Logs on the fire...

As the year comes to an end, I think we all should reflect on our lives. Since this is a blog about being a working actor, let's focus on our lives in the Performing Arts. It's a busy time of year, with friends and family, parties and celebrations so I'll be brief.

Did this year bring you everything you wanted? Did Santa Claus bring you that starring role in a movie, that Broadway contract and/or that recurring role on a hit TV show? Fame? Fortune? Success?

If Santa did, then congratulations! Apparently you've been very good this year. If he didn't then I suspect you're on his Naughty list. Perhaps it's because you echo the sentiments in this video:

(warning: there are three swear words in the song)





Of course Mrs. April Stewart is very talented. She's worked hard at her craft. The song isn't her story. However the song does tell the story of the way some actors, new and old, think. There's a sense of entitlement. This'll get you on Santa's Naughty list faster than putting gum in Susie's hair.

In Life there is no entitlement. There are exceptions to this (the Kardashians for example) and we see them everyday. Hell, we help contribute to their entitlement. The best we common folk can do is hope what we put into our careers is equal to what we get back from our careers: Hope all of our hard work and planning will come to fruition.

But let's be honest. It does take hard work to have a successful career. It does take preparation. It does take laying out a strategy, making goals to move you towards what you want to accomplish.

Everyone thinks Santa is such a kind and loving person. But truthfully, for theatre folks he's a sadist. He's not giving up any performance booty until he sees blood sweat and a hell of a lot of tears.

If you want to be on Santa's Nice list in 2015 and get all that your greedy little Actor heart desires, then be prepared to work and work hard.

It's a simple gift I give you, the gift of knowledge. You may not like it and it may not fit but it's yours. Keep reading in 2015 as we set goals and make plans to conquer the Performing Arts world and kick Santa's sick sadistic behind

Oh and...

"...I wish you Merry Christmas, Happy New Year too..."

You will get what you are due...

It’s the start of the holiday season. Everyone is busy trying to beat the rush and get the best deal so let me be quick and to the point...

An agent or manager works for the actor and only gets paid once the actor is employed in a show. They take ten to fifteen percent off the top of an actor’s salary.

At no time should a performer ever pay upfront for representation. Period.

Any agent, manager, casting director or the like, who asks for money upfront for anything is scamming you. Walk away.

I’m surprised this still happens, but it does. Actors are in such a rush to make it big, to get the next great gig that some will do anything to get a leg up on their “competition”. Or perhaps some are so inexperienced and green or far removed from the center of the show Business world that they don’t know any better.

Now you do.

The simple fact of the matter is you are the only one you’re in competition with. You are the only one who can help you on your journey to be an employed actor. Anyone who proclaims a short cut is selling you a load of crap, and is probably, literally, selling it to you.

Save your money.

Being a “working actor” (one who is actively pursuing performing as a career) as opposed to an “employed actor” (one who has a job performing) is about going to auditions, taking classes, networking, and taking care of yourself mentally, spiritually and physically.

Being a working actor is about maintaining a healthy balance of Life outside of the Business of show.

So get a Life. Take care of yourself. Take care of your money. You’ll need it for all the legit classes, lessons and seminars...

...and rent...

...and food.

So while you're standing in line this holiday season, wishing it would move faster, remember: Don't hand over your hard earned money to agents, managers, casting directors and the like who make unrealistic career promises. If you’re a “working actor” the opportunity to do what you love will present itself in time. You can’t buy it and you certainly can't rush it.

...“All you have to do is wait.”

...threat of Hell...

 

 Usually there is an onslaught of auditions that happen in the months of September and October. This year there has only been a smattering. For a while I was only averaging one audition a week and even that has dried up now. Luckily that gives me ample time to pursue other things.

 

With so much free artist’s time I decided to work on the musical that I’m writing. I found a composer and off we went. We worked feverishly for weeks writing and re-writing music and script. The script and half of the music was finished. I decided with all the free time I had I was going to do another table read of the project.

 

A “table read” is just what the name implies. A group of actors each take a role and sit around a table and read a script. The writers and anyone associated with the project sit and listen. They make judgments as to what works and what doesn’t. Then the project goes back to being reworked or completely rewritten. This is usually the first step in getting a new show on its feet (produced).

 

A brother of a friend of mine, Rhett, had written a one act and wanted to hear how it turned out. Rhett contacted me to see if I had an interest in reading a role. Of course I said yes. But the role was written with someone else in mind, someone a little different than me. The role was for an Italian actor, with references about it in the script.

 

The play was quite good and interesting. Afterwards we, the actors, the writer and Rhett (who I assumed would be the director) sat around the table and discussed the play. We each had our particular opinions about the piece and the characters we played. We shared them and thus sent Rhett’s brother away with some valuable information and insight into his new piece.

 

It was more of that outside insight that I was looking for. So I went about arranging my second informal table read. First I contacted people to play the roles. There were about 25 to be filled. We, the composer and I, decided that it would be best if we got singers to sing the songs and readers to read each role. This way the amount of material would be split between actors. This would give them a chance to really focus on their particular piece of the puzzle.

 

I went through my Facebook friends list and selected people I thought might have an interest in dong a table read of new material. I invited them to participate. Once there were enough people confirmed I went about assigning parts and songs. I set a date and arranged for a space. My day job, which has lots of gigs at the moment, provided me the opportunity to pay for the space.

 

I was working one of the many day job gigs when a guy comes over to me. He starts talking about how the evening was progressing. He looked very familiar. After talking for a bit we discovered that we were both in musical theatre. We had seen each other at auditions and at readings.

 

The guy, while working at our day job, then lamented on how many readings he had done. Jokingly he had said that Equity should offer a production contract for every twenty readings an actor does. More seriously though he was frustrated because one of two things happened to him with all of the readings he took part in.

 

Many of the readings that he was in didn’t make it to fruition. For whatever reason, maybe their bad, or ill-conceived, or there’s just no interest in or money for the project, these pieces went nowhere. No one ever heard of them again.  Thousands of projects end up like this, tossed in the trash bin.

 

When a project was good or well-conceived or had interest or financial backing, it went on without him.

 

With my cast list in tow I set off to do my second informal table read. Friends and colleagues such as Bruce, Donalda, Arthur, Teagan, Ann, Lisa and Phineas (who I cast in an Equity showcase a few years ago) were invited to read.

 

Donalda couldn’t participate. Her life was crazy. This is the second time I’ve invited her to do something and the second time she’s declined.

 

Bruce agreed to help but got an important audition at the last minute. Understandable, frustrating but understandable.

 

Ann is an understudy in a show and had to go on that night.

 

Arthur showed up as did Teagan.

 

Phineas accepted the invitation. Then later, unbeknownst to me, declined it. After sending the script, and music, and numerous updates he never bothered to send me a quick note to say that he had dropped out of the project. When it came time for his part in the reading there was nothing but silence.

 

I sent Phineas a text simply asking “hey where are you?” I didn’t hear from him that night. In fact to this day I’m still waiting for an answer. I know he’s okay because he has posted on Facebook since and even updated the invitation to his one man show.

 

For Rhett’s brother’s play there were no rehearsals. There never are for table reads. I had an opportunity to work on my craft and that’s what I did. I invested my own personal time in becoming very familiar with the play. I investigated how my character related to the others and what it is the character wanted and the conflict that it gave rise to. I went in prepared with my choices. I wasn’t paid for any of it, my time or the reading.

 

Rhett came to me after and told me how impressed both he and his brother were with my interpretation of the role. Both wanted me to continue with the project. Next after doing some rewrites they wanted to do a staged reading. The part I read was mine if I wanted it. And I did want it.

 

The piece I wrote is quite complicated and intricate. It’s a thinking man’s musical. As an audience member, one has to really pay attention to the character relationships, what’s happening between them and the underlying meaning of it all. It’s the actor’s job to communicate all of this to whomever is paying attention, whether it’s paying audience or the director at rehearsal or just a writer at a table read.

 

How is this done? In a word: home-work.

 

Whether during an informal table read, a showcase, a rehearsal or a full blown production on Broadway, an actor has to show up prepared and ready to work. Lisa, whom I invited to come to the second table read couldn’t make it. She was going to be out of town in rehearsals for a new show. However before she left she was stressing. She still had 20 more pages to become familiar with, so familiar that she would be almost memorized.

 

Lisa knows that to be an effective performer she has to be prepared from day one. She doesn’t wait for rehearsals to begin to start memorizing or working on her character, or accents or any of the other requirements needed for the piece or her part. She knows that the majority of the information is written in the script. What isn’t written in the script will have to wait for the creative team to dictate, things like over all concept, costuming and blocking.

 

Lisa was at home, prior to the start of rehearsals, working on the script. An award nominated actress was doing Home-work. She’s talented, yes, but she’s also smart. She knows that to be successful, to be nominated takes work. Work that needs to be done at home. And she knows that work will continue every day, outside of rehearsal.

 

Getting a show off the ground takes collaboration. It takes hearing the piece outside of the writer’s head which is why there is such a thing called a “table read”. It needs living breathing people to make the words come alive off of the page. Any show needs to be heard to see what works and what doesn’t, to see if all the elements are congruous.

 

Before making my second table read happen, I had to make cuts in the script. There were too many characters and the plot was muddy.  Everything that happened still needed to happen, it just had to happen faster with less characters doing it. When it came down to it five roles were cut, while one role was expanded. Why was one particular role made larger? Because during the first table read Teagan invested so much and was so prepared in his portrayal that he inspired me. Teagan made me, as the writer, see the possibility to use that character more. And as a result and use him more.

 

Rhett and his brother finished their rewrites. They moved to the next step in the process, the staged reading.

 

A staged reading is the second step in the process of getting a work produced. It’s where a new work, or a reconceived work, is presented to an audience. It’s so important that Actors Equity (the actor’s union) has a specific contract which allows union actors to participate in such an event. Because of this there are some strict rules which include:

 

No sets, props, wigs, make-up, or costumes.

 

No advertising or reviews.

 

Book in hand, no memorization, only minimum staging with no choreography permitted

 

For invited audiences only. (If Programs are provided, the names of all AEA members in the production are to be designated by an asterisk (*) with the indication that Actors and Stage Managers so designated are members of Equity)

 

There may be only one use of the Stage Reading Guidelines per project within a six-month period without the express written permission of Equity.

 

And...

 

There is a set number of rehearsal hours, 29, in which the company must completely rehearse and perform the piece. The number of hours actually gives rise to the name of the contract: The 29 hour staged reading contract.

 

The 29 hour staged reading contract's name is a misnomer. For musicals you actually only get 15 hours of rehearsal and for straight plays 10. Imagine trying to learn Sweeney Todd, all the music, all the blocking and all the character development in 15 hours. Since an actor is now being paid that’s exactly what’s expected. How do they do it? They work on it at home. Any actor knows that his or her reputation is on the line. Future employment is on the line.

 

After an actor has been working with a show through the different stages, he or she can become legally tied to that show. Should the show continue towards being a full production, the creative team must use this original actor in the production. If they want to replace the actor, he or she has to be bought out of their contract. Meaning the actor will get paid to leave the show. Now that replaced actor has the “privilege” of having to watch someone else perform a role that he or she has already performed. They now get to watch someone else possibly get nominated for awards for that role and that show.

 

For an actor this is tantamount to being banished to the ninth circle of Hell.

 

I was asked to participate in Rhett’s staged reading. Unfortunately I had already committed to my day job for the duration of rehearsals and the two performances. Not working these important dates would have meant losing that day job.

 

Rhett told me afterwards that the person who replaced me was different than I was. There were changes and rewrites made that suited what I did for the role. He didn’t do what I did. He didn’t fit with what had been envisioned for the role. Both Rhett and his brother want me back. Doing my work at home paid off.

 

Since Phineas didn’t show up to my second table read, I ended up doing the part myself. Good thing I wrote the piece and didn’t have to read it blindly for the first time. Unfortunately this is what some of the people who volunteered their time for me actually did. What they gave was of no help to me as a writer and no help in the collaborative process.

 

Actors who aren’t prepared are of no use to the writer, no use to the composer or director or choreographer and no use to the other actors involved. The people who didn’t do their homework, who came seemingly unprepared, or didn’t come at all are actors who are not valuable to this piece.

 

In fact anyone who participated without being prepared did a two-fold disservice to their career.

 

First, a good majority of the actors who were reading my piece do other creative things in the industry besides acting. In attendance were several directors, writers, producers and choreographers. One of the readers was a woman who a few years ago started her own company which produces several pieces every year. Rhett, a working actor, was also there. He had just directed and produced an extremely limited run of a new musical. The musical actually made money and has partial backing to continue to a full production. This was a prime opportunity to impress and network.

 

Secondly actors who weren’t prepared won’t have the opportunity to continue with the development of the piece. I hope to one day take the show to Broadway, or at least regionally produce it. Then I can offer contracts, paying jobs, to the actors who contributed valuable insight, who volunteered their time, talent and effort to make the show work. It’s these actors who’ll get the privilege of creating an original role.

 

Being the first to play a role in a recognized production is not something that happens every day. In fact some actors have very long prosperous careers without ever having originally created a role. But it is something that most actors covet. That lucky actor who creates a role will become the standard for that role. Everyone who comes after will be held to what he or she originally created.

 

Remember the guy I met at my day job? The one who was lamenting over how he never gets to progress with a reading when it does move on? Perhaps the problem is as simple as he doesn’t do his work at home. He waits. He waits until the director or writer tells him what is what. He waits until he has the time, or he waits until rehearsals to do any work at all. And then it’s too late. He gets replaced. He then becomes a mere memory, a ghost of what once was.

 

Now has to wait to audition just like the other 5 million nameless and faceless zombies in New York City. He’ll be auditioning for roles that are most probably already filled by the actors who did their work at home, who continued on with the production from its table reads and staged readings.
 

To be successful, an actor has to use every creative opportunity available. That’s what table reads and staged readings are, an opportunity. It’s during these times an actor can impress the people behind the table and make creative teams want to work with him or her.

 

Talent isn’t everything in Show Business, which is a scary thought. That just means you have to be smart. As an actor you have to do work at home. And...

 

"...if you’re smart, you’ll learn your lessons well".

 

the world in which you dwell’s no paradise

 

Well September is finished. School has started and auditions are in full swing. It’s back to life as we actors know it. This September was amazing.

 

This September marked the 25^th anniversary of the opening of Miss Saigon. Yes back in 1989 Miss Saigon open on the West End (London’s version of Broadway). It starred Jonathan Price as “The Engineer” and a then unknown Filipina, Lea Salonga as “Kim”. All these years later both are names you know or should know. Both are names a lot of people look up to and aspire to be, especially Lea Salonga.

 

I recently auditioned for another huge extravaganza of a musical, Show Boat. Because of the contract for this show actors came out of the proverbial woodwork to audition. You can always tell if there’ll be a lot of people at an audition based on the size of the contract and or the popularity of the show or the casting office. Normally I wouldn’t have gone to an audition for Show Boat. I’m not the right type. However the casting notice said they were looking for all types, shapes, sizes, ethnicities and voice types. And that was posted not just for the legality of the situation, which made me think it was true.

 

 At the audition, the people behind the table decide to “type”.

 

Typing is when the people behind they table look an actor up and down and decide merely based on what they see, whether to allow grant an audition. I abhor typing. It reduces talent down to a superficial level based on personal preferences. If I’m being honest though, that’s how talent is perceived anyway.

 

The guy ahead of me in line, an Asian, said that he was glad they were typing. That way the people behind the table didn’t waste his time if they weren’t interested. I thought this was pretty strange coming from a man of color, since the opportunities in theatre are so much less for us. I’m of the belief that getting in front of the table gives actors a chance to sway the people behind the table into a different direction of casting a role.

 

I’m a bit naïve and idealistic that way.

 

They walked my group into the room. Twenty of us stood in a line while the people behind the table perused our resumes. They announced who would win a coveted audition. The Asian guy did not have his time wasted.

 

Nor did I.

 

I’m a type. I’m a shape. I’m a size. I’m an ethnicity. And I have a voice type. On paper I’m everything they were asking for. Then again, so was everyone else including the Asian guy. The only reason I can guess why I was not allowed to audition is because of my resume.

 

Twenty years ago in September, my best friend Helga put me on a plane. I had been hired to open Miss Saigon, in Germany.

 

I auditioned because my friend Arthur told me I had to. He knew the production company. Moreover, he had heard what they were looking for and believed it was me. And it was. I was one of four people hired out of New York. The rest of the cast were coming from all around the world.

 

Me. One out of four. Well it was really one out of two if you consider the fact that one of the four were hired to understudy “Chris”, the male romantic lead, and another was hired as an acrobat. I was one of two guys who were picked out of 9 million people in New York City.

 

Life as I knew it would never be the same.

 

In this busy September I auditioned for a show that I’m great for, a show I want to do. I had a great song, a great outfit and a great disposition as I walked into the room. The accompanist was great. The people behind the table were great. I sounded great.  I was even asked for part of a second song. They actually listened to me sing the entire second piece. Great.

 

After I was done singing the people behind the table began a conversation with me. Again great! That’s what an actor wants, a moment to chat. Because if they’re taking the time out of their audition schedule to talk it means they’re definitely interested.  What wasn’t so great is the moment when they asked if I had done the show before. Everyone who mounts this show wants actors who have already done it. I haven’t done the show, yet.

 

The show is a “career” show. That means that once an actor does it, he or she can literally do it for the rest of their performing life. And actors do, provided they remain the physical type required for the show and the show is still produced. Forever Plaid and all of its incarnations, is an example of a career show. The people behind the table generally look for actors who have been cast in it before.

 

The people behind the table did mention that I had a nice resume, a good body of work and colleagues. These folks actually knew other actors involved with Saigon, Stuttgart.

 

In celebration of Miss Saigon’s 25 years, there is a revamped revival playing on the West End. It’s getting rave reviews, especially the guy playing this incarnation of “The Engineer”. His name is Jon Briones. He’s a wonderful actor and an all-around great guy. I personally know him. We did Saigon in Stuttgart, Germany together.

 

Yes. I did just name drop. And I can do it again and again and again. I know some big names in the Theatre world. We’ve performed together, hung out together, had drinks together, went to school together. Hell, we’re friends on Facebook.

 

Due to schedules and sometimes thousands of miles distance between us, Facebook is the only way to keep in touch. No one writes letters anymore or sends cards (with the exception of Christmas cards). Most people don’t pick up the phone to chat. We’re all too busy with our lives. So we rely on social media.

 

For our 20^th anniversary the Saigon Stuttgart cast and crew were planned a reunion. Unfortunately most of us are scattered throughout the world pursuing our dreams and goals. The ones who remained in Europe to follow their goals and were close enough to attend the reunion did.

 

I didn’t. I live in New York City. I let my passport expire. More pressing was the fact that I didn’t financially plan far enough in advance to afford to take the time off from my day job. I had important auditions to attend, shows to see and networking to be done. I did have the next best thing to being there though: Facebook.

My colleagues, friends, and family from Saigon Stuttgart posted pictures and videos and generally spread the love we shared, and share, from the four corners of the globe. I myself scribed a status update on our anniversary:

 

     Twenty years ago today a group of people from around the world started an adventure

     together. We’ve picked up some friends along the way and twenty years later we are on

     separate adventures but are still together.

 

The post opened a flood of responses from my Saigon pals. At one point the conversation turned to the upcoming gala celebration in London. My former flat mate told another cast member, who had done Saigon London that he should come to the gala show and celebration on the West End. He didn’t respond for a bit. When he did, he announced that he had booked an airline ticket to travel from the West coast of America to London and he was arriving on Sunday. The posting took place on Friday. The guy booked a ticket to fly to London two days later, or most probably the next day since the flight from the west coast is longer than coming from New York.

 

Who has that kind of life? Who can just pick up and fly to Europe on a whim to see a show and go to a party? Apparently this guy does. And he made it publically known on Facebook.

 

I wanted to be there. I wanted to see Jon do his thing on the West End. I wanted to party with my former cast members, many of whom were in the original production in London. I wanted to take a picture with Sir Cameron Mackintosh. But I couldn’t. I had to stay in New York City, and work. I had to schlepp drinks and hors d’oeuvres to billionaires on their private estates.

 

My Saigon Stuttgart cast mates are doing everything from starring on the West End, to owning a Bed and Breakfast in Tuscany, to having babies (and teenagers), working on Broadway, working at the Met, traveling the world, celebrating visiting 100 countries (100 freaking countries!), running and owning theatre companies and yoga studios, buying houses and apartments, running European fashion Boutiques (in Europe), getting married, changing citizenship, playing with the great orchestras of the world, opening photography studios, recording albums, making music videos and starring in films that are up for Oscar consideration.

 

And that’s just my Saigon Stuttgart friends.

 

Everyday my news feed is chocked full of all the wonderful news of the people who were and still are a part of my life. Each and everyday someone on my news feed is doing something incredible; opening another show on Broadway, visiting another country (I still can’t believe that one guy’s been to over 100!), getting married or having babies and so on.

 

Each and every day I think “I want to do that. How come I can’t do that too?”

 

Each and every day Facebook forces me to compare my life to the lives of those I know and love. It lets me share in their happiness and accomplishments, and I am truly happy for everyone.

 

But If I’m being honest, Facebook makes me so jealous sometimes that I can’t see straight. And it makes me feel that way more often than not. And if I continue down this road of honest, I have to admit there are times when I can’t even log in because I know the posts I see will highlight the inadequacies of my life.

 

Facebook shows me all the things I’m not doing and all the things I can’t have and all the places I can’t go. It shows me on a daily basis what my life could look like if I were as happy and successful as everyone else.

 

My Facebook feed is filled with rainbows, faeries and unicorns. Nothing sad ever happens other than people dying. Sure there are posts about political rallies, government coops, beating victims, police brutality and social injustice. Those things just don’t involve anyone I directly know.

 

This timeline was destroying my chance at happiness, weakening my drive and resolve. Because I believed, like most people, that everything posted was the story, the whole story.

 

Until I saw this:

That video woke me out of a Facebook feed stupor, a diabetic coma induced by all the sweet things that I read and pictures I viewed. The video showed me there’s story behind each post. But it’s not always a happy story.

 

This video woke me up to realize the enormity of my life and my accomplishments.

 

I lived in Europe for five years. I worked in theatre that entire time and was paid handsomely to do it. I met people from all over the world from every continent. Ok not Antarctica. They don’t have theatre in Antarctica.

 

Hmmm...Theatre in Antarctica...next frontier?

 

I digress.

 

I visited some of the great European cities like Barcelona, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Milan Brussels, Prague and Ibiza to name a few. Okay so Ibiza isn’t a city. It’s an island, but we had so much fun on the beaches, in the foam parties and the discos that open at 11am I just had to list it!

 

I came back to the states virtually bi-lingual.

 

I’ve directed, choreographed and cast shows in the regions and in New York City.

 

I’ve traveled the US doing shows both on tour and sit down productions.

 

I’ve taken vacations and cruises. I’ve hiked in rainforests, gambled in Vegas and visited the place with my Grandmother was born.

 

I’ve written the book to a full length musical. It’s now in the Library of Congress.

 

I’ve worked for and with some of the big names in musical theatre: Charles Strouse, Norm Lewis, Linda Eder, LaChanze, Burton Lane, and Anthony Van Laast to name a few.

 

I’ve had my picture taken with Sir Cameron Mackintosh.

I’ve done all this, me, a little ethnic boy from the suburbs by Canada, who moved to the Big

City with two hundred dollars and three suitcases.

 

The truth is, social media is mostly fantasy, just like faeries, unicorns and that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

 

We need to demystify and view social media for what it is: a tool. It’s a way to keep in touch with friends past and present. For actors it’s a way to garner auditions. It’s a way to promote yourself and your product.

 

It’s also a time suck, taking away that much needed resource from your goals, your dreams, your commitment. I've seen more than a few friends and colleagues leave the Business because other actors were making strides in their careers, while he or she was stuck temping, or babysitting or schlepping drinks and hors d'oeuvres to billionaires on private estates. Those poor souls spent what little free time they had plugged into social media.

 

 

I work on not comparing my Life to anyone else’s. I work on fulfilling my goals. I work on not letting Facebook or any other social media kill my dreams because I see someone else has already obtained theirs. I work on keeping my joy and happiness (and ego) healthy and alive. It’s those beautiful moments when you remember who you are, what you’ve done, how far you’ve come and where you want to go that infuse you with new energy.

 

I had one of these moments this September. And what did I do? I posted it on Facebook to share with my friends and colleagues near and wide:

 

     “I live in New York City. I just auditioned for a Broadway show. The little boy inside is

     screaming for joy!”

Yes. September was amazing, if only because of this singular moment. 

 

Realize that Social media like a gun at point blank range, is cocked and ready to blow holes in the face of your Career, your Ego and your Life. Disarming your captor only requires you to not take what you see and read at face value. You only need to not believe Social media as the only undisputable truth.

Doing this takes the bullets out of that Winchester rifle. And we all know...

"...The pistol shot can’t kill if you unload the gun."

Every love affair went wrong...

 

 

Summer is over. And we all know what that means...it’s back to school time. For some that means moving to or coming back to the city after a summer of performing in the regions. For some it means continuing their training at studios and lectures and pay for play options. And still for others it simply means getting back to learning.

Our first lesson of this school year is “Relevance”. Webster’s Dictionary defines Relevance as “Relation to the matter at hand”. To illustrate “relevance”, I’ll use five examples:

     ANN: an actress working towards an Equity card

 

     DONALDA: an actress desperate to leave a lasting impression

 

     ZANDER: a frustrated actor leaving the City

 

     ARTHUR: an old actor returning to the City

 

     LISA: an industry recognized actress reaching for wider recognition

ANN and her husband have been in the city for a while now. We met doing a showcase a few years ago. Both of them are non-Equity. Both of them work a lot as performers. Together they survive virtually on their performing salaries alone. They are the sweetest couple you will ever meet. Disney should make a move about them.

DONALDA is also married. Her husband is not in the Business. She has a lovely little daughter.  DONALDA doesn’t work, per se, but she does manage to do a showcase or two around town while taking care of her little one. I met her when she replaced the lead in a musical I was performing in. DONALDA is quite a character.

I met ZANDER years ago while visiting a colleague doing summer stock. ZANDER was fresh and young and just moving to the city to pursue his dreams/goals of becoming an actor. He’s very smart and talented. And he’s “easy on the eyes” as well.

ARTHUR and I met on my second job away from home. He was older and sort of took me under his wing. My big brother guided me through some of my first experiences and helped me to get acclimated to the city. ARTHUR has just moved back to the city after a lengthy, but artistically and professionally successful time away.

LISA is a friend from home. She is an award nominated actress. I took LISA to see a colleague of mine in a cabaret performance. I introduced her to some friends who instantly recognized her and lauded her for performances in several shows.

Feel free to skip to the person/situation that most relates to you. Their names are in capital letters to make them more easily found. However I suggest reading the blog in its entirety. Sooner or later all passionate and driven actors will move through each phase and want more from their career.

Once ZANDER officially got to the city, he kept busy doing acting projects here and there. Unfortunately those projects were low paying, if they paid at all. As fate would have it we reconnected when he started working at my day job. Through the years of being here, working the same day job, we became friends.

Our day job pays well enough to live, but does have quite a time commitment. It takes a scheduling pro to finagle working, taking class, performing and Life. It’s because of this that ZANDER and I watched many of our colleagues get drawn into the world of the day job. They were made numb by the prospect of surviving without struggling.

The problem is that’s all they were doing. Not thriving or growing, just surviving.

At some point ZANDER decided he wasn’t going to get caught up in the lack of motivation.  He started to audition again, and take class and do all the things we as actors know we should be doing. He even began a search for an agent through the pay to play organizations.

ZANDER didn’t have much luck with finding an agent. He did do some film work, a couple showcases and even starting working outside of our day job. He decided that grad school would be beneficial to him in furthering his career. It would give him more training and more connections.

 

LISA is pretty well connected within the industry. Casting people know her, directors know her, other actors know her. She’s worked with some really big names. I went to see her in a show once and Chris Meloni was waiting at the door for her!

Everyone knows who Chris Meloni is, or at least  heard of him and his body of work. Unless you travel in her circles you’ve not heard of LISA and her body of work. And that’s the problem.

In all that she’s done, she’s not yet reached the status to garner her the roles she wants to play. Those coveted roles are given to “Star names”.  

“Star names” is a term used to denote the general public’s recognition of a personality, performer or celebrity. These are the people who are the “draw” to a show or movie. “Draw” means these people have the ability to put butts in the seats simply because of who they are.

Chris Meloni is a star name.

 

 

After replacing the “star” in my show, DONALDA was ready to take on the world while juggling her family life. I would run into her at auditions all the time. We’d chat and hang out. I’d hear her singing through the door and she sounded great. Add that to the fact that she’s really a nice person, you would think the woman would work all the time. But she doesn’t. She gets a few callbacks here and there but no big or semi big contracts ever really pan out for her.

 

ARTHUR has been working on some pretty impressive contracts. He’s been around the world doing tours and sit down productions in the UK, Germany and the US. He starred in an Off Broadway parody show, that if you haven’t heard of it per se, you’ve heard of the original.  

 

ANN is one of the most resourceful performers I know. At any given time she’s involved with 4 or 5 shows either on stage or behind the scenes. The woman is always working. In the years that I’ve known here she’s only had a single down period where she was doing one show. I guess that was the equivalent of a vacation for her. She’s worked enough to be a few points shy from getting her Equity card.

The union offers the Equity Membership Candidate (EMC) Program for actors to earn points toward membership. Candidates pay a $100 registration fee and then acquire points by working at Equity theatres that are participating in the EMC program. Each week worked at a qualifying Equity theater equals one EMC point.

An EMC must accrue 50 points to be eligible to buy into the union. This is by far the best way to get an Equity card. Afterward finishing, you already have a resume packed with Equity credits and an already built network of support and contacts.

All of the examples, ANN, DONALDA, ZANDER, ARTHUR, and LISA, are talented and smart. They’re all at different junctures in their respective careers.

 

 

ZANDER applied to grad school. He pick three of the most prestigious schools to n the country. These schools each take about 5 grad students per year. He figured these schools would give him the best chance of making the connections he needed to further his career. He got an audition for all three of them

LISA decided to move to L.A. Hoping to build more of a household name for herself she went about auditioning and lining up prospects. During her time there she booked some high profile projects, mostly on television hour longs. This included one stint on the W.B. network, a network known for hiring pretty people.

ANN went about getting new headshots. My bestie Thurston took some amazing shots. I think she got just about every look possible. She also pursued getting an agent. She ended up getting one. She also started to attend more Equity auditions in hopes of being seen, in hopes of landing a union contract or at the very least the final few points needed for her Equity card.
 

After his lengthy absence ARTHUR returned to the city and unfroze his Equity card.

If an actor hasn’t paid dues or if he or she is going to work outside of the union’s jurisdiction, overseas or on cruise ships for example, the union will suspend membership. (This doesn’t give an actor the right to work a non-union job however.) To be reinstated back into the union the actor only has to pay the back dues to make the membership current.

ARTHUR is in the process of beginning his life here again. He contacted his old agent, who was happy to take him back. He worked his circle of friends to find a place to live and he’s pumped me for information about audition procedures more times than I can count. He’s used his resources well to get him set up.

 

DONALDA went about opening up her pool of resources. She started going to the pay to play seminars and taking classes. She’s increased the range of her talents by stretching out into areas of performance she lacks knowledge and experience in. This makes her more marketable.

Each one of these actors were and are working hard to achieve their immediate goals. These goals were set up to help them move into the next phase of their careers. As of yet none of them have broken into their “next level”. And the reason is simple: Relevance.

 

 

In my blog I use factitious names. Every single person listed within these pages has been given a name based only on stuff that goes on in my head. So there’s no way to definitively know who I’m writing about, even if it’s you.

I went to an audition for a show at a prominent regional theatre. The people behind the table were looking to cast an ethnic guy in a traditionally non-ethnic role. The role itself fit me and what I do, in fact I had been called back for the role before. I got a call back for the role this time as well.

At the call back the people behind the table wanted to regroup. I can only surmise that they wanted to see what their casting possibilities were from the men they had called back. All the men were called into the audition room. We were asked to step forward when our name was called. When the actor in question was in the spot light the people behind the table would discuss amongst themselves and then the actor would go back into line.

As I’m listening for my name, the people behind the table called for Juan to step forward. It turned out that Juan was me. We had previously filled out an audition form that the theatre provided. Because of my writing the casting director had thought my name was Juan instead of Evan.

I don’t recall how the mix up was figured out. I only recall the moment that it did was the moment I lost the role. The people behind the table were interested in hiring a “Juan”, a decidedly ethnic name, but had no interest in hiring an “Evan”, a decidedly non-ethnic name.

ZANDER's stage name is akin to "Bob Thomas". Yet his looks say eastern European. Think good looking twenty-something boy next door type from the Eastern Block and that's him. He applied to schools where actors with names like Lupita Nyong’o attended.

A possible reason ZANDER didn’t get into a school of his choice could be his name. “Bob Thomas”, a good looking talented guy, could probably go to almost any other university for graduate training. However “Bob Thomas” is literally not a name currently relevant to the schools he applied to. He applied to the ivy leagues where the theatre culture caters to the slightly Avant garde or anything less than run of the mill. 

Relevance is the relation to the matter at hand. The matter at hand is making the school’s reputation higher by having its graduates becoming well known in the industry. The schools want to boost their name by being associated with their alumni's names.

 

 

Going to school and classes does help an actor gain more technique and experience, especially in areas where he or she lacks such. DONALDA worked really hard to up her skills to be noticed by the people behind the tables. And they actually do notice. Unfortunately most of what they notice has nothing to do with her talents.

DONALDA is a flashy dresser. There is always patterns and sequins and colors and flowing stuff. If my dad were alive he would say “she dresses like a gypsy”. On top of her cacophony of clothes, she wears “hooker heels”: The six inch stilettos heels with the platform in the front (which, by the way ladies, are currently out of fashion).

I was at an audition waiting for my appointment when I saw DONALDA down the hall. I waved and she came over to talk, which was great. She’s always good fun to talk to. As she’s walking towards me I noticed what’s she’s wearing. I immediately surmised that we are both there for the same audition.

The show I was auditioning for has a role in it that is one of the most typically ingénue-y roles every written. The girl in the show is pure and innocent, bright eyed and in love and a soprano. This is the role I knew DONALDA was going for based on the way she was dressed.

DONALDA had toned everything way down. She was wearing a very subdued very pretty white eyelet dress. She looked nicely tailored and professional. It was very appropriate for the audition...until I saw her shoes. She was still wearing the “hooker heels”. They were white but they were still stilettos with the platform in the front.

DONALDA has issues with the way she looks and her height. She tries to hide it all by the way she dresses. The people behind the table spend time noticing and even comment on her choice of clothing and shoes.

Relevance is the relation to the matter at hand. The matter at hand is the people behind the table want to see who the actor is as a person and performer. They can’t do that if their attention is on the matching rhinestones on your shirt and hooker heels. If your outfit takes the spot light and the people behind the table comment on it and not your audition, your monologue or song, you need to not wear that outfit again. Ever. ‘Cause it’s getting hired while you’re getting cut.

 

ANN is a pretty woman who has an amazing wardrobe. Clothes look so great on her. She’s always dressed nicely and appropriately for whatever she does. And where ever she goes, men are always checking her out. She doesn’t notice, partly because she’s blissfully married. I guess it’s also partly because she just doesn’t believe herself to be sexy and alluring.

As an actress ANN can do just about anything, including singing and dancing. She has the ability and talent to switch between the ingénue and the femme fatale. So at auditions ANN has to choose between which type of role she wants to target and what song or monologue to do for that type of role.  She has to choose how to dress for that role. And she has to choose how to wear her hair.

She’s recently cut her hair from long and flowing to shoulder length, which only exacerbates the issue. It’s in the middle, not really short and sassy, but not really long and girly. I think she’s trying to open up her chances of being cast by representing both, while clearly choosing neither.

It’s ANN’s sexiness combined with an inner strength, a determination, that I believe gets her work. Think of Rosemary Clooney in the movie White Christmas or Cyd Charisse in Singing in the Rain. These women are beautiful and talented, yet headstrong and powerful. (If you happen to not know the movies or performers I’m referring to, I implore you to visit Netflix. Tonight.)

Unfortunately playing upon this escapes her.

In non-equity shows an actor can play anything from a 90 year old man to a transvestite chorus girl all in the same season. While moving up the success ladder of the Business, the scope of roles that an actor gets cast in gets narrower or specialized. It’s then that he or she has to decide what their most marketable aspect is and capitalize on it. That’s how people get their Equity cards these days.

 

We all know that in this business attractiveness is what opens most doors for an actor. Sex sells everything. If an actor has the ability and physicality to use their “sexiness” to get work, then that actor should.  If the actor has true talent in being versatile in the performing arts, after he or she is firmly established, then he or she can attempt to open the scope of roles back up again.
 

Relevance is the relation to the matter at hand. The matter at hand is the people behind the table want you to make a choice. They want to know that you’re secure in what your product is. That product has to be so sharply honed that when they’re casting that type of character, your name pops into their heads first and foremost.

 

LISA is firmly established. Playwrights are starting to write plays for the type of character she portrays. Casting people think of her when they need that particular type of character. Unfortunately LISA is done with playing that same role over and over again. In order to play the roles she wants to play, she needs to be recognizable.

LISA went to L.A. to get established there and to make a name for herself, a big name. She had success in finding performing work both on screen and off screen. But L.A. proved a tough nut to crack.

While LISA is talented and pretty (I mean hell she was on the W.B. for chrissake and they only hire pretty people) her physical product wasn’t up to L. A. standards. In short, in that city she’s considered to be fat. Being fat limits what an actor can portray because we all know from life that fat people are character types who tend to be funny and who don’t have any emotional depth. At least that’s how people with more than 5% body fat are portrayed in Hollywood. It’s one of the reasons most of the successful funny actors and actresses suddenly decided to lose weight. They want more and other opportunities.

Relevance is the relation to the matter at hand. The matter at hand is L. A. is filled with beautifully perfect people. Regardless of talent, most of those beautiful people want to be a star. To compete in L.A. an actor has to be on top of his game, physically speaking.

 

ARTHUR is the right physicality for what he does. He’s a large man with a bright smile and a huge laugh. He’s a big bundle of fun. He knows his type. He knows the roles he should be going for. He knows how to dress for his type. His “package” is almost complete. He’s working on traversing the changed and ever changing landscape of performing, specifically what happens behind the scenes.

When ARTHUR was last here things were different. Having an agent meant more than it does now. Back in the day being represented by an Agency meant that agency believed in your talent and would go to bat for you in getting auditions. They would promote you to the people behind the tables. The agents would work with you and for you. They would collaborate to make your career. To this end, agent auditions were always before the EPAs, ECCs and EPIs.

Don’t know what an EPI is? That’s because the business model for auditions changed. An EPI is an Equity Principle Interview. Much like an EPA (Equity Principal Audition) except at an EPI there was generally no performing involved. It was a question and answer period of two minutes for both the person auditioning and the people behind the table. Yeah it didn’t last long for performers and has since been swallowed by the EPA.

There was an EPA being held for a show that had a role for ARTHUR. In the breakdown it basically said “we are looking for you ARTHUR”. The show was taking place at a theatre where ARTHUR had worked before leaving the city. I called ARTHUR and asked if he was going. He wasn’t sure if he was going to attend the EPA or just wait until his agent got him an appointment.

You see where this is going right?

I tried to convince ARTHUR that going to the EPA couldn’t hurt. In fact it was best if he did just in case his Agent couldn’t get him an appointment. At least he would be seen for a role that was perfect for him. And the worst case scenario? His agent would get him an appointment and he would be seen twice for the same role. And really auditioning twice for the same role in front of one of the most prominent Casting Agencies in New York City is a win/win situation.

In the end ARTHUR decided that he would have to get up too early in the morning to go stand in line. He was confident his agent would get him an audition. I don’t have an agent. I wanted to be seen for the show. I didn’t have a choice but to get up early and stand in line in hopes of being seen.

So I got up early. Stood in line. Got an audition time. Went back home got ready and went back to the call. I was successfully seen by a well-established New York casting director for a show in which I could be cast, being done at a theatre I want on my resume.

For whatever reason ARTHUR’s agent failed to get him an appointment. He did not get seen for a role that is basically him in real life. He did not get the chance to perform for a very busy casting office. This casting office wasn’t around when he was here and they don’t know him.

Relevance is the relation to the matter at hand. The matter at hand is this is a business. Business models change. Any one engaged in that business keeps up with the change or faces professional extinction. If an actor’s not seen for a role and they don’t know that actor exists, the people behind the table can’t possible hire that actor.

 

All five of our examples ANN, ZANDER, LISA, ARTHUR and DONALDA have temporarily taken a set back in achieving their goals. ANN hasn’t gotten her card or the last points. LISA has yet to make herself a household name. DONALDA isn’t being recognized for her talent. ZANDER hasn’t made the connections he wanted and ARTHUR has yet to accept the reality of the Business.

The set back is only temporary if they’ve each learned something from their exploits.

Relevance is the relation to the matter at hand. The matter at hand, and the matter that tie all of our examples together is reinvention and adaptation. Darwin knew what he was talking about. The fittest of the species adapts to the changing circumstances and survives.

Or they don’t.

ANN, ZANDER, LISA, ARTHUR and DONALDA need to adapt.

 

ARTHUR needs to become aware of how the industry has changed in his absence. He needs to reinvent and adapt his way of thinking. He has to move away from how the Business was run twenty years ago and accept what he needs to do to stay in the business. Slowly ARTHUR is coming around to this realization. Slowly.

 

If LISA wants to pursue a career playing a different type of role than what she currently gets hired for, she needs to reinvent herself. By losing weight, she’ll be put in a completely different category of actresses. While losing weight she also has to reinvent the way she dresses and carries herself. Which I know she’s working on while she’s working.

 

ANN needs to make a decision and fully see it to its logical conclusion her Equity card.  She should decide to reinvent herself as a femme fatale. Cut her hair into a chin length bob and break out all of her sexy clothes and attack auditions from that direction. ANN’s open to suggestion but I think this one may cause a bit of resistance. Owning one's power is scary.

 

DONALDA’s reinvention means scaling back on everything she wears and throwing away all of her hooker heels, or at least not wearing them to auditions. She needs to be confident in herself and her talent and not hide behind a loud overbearing idea of style and fashion. Because that’s what she’s doing, hiding. She’s hiding so well no one behind the table can see her and her talent to hire her. Unfortunately I don’t believe she believes there’s an issue here.

ZANDER has looks and talent and an easy style. To get into the school of his choice to make the connections he needs, he should simply change his name.

A name  only means something when a person gives it that meaning.

People build and attach an emotional value to a name, especially if it’s their own. That’s natural. What’s seems strange to me is holding on to that attachment if it’s hindering advancement. What’s unnatural to me is keeping a name that’s stopping a career from progressing, a name which someone else picked based solely on their preferences.

So make a name change if it's needed. I did. Several times. It doesn’t intrinsically change who you are. As Shakespeare says: “What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. I planted the idea in ZANDER’s head. Let’s see if it takes root.

Reinventing yourself takes time. It takes concentrated effort and research. Reinventing yourself can keep you relevant in the industry. Relevance is the relation to the matter at hand. The matter at hand is working, advancing and making a life for yourself in show Business.

One of the greatest reinvention stories in our time is Madonna. Her actual talent or lack thereof is disputed in almost every circle. What isn’t disputed is her business acumen. Each and every time Madonna stopped being relevant (in the music industry being relevant means being current, popular and trendy) she changed. She reinvented her style. She reinvented her look. She reinvented her sound. She reinvented her brand. She was and is a true business woman. And as a successful business woman, she does what everyone involved in a successful and profitable business venture does. It's something we as performing artists need to do as well...

...Find out what they like and how they like it and let’em have it just that way.