My career crisis

Posted: 8/29/13 at 10:53pm

Can someone just please break it to me on how difficult it is to make it on broadway?
Like many, many others that would agree, theatre is life. I want to live and breath it forever. (Particularly acting)

I am currently a senior right now and I have no clue what to do. I can't find that perfect monologue for the life of me for college auditions. I know you don't need a college degree, just the right tools and training, but I don't know how to find 'the right training'. I don't know how to meet the right people or what I should be working on. I know it's SUPER competitive and selective. I can act and I can sing, I'm not super experienced but I feel that's a little irrelevant because I'm willing to work my ass off and I know Im committed and in it full heartedly.

Just give me the cold hard truth.

Laugh all you want at me if you must...

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/29/13 at 10:55pm

As long as you are willing to work your ass off you will make it on Broadway!

[Boq101]

Posted: 8/29/13 at 10:59pm

Once you realize Broadway isn't the end all and be all of theater. There is great theater happening all over the country, all over the world. It's very myopic to see a successful theatre career as one spent solely on Broadway. Find programs of excellence, prepare yourself, and let the chips fall where they may. Realize that every program is looking for different things, make sure you give yourself as many opportunities as possible to show people what you can do. Regardless of where we go in life we will be richer for it because of this training.

[sowren1020]

Posted: 8/29/13 at 11:58pm

This career called show business will need you to offer as much high quality product as possible to be considered. You will need training, experience and connections to be hired on Broadway. And you need to be resourceful, not depending on the opinion of others too much to guide you, as this is your business that you are starting. What are you interested in, what books, which musicals? It should be an overchoice of material that you know, if you want to excel in your field. Educate yourself, listen to musicals, read every new play you can, find out what you like and be the best at that. Get cast in as many shows as you can, whether in high school, your local civic theatre or local theatre. Get coaching, see shows, start connections, find a mentor. There are a thousand ways to start this career, the most important way is to be self motivated to figure out what works for you. Yes, there is anxiety about which college, how to pay for it and how to make ends meet. I don't personally recommend spending $60k a year at NYU or Yale to go to drama school, you'd be swimming in debt for years. Check out these websites:

http://www.ace-your-audition.com/acting-colleges.html

Intershipfinder.com will help you see what colleges may have internship programs affiliated with their acting programs

I recommend this book: ARCO "The Performing Arts Major's College Guide" by Carole J. Everett. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0028619…

Break Legs!


Updated On: 8/30/13 at 11:58 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 12:39am

You will be who you want to be
You
Can choose whatever heaven grants

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 1:32am

You is kind… You is smart… You is important.

ETA: In all seriousness, I believe I have responded to similar inquiries on here before with the suggestion that you seek out those in your life who you know and trust. They will be the biggest help to you. I'm sure many industry professionals on here could give you their perspective, if that is what you are searching for. Still, I would recommend you talk with those you personally know who have been through it. It would offer you an authentic support system. Updated On: 8/30/13 at 01:32 AM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 2:21am

"I know you don't need a college degree, just the right tools and training, but I don't know how to find 'the right training'."

I'm not sure who told you that but the majority of people who makes on huge on Broadway went to college for it. Especially in current Broadway casts. They majored in some variation of Drama or Musical Theatre. You need that training in school, your teachers can show you things you will never learn on your own. Also, in great schools such as Ithaca College, Carnegie Mellon, NYU, Yale, University of Michigan, and Julliard, if you don't have "it", you are usually cut from their programs. My friend was cut from the musical theater program at Ithaca College sophomore year. His friend, Jeremy Jordan, went on to complete a degree. He was a star, and they saw that. You need training, and college gives you that.

You need to able to act, sing, dance and have that x factor. When I see Patina Miller, Audra McDonald, Steve Kazee, Norm Lewis, or Indina Menzel on stage, I am unable to take my eyes off of them. They have that IT factor. You can be a chorus member for your entire career if that is what you are into, but I assume you want to be well known.

I happen to think New York theater is the finest in the world. This is the goal of thousands of people. There are many fine theaters all over the world, consider those first. That and training :)

It's one of the hardest industries to break in to, so if you love anything else more, do that, because the rejection day after day is brutal.

Good luck!



Updated On: 8/30/13 at 02:21 AM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 2:52am

And sorry to break the news but some of it is just luck. The most talented performer does not always get the role. The best play is not always produced.

So do you best to learn to like every part of the business. Yes, even auditions. Learn to have fun with them and (a) you'll be able to handle disappointment, but (b) you'll get cast more often.

Same thing goes for everything from costume fittings to interviews with internet bloggers.

[binau]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 2:59am

Maybe I'm a pessimist but I'd have a backup career. I would guess and say singing and acting does not pay the bills for most people who try to do it. Particularly when you start to age.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 3:00am

I think the best advice anyone has ever given me about acting is that if you can see yourself doing anything else (and I do mean ANYTHING else), do that thing. Even if it's something else in the theater world, there are many creative paths to take besides performing, and you can also perform in addition to doing those things.

To be honest, I don't think there's any "right" program. The value in the big-name programs like NYU, Ithaca, UMich, etc. is the connections you make, both among your peers and in the faculty and general performance opportunities offered. But the most important thing is to make sure you are in a place where you personally are happy and feel stimulated and want to work. You could be in the best program in the world and hate the people, hate the program, and hate the school, and I can pretty much guarantee you won't want to do any work. You get out what you put in, and that's true of any college degree, not just a theater one.

[blaxx]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 3:22am

I hate when people generalize about being "on Broadway". Like all Broadway shows are of the same quality and offer the same opportunity to all performers.

I rather never perform again than being in BKLYN: The Musical. On Broadway.

[Showghost]

Posted: 9/2/13 at 4:34pm

You're best move would be to just get yourself to the city. Go to school here. It doesn't even necessarily matter which school, as it's not so much talent as it is connection and reputation that will get you work. You have to put yourself out there--volunteer with BCEFA or the Drama League. Talk to people whenever possible. You never know who you might be sitting next to at the theatre or on the subway. (It helps to know faces--especially those behind the scenes who might be surprised and delighted for a student to recognize and talk to them.) Just get to know people. Be nice. Do favours. And don't be afraid just to ask for things: anything from someone's business card to an apprenticeship with their next project. The worst someone can do is say "no". If you don't ask, you'll never know. This is not a business where opportunity is just handed to you on a silver platter--unless you're Karen Cartwright, of course. Oh, and don't be afraid to be poor. Really poor. You're 105% more likely to get hired by someone if you're willing to work for free. But experience is priceless.

Also, I understand the effects of that theatre bug--you would rather sweep up the Playbills after each performance than do anything else with your life. But performing is the most difficult aspect of theatre to get into. There are so many other fantastic fields of this business that are just as fascinating. Do a bit of exploring. Don't limit yourself solely to performing--you'll miss the entire creative process behind putting on a show!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/2/13 at 5:35pm

There is not magical advice. The path to a successful theatre career is different for everyone. What defines 'successful' to you? Being a star? Or being a solid workaday actor? They are totally different.

If you haven't found the right monologue, you haven't looked long enough. Auditioning for college is the begining of your training. Focus on it.

While there are "top tier" schools, successful people can come from anywhere. It's more important that you choose training that is right for you.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/2/13 at 7:51pm

I apologize if this has been said before: in addition to there being venues other than Broadway, there are also theatrical occupations other than being an actor.

At your age I badly wanted to be an actor. But within a couple of years I realized that (a) I wasn't all that talented and (b) I didn't even enjoy acting as much as I thought I would.

But I've had a very happy career as a production manager, director and playwright (with only the briefest stints on Broadway, BTW). So I don't regret those early failed efforts at acting, not at all. They were essential to my discovering what I really enjoyed and where I was wanted.

You're young, you have time. Unless you're ambivalent about the art form itself, you have plenty of time to worry about the practicalities.

ETA: I LOVE dmama's comment: "There is no magical advice." Truer words were never posted. Updated On: 9/2/13 at 07:51 PM