I will say upfront that my post will probably not be so popular.
In researching this whole process and industry for the past 4 years I would conclude that if our kidos are struggling with rejections at his point maybe this isn’t the right path. The rate of rejection now is NOTHING in comparison to what they will face in the industry when they audition for paid roles. A industry professional broke it down for us in a master class and said that the rule of thumb is 1 job for every 50 auditions. That’s right…50/1!! So if our kids are struggling now they have’t seen anything yet. This is why when my S gets the opportunity to ask questions “in the room” he asks them about what their programs do to help/protect the mental health of their artists. It has lead to some very engaging conversations with the faculty because they know first hand how critical mental well being is in this industry. it is BRUTAL and it is not for everyone.
@TheatreDad69 I think that’s a great question to ask! And in general, regardless of major, with the increase of suicides on campuses all over the country, students should look into the mental health facilities at any schools they are considering. How many counselors are there? How long does a student have to wait to see a counselor? Is there any opportunities for walk ins in emergency situations? What happens if a student needs to take a break for mental health reasons? Hopefully none of these issues will come into play but it’s important to know that the support is there if needed.
I know for many parents this conversation may be annoying or depressing but I love that some of you are really looking forward. Many times the parents of 2022 have expressed the sentiment that college auditions are “just the beginning”. Although I applaud everyone raising cooperative, hard-working and cheerful actors ultimately - attitude isn’t everything. The kids have to make the grade in school and professionally and it is HARD. Your beautiful singer will feel like nothing because they are the worst in dance class. Your fabulous dancer will flunk music theory. Your actor will wonder if they shouldn’t have gone for a straight Acting degree since they’re failing in both dance and singing. It’s hard and it has to be hard because the programs are training students to go out and compete in a world filled with talented, well-trained MT performers.
Our year is going through summer stock and summer internship applications and OMG - you need to video prescreen for some of them! And pay fees just so your kid can be considered to get an audition slot so they can be considered for work. Other auditions just select performers to give slots to based on headshot and resume - talk about random / inexplicable rejections! It’s like college auditions only there are fewer options and fewer acceptances. It doesn’t get easier when they graduate either.
My kid was always one of those who could “see herself doing other things” when she was a senior in HS. That has changed - she can still see herself earning money other ways but she is absolutely determined to pursue performing work. The challenges have been tough but they have strengthened her resolve. I feel very lucky that she’s been given this opportunity to grow and develop as an artist. We as parents can’t just say “The performing arts is too difficult a life, try something else”. This is who they are and the difficulties intrinsic to that world are what they will live with. Best to accept that now. This application process may be the hardest they’ve ever gone through… but it probably won’t be the hardest thing they’ll ever go through.
I’m only going to say this one time because I really don’t want to make a thing about it, but I encourage you all to really listen to yourselves when you say things like being in the ensemble = “sucking it up.” Go online and look at Equity contracts … those who book the chorus have more flexibility to leave for better-paying work at all levels (from regional through off-Broadway and touring levels and full Production contracts), their “add-on” salary items add up fast, and while of course the ensemblist whose name you don’t recognize isn’t making more per week than Bette Midler in Hello Dolly, the Bette Midlers are literally one in a million and that ensemblist maybe had a week off between her last gig, Hello Dolly, and the show she’s picking up next.
And yes, I’m talking about the professional world, which is far different from the world of high school drama club, even in the very best of high school drama club situations. Most high school drama clubs do not exist to be training grounds for aspiring professionals. They’re clubs. At our school, kids in drama club are required to attend every session whether they’re rehearsing or not – there’s always some work to do to make the production better. For my daughter, this wasn’t compatible with her desire for training so she opted not to participate. She instead kept her ballet training schedule, her weekly voice lessons, and participated – in featured ensemble roles – in the nearby private kids’ theater program. So, yes, sometimes decisions about how to spend one’s time have to be made – because of the overall quality of the educational/training experience, not the role one might be cast in.
The general attitude of looking down upon actors who make entire careers in the ensemble starts with these misguided comments about having to suck it up if that’s the role one is cast in. Maybe that conversation is appropriate among kids who do drama club for fun, but it really has no place here among parents of students who are aspiring to professional careers in this business.
Here’s an (old … you can search all he’s continued to do in the decade since!) article about a consummate professional you’ve probably never heard of, but who has been working consistently for a really long time. Everyone “on the inside” knows and respects him, and I can only hope for such a success story for my own aspiring actor. For those who don’t know, they’ve since changed the name of the “gypsy” award to “legacy” award, and it’s given to the member of the company who’s had the most ensemble/chorus contracts.
@Dance3Looks3 - I didn’t see anyone commenting negatively on a professional career as an ensemblist? Perhaps you should re-read the thread - the only conversation I read had to do with a student electing (or not electing) to be in a HS show ensemble if they weren’t offered a role.
@CaMom13 there are comments about “sucking it up” when someone gets an ensemble casting – clearly there is an attitude that playing in the ensemble is a “less than” situation. That’s what I’m addressing.
Edited to add: that attitude starts in school, and I’m advocating here on behalf of the parents of the many talented students who might feel “less than” in this process because they’re pursuing this without having lead roles on their resumes. There is room in the industry for all types. Sometimes, the ensemble players are the leaders in the cast (as is certainly the case for the dance captains). Etc.
@Dance3Looks3 I mentioned my D would not take an ensemble part in her HS production - yet she has in other community theater productions. That was more of a reflection of her HS show - directed by teachers with little experience etc… It’s not worth her time - but if she went to a different HS it maybe it would be. I certainly wasn’t referring to the ensemble in general.
@DivaStageMom yes – hopefully my comment supported what you shared because I agree with you. It’s about the quality of the experience, not just the role. I’d also probably argue that being a lead in most of the HS performances isn’t super worthwhile, either from the training perspective. But our kids have access to what they have access to … and that “access” is also a major issue in this whole process, easily worth its own thread. What happens to the kids whose schools don’t even have drama club and there’s no accessible alternatives of better quality for training in the community, either?
It’s my hope and faith – I truly believe this is true – that the people behind those tables in our kids’ audition rooms understand all of this much better than we parents do, and have the expertise and wherewithal to evaluate the candidates before them on merits beyond their resumes. Of course I believe this is the case, and I only even pursued this avenue of discussion to offer comfort to parents who might be reading this thread and feeling panicked about whether their own child has the potential to succeed in this business.
I was at the Super Bowl a couple of weeks ago (Go Chiefs!) and I was talking to some 49ers fans at a sports bar before the game. I met a 22 year old boy who had recently graduated from CalArts and was trying to make a living as a screen actor in LA. Good looking kid. I told him my D was going through the MT auditioning process for colleges, and that I’d ‘heard’ that you need to go on 50-100 auditions before getting a role in something professionally. He laughed and replied, “Not true. More like one out of every 250 auditions result in some tangible work.” Wow!
@Dance3Looks3 - I definitely wasn’t stating to “suck it up.” Ensembles are a critical part of a show and all parts are important. I do have issue when someone auditions, doesn’t write in that they won’t do smaller-than-lead roles, then gets cast and drops the show because it was “Ensemble.” I make all the leads I direct (when possible) flip to ensemble on off-nights. They need to learn to thrive in those roles as well. And, as I stated, at least for my shows, audience often comes away remembering Ensemble members because I do a lot of work with them. They are not placeholders, they are an important part of the story – always. But I have had kids who felt that Ensemble roles were something to cry about. And parents who have called me spouting off their kid’s resume and upset because “all they got was Ensemble.” And when the two kids I have going through the audition cycle this year asked me if they should leave on their Ensemble roles, I said very loudly YES!! Let them know you will do whatever it takes to put up a show.
Huge accomplishment announcement… First weekend without an audition and moments ago I finished putting away all of my Christmas decorations!!!
Thank you… Thank you very much. ; )
As they say, in school (BFAs/MFAs) you are competing with a talent pool of what, 15-50 people within 10-year age range. Audition slots are guaranteed. In LA you are competing with 10,000 people just to MEET the person who MIGHT sign you up and subsequently TRY to get you an audition. Different ballgame.
@SingerDancerMom I’m one step behind you. All the Christmas decorations have been away since the 2nd week of January (we wait for Epiphany), but the artificial tree in D’s bedroom has yet to be put away
@BloomingGirl Thanks for the encouragement. I tell my D all the same things. Unfortunately, as I am sure you know, it is one thing to understand all of this intellectually and quite another to avoid the blow to one’s confidence emotionally.
@NYYFanNowMTdad Thanks for your support and wise advice. Luckily, my D does have many other schools in her pool and many of them are not nearly as competitive as Rider, Ithaca and Pace. The tough thing has been that she only passed 2 out of 13 MT prescreens and Ithaca was one of them. Roosevelt is the other one and now the only school left from that original 13 and it is also quite competitive. We have not heard back from Roosevelt yet but I must confess to dreading the “no” from them because psychologically that will mean that all my D’s efforts to do and submit prescreens will feel like a waste (whehter or not they really were). I keep telling her that she is a candidate who does better in person but unless/until she gets an audition “yes” from SOMEWHERE she won’t really believe it. March is going to be a long month…
@JennyD123 Pace told us at the Chicago audition that if you did not get a callback that day you were out of the running for the BFA Acting (still in the running for BFA Acting for Film)
@NeensMom My D does have a number of less competitive schools on her 23 school list (though she has been rejected from plenty of those as well). She did walk-ins for LIU and SCAD in Chicago but no word from either yet. Since LIU is known for quick turnaround like you got (congrats btw) I am growing pessimistic. My D did get accepted academically but they said in an email that they will be sending out audition results next week. I have a bad feeling that this means the rejection but who knows. We were unable to do a walk-in in Chicago for CAP21 and we are out of travel budget to do one. My D also has the lead in her last high school musical (Mary Poppins) and the director has basically said that she cannot miss any more rehearsals which is more than fair given all that she has already missed. We sent in a few more digital auditions but I know that these are often less successful so we will see.
@onette Thanks for all the advice. I would rather not share my D’s list and start a conversation about whether she has enough “safety” schools because I have seen people on these threads get upset that some are characterizing their kid’s favorite school as a “safety.” Suffice it to say that my D applied to 23 schools, 13 with prescreens, 10 non-prescreen schools (three of these 10 without audition requirements). Of the 23 our audition coach helped us to create the list and there are at least 6 that she considered to be middle range and another six that are “safety” (though I put this in quotes because there is really no such thing in this process of course). I have told my D all the things that people are saying to me here but she only passed 2 of 13 prescreens and, in addition to the 11 “no” prescreen schools, the only other non-prescreen school she has heard from (including the three non-audition schools) has aid “no.” It is irrational, of course, but she is 18 and this is emotional as well as intellectual. Fingers crossed she gets just 1 yes from 1 BFA program at this point.
