Coaches

[uskoolfish]

The biggest learning curve for us was that we expected the business side of entertainment to be a safer route financially. But the reality of the business is eye-opening. We chuckle at the movement to raise minimum wage to $15/ hr, because most of the entertainment companies out there are paying far less to their highly educated employees. D puts in close to 10-12 hours a day at a tippy top talent agency as an assistant in the theatre department to a very well known agent. She is surrounded by other assistants who went to ivies and top tier privates–some of whom have law degrees. They are making far less than $15/ hour and many really do start by working in the mail room. She was able to start at an agent’s desk because she had put in some much time building her resume while attending NYU. (Of course this was done by taking un-paid internships during the school year and summers.)

My favorite was when she interned for free at a top top B’dway casting agency and was eventually “promoted” to apprentice and paid $100 per week. This was post graduation. After her 3 months of unpaid work and 2 months of $100/ week work, they offered her a renewal of her apprenticeship for the same $100/ week, but she refused it. She went on to work for a talent manager who made Meryl Streep in the Devil Wears Prada seem docile. She left for the assistant position she is currently in. Perks include dealing with a lot of celebs, learning the business by attending meetings and monitoring phone conversations of her boss the top talent agent. But salary is abysmal and is at the same level for most positions in entertainment. You are basically either an assistant or get promoted to agent (or executive. ) No middle level ladder to climb. But since the business is so small–there are very few opportunities for growth.

And the only people who can afford to take these positions and live in NYC are getting support from their parents.

Luckily D has experience in marketing and a degree from a good school, so that if she wants out of entertainment all together she can apply her experience to other fields down the road. So far she is sticking to it, but many of her friends (2 to 5 years post graduation) are going in different directions because they need/ want more money and cannot survive making $30 to $40K per year especially if their parents are withdrawing support and they are off their parents medical plans.

[HannahMTheatre]

If anyone is interested, I have a lot of thoughts on this from the point of view of a student. My experience may be slightly different than some of yours, as I applied to programs for Acting and Directing and not MT, but I think that my perspective is still largely applicable.

I worked with a coach for the process, and it definitely had both its advantages and drawbacks, but, at least in my case, I don’t think I would have had any clue what to do without my coach as a starting point. I found CC after auditions were over. I didn’t know what programs to look at, what to wear, how to start… I knew nothing.

I used Christina Hoff. She’s an NYU grad and an artistic director in Atlanta. She and I had a relationship going into coaching, which was definitely a comfort, but was also a crutch. I wasn’t heavily coached, but, I think that, because I admire her so incredibly, I let her guide my choices in a way that occasionally veered from my own impulses. I wasn’t passionate about my material, and I let my voice become muddled. This is NOT a mark against Christina by any means - She is really, really remarkable and was doing her job as my coach. I can’t say enough good things about her. I was the one who lost confidence in myself. So, if you use a coach, remember that your opinions count most. Your coach will tell you that, too! This process is about you, and, no matter how much talent or experience your coach has, if a direction they offer or a piece they suggest doesn’t hit it right on the money for you, don’t go along with it just because you assume they know better. This is your journey, and it’s such a personal one.

I think that’s why I had more success with my Directing interviews/auditions than I did with my Acting interviews/auditions, even though I have had WAY more experience as a performer. My heart wasn’t in my Acting auditions, and it showed. But the Directing process was so much more focused on the interview portion, I had an opportunity to really shine and show myself off. I had never even directed a show entirely on my own, but, of the five directing programs I applied to, I was accepted to DePaul, waitlisted at Carnegie, and personally called by UNCSA and asked to come back next year after I had gained some more experience - all for directing. For acting, I was waitlisted at NYU and rejected everywhere else. I don’t take that as a comment on my talent as an actor, but as a comment on the disingenuous nature of my auditions.

Everything worked out in the end. DePaul was, interestingly enough, always my very top choice, and I am so excited to attend this fall. Christina has had great success with her kids. She only takes on a couple students a year since her job as an artistic director is so demanding, but friends of mine who also used her have all landed at great places - NYU, UCLA, USC, Pace, Montclair, Point Park… I know that my coach prepared me for the process, and she was an invaluable resource. However, my advice for future auditioners is to think of a coach as just that - another resource, the same as any other resource. If you don’t like what they suggest, don’t use it. That comes to what you wear, how you slate, your choice of pieces, you name it. This entire journey is yours, yours, yours. Revel in it! Never lose your sense of self along the way.

[Bendigo68]

Have some friends starting the process with HS sophomore and am curious about the coach Susan Mascall based out of SF. I notice on her website that she’s doing a summer college experience with a lot of top college reps starting this week and I’m curious about pricing. Is anyone going? I will have my friend look into it for next summer perhaps. But curious if anyone has feedback.

[Notmath1]

@Bendigo68 , There is contact information in her website. Have you not been able to get anyone to respond?

[theaterwork]

My D won’t be applying to schools yet as she is only a jr, that being said I came across CC last year & am thankful for the info but I do echo the previous posters comment about becoming paranoid about " will we be doing enough" etc. We have access to a coach /teacher at a university who luckily is nearby & is from a MT program at a university . We will most likely utilize his advice for song and monologue selection but to a minimum as financially we will be limited. I do feel bad for the kids who have no support. We ourselves will have limited finances for coaching and the many expenses that auditioning will entail. My D attended a summer program last year in NYC thanks to a grandparent gift. There were crazy rich kids and then there were others like us. I wondered when seeing everyone where they would all end up. A few went to Laguardia for high school and there was at least one kid whose mother was on the Tonys the other night. Crazy right? We were intimidated but then a Telsey & Co rep talked to us and said " it’s ok to not attend CMU OR NYU". We all felt so much better after his presentation. He was real and up front . The Chelsea Diehl girl was there too. Very nice and again, totally telling us the “many paths to same destination” . You never know what the future holds. After that camp I tried to loosen up and just know that if my D can get a future job performing what she loves and be compensated for it then that’s all that matters.

[Joyfulmama]

@theaaterwork my older D is a pro dancer, 2 weeks before heading to college she was signed by an agent so first we deferred her spot at a conservatory then she let the spot go bc she booked an international tour.No college has not come up at any audition or inhibited her path.She has an agent on each coast now.

That may not be everyones path and its not the path my HS junior D is planning, she wants to go to college but for my older D it worked for her. My junior D is not looking at any of what some would consider the big name schools and I support that for her.

[loribelle]

@Bendigo68 when I contacted her about a workshop she was advertising she replied and said it was only for current clients who are rising seniors. Did not offer up any more information to entice me or what it took to be a client.

[brightstaral]

After reviewing all of the discussion, one question. If we decide to go the coaching route, when do we hire a coach? My daughter is a rising junior, won’t be able to do a summer program until next year and started voice lessons two months ago. I welcome any info :)!

[EmsDad]

@brightstaral - the fall of the Junior year is a good time to hire a coach. That gives your student lots of time to work with the coach on picking and developing audition material, and getting ready to shoot prescreen videos by August. The longer you wait in the Junior year, the more compressed the schedule will be, and the harder it will be to fit coaching and practice in around all the things that go on for theatre students in high school. It really pays to take the time to research, study, and practice all of your material carefully. Given that each student needs at least two monologues (usually more depending on the schools on your list - some require a classical monologue) and at least 3 songs (you should have at least one “extra” song ready for every audition), proper research and preparation time can be quite significant given all the other things going on.

Once September of the Senior year rolls around, the pace really picks up and it is best to have most of your audition material “locked and loaded” before then. It is not uncommon to make some modifications to material during the audition process, and the more time spent up-front researching and studying possibilities, the easier and less stressful it is to pick some alternate material.

The more “calendar time” that you have to work with a coach (not necessarily more “face time”), the more benefits you will probably derive from their advice.