The month of April

April 6, 2007 by  

There is a month left of school! The work is beginning to pile up as we prepare for finals. Below is a list of the work that needs to be done. We will have to perform our acting scenes, Shakespeare monologue, and dance final for the faculty during finals week. School if officially over on May 9th. All the work below has to be memorized, which is what I will be doing this weekend:

1. Final scene for acting class

2. Final scene for directing class

3. “Chicago” poem for speech class

4. Final scene for Stage Combat

5. Shakespeare scene for Voice and Speech class

This year has FLOWN by and seems only recently that I started this program. This past month about twenty to twenty-five prospect students came out to visit. It brought back all the memories of coming to visit last year. Seeing how tired the students were, intrigued by the classes, and excited about beginning my studies. The students brought a refreshing energy and the feeling that we as first years need to remember how hard it is to get into a program like this and that we still need to be grateful even though we are tired and frustrated at times.

With the end of the semester upon us I have also began to think of procuring work for the summer. It has been difficult to do with so much going on. I have put out some feelers to the graduate students of different acting programs regarding web design. Some interest has been expressed and I hope to turn those prospects into a couple of jobs. I have auditioned for a couple of summer stock theaters, but nothing has come of that to date. I have a audition for the Princeton Summer Theater tomorrow. That being twenty minutes away, it would be a nice gig to do.

Filed under: Acting, Auditioning, Graduate School, Rutgers, Theater/Theatre
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Rutgers Not Ranked 3

March 11, 2007 by  

The current information about the Top Ten schools (with Rutgers being ranked #3) that is on the web is not from US News and World Report. Go to Rutgers MFA Acting program to read first hand accounts about the program and some unethical behavior.

Filed under: Acting, Auditioning, Graduate School, Theater/Theatre
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Eight Steps to a Solid Audition for an MFA Program

January 28, 2007 by  

Published in Backstage on November 02, 2006

From researching schools and preparing monologues to filling out applications and making travel arrangements, getting accepted into a graduate school’s MFA program can be complicated. But all that research and paperwork can pay off: Actors who apply to graduate school have decided to postpone an immediate career to pursue training that will, hopefully, expand them as artists and make them more-versatile actors.

I auditioned for grad schools for three years after my undergraduate studies, and each year I learned more about the process. But to gain even more insight, I interviewed three actors: Frances Uku, a recent graduate of the American Repertory Theatre’s Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University; Ted Stephens III, a second-year student in the MFA acting program at the University of Florida; and Carmen Gill, who graduated from the University of California, San Diego’s MFA acting program last year.

1. Research Schools

I thought I knew every MFA program in the country. But then I discovered the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University — only I was too late to audition. As the list that accompanies this article attests, there are over 100 MFA acting programs in the United States, and their websites are the place to start in finding the one that’s right for you. If one of them is nearby and looks interesting, go see a show or ask if you can sit in on a class. American Theatre magazine is another good source of information.

2. Select Your Monologues

Rarely performed monologues are often recommended, though a familiar one is fine as long as you can do it better than anyone else. The actors all mention that their undergraduate program or a scene study class gave them the opportunity to read newer plays and find a less-familiar piece that was right for them. The overdone works found in monologue books are generally to be avoided, unless it’s as a third or fourth backup. Uku, however, praised Alternative Shakespeare Auditions for Women by Simon Dunmore (there’s also one for men), and according to Gill, “The piece I chose from [a monologue book] was hilarious and I felt happy performing it, which showed. No one I performed it for had heard the monologue before and didn’t seem to care it was from an acclaimed play.” Of course, always read the entire play before performing a monologue, so you can understand its context and make better choices.

3. Find a Coach

An experienced hand to guide you is vital in preparing your monologues. Some actors choose teachers they’ve studied with or older actors with whom they’ve worked, while others prefer an experienced director. If you’re coming straight from an undergraduate program, your current acting teachers may be your best resource. If you’ve been out of school for a while, finding a coach can be more challenging, though there are some who specialize in preparing actors for grad school auditions. Uku worked with New York’s Charles Tuthill, who teaches a class called “Auditioning for Graduate School.” I chose director Andrew Traister because he had worked at some of the schools I was interested in attending. Having sat through many auditions, he was able to suggest monologues that weren’t overdone and that would show off my personality, and under his guidance I had a confidence that my earlier auditions lacked.

Treat your audition as a performance; give it the same time you would if you were rehearsing a show. Make an appointment to meet with your coach about three months before your first audition, and discuss the monologues you might want to do and ask for alternatives. Take your time exploring which pieces you most connect with, then work with your coach to fine-tune them into a performance. When it comes to length, shorter is almost always better. A total of three minutes for your two monologues is fairly standard, though many recruiters claim they know within the first three lines whether they’re interested in you.

4. Figure Out How to Pay for It

And not just for the school itself, where the annual tuition can top $25,000, but for all the application and audition fees, which can really add up. In my third year of auditioning, I applied to 23 schools — each with its own fees — and attended the University/Resident Theatre Association auditions (see below), entailing travel expenses plus hotel and food costs in Chicago. If you’re currently enrolled in an undergraduate program, your college may offer scholarships to help students applying to grad schools. Also, talk to fellow students; if you’re all auditioning in the same place, you could travel together and share a hotel room. If your undergraduate theatre department doesn’t organize a group trip to U/RTA, start one yourself; the department may assist once it sees how many students are interested. Draft a budget and figure out how to get the most out of your auditioning money. Uku, for example, was living in New York and chose to audition at schools she could reach by public transportation.

5. Schedule Your Auditions

There are two ways to be seen: You can sign up for group auditions through U/RTA, or you can set up a private audition.

Applications for U/RTA auditions are usually due in November of the year prior to the auditions, which are held annually in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. Candidates auditioning in New York and Chicago are screened by a panel of teachers and members of the professional theatre community, and those deemed eligible move on to the final auditions, where they’re seen by the colleges. (There’s no screening audition in San Francisco.) Interviews and callbacks with individual schools follow the final auditions. Those who don’t make the final auditions can attend a later open call, though there’s no guarantee the schools you’re interested in will be there. See U/RTA’s website, www.urta.com, for further details and a list of schools attending.

The advantage of auditioning at U/RTA is that you’ll be seen by a large number of schools in one trip, minimizing your expenses (more schools audition in New York and Chicago than in San Francisco). The downside is that with so many people auditioning at once, you don’t get to choose a school as much as the school chooses you. When I auditioned for the University of California at Irvine, the head of the acting department said the program sees over 1,000 people a year and selects only eight. If you’re choosy about which school you attend, U/RTA may not be right for you.

If you’re staying in a hotel while auditioning at U/RTA, “I would really recommend having a laptop or computer at your disposal,” says Stephens, “so that if you do get some [interviews], you can take a few minutes to learn about each school before your callback.” Individual interviews take place in the evening after your morning callback, leaving you the afternoon to research the schools that expressed interest in you. You’ll likely be asked why you want to attend the program, and research could give you an answer that will make you stand out.

For the schools at the top of your list, you should schedule a private audition. Don’t leave your chance of being seen in the hands of a screening panel. Many top schools require private auditions, as they don’t attend U/RTA, while others schedule a round of private auditions at the same time and place as U/RTA. (Also note that some schools audition only every three years.) In my second year at U/RTA, I didn’t get passed on to the final auditions, and though I attended the open call and interviewed with some schools, I didn’t feel good about my prospects. The next year, I knew I needed to be seen by as many schools as possible, so in addition to auditioning at U/RTA, I found out which schools were holding private auditions there and scheduled slots with them in order to maximize my face time.

After the callback, it’s time to follow up, which could include visiting the campus. Gill found that talking to current students was her best resource: “It’s hard to get a sense of what you actually are doing each day in graduate school from the course listings. I was able to ask them what their day-to-day life was like at school, what the vibe of the program was as a whole, and if they were happy with their choice. They were all surprisingly honest about their school’s pros and cons. I never felt like people were trying to sell me on their school.”

6. Keep Studying

If you’re not accepted on your first try, keep studying. I spent the two years after my undergraduate program studying voice and the Meisner technique, and in my third year of auditioning, many schools were impressed that I was still taking classes even though I wasn’t in a formal program. Schools like to see students who are committed to their craft and who won’t quit under the rigors of grad school training. Some of them — such as American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco — offer summer programs with the same instructors who teach in the MFA program. It’s a good way for them to get to know you better, it gives you a taste of the grad school experience, and it could help you stand out when auditioning for the school in the future.

7. Get Some Experience

Schools also appreciate professional experience. “While I was getting my [undergraduate] degree in theatre,” says Stephens, “I continued to act, both academically and professionally with some of the regional theatres around the Quad City area, and also dabbled in producing, stage management, theatre marketing, and even sound-designed a show. I really treasure the four years or so that I wasn’t a full-time student, because it allowed me to gain some real-world experience, travel around the world…all things that I use every day as an actor in graduate school and professionally now. I really believe that the time off allowed me to gain a worldly perspective. In that time off, I gained a better understanding of myself so that I could in turn share that strong sense of self in my acting.”

Uku agrees: “I took two 12-week advanced scene-study classes back to back at HB Studio in New York City, one strictly Shakespeare-based and the other using contemporary plays, both taught by Austin Pendleton. I had never taken an acting class before Austin, so I found both classes useful in introducing me to contemporary American and British writing, as well as to the vocabulary of acting and the theatre.”

8. Be Yourself

Most important when auditioning for graduate school is to be yourself. “I think the key with these auditions is being comfortable in your own skin,” Uku says. “I thought I was unworthy because I was new to acting, hadn’t studied acting as an undergraduate, grew up abroad, looked like an ingénue but had the aura of a leading lady. It’s funny how it’s exactly because of those things that I’m now one of those rare people who lives off acting income alone.” Says Stephens, “The most important part about auditioning is not who you know, what show you’ve been in, or what reviews you’ve gotten, but rather that you are yourself. That you’re a person interested in not only furthering your own abilities but also sharing the arts with others. People that are [themselves] are always the most interesting and honest, and the most fascinating on stage.”

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So You Wanna Be A Star?

January 21, 2007 by  

Here is an article that I had saved in my inbox:

Q&A with Anna Deavere Smith: So you wanna be a star?
By Marc Silver
Posted 1/21/06

In our celebrity-besotted culture, the arts have an irresistible attraction for young people. But jobs in the arts are not as plentiful as stars in the sky (or even as stars in Hollywood). Actor and playwright Anna Deavere Smith offers guidance in her new book, Letters to a Young Artist: Straight-up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts. Smith, a Tony Award nominee and Pulitzer finalist, writes and performs one-woman shows that capture diverse voices from a place of crisis: Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, about the riots, for example. She also portrays the national security adviser on West Wing.

Shouldn’t you really be doing a book called Advice on Not Making a Life in the ArtsWell, you know, artists just have always been on the fringe of society. Plato kicked us right straight out of the republic.

So it’s never easy to be an artist.

You make that decision to be an artist cautiously. You won’t have the same options for survival that your friends who are as educated as you have. You have to educate artists to be cagey, smart, mobile, flexible. Don’t get in a situation where, if you’re an actor, all you can do is audition.

You talk about œrenting yourself out but not selling out.

I am talking about understanding that your identity belongs to you. It’s seductive to have somebody tell you what you should be doing. But in the end, an artist has to take responsibility for his or her own voice and destiny.

What kind of choices will lie ahead for young artists?

You may have to decide not to go forward with a project. You may have to decide to do something commercial at a moment when you might want to do something not commercial but that isn’t going to make you a shred of money. You may have to end a romantic relationship because that relationship is requiring more of you than you can give. On the other hand, you may decide to have a romantic relationship or get married or have a child because those things are going to make you a more whole person.

Does a thick skin help? In the book you tell of being turned down for a role in a sitcom because you aren’t three-camera funny.

You have to move on to the next thing. But yeah, yeah, it hurts. You have to get used to the fact that hurt is a part of it.

You say a great deal about the power of presence.

Some people are just not aware of what they’re doing physically. When I teach a class and people are sitting as if bored to tears on the first day I expect you to look like you want to be there. Everything’s [about being] so cool and hanging back now. I do think presence is a kind of energy level that can be cultivated.

I have a 17-year-old daughter who wants to act. What advice do you have for her?

I think the most important thing and this sounds kind of churchy she should practice every day finding the joy in what she’s doing. Because it’s that joy and that real desire to communicate that is going to keep the whole thing alive for her no matter what happens. We think of the clown as the figure who, no matter how tough authority is, keeps coming back. The clown is irrepressible. What she should cultivate is that irrepressibility.

And how should she pick a college drama program?

She should go to a school where she sees that irrepressibility in her potential classmates. And where there’s a lot expected of her, and where she can practice failing as well as succeeding. And someplace where questions are valued as much as answers. She should use her education to discover her questions as in a quest not the answers.

Filed under: Acting, Auditioning, Film, Los Angeles, New York
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Off the Press

November 3, 2006 by  

The article I wrote for Backstage/Backstage West is published and online.

——————————————————————————————————-

I am including some links to online resources that was left out of the article:

www.urta.com: Your guide to group auditions for graduate schools. It is a good place to get a list of some graduate schools. Know that there are many schools that have MFA programs that are not apart of U/RTA.

http://www.actorslife.com/MFA.html: Are you not sure if you want an MFA? Read this article to see if helps you make your decision.

www.technorati.com/: You can research other blogs by subject. Enter your search and see what other people are blogging about MFA programs and the audition process.

http://actinglikeakid.blogspot.com/2005/11/college-foractors.html: An unofficial ranking of some of the top graduate programs.

http://theatre.uoregon.edu/MFA.html: A list of MFA programs (some schools not listed).

http://www.christopherhalladay.com/blog.htm: A blog of Christopher Halladay’s experience studying at Rutgers University.

http://tedstephens3.wordpress.com/: The blog of Ted Stephens III. He shares his experience of attending graduate school at the University of Florida.

http://www.esperstudio.com/final.html: Article about MFA programs written by William Esper, published in Backstage in 1993.

http://bbs.backstage.com/groupee: You can chat with other actors who might have experience with a certain program or is auditioning for graduate schools.

Filed under: Acting, Auditioning, Graduate School
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To MFA or not to MFA?

August 1, 2006 by  

There is a month left to go before class starts. I read this article before auditioning this year for graduate programs…

To MFA or not to MFA? That is the Question
by William Esper

I seem to occupy a unique niche in American actor training. I have been teaching acting at my own studio in New York for the past 20 years. For the past 16 years I have also headed the MFA and BFA Professional Actor Training Program at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts. Serving the needs of professional and pre-professional actors in New York as well as developing and running a major university-sponsored conservatory has been taxing, but it has given me a special understanding of the problems faced by students attempting to train in the New York studios, as well as those who are pursing their training in MFA programs.

Students in New York often ask me if they should audition for MFA programs. Others whom I encounter on my annual audition tour for the Rutgers program are torn between whether they should go immediately to New York or Los Angeles to pursue their studies or seek entrance into an MFA program. The young actor seeking training today faces a dizzying number of choices.

It was a very different picture when I sought serious training 40 years ago. When I finished college in 1954, I knew that I wanted to train for a career in the professional theatre. Many universities offered academically oriented Masters and Ph.D. Degrees, but I did not want to become a critic or theatre historian; I was an actor, and if I wished to train seriously in that area I had to go to New York and study with Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, or Sanford Meisner. These three founding members of the famous Group Theatre had dominated professional actor training since the late `30′s, and every young actor in New York whose work and talent I admired studied with one or another of them. My own choice was Sanford Meisner. I had learned about the Neighborhood Playhouse from Eli Wallach, whom I chanced to meet after attending a performance of Tennessee Williams’ “The Rose Tattoo” at the Ilama Theater in Cleveland. After watching him and Maureen Stapleton give unforgettable performances, I knew that I must learn to act with the same authenticity and truthfulness.

As luck would have it, Mr. Wallach was sitting alone, having his post-matinee supper in the same restaurant at which I chose to stop after the performance. I approached him with some temerity, but he responded with great warmth and told me about his training at the Neighborhood Playhouse with Mr. Meisner. My choice of school was determined on the spot. Unfortunately, I had to wait until I was discharged from the army to apply but, when I did, Mr. Meisner accepted me. Thus began a long and rewarding relationship which has lasted until this day.

An Excess of Choice

Today, however, a young actor is confronted by quite a different picture. There is a bewildering array of conservatory and university-based MFA programs across the country. In addition, the sons and daughters of the Group continue teaching in the studios of New York and Los Angeles. America must have more acting training programs per capita than any other nation in the world.

This phenomenon began with the opening of the Guthrie Theatre, which heralded the decentralization of the American theatre. As more and more regional theatres took root in American’s towns and cities they began to interact and influence neighboring cultural institutions, especially the colleges and universities. Organizations like the University/Resident Theatre Association (U/RTA) and the now-defunct League for Professional Training fostered ties between the new regionalized professional theatre and university training programs across the country. University administrations began to understand the needs of artists and responded by providing enormous support and resources to comprehensive training programs for actors and other theatre artists. The MFA degree came into being and today it is widely offered, as a performance degree as opposed to a Ph.D. Which is largely restricted to the area of scholarship and criticism.

Has this phenomenon improved the training of actors? Is it as good not as it was in the old days? Is it better to train in an MFA program or to take individual classes in New York or Los Angeles?

When I was invited to create and head the MFA and BFA professional training program at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, I approached the task with great excitement but also some concern. The Group Theatre’s master teachers had not gone to college. Sandy Meisner was particularly dismissive of “colleges.” He saw them as bastions of eggheads who intellectualized the creative process. In joining forces with those he perceived of as the enemy, I felt I was being disloyal to my heritage. I was very proud of my studies with artists like Sandy and Martha Graham and wondered if the atmosphere of a university would not somehow poison my efforts to create a wonderful school that genuinely talented artists would feel at home in.

My experience at Rutgers has lain to rest my every concern. Today we have more than 30 professional artists and master teachers on our faculty and an excellent physical plant that includes two fully equipped mainstage theatres. The students receive excellent training in movement, voice, speech, stage combat, dialects, script analysis and acting. They also have the advantage of a rich production season which allows them to supplement their classroom work with performance in classical and contemporary plays under the guidance of professional directors of national reputation. They emerge really to tackle everything from soap operas to Shakespeare. Other first-rate university MFA and BFA programs match ours and produce many superbly trained young artists.

However, the picture does have its wants. This romance between the artist and the academic has produced far too many progeny. With so many MFA and BFA programs, standards of quality are an issue. Where are all the wonderful teachers to come from to staff all these programs? U/RTA and the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST) have together done a great deal to establish at least minimal standards, but a prospective student still must exercise extreme care in selecting a program.

Certainly, much depends on this choice of where to train. Never has the American actor been subjected to so much intense competition and needed so many skills in order to survive. Faced with a job market that shrinks by the day, I believe that only the talented and well trained can survive for long. In addition, good training can lay down a foundation that will last the actor for his entire career. Bad training can instill habits that will plague the actor for years. One advantage to attending a university program is that you will receive a degree if you foresee a future desire to teach, a graduate degree would be almost a requirement.

The Crucial Questions

One question to ask yourself before beginning your search for a good program is: What kind of actor do you want to be? Do you want to make a career of doing classical plays in regional theatre? Several programs were created to fill this need. They are very British in their approach and may sometimes substitute voice and speech work for real inner content. You must ask yourself if you want to dismiss the kind of American Stanislavsky training that has produced so many fine American actors.

Location is also a factor in choosing a program. Is the school connected to a professional theatre? Does it have a real working relationship so that you will be exposed to professional artists at work? Investigate the faculty. Do the members work professionally? Are they connected to the world beyond their campus?

Another question is cost. MFA programs can be expensive to attend. It is not unusual for young actors to emerge from a program with $25,000 to $30,000 of debt that must be repaid. Many programs in U/RTA offer scholarships and teaching assistantships, but beware of the academic Trojan Horse. The school that offers the best financial incentive may also offer the poorest training and leave you with a weak credential. Also, investigate if the program is really dedicated to producing professional artists, or if its faculty is dominated by its Ph.D. program. Is there a good balance between studio work and performance? Some schools stress one over another.

Finally, examine its career-entry preparation. Do its graduates enter the profession, and do a sufficient number of them succeed? More than 40 schools now showcase their students in New York every year. Is your prospective school one of them? If so, what percentage of their graduating class are actually signed by agents or personal managers?

After careful investigation, after you have talked to students at the school and visited in person, if you fall in love with a program and what it stands for, then prepare the very best audition that you can and do your best to get accepted.

The final question is this: If you could gain acceptance to one of the first-rate programs, should you still consider training at one of the important New York or Los Angeles studios? The answer is yes.

MFA programs do not fulfill the needs of every student. Often, students of real talent have a maverick, alienated personality which responds to formalized school situations like a cat to rain. There is also the question of money. Although setting up a program of study in acting, speech, and movement with top teachers in New York is not inexpensive, it is possible to arrange a schedule that permits you to work and finance your training as you go. You also have the advantage of choosing teachers in each area. You are not restricted by a fixed faculty. You can also pursue professional contracts and work while you train.

The biggest disadvantage is that today it is difficult for students in New York to gain performing opportunities of sufficient substance to augment their classroom work. The studios will always remain as a post-graduate workshop. In my own studio I often work with actors of considerable experience who return to class in order to supplement former training or to reinvigorate themselves and their work.

So, in the light of all this, how should you decide? My advice is to examine your goals, gather all the information you can, and then let your heart decide. After all, isn’t that how you decided to become an actor in the first place?

Printed in Backstage, November 12, -18, 1993

For pdf version [click here]

To read “Open Letter to Prospective Graduate Students” [click here]

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Confidence

April 28, 2006 by  

I was watching Bravo today when a blurb came on for the season finale of “Blow Out”. What I know from the show is from the few episodes I have seen with my wife and the constant onslaught of commercials Bravo runs for their original shows. In the blurb I saw the hair stylist who the show is about (his name escapes me) said that he was not the best in the business, but he did not know anyone better.

A few months ago I was talking with a photographer who had taken pictures of lots of celebrities for various magazines. He said what makes them stand out in a photo is that they have confidence. I have been thinking of late when does this confidence come? Are they born with it, or does it come as they are famous? It is much like what came first, the chicken or the egg? There are arguments for both.

One could argue that because of their confidence, it helped their rise to become a celebrity. But one could also argue that when one is a celebrity, it helps their confidence because they have proven themselves. But then again one can read stories of celebrities who behind the scenes were not confident and often terrified about their careers.

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Alabama Shakespeare Festival

April 24, 2006 by  

I was called by ASF on Good Friday. They were interested in me and wanted to fly me out to see the theatre. When I auditioned for them they said contact them once offers come in and they would let me know if they were interested. When I was talking with Rutgers, Iowa, and Indiana I emailed ASF to let them know I needed an offer. That was a month before they called me.

I wanted to relook at ASF before I called and told them I had accepted another school. The good things about ASF is that it is a two year program, which is paid for with a stipend. The degree is through University of Alabama, but all the work is done at the professional theatre. There were no Children’s Hospitals in the nearby area. I knew this was not going to happen. If they would have contacted me a month earlier, I would have seriously considered it. My last thought was that ASF would be a great program if I wanted to go off and act in professional regional theatre full time. With the realization that we will move back to LA after graduate school, Rutgers is a better education for film and television, knowing that I can do some theatre in the area.

So with all that in mind, I called ASF and thanked them, but declined the offer. I expressed regret that they had not contacted me earlier. The response I got was that they had dropped the ball on their end with the organization of contacting students.

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Rejection Letters

March 23, 2006 by  

With the acceptance into Rutgers, I have forgotten to post the rejection letters I received. I have recently received rejection letter from Brown, USD, Long Beach, Depaul, Yale, South Carolina, and USC.

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Long Beach and UCLA

March 1, 2006 by  

These last two weeks I had MFA auditions for Cal State, Long Beach and UCLA. I did not receive any response that would make me think they were interested. I was late for my Long Beach audition. They told me to meet at the school, when I was suppose to meet at theatre across town (a similar thing happened to me last year). When I got there, the auditioners were just about to leave for lunch. I performed my two audition pieces, and they asked what I was doing for the last year, and that was it. I got the feeling they wanted to be at lunch.

As for UCLA, it was a group audition. We performed our to monologues in front of each other. Last year, they had everyone perform their contemporary monologues and had three people stay afterwards to perform their classical monologues. This year, they asked no one to stay.

Three weeks until we head to Europe and then we will go to New Jersey to visit Rutgers.

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