the next day you’re researching auditions for the next one.

The good news is that years of experience will make a difference. As time passes, opportunities will start coming to you by way of the networks you’ve built. But this doesn’t happen in two or three years. You need patience if you want to build a sustainable career in the performing arts.

YOU ARE ENOUGH

Let me say that again. You are enough. Nobody can tell you otherwise, even though they may try. Every person experiences a less-than-encouraging educator or a bitter auditioner. But when you get rejected for a role, it is not because you weren’t enough. It is because someone else was a better fit for that specific opportunity. That doesn’t eliminate that role or theatre from your bucket list.

Every director wants something different. They aren’t looking to cast an actor who can play the part. They seek an actor who can bring new life to the part. Understanding your most marketable type is vital to success. Are you the awkward love interest, the sassy friend, or the villain? What makes you different from every other Cinderella, LeFou, or Witch? What makes you unique? Knowing the answer will keep you interesting and employable. In other words, highlight what makes you you. Walk into every audition and rehearsal thinking you have nothing to prove, only to share.

College programs will welcome you because they see potential. They will prepare you to showcase your skill and poise onstage. But skill and devotion aren’t the only factors to success. Be flexible and, more than anything, love what you do.

The post Beyond the Classroom appeared first on Dramatics Magazine Online.

What’s the Buzz?

Madeleine Deliee — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 14:33:44 +0000

PODCASTS ARE A GREAT WAY to explore new ideas and find answers to your burning theatre questions. From Broadway buzz to the inside scoop on what it’s really like to be a working actor, there’s a theatre podcast designed to give you access to angles you might not otherwise consider — or even know about.

NEWS AND REVIEWS

If you’re looking for something that will keep you up-to-date about what’s happening in New York theatre, “Token Theatre Friends” is a valuable resource for recent Broadway and Off-Broadway reviews and interviews. For intel on theatre across the country, check out “Three on the Aisle,” which features three critics weighing in on American theatre trends and hot topics, or “Treading the Boards’ Regional Theatre News,” which includes updates on companies nationwide, as well as interviews with theatre professionals.

HISTORY AND BACKSTORIES

Trying to brush up on your background knowledge? Check out the “Theatre History Podcast,” which covers everything from medieval morality plays to the history of Latinx performers in American stage and film. If you want insider information about the evolution of productions both recent and remembered, subscribe to “Broadway Backstory,” with episodes on everything from The Secret Garden to Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812. Or if Shakespeare is more your cup of tea, investigate the Folger Library’s “Shakespeare Unlimited” podcast. You’ll learn all there is to know about the Bard’s plays and the people who perform and produce them.

PERFORMERS AND CREATORS

For those who dream of a career onstage, there are several opportunities to learn firsthand what it’s like to work in the business. “The Ensemblist” is like the podcast version of A Chorus Line — it gives you the inside view of supporting roles that are often less glorified. There’s coverage of ensemble performers, but the podcast also delves into other areas, such as dramaturgy and social media authenticity. “The 98%” is an unvarnished look at the life of working actors: To find out what it’s really like out there, give the series a listen.

If it’s in-depth knowledge of Broadway stars you’re after, “Theater People” is a good bet. Popular interviews have included Laura Benanti, Megan Hilty, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. “Little Known Facts” prides itself on revealing interviews with celebrity guests, such as an episode featuring the stars, composer-lyricist, and producer of Be More Chill.

THE BUSINESS OF SHOW BUSINESS

It’s also important to be informed about the business end of show business. Backstage, long considered a premiere source of information on all things theatre, produces “In the Envelope,” which features award-winning actors, including Darren Criss, Gina Rodriguez, and Leslie Odom Jr., giving advice on topics ranging from auditioning to self-empowerment. “Actor CEO” offers practical tips, such as tax guidance and maximizing social media impact. Even if you don’t need this information yet, it’s good to prepare for the day you will.

BEGINNER’S GUIDES

If you’re not listening to “The Young Actor’s Guide,” put it at the top of your list. This podcast is aimed right at, well, you. Interviews with agents, managers, and casting directors will help you understand what they want from performers. Episodes on overcoming nerves, boosting confidence, and essential do’s and don’ts of auditioning will interest anyone planning to spend time onstage or working in film and television.

If your thoughts are drifting to the West Coast but your parents have concerns, encourage them to check out “Hometown to Hollywood.” Host Bonnie J. Wallace wrote the book (The Hollywood Parents Guide) on what parents need to know about building a television and film career as a young performer.

BACKSTAGE TIPS

Those looking for insight into work that goes on behind the scenes will want to investigate “Twins Talk Theatre.” Cynthia Hennon Marino and Stacy Hennon Stone talk technical theatre and more with stage managers, directors, movement coaches, and other experts. Future designers should try “in 1: the podcast.” It includes interviews with experts in lighting, sound, costumes, makeup, and sets, discussing everything from making it in New York to surviving a touring production.

Try adding one or two of these podcasts to your usual mix, and who knows? You might become more confident, better informed, and more prepared for future work than you thought possible — just from listening in.

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