How to survive in the world of Performing Arts.
These are my notes from Amanda's fantastic Subject Session about the real world of Performing Arts and how to survive in it......
Auditions, Agents and All that Jazz
1. Photographs Should be A4 and Black and White. Contact details should be on the back. | Nowadays they are outdoors and looking very natural. Just of the face. Costs at least £100. If you change your appearance at all, eg. your haircut, you need to have a new 1 done. Not so much for theatre as you'll probably be wearing a wig, but definately for film and TV. |
2. ‘The Stage’ Newspaper. Now it's online. | Auditions. Lots of them are for Cruise ships, 'adult videos', student films, stuff like that, mostly low budget stuff. But if people don't have an agent it's what they use. |
3. Audition Songs Rock or Pop. Not 1 from the show you're auditioning for as they'll have heard it a million times before | Wear dance clothes but funky. eg, a crop top and flared leggings. Make sure you've got the right shoes. You need 2 songs: a ballad and a pop song. Be comfortable - smart casual. |
4. Spotlight 1 of the biggest casting directories for actors/dancers/performers. | You have to subscribe to it. Costs about £100 per year. You have a page on there with a photo and a bit of detail. Gives you validity. your agent can phone them and say "It's spotlight, page 106". |
5. ‘Contacts’ The essential book. | by Kate Poynton. Published every October. Can buy from Amazon but make sure it's the most recent edition. Casters. Theatre Directors. etc |
6. Equity Union for professional actors, performers, and stage managers. | An equity contracted job means your rights are in place. Looks after the performers. It's worth joining as a student. |
7. Dance Studios www.danceattic.com 3 main dance studios in London. Further Notes.......... Getting an Agent. Private Audition. Your agent gets you a private slot. Maybe 10-15 mins. How to get one: What you need..... | These are quite often where the auditions are held. It's quite good for the students to get used to these different theatres so that it's not all completely new to them when they go for an audition. The agent gets you feedback. they negotiate the contract. Take 10-12% for theatre, 12-15% for film. Rather than an open audition where there's 1000s of people. they hold their own auditions. Or you can put on your own show and invite them. resilience. You have to see it as a business. So ...we need to prepare our students with this in the classroom. Give them a realistic outlook and the skills to be able to deal with the industry. |
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