<p>I'm a BA Theatre (which is basically a more liberal artsy version of the BFA Acting at my school) major at a school that I enjoy very much. I'm a current junior, and I have some great friends and truly enjoy my time spent in classes. I'm conscientious, reliable, a hard worker... you know, typical theatre person qualities. And I've had the privilege of taking on several strong roles at community theaters in the area. </p>
<p>BUT, I never get cast at my school. I usually get called back for a show or two, but that's always the end of the line. In class it seems like I get along very well with my professors, and then auditions come along and I'm looked over. I always prepare long and hard for every audition, and I make a point to tailor my selections to fit the current season. Still, nothing. I'm tall-ish and average weight; not really an anomaly. I've tried to delicately ask a few professors about my auditions, and all I've gotten are pats on the back and, "You'll get it next time, this just wasn't right for you." I believed that the first time, but four semesters later I'm getting a little fed up.</p>
<p>Has anyone else experienced this in college? I say college because I realize that it's probably even more likely to happen in high school, and believe me, I get that and feel for you guys. I'm not necessarily looking for a solution, just curious if there are any other theatrical hopefuls who feel like they're missing out on a key part of their education. I'd appreciate it if the conversation - if there even is one - remains friendly. I didn't start this thread to invite finger pointing, just thoughts, concerns, and appropriate criticism.</p>
<p>yunaray89, that stinks. It does happen. College casting is not like ‘real world’ casting. Depending on the college, you can be cast a ton in shows there and never get cast once you hit the real world, or you can be looked over in college, and then hit great success once you graduate. </p>
<p>Some colleges cast on looks more than anything else, so if you are not the right ‘look’ for the shows, you have a much lower chance of getting cast. And if you are the right look, you can get cast a lot. For example, if you are a tall heavier guy who is balding early, you have a much higher chance of getting cast in the father or older roles in college. Once you hit the real world, you are simply a balding overweight 22 year old. Of course, you can also be a wildly talented balding overweight 22 year old! But the needs and parameters of casting shift once you graduate–that’s my point. Maybe once you graduate, your looks or type will work in your favor, who knows.</p>
<p>The fact that you are getting callbacks is a good sign. I think since you’re a Junior you have the right to directly ask your acting professors. If they are vague- ‘Oh you were just not right for this’ - push further. Say, “I’m trying to get a sense whether I need to do additional rigorous training over the summer” or something like that. THen ask if they think one of the reasons you’re not cast is also because you need more work as an actor. See what they say. If you keep it non-accusatory, and bring them in as a partner in the solution, they will be much more likely to be honest with you. Good luck. ANd keep on going.</p>
<p>It is important to know your type. Take some time and think about what your type is and what sorts of roles would be right for you. Once your out of college there will be many more varied plays and even tv and film roles out there then just the several shows a college puts on. </p>
<p>Do some research and see what things actors your type are doing professionally and who their agents or managers are. </p>
<p>If you can audition for student films. If your lucky enough to get cast and and get a copy or the film you can clip together a reel. A reel is a very powerful tool to use to secure an agent. </p>
<p>Perhaps over the summer or even during school look for outside community theater opportunities or additional training.</p>
<p>There is one girl in my department who had never been cast in a single show until her senior year when she nailed TWO leading roles. And then there’s one guy who has had a lead every year. </p>
<p>There are too many factors to focus on blaming yourself: type, type of show, the audition/casting pool, how the auditions actually went, chemistry between actors…</p>
<p>I know for myself, I am a senior who has been cast in two shows in four years. They happened to be extremely unique circumstances in which I could bring something that the other actors auditioning could not accomplish. CAST. That’s all there is to it sometimes. It’s not talent, but ability that mattered.</p>
<p>I think this is a serious issue, and it sounds like your professors are not taking it seriously enough.</p>
<p>If I were you, I would go to the head of the depatment/program, the chair or director or whatever, and explain to him that you have not been cast in any shows although you have been working hard on your auditions. Explain to him that since you haven’t been in any shows, this means you are not getting the full educational experience you were hoping for.</p>
<p>While you are at college, the school is supposed to be helping you to achieve your educational goals. Of course, in the “real world” it is completely different, and you just have to compete with everyone else, but a school shouldn’t always be like this.</p>
<p>My daughter’s coach always says, “An actor’s job is to get callbacks.” If you weren’t getting callbacks, that would be cause for concern. But casting decisions come from a variety of factors-- looks, chemistry (and, in the case of student-run plays) who’s friends with whom. If you don’t get cast, try volunteering to AD or assist with costumes, or in some other capacity. That will help cement your reputation as someone who is reliable and easy to work with, which could help later on. Remember that there are excellent actors who do well in their careers but were not cast in college shows.</p>
<p>[Edit: and, in the interest of being “easy to work with”, I would think twice before whining to the department chair about casting decisions.] </p>
<p>^ One of my D’s working actor friends says the same thing and my D has kept it close to her heart as she is one who has had numerous callbacks for leads but never been cast in a big show. She has gotten plenty of other acting opportunities but not the big shows. In the meantime, she has gone about creating her own opportunities, founding an ensemble on campus, directing like crazy, doing open mics, etc. I think the skills she is developing pursuing those opportunities will serve her well in the real world. And in the meantime, she will keep auditioning. Good luck!</p>
<p>All helpful responses - thank you. It may not make much of a difference, but I have been on at least one crew per semester since I came here. In other words, I’ve “paid my dues” in that regard and feel like I’ve proven my responsibility, friendliness and so on. </p>
<p>Also, I’ve spent the last two summers attending professional training programs in NYC. They were positive experiences - in fact, the casting directors that I met there were far more complimentary and encouraging than the professors I have now. So that’s great and all for after graduation… but not necessarily a blast today. I’m not a complainer, and I haven’t gotten this frustrated about the whole thing until this semester.</p>
<p>And I suppose different programs would have different approaches.</p>
<p>But in the undergraduate program I was in, it would be appropriate to do as I suggested, talk to someone important (like the chairman) about any issues in the program. If it wasn’t school, I would agree with “Yes your job is to get callbacks”. But acting isn’t your JOB yet, you are in school for an educational experience. And you are paying a lot for it. I’m sure you have just “fallen through the cracks” and nobody is intentionally excluding you. But that still means that you are not getting the same educational experience as others in the same program. I think it is legitimate for you to bring this up with the chairman or director of the program. That’s what people did in my undergraduate program, because sometimes talented people would indeed “fall through the cracks” just because there weren’t parts available for them.</p>
<p>KEVP, I agree that college should be educational in purpose, and I agree that some students fall through the cracks and this is not good, but I really do not think it’s a good idea for the student to go over the heads of all the casting people - including his own professors - and lodge what is essentially a complaint about them with the chair. That is just bad policy–no matter how you frame it, it is ungracious, whiny and can come across as backstabbing.</p>
<p>Perhaps the student will then achieve his immediate goal of being cast in a show, but he will have lost the good will of key people. There may be perfectly legitimate reasons he has not been cast but he hasn’t talked to the professors not casting him so he doesn’t know these reasons. </p>
<p>I suggested that since he is a Junior, he may go up to his own <em>professor</em> and ask him respectfully if he thinks he needs more intensive training over the summer, and if so, what would he recommend? If he wants he can ask confidentially if the professor thinks that his acting skills need further development since he hasn’t yet been cast. As long as he asks it in a non-accusatory manner and with the attitude of self-improvement, that is a perfectly fine question to ask, and it achieves the same goal, which is to find out why he hasn’t been cast. </p>
<p>If he’s really not cast entirely because of looks, then there is nothing he can do about that. I agree that the college shouldn’t be doing that, but some colleges do. Many successful actors have not been cast in college. It is what it is. He should focus on the training he receives while in class and should continue training in the summer. That is the main reason he is there, anyway. Finally, as shacherry said, he should <em>know his type</em> post-graduate.</p>
<p>i would agree to start off with those directly involved and if their answers are vague, I think politely pressing them for more specific answers is not only appropriate but wise. if that gets nowhere, which seems to be the case, perhaps conversations with others are wise. Too hard to answer without knowing the dynamics at the op’s school better, i think our op is wise to keep looking at options outside the school too as s/he seems to be having better success outside of their school. i think someone else noted making profs part of the solution as opposed to the problem is very wise too. and hang in there yunaray. I’d be frustated in your shoes too.</p>
<p>It’s pretty clear from the original post that yunaray is in a liberal arts BA program. There’s no obligation in those programs to cast students in productions, which are generally extracurricular. Just not the way it is set up. I definitely wouldn’t take it as an omen that you will never be able to work as an actor, either; but if you aren’t in an actor-training program per se, you may not be in shows in college, no guarantees, period. Some schools have many more student-produced shows, offering lots more opportunities for non-mainstage performances. Yunaray is smart to take summer training programs, and if there were time, he could consider studying for a semester abroad or at the National Theater Institute (quite a few kids from my daughter’s BA program went to NTI for fall of junior year), but it sounds like it’s too late for that. Make the most of your BA, forge strong connections with your professors, play to your strengths, and strategize for the next phase of your training (summers and post-grad). But I absolutely agree with those who caution you against complaining to faculty or (please no) the department chair–that would be inappropriate and counterproductive. A good conversation with a professor you trust is fine. Hope you will check in and let us know how this year goes!</p>
<p>KatMT, you teach in a BA program (although somewhat more training-oriented than what the OP describes, I think). Your perspective on this situation would be so valuable if you feel like you can comment!</p>
<p>My daughter is in a BA Theater Performance program and they are encouraged to go speak to professors for feedback on their auditions. All her professors are approachable and open to talking with her about her progress…some more than others, of course, but the overall culture of the program is to foster that kind of relationship between the professors and their students. I agree with KevP that it is a reasonable expectation, as a junior, to be able to approach faculty to get some insight on the OP’s progress and why he isn’t being cast. </p>
<p>As a parent who is paying a lot of money for my daughter’s education, I would hope that the professors would be open to any questions, concerns or request for feedback that my daughter might have. Obviously, as suggested, it should be done in a respectful manner with a willingness to receive whatever insight, suggestions or even criticism might be offered. How else do you learn? That is, after all, why we seek an education. </p>
<p>Kelly, just a respectful observation that if your daughter’s degree is specifically in performance, that’s fairly different from a BA in drama/theater, which was my impression about the OP’s program. And of course, in any case, being able to have a conversation with faculty about the casting situation is reasonable, but it’s another thing, especially in a BA theater arts type degree, to claim that you’re being shortchanged on your education if you aren’t cast in mainstage productions. I completely agree, though, that asking professors for feedback is appropriate and important.</p>
<p>(Just wanted to say that it’s not too late for the OP to go to NTI. Many of the people who were in my class at NTI were seniors and some had even graduated. If you want to know more about it, feel free to send me a PM or email.)</p>
<p>As I said, I was thinking about the undergraduate program I was in, at Columbia College Chicago. And it was indeed a BA program. Your program may be different. Some programs guarantee roles to all their students.</p>
<p>I don’t think there is any reason to complain about faculty. That’s not what I am saying. I don’t think that the faculty are really doing anything wrong that would warrant any complaint. The specific people who cast specific shows are calling back the talented auditioners, and then seem to find each time that the OP isn’t quite right for the part they are casting. It doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with the OP’s audition, just that they weren’t the right “type” for these shows.</p>
<p>If you audition for ONE show and don’t get cast, there probably isn’t any reason for concern or for making a complaint. But that is not what is happening here. The OP has auditioned many many times and has never been in a show.</p>
<p>This is a part of the OP’s educational experience. And the OP needs to talk to someone who can help with the ENTIRE program instead of just one part of it, like one class or one show. In the program I went to at Columbia College Chicago, that person would be the department chair. That’s how that particular program was organized. Maybe in your program someone different would be more appropriate. Such as an academic advisor?</p>
<p>Don’t whine about anything. Don’t complain about any faculty member or the fact that you didn’t get a particular part. But as a student, who is paying A LOT of money for the privilige of being a student, you do need to talk to SOMEONE if your school isn’t giving you the educational experience you went there to get. In the program I was in at Columbia College Chicago, students were often given roles that corresponded to what they were working on educationally. That was how that program was set up, at least when I was there (and as someone in the directing emphasis, I saw more of the “behind the scenes” stuff when shows were cast then most of the other students.) Other programs I’m sure are different, and for all I know CCC’s program may have changed since I was there.</p>
<p>You must also consider that you are a BA student…meaning you are not performance track. Most colleges cater casting to BFA students because those are people who are for sure going into Acting/Musical Theatre performance professionally. There are even BFA students who never get cast in anything depending on how competitive and elite/selective the school is. </p>
<p>Can you audition for community/professional theatre shows? My school’s theatre program is very weak for a college, but there are TONS of small acting opportunities in and around town that aren’t completely amateur, but also aren’t too professional for a student to thrust themselves into to use as a supplement to my classroom training.</p>
<p>You may also have to create opportunities for yourself. My tap teacher in high school (who was in the B-Way tour of “42nd Street” and “Fosse” among other things) didn’t have a tap class at her college, so she just made a tap dancing club and was able to improve herself while teaching others. It eventually became popular enough to become a class.</p>
<p>Another woman I met went to the University of Michigan (BFA Acting) and could not get any roles because of traditional/non-color blind casting. So, being that she is also a strong playwright, she wrote her own show about the lack of opportunity for people who aren’t pretty, thin, female, ing</p>