<p>Keep in mind that even if someone is pursuing “an initially underpaid career track in NYC,” it doesn’t imply that they are being supported by parents, etc. As I wrote, my D’s BF has a career primarily to do with sketch comedy, but is totally self supporting, pays his college loans, and his survival job is in theater too. Many graduates piece together lots of things to earn their living, including my own kid. This may allow them to build their career in their specialty, such as doing many performances for free or low pay. Daughter’s boyfriend has shows going up this week and next that are his original works in comedic theater and sketch, and has built that up a bunch but doesn’t rely on that for his main income at present. As written before, my D has done musical sketch comedy for free for years in NYC and also puts on singer/songwriter gigs for free, but doesn’t rely on those as her main sources of income, nor is supported by parents.</p>
<p>OT for Showcase thread, but @soozievt - I always love to hear of kids who are honestly making it completely on their own in NYC post-graduation, but based on the real-life situations I’ve seen over the years I’m guessing they are the exceptions rather than the rule. I see a surprising number of families buying the condos their kids live in (sometimes charging rent but rarely at true market rates), paying insurance, phone bills, etc. But I’d be VERY happy to be wrong! :)</p>
<p>Btw – I don’t fault families for wanting to help their kids, and I know from many years of firsthand experience how hard it can be to make ends meet on theatre salaries, even in less expensive markets than NYC.</p>
<p>Does anyone know of comedians who have gotten their start via a Theatre school Showcase?</p>
<p>I figure since my daughter will be coming out of college debt free (or close to it) that if she needs some help from me getting started in the city I will be happy to help. <3 A small start up fund (which I think I will start setting aside now) might be a great graduation gift?</p>
<p>@bisouu - Haha - it’s precisely because our D will graduate debt-free – plus we have a S who will still be in college – that we don’t plan on helping her financially. 
She knows a startup fund is a must and has been working for years to build one, but certainly contributions will be a most welcome grad gift! </p>
<p>I know my D has a limited time to work this summer because she needs to be back at school the beginning of August for a show but we have set up an acount that a percentage of her working income goes to her post graduation start up fund. She is already trying to decide what type of work she should try for next summer because she really wants to have a good stratup fund.</p>
<p>Back to the OT of showcases. One of my D’s friends that just graduated did do a showcase in NY just the other week but hasn’t signed up with representation yet. She had gone on several open calls prior to the showcase and and has made it through several callbacks for a couple national tours. She is still in the running for her last one. </p>
<p>My daughter has a mix of friends, some whose parents are still helping to support them, and many who are self supporting post graduation. In some of the cases whereby the kid is still getting financial support from parents, it is not always because they could not have made it on their own otherwise! Some simply come from wealthy families and they just keep paying for their young adult offspring even though the kid is earning some money and if forced to, could support themselves just like my kid and all her friends who are doing so. It doesn’t mean that the kids who are self supporting are earning their entire income from performing! But they know they have to find various jobs that will pay the rent and other living expenses. And they do. </p>
<p>As far as graduation gifts, we gave our kids a check for a gift, as did both sets of grandparents. My kids still went to work right away and didn’t rely on this as their “income” but had some fallback funds to help with stuff. For example, my older D used some graduation money to buy furniture for her apartment for grad school. In my family, the parents fund education and the kids are expected to fund their own living once they get their final diplomas. There are ways to make money. It may not be a dream job or performing, but almost every grad could find a survival type job while pursuing performing opportunities. </p>
<p>By the way, if your kid books a tour or out of town show that provides housing, they can save most of their income if they give up or sublet out their housing back home in the city. My D has been in shows out of town the past five months and has been given her own apartment for each location and has not had to pay rent on her apartment back in NYC. At one location, she was even given $200/week for food and so virtually had no expenses and could pocket the income and save it up. This can help for months when one has less work.</p>
<p>One more thing…
While we haven’t supported our kids once they earned their final degree, we did provide health insurance until age 26. Older D was a student through almost age 27, and we do believe in supporting chidren throughout their schooling and so she got health insurance from us through her final graduation (she now gets it as a benefit from her job). Younger D graduated college at age 20 and while she started to support herself on graduation day, we still provided her with health insurance for a while, though now she gets it though Actors Equity, but we pay the small fee of $400/year for that and will until she turns 26 (she is still 25). I do think it is harder for kids to earn a living in a place like NYC right after graduation if they have to also pay for health insurance and so thought that providing that through age 26 or once out of graduate school was the way to go.</p>
<p>This is actually an awesome thread that I’m finally getting round to keeping up with. </p>
<p>My interest is turning to subjects like this (vs. the whole getting into college process) because I’m now on the other side of the college journey since my daughter will be a junior in the fall.</p>
<p>Can I say this in all caps and not be hated for it? SOME OF YOU VETERAN PARENTS FREAK THE HECK* OUT OF US ROOIKES/VETERANS IN TRAINING!!! </p>
<ul>
<li>= please substitute LL INSTEAD OF CK.</li>
</ul>
<p>Serenity now… <a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube;
<p>Can we please keep this real as possible so we rookie/veterans in training don’t have to sign ourselves up for a port-a-cath to administer a permanent Xanax drip as we try so hard to figure out how you all figured out what we simply cannot even though we aren’t stupid?</p>
<p>Any chance there is more that would be fully admitted to under oath or on your shrink’s couch and you don’t realize it?</p>
<p>My daughter is on her own in NYC this summer. We are not paying for it. I can write that in caps in CC and think I mean it. She is working two hostess jobs in two different restaurants and commuting out to Edison, NJ for a show she is in. Did I mention we are not paying for it and she is on her own? Are buying it because I think I actually mean it until I think about it. True confessions:</p>
<ol>
<li>We gave her a small(ish) kicker to help her with May 15 - June 15 housing because up until May 15, she was still in classes and though trying hard to secure survival work, also had to get through finals. By smallish I mean in NYC terms which means something that starts with a 1 and has either 000 after it… or a 500 after it. It’s not a $20 bill from Great Aunt Mary Ellen in a birthday card though that is also much appreciated.</li>
<li>we pay for her MTA card during the school year and just keep paying in the summer. It just auto loads against my credit card and we also paid for the 50 minute train ride on NJ transit to/from ($11 each way) out to her theatre rehearsals and performances. </li>
<li> There were a lot of upfront expenses incurred to get the current theatre job as well as to try for others. Several bus trips to/from Boston area. A cross country plane ride. However many MTA trips to various NYC auditions and a bunch of NJ Transit train rides out to Edison to secure the gig she has. That happened in the spring when she was still in school and we paid for all of it. </li>
<li>Two days ago I got a message asking if we would be willing to pay a $53.81 bill from Duane Reade for mandatory make up, bobby pins and beige undergarments that she needed for the show she is in that opens tomorrow. She sent this after her 6 hour hostess shift at one of the two places she is workign. I debated saying yes or no because (she is on her own this summer just like I said) but eventually I decided to pay it. Had I not given in, her 6 hour hostess shift would have gone entirely to bobby pins, etc. and not at all to the rent she is supposed to cover because we are mean parents or at least not generous ones when it comes to summer.</li>
<li>Sometimes I hear or read something cute about what she’s doing with her show and I just have a weak moment of loving her and send her a Starbucks gift card though Facebook. She is, after all, my baby and I love her.</li>
<li>If she runs out of money and can’t stay afloat in NYC this summer… she knows we will fly her home on us and will feed her. She won’t have any mad money come this fall for the extras (which she is responsible for since freshman year), but she won’t be homeless and starving either.</li>
</ol>
<p>So OK, that’s my true confession on my bragging rights about having a kid in NYC this summer that is truly on her own an supporting herself. Except not exactly. I suspect I’m not the only one with a true confession story. Or if I am, please turn up the Xanax to full power because honestly… I don’t know how your kids do it and please be gentle and know that I am NOT alone in being freaked out and confused by it amongst the many CC admirers that do read what you write and sort of hang on what you say as gospel as far as we know. Go easy and please be honest. I just tried to be as best I could but I’m not a veteran that anyone is paying attention to. (And when I am… please ignore me liberally. Too much pressure.)</p>
<p>Slightly off topic, but my non-theatre older D just graduated Williams and is has been accepted to a wonderful post-grad conservatory art school in Italy–but needs funds for the first year as I cannot support her. Right now she is living at home. I’m really hoping she gets the funds!-- Not only because she needs to go, but because the alternative is for her to live here for a year and work full time and save money to go. It is weird to see them get the diploma they’ve worked so hard for…and then wind up right back home. But I will support her in this goal any way I can.</p>
<p>This thread has veered from it’s original topic but improv and sketch comedy are two different things. Improv has all these rules that are different than the rules for writing comedy And different Improv schools have different rules and processes. There is a bit of overlap in the “real world” but only if the improviser works in that direction or takes classes in sketch writing. Actually, improv does not have to be comedic, it just often goes in that direction, especially with beginners. (The worst of course is when it becomes bathroom humor, that’s when you know the improv group is not working.) A sketch comedy writer or stand up comic can train to be an improviser as an improviser can train to be a sketch comedy writer and maybe a stand up comic (the hardest skill in the world in my opinion).</p>
<p>They do become an incredibly tight group and help each other out when needed but it’s also incredibly competitive at some of the schools and very, very time consuming. Did you know there are Improv bars that they all go and hang out at and meet more established improvers after the shows? Oh, and the thought is that if you haven’t “made it” (whatever that means in improv) by the time you’re 35 it’s time to move on.</p>
<p>Yes, MomCares, NU has many students who were into improv but again, most of those you mentioned dabbled in it and were more sketch comedy writers or performers. The reason for agents asking talent to take improv classes is because it keeps them in the moment or something like that. Acting is not my area of expertise by any means, nor is Improv so I can’t be more specific. Someone mentioned Musical Improv which is what my daughter was known for in Chicago and is getting back into in NY, although it does not seem as popular here as straight improv and classes/groups/teams are more difficult to find. Maybe because there’s more musical theatre here?</p>
<p>My daughter is debt free but self sufficient as are most of her friends. There is the occasional $50 from grandparents but, as I said, there are ways to do it all. I did it and I think it’s the best thing in the world to make it on your own in NY. Both my daughter and I had the advantage of being “natives” which helps but where there’s a will, there’s a way. I think I’ve covered everything.</p>
<p>Oh, except that I ran into the recent graduate who was dropped by his agent yesterday and he told me he’s with a more boutique agency that was not at showcase (well known and very respected) and is suddenly crazy busy. He’s booked through March with various MT productions and is very confident that when he’s done with all that he will be a more presentable candidate for one of the Broadway shows that just can’t afford to spend the money on someone who had no “professional” experience. (Will he be reliable, show up on time, or get ill or tired of the 8 shows/week, etc.) </p>
<p>In the end, once they graduate, none of this is really our business. They’ll share bits and pieces, but that’s about it. We do go to some of her shows, as requested, and of course she was in a new musical last month and her whole extended family went once she gave us the details, but that’s mostly our involvement - to be cheerleaders. </p>
<h3>2014 SHOWCASES - NYC</h3>
<p>Baldwin-Wallace
Ball State
Cal State Fullerton
U of California, Irvine (BFA MT/ MFA acting)
CCM (MT and acting separate?)
CMU (MT/acting)
Coastal Carolina (MT/Acting)
FSU (MT)
Fordham
Hartt
Indiana U
Ithaca
Kent State
U of Miami
UMich
Missouri State
Muhlenberg
UNCSA
Northwestern University (MT/acting - by audition)
Oklahoma City University (MT/acting - by audition)
Ohio Northern U
Otterbein (MT/acting)
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Syracuse (MT/acting - by audition)
USC (BFA and MFA)
Webster</p>
<h3>2014 SHOWCASES - LA</h3>
<p>Baldwin-Wallace
Ball State
CCM (acting)
CMU
FSU
Indiana U
UC Irvine (BFA MT/ MFA acting)</p>
<h3>2014 SHOWCASES - CHICAGO</h3>
<p>Ball State
Northwestern University (MT/acting)
Chicago College of Performing Arts/ Roosevelt</p>
<h3>2014 SHOWCASES - Washington DC</h3>
<p>James Madison University </p>
<p>halflokum, you are being a great parent…you are supporting your D in the college years and she is also learning to make it on her own in summers. During the college years, even in summers, the kids were still “under our wing.” It changes more once they graduate. But your vignette about what your D needed to buy for her show, I would have done that too. Throughout our kids’ schooling, including summers, we did pay for their clothing. They had a yearly clothing budget. Now they are no longer students and so self supporting. I don’t buy them as many clothes as when they were students and they are not on a clothing budget with me any longer. That said, sometimes I treat them to something. I recently bought my MT daughter a dress and shoes, for example, for an award event she was in, and got her a new jacket, just because. But it is not like they are counting on me for their survival. My kids have been very fortunate to have had two sets of very giving grandparents, who contributed funds for their college educations. My parents are no longer living but my in-laws have given gifts and such to the kids over the years, again, which they don’t depend on for their expenses to live. My in-laws funded my daughter’s first album in fact. Things like that.</p>
<p>I think your D is going great and keep in mind she is not in the same situation as a college student that some of our kids are in now that they are out of school. As parents, we all worry. She’ll be doing just fine when she gets to this stage of the journey too. </p>
<p>amtc, I realize improv and sketch comedy are not the same. They are related a bit and the classes and performances are sometimes in the same venues. I wonder how your D got into this specialty. One of my D’s former classmates/friends in the MT program at Tisch is doing comedy, sketch, and musical comedy in LA. </p>
<p>Thanks SoozieVT, that’s very kind of you. It is also so helpful to hear that we still get to do what comes naturally to us as parents even after are kids are supposedly on their own. Honestly I didn’t answer my daughter’s text about the $53.81 immediately and what was running through my head was, “WWSD?” (What would Soozie Do?) Not really you in particular but you as a metaphor for a parent of an artist that is now supposedly independent of your support. I’m trying to shape a situation this summer that is somewhat real for my daughter even though she is still a student. She is paying her life dues now in a sense or at least getting some practice. But the reality is, it is also perfectly real (and you have confirmed it above and so did cptofthehouse over in the NYU Debt thread) that sometimes we just do help them out by things like buying a new dress and shoes. Heck my own 77 year old mother who fortunately is still alive still insists on paying the restaurant bill if I ever go out to dinner with her and she is on a fixed income and I am not. It’s just what you do for your kids. I don’t think I’ll ever stop doing it completely unless I simply cannot but as time goes on I am sure the nature of the kind of help we as parents provide will change. </p>
<p>halflokum…exactly. It is part of the parent territory. So, even when adult kids become self supporting and do NOT rely on their parents to pay their living expenses, parents may help in other ways. I know my parents did. Even as an adult with children of my own, my parents would pay for my travel to visit them. I do the same if my kids travel to visit me now. If I was visiting my mom, she liked to take me clothes shopping. As I wrote, my kids no longer get a clothing allowance from me because they are out of school, but I still occasionally buy them something. They are both doing well supporting themselves but sometimes it is nice to get them an extra they can’t afford. Your D is still in college and so in that case, I would have paid for the extras she needed in terms of those supplies, which would have been hard for her to afford, and she is making her rent/food, etc. and so is not relying on you for that. But these things do change in scope, or at least did for us, once the kids are done with school. </p>
<p>Just came across an interesting article on Senior Showcases - from a teaching professional’s point of view. (The article is several months old - just new to me.)</p>
<p><a href=“http://theactorscenter.org/journal/2014/04/the-showcase-dilemma/”>http://theactorscenter.org/journal/2014/04/the-showcase-dilemma/</a></p>
<p>Terrific article @MT4Life. A lot of work, time and money for what can amount to the college version of “Spring Break Trip to Washington D.C.” or “Another MT Summer Intensive Culminating in a Performance”. Seems to me that many college seniors opt out of their own programs’ winter/spring main stage productions to prepare for this, losing out on a “top-of-my-game” performance opportunity, as well as additional training that gets left in the dust while preparing/fund-raising for the showcase. </p>
<p>Great article!
170 Showcases in a single city? Ouch!</p>
<p>Still, it sounds like for many actors the NYC Showcase is a significant coming of age experience, if not a true career launching one. And some (no doubt a small percentage overall) do seem to get a real springboard into the market through the Showcase coming out party.</p>
<p>If people are starting to have dates for your school’s 2015 Showcases it would be interesting to start this years’ list,</p>
<p>… Here is LAST YEAR’S list to start it off.</p>
<h3>2014 SHOWCASES - NYC</h3>
<p>******** March 4th (Tuesday) *****************************
Muhlenberg – 7pm</p>
<p>******** March 10th (Monday) *****************************
Ball State – 4 and 7pm
CMU (MT/acting) – 3 and 5pm
Ithaca – 3 and 6pm
U of Miami – 5 and 7:30pm
Missouri State – 7pm</p>
<p>******** March 11th (Tuesday) *****************************
CMU (MT/acting) – 12, 3 and 5pm
Webster – 5:30 and 7:30</p>
<p>******** March 17th (Monday) *****************************
Hartt – 1 and 6pm</p>
<p>******** March 24th (Monday) *****************************
CCM (acting only)/Otterbein (MT/acting) – 1, 3 and 7pm
Northwestern University (MT/acting) –
Otterbein (MT/acting)/CCM (acting) – 1, 3 and 7pm</p>
<p>********* March 25th (Tuesday) *****************************
Northwestern University (MT/acting) --</p>
<p>********* March 26th (Wednesday) *************************
Northwestern University (Songwriters) --</p>
<p>********* March 31 (Monday) *******************************
UC Irvine (BFA MT/ MFA acting) --</p>
<p>********* April 1 (Tuesday) *******************************
UC Irvine (BFA MT/ MFA acting) --</p>
<p>********* April 3 (Thursday) *******************************
Cal State Fullerton – 1 and 6:30pm</p>
<p>********* April 7 (Monday) *********************************
Baldwin-Wallace/IU – 7
CCM (MT) –
Coastal Carolina (MT/Acting) – 3:00, 7:00
IU/Baldwin-Wallace – 7
Kent State/ Royal Conservatoire of Scotland – 4 and 6pm
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland/ Kent State – 4 and 6pm</p>
<p>********* April 8 (Tuesday) *****************************
Kent State/ Royal Conservatoire of Scotland – 4 and 6pm
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland/ Kent State – 4 and 6pm</p>
<p>********* April 9 (Wednesday) *****************************
Coastal Carolina (MT/Acting) – 1:30PM – Added Show</p>
<p>********* May 5th (Monday) *****************************
FSU (MT) – 4 and 7:30pm
Fordham – 6pm</p>
<p>********* May 6th (Tuesday) *****************************
Fordham – 6pm</p>
<p>********* May 12th (Monday) *****************************
Fordham – 6pm</p>
<h3>2014 SHOWCASES - LA</h3>
<p>********* April 7 (Monday) *****************************
UC Irvine (BFA MT/ MFA acting) --</p>
<p>********* April 8 (Tuesday) *****************************
Baldwin-Wallace/IU – 2:30 and 7pm
CCM (acting)/Otterbein – 1, 4 and 7pm
IU/ Baldwin-Wallace – 2:30 and 7pm
UC Irvine (BFA MT/ MFA acting) –
Otterbein/CCM (acting) – 1, 4 and 7pm</p>
<p>********* May 5 (Monday) *****************************
CMU – 3 and 7pm</p>
<p>********* May 6 (Tuesday) *****************************
CMU – 12, 3 and 7pm</p>
<p>********* May 8 (Thursday) *****************************
FSU (acting) – 3:30 and 7:30pm</p>
<p>********* May 12 (Monday) *****************************
Oklahoma City (Musical Theatre/Theatre) – 2 and 6pm</p>
<h3>2014 SHOWCASES - CHICAGO</h3>
<p>Northwestern University (MT/acting) --</p>
<p>LAMDA has a showcase in both NYC and LA (as well as London). Last year’s NYC Showcase was September 23-24, and LA’s was Sept 30 and October 1. The pro’s seem to be that it is not at the same time as anyone else’s–and the con’s seem to be the same thing!</p>
<p>Emerson does theirs post-grad in the Fall as well.</p>
<p>vocal1046, what is a post-grad showcase? You mean a regular showcase? Or an MFA?</p>