Sunday Summary — July 22, 2012
Hi, all!
Starting this week, I’ll be posting a round-up of the week’s posts in case you missed out on anything in the hustle and bustle of a workday, tech week, or overnight shoot. Welcome to our first every “Sunday “Summary”!
The California Triple-Threat started the week off by giving us some new perspective with a post all about how one of her dance heroes still has to have a survival job.
The Practical Artist shared how she stays refueled during long days of theatre work.
And guest poster Meg Lanzarone bought us along for the journey as she was granted an AEA Waiver to work a Non-Equity Gig.
Check them out if you missed them the first time around!
Please welcome guest poster Meg Lanzarone to the blog today! Meg is a friend of mine from college who recently put herself out there and applied for an AEA waiver to do a non-equity show. I asked her to write a post about what the approval process was like, so that we could all benefit from her experience. Meg is a fabulously talented actor, singer, and voiceover artist, and now she’s the resident expert on AEA waivers!
I recently joined the Actors Equity Association in January 2012. Before joining, I was asked to perform with a brand new Non-union Theater company, A Modest Invention. They also happened to be friends from high school who I have worked with in the past so of course I wanted to be a part of their inaugural production. Some time had passed, and details were eventually sorted out with plans to collaborate with The Brooklyn Theatre Arts Project to secure an Off-Broadway location in NYC for July 2012. The companies decided not to apply for an Equity Showcase, so I had to apply for a waiver of permission from AEA to perform in a Non-union show. I was nervous to apply because I didn’t want to be rejected from performing in this project. However, it was either apply or hide it from AEA – and that was pretty much not an option.
I went online to find out information about what to expect when applying, and I could not find anything. I only found a California article from the 80’s – not exactly up to date and trustworthy information. So I quickly blasted a facebook status with hopes that my AEA colleagues had applied for a waiver in the past and thankfully several friends shared their stories with me and I was relieved to find out that it wasn’t as difficult to be granted a waiver as I made up it up in my mind to be. Thank you facebook for your social media saving graces.
This is how I applied for my AEA waiver: During the first week of June 2012, I went to the AEA NYC office on 46th street. I initially went to the Membership window on the 14th floor, but the woman there told me to visit the 15th floor with specific instructions to see Zalina Hoosein. I immediately went up, told them I was looking to apply for a waiver and it turns out Zalina was out of town for that week so I spoke with her assistant Laura Schuman. Basically what happened was this: Laura had a clipboard and asked me questions about the show I wanted to apply for. Questions like “when were you asked to do this project?” “how long is the run?” “how is it being promoted?” “what are the ticket prices?” and “how long is the rehearsal process?” She asked me more questions of this nature, and all I did was answer honestly to the best of my knowledge. I decided it was better to be upfront than try to hide anything from her. I didn’t know, and still don’t know, how they decide who would be granted these waivers, so for me honesty was the best policy. At the end of the meeting Laura gave me her card. Since her boss was out of town, she had to wait until she returned to pass along my information. Laura said if I did not hear from her by the beginning of the following week that I should give her a call.
So the first week passed and I waited until Thursday of the following week to finally get in touch with her. After slightly stressing for a week and a half, Laura informed me that I had been approved and sent me my letter of approval via email. She simply told me if anyone else in the cast was Equity to pass along the information that the show has been approved for all AEA members and they should notify AEA for their own approvals. I was the only Equity member involved in the show so this did not apply to my situation, but I was happy to hear the acceptance and “not such a big deal” tone in her voice. I was very happy to have been able to perform in “Where’s My Money” by John Patrick Shanley this past weekend and the show was greeted with such amazing feedback and I was so thrilled be a part of the piece.
What I still think we need to understand is what projects get accepted and which do not. Do ALL get accepted? That’s what it seems like based on my experience and the experiences of other AEA members, but I don’t want to make any novice assumptions. I do know that each waiver is on an individual show basis and when you see *Appearing Courtesy of the Actors Equity Association next to someone’s name in a program that means they have been approved by AEA.
If you are really passionate about a project definitely apply for a waiver – it was really worth it for me. I hope my story was able to shed some light on the whole waiver approval phenomena. Keep your chops strong my fellow performers!!!
Thanks so much for sharing your experience, Meg, and congrats on getting approved! Please join me in thanking Meg for enlightening us all, and be sure to check her out on youtube and twitter if you haven’t already clicked over to her website!
Know Your Fuel
Almost every position in theatre requires an amount of physical stamina. Even if you exercise regularly and eat right, long and stressful tech days can leave you wiped. When time is short and blood sugar is low, it can make an already difficult day much more so. I know what it takes to keep me going – Maple Nut Clif Bars and Cool Blue Gatorade:
The Clif Bars are loaded with protein and carbs – great energy boosts; and the Gatorade has enough electrolytes to keep my stamina up while keeping my mind focused on the day ahead. I also purposely cut down on my coffee intake [from about 3 cups a day to 1 in the morning before I get to work]. I replace my coffee urges with orange juice in attempts to prevent the inevitable “after I’m done pushing myself I get sick” situation and to avoid the dehydration that accompanies being over-caffeinated. The adrenaline is enough to keep me going without the caffeine.
Maybe you think Clif Bars taste like dirt and the thought of drinking something blue makes you queasy. It doesn’t matter, just know what will keep you going when you need it before the day starts – or you may be subject to the $0.99 Pizza on the corner because you have no time to figure out what you want to eat. Then you feel like a tired ball of greasy dough and have even less energy than before you ate. Know your fuel so you can recharge without missing a beat!
New Perspective from People-Watching
Recently, the Green Room Bloggers wrote about survival jobs… Let’s consider this a follow-up post!
A few days ago my family stopped to have dinner with me in Los Angeles as they were driving home from a road trip. I don’t get to see them as much as I’d like, and we enjoyed eating, laughing, and talking as we browsed one of my favorite malls in LA, The Grove. I love people watching wherever I go in LA, and I noticed two young women talking. On closer inspection I realized it was a job interview, similar to many that I’d endured. It was going as expected; the usual questions… “what does customer service mean to you? What is the hardest thing about team work?”. As I walked, I took a second look at the girl interviewing for the job. It made me stop in my tracks and turn for a 3rd take.
WAIT, I’M GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF! First, a different story.
Back in May I spent a week on set of a pilot episode for one of the new scripted dramas that Vh1 is premiering this fall. It came at a perfect time because I had just closed a 2 month run of a musical, and was waiting to hear about my next project. I worked as a featured extra, spending most of my days in skimpy workout clothing, watching some crazy talented dancers sweat it out on a gym floor. I wish I could tell you more, but the pilot doesn’t premier till the fall! For now, enjoy this picture of what I wore the first day on set:
So what does my family trip to the grove have to do with working on the tv set? The girl interviewing for the minimum wage retail job WAS THE SAME GIRL who starred in the Vh1 pilot episode. She was beautiful, sweet, and an incredibly talented lyric dancer. And here she was, sitting at a mall, hoping to get a job that will keep her afloat in this crazy city. It was SUCH a lightbulb moment for me. These fellow actors and dancers, who I watched, learned from, and emulated, go thru the same daily struggles of low finances and self-doubts. I thought, “surely if I could start booking things like this I wouldn’t have to worry so much about paying my bills.” And yet, here she was, interviewing for a starting position in who-knows-what retail store! I have high hopes for this girl that the pilot gets picked up for next season. There is some great talent, and I think the show has potential to film an entire season, if not multiple seasons. So to my “friend,” the star of the future Vh1 pilot episode, I wish you the best! Thank you for encouraging and inspiring me to keep struggling in this hard career we have chosen!
Around The Fringe In 20 Plays!
Exciting news, fellow readers! 😛
This year, The New York City Fringe Festival has given me a press pass for the entire 16 day festival to review any show I’d like. How did I manage to get my hands on such a coveted, exclusive, exciting thing?
I asked.
Yep. That’s pretty much all I did. I originally contacted the Fringe to see if I could get access to the email addresses of the producers/directors of this year’s productions and what I got was a great little surprise from a nice man named Ron.
Hence, “Around The Fringe in 20 Plays!”
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THE PLAN:
I will cram in twenty select plays to review and feature on my new website, noredlipstick.com while simultaneously being in rehearsal for FullStop Collective’s Fringe show AND fulfilling my day job shifts and duties.
CAN SHE DO IT?:
It’s summer, folks. I’m in the mood to run around!
So the answer is YE – uhh, I actually don’t know.
But I might as well try!
WHAT THIS HAS TAUGHT ME:
1. As Dallas Travers has inspired me to believe:
“Don’t get it perfect. Get it going.”
I had a thought, but I didn’t even know it was going to turn into this until I started taking action. The results of my actions helped shape “Around The Fringe In 20 Days” into what it’s quickly (and I mean quickly!) becoming.
2. Don’t be afraid to ask for things.
I was proud of myself for taking action when I contacted the Fringe. I didn’t even get what I wanted! (a list of emails) LOL. But I got something that certainly put a new, much more exciting spin on things. I feel like I’ve got the key to Pandora’s box. Woot woot. What’s she gonna do with it?!
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Get an idea.
Take action.
Make it happen.
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Perfectionism was paralyzing me. “Around The Fringe in 20 Plays” only became possible when I decided I’d be open to mistake making and the possibility of rejection.
Go figure!
Follow me on my journey “Around the Fringe in 20 Plays!”
Onwards and Upwards,
I’ve been an intern. I can trace back almost my entire career [not to mention – a husband] to the experiences & contacts I made at an internship I rocked for 2 summers. The hardest I’ve ever worked in my life was at my internship, and the least I slept, and the most I learned. Theatre is a very hands-on career. Of course college courses are important, but nothing compares to the hands-on training you receive as an intern or Production Assistant. That being said, I haven’t always had the easiest experiences with PAs/Interns now that I’ve established my career. Many of these interns go to very reputable schools and/or have received adequate training, but seem to be lost in a professional setting. I have included a list of what I expect from my interns [and what they should expect] in a professional theatre setting.
COFFEE/LUNCH RUNS
Look, when it comes to this issue, I don’t care if you’re going to school to be an actress, a set designer, or brain surgeon your role in this production is INTERN and the simple fact is that you will occasionally be sent to grab coffee for the Creative Team. Expect it, accept it, and make the best of it. Write everything down, collect money from everyone, and use your Middle School math skills to make sure everyone gets the correct change. More importantly: make sure everyone gets the correct order – there’s nothing worse than the intern coming back and there’s no “caramel” to your “macchiato.” You aren’t being abused, you’re offering a needed service because there is someone to grab coffee for the team while we beat our head against the table with the latest production crisis. When you get the order right – we are grateful and appreciative, when the order is wrong – we are frustrated and under caffeinated. As cliche as it sounds: the interns get the coffee. Someone’s got to do it.
HONESTY
I’m young for my position, and look younger than I am. I’m used to people assuming my incompetency until I have a chance to prove them wrong. I refuse to express the same judgmental frame of mind when dealing with my interns. That being said, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve explained a task to someone, they say “yes, I understand” and then twenty minutes later the task hasn’t been completed because the intern didn’t know how to do it. Be honest with your skills, strengths, and weaknesses – you’re here to learn, this is an internship! We won’t judge, but we can’t teach you until we understand what you already know and what you still need to learn.
CONSISTENCY
When you are told to be “on book” while the actors run a scene, the third time through when the actor calls “LINE!” you better be able to answer them in a fraction of a heartbeat. Just because no one called for line the first time, it doesn’t mean that no one will call line for the rest of rehearsal. When one of the Creatives lets their guard down because they trust you – keep that trust! Do good work, and do consistently good work. Pay attention, and take the tedious with the exciting.
INITIATIVE
You know the basics, you know what needs to be done. The first thing you do in a rehearsal room is sweep – if you’re the first person there go get the broom! If the Director says in the middle of a scene “can we have something to represent the stool?” grab a chair and get it to place in scene before the director finishes his/her sentence. Facebook Apps, novels, and viral videos have no place in the rehearsal room. If you honestly can’t think of anything you’ve already been asked to do that you should be doing at a given moment, ask your supervisor if there is anything you can help with – chances are they’ll be grateful you care enough to ask!
PRIORITIZE & MULTITASK
This is perhaps most important. Let’s say I ask you to run to grab me a coffee. As you’re getting your coat on the Director asks for those new script pages you forgot to print out, as you head out the door the Musical Director asks if you can check if anyone is in the rehearsal space after as he’d like to stay after rehearsal with an actress to work on a song. Your priorities should instantly shift to: Print Pages, Check on Rehearsal Space, Get Coffee. This is a fast-paced industry, and new things get added and change every second, priorities constantly shift and multi-tasking is a requirement of everyone in every position. This is especially important for interns. Who the request came from is an easy cheat sheet for what you should be working on first: Director>Stage Manager>Designer.
KNOW WHEN [AND WHEN NOT] TO SPEAK
It’s not that your opinion isn’t appreciated, and if you honestly have an idea on how to solve a problem, tell your supervisor privately and s/he will decide if it is something that should be brought up to the entire team. Know your place, respect the positions of the staff, and observe everything like a SPONGE when sitting in on a Production Meeting. You will learn an awful lot by watching and listening to the dialogue that forms between a Creative Team.
Internships are great opportunities to get your feet wet in professional theatre. Hand cards/resumes to everyone you meet. Having been exactly where you are let me offer some sound advice:
Work your @$$ off – you only get out of it what you put into it!
I have been a working girl for three weeks now. But I’m not working the fast food drive-through or spending another summer at day camp—I’m the new Assistant House Manager!
This is my first “real” theatre job and it was a great moment for me to tell my parents that yes, their daughter actually is going to be working for a theatre and putting that major to good use. (Hey…Mom and Dad…read this). I started looking last November for an internship. Now that I’m out of school for the summer, I’m spending my time working to afford school and to get away from home again. My only requirements in job searching was that it had to be a paid internship and that it had housing available. Yes, I ended up fulfilling both of those requirements, go me!
I submitted my resume for Directing internships, Stage Management, Box Office, Producing, House Management, Literary Management, you name it. There’s no How To Get a Job in Theatre 101 class yet so I did a lot of Google searches; I didn’t know where else to start. This was very much a self-motivated search and learning as I go along. I’m young, I don’t have a lot of credits so I just kept putting my name out there and sending out more applications for every rejection I got. Some of those applications needed references—I’m a college student with no past employers; It was only then did my professors step in to help write me a letter of recommendation. I may lack the experience and be new to the world of professional theatre, but my manager said that they gave such great recommendations that they hired me anyways. Even more amazing than just that though, I actually was hired by the biggest theatre company I applied to that I did, thinking that they would just toss it out most likely, especially since their season runs into October and I still have to be in school but they emailed me to say that they had passed my application along to their downtown theatre, which only runs until August, and I got the job there.
It’s kind of funny…as soon as I get to call myself one of the upperclassmen, a big kid now—I’ve been knocked back down the totem pole again. I’m one of the very youngest working here this summer and one of the very, very few still in college. It’s a new hierarchy for me to figure out and it’s gotten a lot bigger. I’ve had one prior internship, with the local community theatre where I was the Child Handler (essentially, I was a glorified backstage babysitter) for Annie. This internship could not feel more different to me.
I’m still learning and mostly learning on my feet as I go along but I’m also being trusted to handle some of the responsibility on my own. I’m the second in command! That’s how I want to it to be: you have your job, but let me follow you around and take notes on how it all works while I run to Wegmans to get more flowers and stuff more playbills for tonight’s show. Is that guy over there really important and if he says “Jump”, I should jump? Tell me these things because I don’t know otherwise. Sure, I can go to the office and help cut paper but when I get back, I’d really like to learn some more about how house management works, okay? Um…where do we keep the extra toilet paper, for future notice? We’re down an usher for tonight? Okay, I can sell merchandise/ticket take/assist these audience members. Is there anything else you need me to do?
I feel really lucky. Not only did I end up with a fantastic job and I’m working with great people but I’m also not “Emily the Intern”. I actually don’t know Emily’s real name but ‘Emily’ is a Props Intern who hates her job. I carpooled with her once and listened to her rant the whole rive there about how much she hates her supervisor, how she’s not learning anything because they are always giving her jobs away to the Paints or the Wardrobe crew and that she’s not going to quit but she hopes they let her go. It was so overwhelming negative that I hitched a ride with someone else on the way back. I have not seen Emily the Props Intern since but we work at different theatres so it’s possible that she’s still there and still complaining.
I am not Emily the Props Intern. But Emily had a valid point: we are here to learn how to do the job and then to do it and we will. Just don’t forget to tell me to do the job or show me how to do it first. Among my many talents, mind-reading is not one of them. Worst-case scenario, I’ll use my best judgment, which so far seems to be working out. If you were willing to give me the job, I’m going to think you found me capable, even if I’ve never done House Management before because earlier this year, I’ve also never done a number of things that I’ve added to my resume since then. Never fear, the Assistant House Manager is here, bringing some youthful energy along for the ride!
An Ode to My Dressers
Out here in the land of summer repertory theatre, I’ve found a few things that have helped save my work from being under-minded by the exhausting schedule. The first is coffee–not A LOT, but Just Enough. A little jolt of caffeine helps carry the energy during those two-show days (comprised of completely different plays) from the matinée through the evening performance. Meditation follows closely behind, the practice of which has been helping me stay level during a period in my life that does not allow for much time to process all that is going on. But the greatest asset I have going for me this season, that helps keep me focused when I get to the theater and throughout the show, are three women serving on the wardrobe staff who at some point are responsible for dressing me.
Caroline, B., and Brenna. Aren’t they lovely?
These ladies keep me grounded and looking great at every performance. While I take care of my make up, they each help dress me in the rest of my costume. This month that includes corseting, buttoning and hooking bodices and layers of skirts, as well as curling and pinning my hair–plus affixing two wigs and a fall to my head at various times throughout the three shows I’m in (never all at once though, thank goodness). These are things that would not only hard for me to do on my own–these are things literally impossible for me to do without help. Not only that, the time I would spend freaking out about getting myself ready to go on stage would leave me flustered and unable to focus on my work at hand–namely, acting. Knowing that I have such competent help, I can spend the time I take getting dressed to go over any notes from the previous run of the show, run my lines, or do a little vocal warm up. I know everything will get done in time, so I can relax and worry about other things.
During the performance, I check in with my dressers backstage to make sure I still look in one piece. If I have a loose thread, they’ll trim it back. If my hairnet has a hole in it, they’ll stitch it up. And all before the next scene! B. and Brenna are responsible for my lightning fast quick changes in the musical, the choreography of which amazes me each time we do it. Any costume changes also help me keep track of where we are in the show and at what point my character is in their through line. What you wear and how you wear something onstage tells the audience and the actor a lot. A good dresser will help maintain a costume designer’s section of the narrative by making sure the actor’s appearance is lining up appropriately.
Actors are, by nature, insecure. When everything you do is exposed and left out to be scrutinized, you get very protective of little things, and the things you can seemingly control. How you look (within the bounds set down by the costume designer and director) tends to fall into the latter category. Consequently, an actor can get very particular about getting dressed. There’s also nothing more immediately distracting to an actor than feeling uncomfortable in an outfit on stage. They can get so caught up in how they look/don’t look, that they cease to be present, and by proxy stop working. A good dresser will make sure everything is fitting properly, and if something isn’t they will have it fixed as soon as possible. The wonderful thing about a trusting relationship with a dresser is knowing the dresser has the actor’s back, and is there to help support them by taking care of this aspect of their performance. As an actor who is working to focus on my scene partner, while including the audience in the action, while maintaining the 4th wall, while finding my light, while listening for my cues, while possibly speaking in a dialect, while dancing and/or singing, and while, oh, that’s right, ACTING, it’s nice to have one less thing to worry about. On top of all of this, all three of these women listen to my inane chatter, smile, and nod, giving me that extra boost of confidence right before I have to go onstage and bear my soul (or someone’s, surely). And confidence is a very valuable commodity in performance.
So to Caroline, who has to pin ALL of my hair; to B., who has to roll up my pants to my knees for one entrance, only to roll them down at an exit a moment later; and to Brenna who has to curl so much of my hair every time I see her; to them I would like to say “Thank you.” Ladies: I could not do it without you. This is truth!
(If this all seems terribly gushy-mushy, please check out this NY Times article discussing the star dressers of Broadway. Hopefully that will help convince you of the sincerity of feeling I hoped to convey here.)
The Green Room 
