Baby, fineness is the way to kill...

We interrupt the 3^rd installment of “Equity life versus Non-Equity life” to bring you the following public service announcement:

Summer is over.

Stock seasons have finished. Internships have finished. The time to lie on the beach has finished. Now it's time to get back to work. Since school is starting, auditions are starting, and the hectic pace of life is essentially re-starting (not to mention the fact that we’ve interrupted the conclusion of a multi-part blog) I’ll keep this succinct.

During the hazy, hot and humid days of the season, we, as actors, can get complacent, lazy and or develop bad habits. It’s time to get back to the basics of being a professional actor.

Be early

It doesn’t matter if it’s for a class, an audition or a rehearsal. Arrive early. Give yourself enough time to prepare for the task at hand (change clothes, warm up, study music, etc.). Then, on top of that, give yourself five minutes to sit and do nothing, to just get your head in the game.

Be dressed appropriately

If you’re auditioning you should look your best. Clean and put together. Period.

Dancing needs dance clothes, which includes proper undergarments (sports bra, dance belt, etc.) and the appropriate shoes.

Dressing for rehearsal not only includes clothing and shoes that allows you freedom of movement, but sometimes clothing and shoes that restrict your movement. It depends on the actual piece being rehearsed. If it’s a piece that requires special garments, such as cowboy boots, corsets, hats, long and or tight skirts, or heels for example, you should try to approximate those things as soon as possible in rehearsal. It’ll make the transition to the actual costume smoother and your life easier. And more importantly, it informs the physicality of the character being portrayed.

Be prepared

In addition to the proper clothing, bring the proper equipment with you. That includes a pencil and an eraser, water, a recording device, scripts/librettos/sheet music, headshots, resumes.

Being prepared also means knowing your material prior to arrival. Make sure you’ve read the play/musical prior to starting rehearsals. In the ideal world, you should read it prior to actually auditioning for it.

This next thing should go without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway...if you’re doing a reading of any type, be it public, private, paid or free, read the script BEFORE you get in front of anyone, even the other actors. You'e not fooling anyone. We can all immediately tell the moment mouths are opened who has read the script and who hasn’t.

Review your blocking, especially the exits and entrances. There’s always a chance a costume change may have to happen in the wings.

Go over all the choreography prior to your next call. Chances are there will be limited time for review during the actual rehearsal.

Make sure you are memorized on the date announced for the piece to be memorized.

Be civil

It doesn’t matter what kind of mood you’re in, who you like or dislike, or how your day is going. Be polite to everyone. Say hello. Say good bye. Thank people for their contribution, even if you feel it was subpar. “Please” and “thank you”, and eye contact go a long, long way in helping your career.

Be aware of your limitations

Be honest, not only to yourself but to the people behind the table, about what you can and cannot do. If you can sing a high D sharp great, let them know. But if you can only warm up to a high D sharp and aren’t able to perform it 8 times a week, also let them know. It doesn’t make you less of a performer to reveal your limitations. And yes, you may lose a job or two because of it. But it’s better to lose a job or two now than to do damage to your instrument doing something it wasn’t built to do. That could lead to the loss of the ability to perform all together.

Be well

You need to take care of yourself. This means different things to different people. It also means doing different things for different people. Some common ways to take care of yourself are:

Drink water

Eat healthy

Get a proper amount of sleep

Exercise

Warm up and cool down

Get a hobby outside of performing

Learn a new skill or language

Meditate

Visit parks and nature

Dress for the weather outside not the season it should be

Wear sunscreen

Keep alcohol intake moderate

Avoid recreational drug use

Learn how to say “no” or how to say “yes”

Walk away from stressful situations and people

Seek out mental health professionals to help you deal with life

Find people who like you for you and challenge you to be the best version of you there is

And smile, often and sincerely.

As you can see, making a name for yourself takes work. Being taken seriously as a professional actor takes work.  And sometimes that work has nothing to do with actually cultivating talent or performance. Anyone can call themselves an actor. Anyone. If you’re lucky enough to reach a certain point, everyone in the room who is auditioning for the job has talent and performers. The things listed here are the things that can separate you from that herd, in a good way.

I won’t lie to you. It’s gonna be hard, especially at first. I’ve been trying for a life time it seems, and I still fail at multiple things on these lists, sometimes routinely. But I keep trying. That’s all I can do. That’s all anyone can do. Because being a performer is more than just calling yourself one.

“...If you’re gonna talk that talk that talk baby, better walk that walk that walk.”