Why They Call Us Players
If your typical work day includes spending 9-5 on a computer, your days off are weekends and holidays, and your career advancement opportunities include a bigger office and more blue-collar workers under your supervision…chances are you don’t work as a performing artist. This seems to be the“normal” everyday life of a working class American, so when people ask us, as performing artists, what we do for a living or what a typical day in the life entails, the reactions are never disappointing.
First of all, a “typical” day world of performing doesn’t exist. It’s always dynamic, it’s always unconventional, it’s always stimulating. Then you have the work attire, which often includes some sort of larger than life outfit, period hairstyle, or downright ridiculous accessory. The schedule is crazy, with overnight rehearsals, performances every weekend and holiday, and sometimes, the need to embody multiple characters in the same day. Having that kind of excitement as a daily occurrence in your life is enough to make this career worth while, and enough to make some people’s jaw drop. The idea that you get to “be” someone different every month is simply fascinating to those who have ever only….well, been themselves. To me, it is a freedom unmatched by any other job possibility I’ve encountered yet.
But aside from these little quirks and perks of the jobs, the topper on the cake is when the real eccentric jobs come around. I asked some of my co-workers and friends to describe their jobs as candidly as possible without prefacing the fact that they work in the entertainment industry and these were some of the responses:
1.) “I play pretend for a living”
-Actor
Photo Credit: Personal Photo
Hakuna Matata
“It means no worries!” I have a professor who will say this, reminding me to take a cleansing breath and let it out. Well, hakuna matata – I’m moving to California!
I was offered – and accepted a job, working as the Company Manager for a theatre in California. I’ll be flying west as soon as I have graduated and I will be living out on the West Coast through August.
I’m a New York girl, with a high tolerance for snow and cold. At the very least, at the end of my contract, I’ll be able to say whether I like the sun and city-living. It will be a huge change from my little college town. Change can be good.
With that, I cross off the goal ‘get a job lined up before graduation’ off my list. I’ve started a new list devoted to packing as I start to realize how little I’ll be able to take with me. Meanwhile, hakuna matata through the last few months of the semester. Hakuna matata!
It means no worries – for the rest of my days through August, when I’ll hopefully have the next job/city lined up and ready for me to fly off to.
What I learned this year.
2013 was not a growing year for me artistically. It was a year of consistency of performing, and for that I am very thankful. But 2013 was a huge year for personal growth.
In 2013 I learned how to be honest with people and how to express to them how I am okay and am not okay with being treated. A few of those relationships have taken a back-seat because we were honest, and a few people I have chosen to walk away from. And because of this, I treasure those in my life who can be both honest and loving to me, people who support me even as they push me to be a better person.
photo credit: http://inivyandintwine.tumblr.com/
Happy 3rd birthday to The Green Room Blog!
Happy 3rd birthday to The Green Room Blog!
It’s hard to believe that it’s been three whole years since I launched this blog, complete with a few of my brave and artistic friends. Today we have over a dozen bloggers who represent artists from all over the world — London to New York to Chicago to Los Angeles, with several spots in-between!
I’ve shared many of my career milestones with you, from how I got my Equity card to figuring out a workable long-term survival job to learning how to work out-of-town to producing and starring in a successful show downtown.
Many of our bloggers have shared their journeys, as well, and it’s been an amazing ride watching them grow and mature as artists, right alongside this blog that continues to grow in unexpected ways each year.
I’m grateful for the community that this online space has created, which was one of my major goals in launching the blog three years ago. Thank you so much for being a part of it!
For a birthday gift, would you consider sharing a GRB memory below? Either a favorite post, or a blogger who inspired you to try something new, or a funny story of how the blog connected you as an artist to someone else you wouldn’t know otherwise. These stories make my day.
Here’s to year four! 🙂
Thank You, Tom Hiddleston
If I have a dream soul-mate, Tom Hiddleston may just be it: Shakespearan-trained, worked with Joss Whedon, studied sword-play – and respects House Managers.
Please be patient, kind & respectful with the Box Office, Front of House & Security staff @DonmarWarehouse. They are the best in the world.
— Tom Hiddleston (@twhiddleston) January 17, 2014
I saw Hiddleston tweet this and you can bet that I immediately re-tweeted and favorited it. Who doesn’t love it when a star thinks of the ‘little guys’? A theatre is made up of more than just actors and the stage.
Rock on, Tom Hiddleston. Break a leg with your current production of Coriolanus.
Name dilemma….
The topic of Equity came up in lectures recently which obviously got some of us onto talking about what our equity name would be.
I believe our equity works similar to yours but in case not I’ll briefly explain why I have a dilemma. You are not allowed to join Equity with the same name as someone else, I believe this is even if they are in a different area to you (for example an actress and a stage manager). Now considering there’s a famous actress with my particular name I think the chances of being able to use it professionally is going to be slim.
I’ve come to a decision that I’d much rather just add my middle initial than completely change my name (I quite like my name is I’m honest). However I’m not going to be joining Equity for a couple of years yet, but am still working as a professional occasionally with my name on programmes etc. So should I start using my (hopefully) equity name to start getting it out there? or should I just stay as I am? My name has a good reputation with it and I don’t want to lose that but would it be easier to start again now than in a couple of years?
I can’t decide so now I’m asking you (:
DIY Website Design
I was big into HTML and website design when I was a kid – I might have gotten to be really good if my mom wasn’t always complaining that I spent too much time on the computer. So when my project for Senior Seminar class turned out that I could design my own actor website, I jumped all over that. In retrospect, I wish I had taken pictures of my many, many attempts. Or a picture of my face as I realized that all the HTML I remembered was to change the font and create paragraphs and line breaks.
The domain.
There are a ridiculous number of free website hosting sites out there. There are even more that will sell you your own domain name. I stuck with the free websites which still gave me many choices. I know a lot of my friends like Weebly and can make it look good but I hated using it and switched over to Wix. Weebly and Wix are just two examples: Carbonmade, wordpress, behance – I know actors who made their websites from google sites, tumblr, facebook and IMDB. There are even ‘actor websites’ out there that you sign up for! Whatever works best.
No matter what you use, think about the domain name. Even if it’s a free site, you want to use your name so when people google search you, “Madison Smith the actor” will hopefully what pops up and not ‘Madison Smith’s funeral parlor’.
what to think about.
- Don’t use Flash. I will beg you. Do. Not. Use. Flash. Welcome to 2014 – we like HTML 5.
- Link to your social media – facebook, youtube, twitter, IMDB. But only if you use social media as an actor – I don’t want to go to your youtube page and only find videos of your four-year-old niece’s ballet recital.
- Check to see if there is a mobile version available. I made sure that my website was mobile user-friendly and aligned to fit a tiny screen.
- If you are like me and are iffy about putting your contact info ‘out there’ – I LOVE Google Voice. It’s connected to my cellphone but it keeps my real cell number safe and private. Plus, I have an email account for professional purposes – no BenedictCumberbitche$4lyf!@hotmail.com. Read more…
Writing Is Hard
Steve Martin, a playwright and stage actor who I understand has also done some film work, once declared that writing is easy. If only it were so.
As readers may know, I came to acting late. But I came to writing early. I made up illustrated stories before I knew how to write, and continued writing throughout my youth. I became defined by it, and most of those around me expected it to become my career — in high school, in fact, I edited both the literary journal and the student newspaper.
By college, though, I found that while my skill for essay writing and nonfiction was improving, I was losing my ability to tell stories — to create a narrative and tell it in a compelling way. My ability to craft a clever phrase lent itself to the commentary I wrote for some time — and to the professional work I would do — but I found trying to write stories harder.
The Green Room 