Any templates or tips for putting together a theatre resume? Should straight theatre be listed separately from musicals? Should productions be chronological or listed by company and then chronological? Should theatre awards be listed?
We actually did different resumes for programs that were straight theatre versus musical theatre. Then listed roles only from high school with the lead rolls at the top. Training grouped by discipline then summer or masterclasses and awards/scholarships. Also included teaching assistant jobs and choreography (tech would be relavent if you had). Fit on one page typically so it can be printed 8x10 and stapled to the back of your headshot.
Do not include theater awards. DD seperated productions by nonacademic then academic productions then the shows with leads first then supporting, etc. (no dates). She has straight theater and musicals combined. If you want to see a sample of her resume pm me. She has gotten kudos on her resume from agents.
My D has a few theatre awards/ accolades on her resume if they were significant and there’s room. Like “best actress”… in a large show etc. she got awards at the end of the school year for best acting student but those we don’t have on there. We don’t have shows listed chronological we have them listed by leads first , more significant parts and then lesser parts like ensemble etc. my D hasn’t done much in straight theatre except for one acts at school and I think we have those mixed in with musicals , again by leads first .
This is all quite helpful because my son has his shows listed chronologically. Thanks!
Here is a typical theatre resume format as described in “I Got In!” by Mary Anna Dennard
[Small photo centered at top]
Name
[Two-column table]
Email:
Height:
Weight:[many leave this off college resumes]
Hair:
Eyes:
[some include GPA and SAT/ACT scores]
Theatrical Experience
[Three column table: name of show, director, company/school in chronological order]
Training
[Three column table with program name, date, and content -or- two column with program name and date/content]
Honors and Awards
[Two-column table with date and award]
There are many variations:
- Some choose to leave off "Honors and Awards" (as noted in a previous post).
- Many do not include a small photo at the top. Some put the photo on the right margin and the personal information in a table to the left of the photo.
- Some add a section for **Technical and Work Experience** if they have significant technical and/or theatrical work experience.
- Some list productions by significance of role and not in chronological order (as noted in a previous post). However, you may want to consider that questions may be asked about roles and productions and the panel may be slightly confused in the roles are not in chronological order, as this is a common assumption. I would hesitate to list a role done during the Freshman year at the top of the list, for example.
It is not necessary to list every role and production.
There is no singularly correct format. Different colleges will be interested in different things. Some say, “we only glance at the resume” while others will take some time to look it over and ask applicants about roles and activities.
What is the logic for not including theatre awards? Just to save space?
I recently helped D tweak hers and moved to a format of separating Community/Regional from Educational Theater roles (many of which will get removed as she gets more professional experience on there) and she has a section for recordings and significant cabaret performances (not typical but she was advised to because of a particular project she worked on) - she has no photo on hers because of spacing. She has been told it is easy to read and laid out nicely. I help her keep it updated since it is something I am good at and can feel like I am still involved in helping her with. I think there are so many ways to do it, but for me, working with a table format makes it easy to edit, which is key. When we first started, the formatting got messed up every time I edited it and that made it a real pain.
We found it far easier to do the resume in Microsoft Publisher, where you have complete control over placement of all elements on the resume (separate text boxes containing tables), unlike Word or similar word processors. If you use a word processor, using tables or one large table is definitely the way to go (vs. trying to use tabs to control layout).
D had resumes set up to work both chronologically and by role . Generally, she gave people the one done by role, but she had two schools comment that it should be chronological- and was then able to switch.
Thank you everyone
For those with professional credits, did you use a separate section for those? And if so, what did you name it? “Regional Theater”? Or “Professional Theater” (in order to make it blatantly obvious that this was paid work). I see a “Professional Theater” category on some well-known schools’ senior showcase resumes. This is less of an issue in one’s home market where the theater names are recognized, but more of an issue for college auditions where some smaller or newer regional or local professional theaters would not be recognized.
Also, for those with professional credits, did you list pre-High School credits? Even if they were roles your kid obviously can no longer play (eg, Oliver or Annie)?
I list professional under separate heading, then community/school roles under that heading. Did not list my professional roles prior to high school years. I included film and put that before theatre; however, you may want to put theatre first
…Professional heading was " Chicago (insert city) Theatre".
My D listed “Professional Theatre” before “Community Theatre,” under those separate headings. (She was homeschooled, so she didn’t have school productions.)
I think she listed the shows by role under each heading (so major leads on top), and she only listed shows done during high school years.
D was slammed in one college audition for not having “quirky” skills on her resume. We thought it was more important to list relevant education, training, and experience than a blurb that she could sing a high C while doing an aerial. It is limited space! Good news, only that one particular school had an issue. Fun fact, she got into that school, and is now happily ensconced elsewhere.
That is too funny @limbo2019 ! I have always looked at those quirky things in Special Skills as being kind of unprofessional unless they are somehow things that might be relevant to casting and that didn’t necessarily come through in the rest of one’s resume. I have seen some pretty ridiculous stuff that people list and wondered what CDs and admissions people thought about that!
@gingersnap when my son signed with his agent they redid his resume. They left the special skills on it but he has things like skateboarding, the instruments he plays etc. I think they are more relevant to casting. They did leave one quirky thing there as well.
Syracuse looks at the resumes and has the students do some quirky thing from it at their dance audition (didn’t have to relate to dance). For example, my D has stage combat experience. The adjudicator had D do the stage combat sequence with him.
I would love to see it! Having trouble fitting it all and need to weed out