Thanks for the input. Very helpful.
@TheaterHiringCo, I didn’t mean that to be as snippy as it sounded, sorry. My S has auditioned for three equity and one non-equity companies in Chicago so far (and has got a small gig at an equity organization for late spring). And I know @MomCares’ daughter is also booking work at well-known equity theaters in Chicago. If my S can’t find anything better, I would be more than happy for him to stay in Chicago and do whatever storefront theater he can find. It’s all work. It’s all good at this stage.
If there were summer professional auditions going in at Chicago Unifieds, I never saw that. Guess we missed it.
One of the casting directors at Telsey said that for young actors who are looking for agents or to get in front of CDs, it’s better to do Broadway Dreams (attended by professional agents and CD industry folks) where you would be spotlighted, rather than a chorus role at PCLO or the MUNY
@TheaterHiringCo - hate to sound ignorant (even though I am), what qualifies as a “Stipend” theater? I’m getting a handle on LORT and some other terms, but have not heard that one.
You get paid a stipend of usually hardly any money ($50-100 is not uncommon) for the whole production, rather than by the week. (You have to get a job, too, in other words.)
@NotMath, they’re not at Unifieds but professional theaters audition in Chicago all the time. Here’s a pretty good site to keep track of Chicago auditions: http://www.theatreinchicago.com/auditions/
You should also look at the “Central” section of equity’s casting call site for equity calls. http://www.theatreinchicago.com/auditions/
Thanks @Jkellynh17. Saw on OTA program that some theaters offered “weekly” stipend (some also called it rate/pay/wage), or meal stipend, but was not aware that a “Stipend” theater was one that had a flat rate for run of the production.
It’s pretty common at those storefront theaters I was talking about earlier. There are also a lot of non-equity theaters that offer a percentage of ticket sales (sometimes they encourage actors to sell tickets this way). That’s a little skeezy.
Some one can correct me if I am wrong but I think comparing Broadway Dreams and working at PCLO or MUNY are comparing apples and oranges. You are paying for training at BD and are earning $$ and points or your card at PCLO and MUNY.
@Jkellynh17 - “YUCK!” on the ticket sales, but I imagine our kids will have to get used to that and figure out how that fits into their life schema (schemas, schemi, schemata, schemati??).
IDK, if it’s a bunch of kids right out of college doing a show they believe in and they all pitch in on the business end, fine, but if it’s a theater company exploiting youth and inexperience, yuck indeed. One of the things I love about Chicago’s theater scene is that so many people are not waiting around to be noticed but are putting on their own stuff.
All my D’s summer jobs in NYC were in the field of musical theater. We did not pay to support her and she earned enough money to live in NYC all summer. She has done several types of jobs and she performed in shows every summer too. Further, she earned a heck of a lot more money than the one summer she did do summer stock at an Equity theater that paid her $75/week plus free housing. I also feel all of her summer work during the college years in NYC became building blocks to a lot of things that came later in her professional life after graduation.
@notmath - I really hope a Telsey CD didn’t actually say that. What is this world coming to?!? Why are agents scouting Broadway Dreams and not scooping up the entire ensemble at the MUNY?! But, it shouldn’t surprise me that a CD in NYC is pimping a Pay-For-Rep program. Sad day.
Jkelly pretty much hit on what a stipend theatre is. They usually consider their salary as a cover for performer travel.
However if a theatre EVER offers a ticket sale percentage as the only source of income - RUN! I know of a few reputable theatres that allow actors to supplement good wages (Prather Entertainment did this for a while) with ticket sales kickbacks…but as the sole means of pay? No way.
@soozie - I have said before, I believe your daughter is an exception and not a rule.
Anyone know how many theatres/production co. typically attend Strawhats? So far 22 are signed up. For some reason I thought the number was double that.
Strawhat website “introduction” page says “30 + theaters and producers”. Accurate?
The casting director’s comment was in the context of young actors looking for agents and trying to get casting directors to know their work. Yes, BDF is not supposed to be an experience like PCLO or the MUNY. The CD was just making a comparison to make a point. BDF has a paid intern program for college musical theatre soph-srs and it is those kids the CD was referring to. And just to be clear, @TheaterHiringCo and @lojosmo, Broadway Dreams interns are paid.They do not pay for rep.
@Notmath~ you said “it’s better to do Broadway Dreams” (I don’t know how you do that nice quote thing). I did not know you were talking about an internships. They also have master classes, intensives, etc. which cost $.
@TheatreHiringCo - As others have said, the kids I know who are taking local summer work in NYC and Chicago are doing professional work that pays as well as, or better than, summer stock contracts. The only exception to that that I’m aware of are kids opting to do school summer shows that they feel offer exceptional contacts (many schools bring in directors) and/or exposure, or kids doing Telsey-style internships. Our D opted for a school show the summer after her freshman year and that led directly to an equity contract the following spring as well as a couple of smaller jobs. In my experience, work begets work and sometimes working in your local market can plant the seeds of a career as well as summer stock.
I don’t think she is an exception with regard to summer work for a college theater/MT major, and it depends on the company you keep. I realize that summer stock is a big goal for many college theater students. But I have to say that a great deal of my D’s peers at NYU/Tisch, chose not to do summer stock all four summers. She knows some who did it, but after her first year of doing it too, she realized she wanted to do what the majority of her Tisch peers/friends were doing and that was working in NYC for the summer. Most were involved in theater in some capacity. It was not really an exception. My D wasn’t ONLY in shows, though she did that too. So many of her friends were in NYC all summer as well. Perhaps at some other college programs, doing summer stock every summer is THE thing to do. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I just want to say that it surely is not a “must,” and I think there is a variety of work in theater and music beyond summer stock for a college student to do in the summers.
My impression is that only a very small % of D’s classmates ever audition for summer stock, though certainly a few do every year. As with all things relating to theatre training and careers, there are many valid paths, and no recipe for success.