Cameron understands me. He knows.
Guys, I am getting really frustrated with life: trying to save money, working all the time to get said money to save, trying to have a social life, etc. But nothing irks me more than ALSO having a theatre life.
Let me tell you folks, being an actor is having another world inside the one you all of you "normal" people live in. You don't know it's there except for maybe seeing a musical about Mormons in Africa or owning a television. And many of you probably think "that's easy, I can do that" to which I say, "uh-fuck uh-you".
Now, don't get me wrong, to some people it's as easy as breathing. But even THAT will only get you so far. For you business types that get out of college and just look for a job in your field, you have no idea how easy you have it. Actors do not get that luxury. No, when we get out of college, we have to find a job to support us until our career takes off which, for most, doesn't happen until your late thirties or early forties UNLESS, you have money.
Oh, what I would give to have money. You get out of school and then you're just stuck in limbo for years until you've realized it's been months since you last acted and maybe you forgot how to do it! Well, that's not good. So you request more auditions (yes, request. Most of the time you have to be accepted to audition) to which you don't get a response back to for maybe a month. Then finally, you do! Then you wait to see if you get a callback...I think this will be easier to follow in NUMBER form!!
#1: Apply to Audition
#2: Wait to hear back
#3: If no response, repeat #1 and #2
#4: If response, Callback
#5: Repeat #2
#6: If no response, repeat #1 and #2
#7: If response, Cast
That should make things a little more readable. Now, this process can take anywhere from 3 days to forever.
Now, if you DO get a part: hooray!! It's most likely UN-paid. Which means you will basically be spending money you don't have to get to each rehearsal.
Don't want to to do stage theatre? No problem. There are plenty of agents in this city that don't want you unless you've had some experience in Chicago stage theatre OR have taken specific classes. So, head back up to that #1 and try your luck out. Not interested in doing stage theatre? Classes it is. Let's see: an average on camera class in this city is about $350. There are usually 2 or 3 classes in the section and, let's say you want to take all 3, that would bring your total to $1050. But, wait a minute, you should really update those drab headshots from college your friend did for you for free and get some professional ones done! That will be an extra $350, please.
Phew! That is a LOT of money. But, don't worry, we're not done yet!! You should also have something different about you. For example: playing the banjo or any other instrument that you won't find in an orchestra, silks or any type or aerial acrobatics, singing (to be fair, this will help a LOT. Musical theatres are in high demand), odd skills (literally, anything odd).
Don't have any of these life skills? You can pay for them!! We will be generous and say that if you wanted to take a class to fulfill any of these requirement it will cost you, on average, $45 for 1 day of class. You will have to take more than one so we will say that you do 2 classes a week for 3 months. That sounds like a great start! That will be $1080 for a 3 month session session (this calculation is VERY vague as these differ from place to place).
Now, there are some things that can happen if you play your cards right. For example: working hard in college can turn into leading roles which morph into winning theatre awards which can mean important people see you that may not have and they want you to be an apprentice at their theatre so you go there and then agents from all over the country see you and they want you to sign with them so now you are graduated and living in the city of your choice with an agent who is getting roles for you and you haven't had to pay for diddly-squat. But that is just 1 person out of 1,000. The rest of us have to work jobs we hate to make enough money to support the job we love.
Even though this all sucks, we do it. We forgo having a social life because we know, in the long run, this will all be worth it; All the money we could have used for something else, all of the time spent memorizing and ALL of the rejection: it will make us stronger in the end.
Below are some Chicago based acting classes/other classes that I believe people would benefit from the most.
http://www.actorsgymnasium.org/
http://www.actingstudiochicago.com/
http://www.blackboxacting.com/
And finally, I will leave you with this moment that speaks to actors far too well:
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