How To Decide Which City is the Best
There’s New York. There’s LA. There are other smaller cities that also have lots of opportunities (Boston, Chicago, Washington DC, etc). How are we supposed to figure out which city is the best one to pursue your career?
I’ve been asking myself this question ever since I graduated college. I’ve always been happy that I moved to Chicago. At the same time, there’s always been this small part of me wondering if I made the right choice. A thought that frequently crossed my mind was, “Yes I’m happy now. But am I going to realize this big mistake I made five years from now?”
The wonderful Dallas Travers said something on her hot seat coaching call last month which made me realize I am exactly where I need to be:
“The best market for you to live in is where you are the happiest.”
Sure, there are plenty of opportunities in other cities like New York and LA. However, looking at my present situation, I’m perfectly happy being in the Midwest. I have an agent, I can book extra work when money is tight, I live walking distance to multiple theatres and improv spaces, and I’m still making progress with my goals. Oh, and I love the city of Chicago. Here’s a shot of the skyline from Lake Michigan.
Changing Your Scene
“OK Cast that’s 10!”
“Huh?”
“10… that’s 10 minutes.”
“…We get another break?”
“Huh?”
As a Stage Manager when you find yourself lost in translation your job can become hilariously frustrating. In Britain, I have always announced the end of every break by using the same declaration:
“That’s X”
a.k.a.:
“That’s X amount of minutes over and I would now like you to return to rehearsal.”
It is an announcement that is in my muscle memory and has always registered with Scottish Actors. When I called out the same phrase in my first American rehearsal the cast thought I had been gracious enough to give them more break time. I am now frequently learning to adjust tried and tested methods of going about a job that I have been doing the same way for a long time.
I’m from a beautiful city in Scotland called Dundee, but I have always been a bit of a traveller. Not a particularly nonchalant one because I am also a Stage Manager. I have never donned a backpack and set off into the unknown with nothing but my compass to guide me. No, I need logistics. A calendar. A schedule. A budget. Stage Managers tend to approach things like Vulcans— to venture into the unknown without a plan would be highly illogical.
I moved to New York City for a few months at the beginning of 2013 after finding myself between gigs and with an itch to leave my hometown. My steady string of freelance work had suddenly gone dry. I could either take a job that had nothing to do with my career path, or I could move and try to find work elsewhere.
I picked New York because, to a girl growing up in Scotland, it stands as the world capital of theatre. Feel free to disagree with me. I would love to hear from Green Room readers about other Theatre Capitals I can add to my bucket list.
Sound of Music Live
I watched “The Sound of Music Live” much like a lot of people I know did. Most theatre I know didn’t care for it, particularly Carrie Underwood being in that lead role of Marie (I realize that it’s difficult for most to see someone else do that role after Julie Andrews). So after working hard to not share my opinion with anyone until I wrote about it (which I can now give myself a pat on the back for doing), here’s what my thoughts were about it:
Let’s get out-of-the-way that this was a commercialized production, since that’s a fact that everyone would agree to. Because of that, they brought in Carrie Underwood to do the role, so they can get in more views. To do the defense first, asides from the attempt of bringing in a wider audience, I can see why they would choose Carrie. She won American Idol, which means she has a great singing voice (and singing is half the battle for any musical), she also is someone who strongly believes in Christianity, and she’s been dabbling in acting for the past few years (I say dabbling since before now she hasn’t done anything big enough or professional enough until now- it’s more of an “I want to have fun and give it a shot” kind of thing as oppose to the art of making it her career interests), so some casting director- or producer must’ve thought: let’s get her to do it, since she would fit the bill and bring people in. And the part I respect most of all is that she took the challenge, since I know if someone offered me something like that I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t do it.
Staged Readings of Established Plays: Why Do It.
So one interesting thing I’ve discovered experienced this year is that a lot of theatre companies do staged readings of known, published plays. At first, this was quite a puzzling concept to me. Typically the point of a staged reading is to help develop a new play, but if you’re doing a staged reading of a play that’s already published, then what’s the point? After doing a staged reading of one of my favorite plays that came out in the 21st century, “The Shape of Things” by Neil Labute, I was able to figure out why, along with pick up a few other reasons from theatre companies that I know that have been doing that a lot this year.
1. Benefits. If you’re trying to raise money, get people to donate for your future work, a staged reading of a known play can certainly helpful to make that happen. Staged readings don’t require much rehearsal to make that happen, and it’ll allow you to be creative so people can see your potential as an artist which makes them more inclined to donate for your full productions.
2. Time. Full productions take time. A LOT of time. If you’re a student, doing a full-time job, or any other reasons that you can’t commit to doing the full production, you can stage a reading and allow those creative juices to continue flowing.
3. Money. Any play that was published within the past 100 years requires for someone to pay for the rights to perform that play. That doesn’t go the same way if you’re only doing a reading. But what if it wasn’t published in the past 100 years? What if it’s Shakespeare and you’re doing a reading? Along with time, doing a full production can cost a pretty penny, especially classic plays since they are longer and therefore need more rehearsal time, air go more money. If you’re in a financial pinch, consider a staged reading, and possibly going with that first idea.
Automating Yourself
Psst…you know how there’s a blue-jillion things you need to be doing? Dozens and dozens of balls in the air to be juggled? Plate after plate to keep spinning? Do yourself a favor – A.U.T.O.M.A.T.E.
Go to those casting websites you check each day and see if you can’t sign up for email alerts. Make sure those profiles are correct! If you signed up a few years ago, you probably don’t read the same age range, now, that you did then. Update. Refresh. Sign up for email alerts.
You know all those websites out there you KNOW you should TOTES be reading, but keep forgetting about? Then clearly you’ve not met my good friend, Feedly.com. Srsly. Once you have a profile, when you do have time to surf, look for new, interesting, and informative things to add to your feed.
While we’re at it, is your computer set up to automatically update, scan for viruses, backup, and defrag regularly? Having recently suffered through computer crash, I want to do my public service for the day and tell you to set all those things up to run without you having to push a button. While you’re at it, you are backing up in multiple places, right? RIGHT?!
Hey, you know a cool tool to help you look like you’re really with it? Buffer. Actually, it’s bufferapp.com. You can schedule social media stuff so that your fan page, or project page, or show twitter feed doesn’t sit idle whilst you, you know, make magical art things happen.
House Manager Appreciation Week!
Happy House Manager Appreciation Week 2013! And as your house manager blogger, I feel that House Managers definitely deserve your appreciation – here’s just a short list of all the work we do!
- I guarantee you – House Managers are the first to arrive and the last people to leave the theatre.
- We multi-task. Last week, I took over 1200 tickets for a Black Friday-sized crowd coming at me in two different lines, all impatient to get to their seats! Meanwhile, I’m watching out for wheelchairs that would need to use the lift, anyone who might ask for a hearing aid and for any ushers with a confused look on their face.
- I also work with the ushers, telling and teaching them what to do. Unless they don’t show up – then I have to do their job too. It happens more often than you think!
- We know directions. If asked, we can tell you the nearest available exits, where the bathroom/water fountain/coat room/restaurant is and what is the quickest way out of the theatre and to your car. Just ask.
- We are medically-trained! And if there was ever an evacuation, who do you think is responsible for the audience and theatre? Read more…
Big C, Little C
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about where I want to go as an actor.
I am not doing this for money, nor for fame (though I would welcome both), and I want to balance performing with the other important things in my life like my family and my job. I realize that if I did want to be a full-time professional actor, I would have to radically alter my life, and the odds would still be long. I do not want to do that — I love my life, in part because I’ve been lucky enough to balance all these important things.
I like working with professional companies because of the quality of the work and of my peers, but I do not want to limit myself by staying away from non-professional companies that also do exceptional work. I am currently doing my second show with a non-professional theater that is more serious, and have better facilities, than some of the professional companies I have worked with.
Basically what I want to do is quality work in interesting plays working with talented people who take theater seriously. If money is part of the deal, that’s great, but it’s not essential. The hard part is finding out which non-professional theaters are serious.
Actor Special Skills
photo credit: shutterstock
The special skills section of my resume has always been my favorite part. And not just because when I was a newbie professional actor right out of college, it was the only section with anything worth bragging about 😉
No, I always loved the special skills section because it’s the only part of your resume where you get to really give a taste of who you are as a person. The roles you get cast in most frequently or the school you chose to attend don’t really give a full picture, you know?
I’ve always taken pride in trying to be an interesting and pretty well-rounded person, so I think the special skills section on my resume is particularly fun. It includes things like:
- Ran 2013 NYC Marathon
- African Drums
- Dog Trainer and Handler
- Beginning Fencing
- And my personal favorite: Sarcasm.
It’s a great chance for casting directors and theaters to get to know you in just a short little paragraph list.
But beyond that, it’s an even better way to get you cast.
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