Graduating from a MT Program...now what?

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>This summer my daughter is taking her final course towards her BFA/MT and will be graduating in August. Several years ago, navigating the college application, audition, and selection process seemed daunting and overwhelming. Luckily we stumbled across this discussion thread and found it to be a great support system and an incredible resource over the years.</p>

<p>Now my daughter faces a different set of tasks that are even more daunting and overwhelming...finding an apartment in NY, navigating auditions as a non-equity actor, trying to land an agent, and juggling a survival job while pursuing her dream career. </p>

<p>I am wondering if anyone knows of a website/discussion threads that are similar to this one - but are meant for recent graduates of Acting/MT programs (who have a different set of questions, issues and concerns)?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>2incollege123 - Two websites that our kids use are [Actors</a>’ Equity - Representing American Actors and Stage Managers in the Theatre](<a href=“http://www.actorsequity.org%5DActors”>http://www.actorsequity.org) and [Audition</a> Update](<a href=“http://www.auditionupdate.com%5DAudition”>http://www.auditionupdate.com). The first is good even if you are non equity working towards equity as it gives process info, parameters for auditioning, etc. The second is helpful and allows you to post general questions about gigs, lifestyle needs, etc. I’m sure there are more out there - one refers to gypsy housing, but not sure of the address. Good luck to your daughter!</p>

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<p>Gypsy Housing is a Facebook group. Just type in Gyspy Housing when you’re on Facebook and voila! There is a west coast group as well.</p>

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<p>My D just graduated from a MT program, but has been in NYC for the past 3 years.</p>

<p>Have your D look at the Gypsy Housing FB group austinmtmom suggested below. This site has many actors looking to sublet their places or looking for a sublet. Your D may want to start with a sublet somewhere before considering a long term place. My D found her current roommate on Gypsy Housing and they signed a lease on a 5th floor walkup located uptown on the UWS. Some of D’s friends are in Brooklyn or Queens (Astoria), but most live pretty far out in these areas so that it is affordable. D is able to be in mid town in about 20 minutes from her apartment. She also has a view of the Hudson River from her roof and D and her friends spend a lot of evenings hanging out there.</p>

<p>My D does not have an agent, but goes to as many equity and non equity auditions as she can fit into her schedule. She also has a good network of friends who are actors, directors, stage managers, etc. She uses Backstage online and some other websites as well as word of mouth to find auditions. D has also found the Audition Update website to be useful. She works as a nanny and personal assistant for her survival jobs. This summer she has an 8 week job as a counselor at a kids camp in the city that pays extremely well. D is an afterschool nanny and works from 3pm to 7 or 8pm so she is able to attend auditions that mostly occur before 2pm.</p>

<p>Send me a pm if you have any specific questions.</p>

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<p>There’s also the Backstage forum which has some excellent information. She should be a subscriber to Backstage as it is the “go to” place for auditions, advice, etc. You can view the forum without subscribing though.</p>

<p>My daughter is also graduating, but she was in this business in middle school and high school and we live in NY so it’s a little different for her. Although the differences between kids and adults is huge! Good luck to her!</p>

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<p>I haven’t found a site specific to the graduating theatre major…aside from my own blog about how I’m preparing to graduate a theatre major (which has all the questions and very few answers!). It’s definitely a self-motivated search to find the right information out there and figure out the answers to all the questions. There should be a place for all this.</p>

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<p>D and her friends graduated last year.</p>

<p>It’s been a tough road for them, at least in their first year out. Some started out staying in NYC, but the financial strains became too much, so some have headed home. Not going to lie, most who are staying the course are doing so with parental contributions to help with their monthly rent, loans, etc.</p>

<p>Some kids landed agents, others not. But even those with agents haven’t gotten that many auditions through their agents for b’dway shows. Most have been auditioning for regional shows, children shows that go on the road for a few months, cruise lines, very off broadway, summer stock and occassionally national tours.</p>

<p>To support themselves most are waiters, waitresses, bartenders, hostesses, personal trainers, nannies, babysitters. Some work doing children’s theatre parties or children theatre programs on weekends.</p>

<p>Kids have to decide whether to share bedrooms or divide common areas to accommodate more roomates in more convenient/ safer neighborhoods (my vote) or to have larger apartments with their own bedrooms in areas with longer commutes and/or in areas in sketchier parts of the city.</p>

<p>The bottom line is that they will have to make real sacrifices to survive and must be willing to do service jobs for minimum wages to be available for auditions that may or may not come their way.</p>

<p>Unfortunately the business isn’t about how talented you are, but how marketable you are. Type-casting is alive and well. Networking is important. Taking dance classes is important so you can have a shot at ensemble/ dancer roles.</p>

<p>D does know several people a few years ahead of her who have made it to Broadway, so it is not impossible.</p>

<p>D decided before graduation to not audition for now, so she has taken a different path–and many of those that she works with have done the same. She is currently an assistant at a top talent agency. Before that she was an apprentice at a top casting agency. In school she did a bunch of internships that helped her break into the business end of the industry and took a lot of entertainment business classes. She hopes to sing more than do theatre, which she hopes to do on the side eventually.</p>

<p>.</p>

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<p>It would be great to hear end-of-summer updates from those who know any recent MT grads out there. Did most folks stay in NY or do many young MTs take summer work out of town? Are there many summer auditions, and if not when does the more intense audition season start up?</p>

<p>We just spent time with a recent grad of D’s school who got a fantastic 10 month contract out of town only a couple weeks after signing an NYC lease. She’s had many months of dealing with sublet issues and is looking forward to ending her lease. Her plan is to become a subleter instead of a lease-holder for future NYC stays, now knowing she’s apt to find work that takes her out of the city.</p>

<p>A second recent grad D knows just took is second National tour contract and so is, I assume, also delaying his move to the city. </p>

<p>I know D knows far more about all of this than I do, but I’m interested in gaining a better picture of the post-college years. Of special interest to mom is any target $$ numbers folks have used for start-up costs when moving to NYC, to help our Junior MT set savings goals, and also any info about how and where kids have found survival jobs.</p>

<p>Congrats to all of those out there making their way in the post-college world!</p>

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<p>My D. currently in grad school (VP) has friends who have graduated with MT or BFA (in acting) degrees and several of them have moved to Chicago. Cost of living is less than NYC and the theatre scene is thriving, allowing them to work toward their Equity cards there. Just a thought…</p>

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<p>I’ve often wondered how much where you decide to launch your adult MT career impacts ultimate results. My pragmatic self thinks it would be smartest to launch a professional career in whatever market you have the strongest connections, based on a belief that more actors get work through connections than through cold auditions, but I’m not sure if this is true. Opinions?</p>

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<p>MomCares, I agree regarding launching the professional career in a market that is A) not as hyper competitive as NYC, and B) if possible, one where you have some connections, or could make them.</p>

<p>uskoolfish’s mention of kids who are only a year or so out of school already packing it in and leaving NYC speaks volumes. It’s a Catch 22 for sure. Try to get professional work and (hopefully) your equity card before going to NYC, or going there cold and hoping to catch the big break. </p>

<p>Personally, I have strong opinions about young adults (or their parents) who have worked their butts off calling this a “dream.” It sounds romantic and artsy, but it isn’t realistic. It was a dream when they were in middle school. If you have a degree, financial responsibilities, and you are an adult in the world, it isn’t a dream anymore. It is the reality that you are living. It is hard to make a living in plenty of fields, but I never hear anyone saying “he wants to chase his dream of being a big 4 accountant” or “Her dream is to be a high school biology teacher.” I also think too many people are too eager to run off to NYC after being in one or two mainstage shows at XYZ University, and they are not equipped yet professionally or from a maturity standpoint to do so. I don’t know. Those are just my opinions. There’s no one right answer.</p>

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<p>Lots of kids who graduate from CCPA/Roosevelt stay and work in (or from) Chicago. It is one of the factors that went in to my D’s decision to attend there.</p>

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<p>One of the big things is that it generally takes time to be cast in anything. My daughter’s roommate is incredibly talented and has a very high powered agent; he’s been on lots and lots of auditions, been the final two or three numerous times, but not hit yet. He’s been out about six months and working “survival” jobs to make ends meet (some related to theatre, some not). He will make it but you need the fortitude and money to last at least one year out of school.</p>

<p>And regarding Chicago vs NY - the cost of living is not that different but it’s the ratio that you need to look at. Yes, there are more kids in NY than Chicago but there are also so many more opportunities in NY and often whatever is auditioned in Chicago is also auditioned in NY. Add to that the number of tv shows and films in NY vs Chicago and it changes the ratio a bit.</p>

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<p>Boston is another city that a lot of MT kids are flocking to instead of NY. In fact, there was an article in the Boston Globe several months back about this. Since several shows that started in Boston are making it to Broadway (Pippin being the most notable, of course, but also Glass Menagerie and others), many of the kids are staying here or moving here. Not that Boston is much cheaper than NY…</p>

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<p>Everyone is making great points!</p>

<p>@amtc, I totally agree about the amount of time usually involved in being cast if you are not directly recruited for a tour from school. A friend of D’s who sounds similar to your D’s roommate (few people had any doubt he would be successful) left his BFA program at the urging of his agent and moved to LA. It took over a year, and many many many near misses, before he recently landed his big break as a lead on a Disney show.</p>

<p>Funny story about Chicago. One of D’s friends recently graduated from NU, then moved to NYC and leased an apartment. Shortly after that, she paid to fly herself back to Chicago for an audition, where she landed an awesome 10 month contract on the left coast. </p>

<p>So I guess the key is that it’s hard to know if/when/where casting lightning will strike.</p>

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<p>I can chime in on the first 2 BFA classes from my D’s school. (Hopefully I’ll get it all right lol) One of the 2012 grads took a year off to just work and save so he could concentrate on auditioning once he had his feet on solid ground. He just booked Fuerza Bruta as a swing! He was freelancing with an agent when he got that. Based on his Facebook posts, the audition and callback process was INTENSE! But he did it and is thrilled. Two of the 2012 grads booked cruises (one with Disney) right after showcase. One headed to San Francisco where he is acting/directing/choreographing/casting. Another 2012 grad is on a TYA tour, while another landed an acting apprenticeship at a regional theatre. One of the 2013 grads worked summerstock then immediately booked a TYA tour, while another also worked summerstock then started with an educational theatre company as a teaching artist. I know I’m missing a few, but that’s a nice snapshot of how they are making their way as working performance artists.</p>

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<p>What’s a TYA tour?</p>

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<p>TYA - Theatre for Young Audiences.</p>

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<p>TYAs are easier and quicker to book. However, they pay less and you work more and often in additional non-acting positions and only some are worth putting on your resume. But, hey, it’s a job!</p>

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<p>Not all TYA tours are created equal, just as not all off Broadway, and off off Broadway, and regional theatres are created equal. And I personally find the “quicker and easier to book”, as well as the “hey, it’s a job!” statements to be a bit demeaning to the hard working and talented actors who do book these tours.</p>