CAREER ADVICE REQUIRED! - Is Broadway just a pipe dream??

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 2/5/11 at 11:14pm

I’m from Ireland and am trying to do some community theatre while I’m in college. I hope to study acting at a drama college in the next few years, because I want to be actor-who-sings, and do plays/musicals. I aspire to be on the Broadway stage. I have the burning desire; the passion. But then I think to myself – What’s the point? – I mean really, so many people like me – millions, have tried and probably failed – where are the other Irish people like me with dreams who have ended up on the West End or Broadway stage and have stayed there? – Is there any point to keep this dream? – I mean, I don’t even want to tour with a show from this country that may play Broadway and then just come back home and forget about that experience, etc
I have been getting proper, professional singing training from a young age, and want to continue doing so, and I want to get proper training in acting too. Technique and training is very important to me, and as I said I have the passion as well.

Does anyone understand where I’m coming from?

What should I do? Is this purely a pipe dream??

[tazber]

Posted: 2/5/11 at 11:26pm

If your dream is to be on Broadway then yes, the odds are that it won't come true.

If your dream is to make a living as a working actor and to pursue a career in the arts then your chances are as strong as your will and determination.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 2/5/11 at 11:57pm

I think tazber summed it up pretty well. Most actors don't make it to Broadway, and those that do usually do so only once or twice during the course of a lifelong career. When entering the business, one's goal should be simply to make a living, with Broadway as a "wouldn't that be nice" sort of secondary goal.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 12:01am

Go for it.

Don't expect it. Hope for it.

Don't beat yourself up over factors that you can't control. At the end of the day, be satisfied that you did all you could do.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 12:16am

It's a nice dream to get going for. Just getting a steady acting job is worth the hassle of the constant audition process. Trust me, once you get a job, it feels so good!!

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 4:22pm

I don't understand. So many actors only make it to Broadway once or twice - what about all the actors that are on Broadway at the moment that have had steady Broadway/West End careers - Patti LuPone, for one example has had a brilliant career on the Broadway boards...

[Weez]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 4:26pm

They are in the EXTREME MINORITY. I wouldn't have thought that would be hard to understand. O_O

[twinbelters]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 4:37pm

Only you can decide your level of involvement and success. You have to really want it and it has to be a large part of your life.

[candydog2]

Posted: 2/7/11 at 3:13am

The way I see it is that we are here on earth for such a small fraction of its existence, so why not make it count. You only get one chance at life and even if you never achieve your dream there's no excuse for not trying!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/7/11 at 3:32am

I think anyone that pursues the dream to be "a star" instead of a working actor is doing it for the wrong reasons. (No matter which medium in which you hope to work.) It's got to be the work that you love, not the possible stardom.

At some point in your journey, others will start asking you if it's time to "try something else" or "move on" or even time to "get your head out of the clouds". Only YOU can decide you've tried long enough. Some people can hold on for many years, waiting and trying. Others much less. YOU will know when it's the right time to give up (if it comes to that.)

Dream big, live realistically.

Updated On: 2/7/11 at 03:32 AM

[everythingstaboo]

Posted: 2/8/11 at 12:24am

Work hard. It seems you realize how hard it is to make this dream come true, but if you work really hard, and never loose that passion and drive to do it why not? Dreams do come true sometimes, why not they come true for you?

[Eris0303]

Posted: 2/8/11 at 12:35am

Some people do seem to just go from show to show with few times of unemployement. But I can name several people who have been on Broadway and haven't made it back (yet) but have found work in regional theatres, on tours, and in NYMF and other festivals.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/8/11 at 1:12am

The Girl goes to the door, opens it. Addison DeWitt stands there, the Sarah Siddons Award in his hands.

ADDISON: Hello, there. Who are you?

GIRL (shyly): Miss Harrington's resting, Mr. deWitt. She asked me to see who it is...

ADDISON: We won't disturb her rest. It seems she left her award in the taxicab. Will you give it to her?

The Girl holds the award as if it were the Promised Land. Addison smiles faintly. He knows the look.

ADDISON: How do you know my name?

GIRL: It's a very famous name, Mr. deWitt.

ADDISON: And what is your name?

GIRL: Phoebe.

ADDISON: Phoebe?

GIRL (stubbornly): I call myself Phoebe.

ADDISON: Why not? Tell me, Phoebe, do you want some day to have an award like that of your own?

Phoebe lifts her eyes to him.

PHOEBE: More than anything else in the world.

Addison pats her shoulder lightly.

ADDISON: Then you must ask Miss Harrington how to get one. Miss Harrington knows all about it...

Updated On: 2/8/11 at 01:12 AM

[Eris0303]

Posted: 2/8/11 at 12:08pm

That's the way to do it, PJ

[BroadwayShowTime]

Posted: 2/8/11 at 2:04pm

Don't dream it, be it..

[newintown]

Posted: 2/8/11 at 2:25pm

For years, my response to this question was, "give it a try, what can you lose?"

But then I saw too many times exactly what people can lose - I've seen many wonderful young people, with terrific optimism and joy and positive energy, become dark, depressed, and bitter, because they felt that they had failed.

Now I say - if you can think of anything else at all that would make you happy, do that. The chances are astronomically against you that you'll even be able to make a modest living at performing - even that modest achievement is reached by only a tiny fraction of those who try to make it.

The Disney philosophy, while charming, has done a great disservice to multitudes.

[PitPro2004]

Posted: 2/8/11 at 3:15pm

Yeah, what Captain Hook said....:)

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 2/8/11 at 6:44pm

I'm going to quote what Barry Dennen (Emcee in Cabaret OLC, Pilate in JCS album/Broadway/film) said to me when I asked his advice on pursuing an acting career:

"Yes, one word: don't. It's rejection after rejection after rejection. Acting makes you feel like you're going to trip. It's a trip in which you're going to be humiliated, get your feelings hurt, mocked, made fun of. People are going to trample on your feelings and they are going to reject you. Unless you have rhinoceros skin, it's a kind of business that can crush the life out of you. You have to be very, very tough.

I also don't think that actors have the best seat at the table. If you really want to have the power, you have to be a huge star and then you see what happens. They go into producing, directing, they open their own production companies, because that's where the power is. Long after your smile, your million dollar looks, and beautiful voice have faded, you keep a place at the table because of the other things you bring to your work–not the acting, the other auxiliary stuff. If you're clever enough, or talented enough I should say, to be a writer, or a director or producer, any of those things, you are set for life. But if you have to keep auditioning for your work, day after day, week after week, your whole life through, you're always in line for a job or never assured. Unless you're in a repertory company, which these days is very rare, you're never assured for work. You're always pushing. Imagine if someone was working in a business, an office, a factory, anywhere, having to audition for their job every week; having to go to a new boss every week, sit down, and tell them their capabilities and qualifications for their work. It's soul destroying.

I don't say things that young actors want to hear, because I'm telling them the truth about how damn hard it is to get ahead in the business. But you know something? If they are so powerfully motivated, they do it anyway. If people are burning with that hot flame to be actors, I think that's great. But I also say don't be just an actor. You've got the talent to make your mark as an actor, that's great, look at the other actors around you who did lots of other things as well as acting. You will see that that's a way to choreograph your life, so that you're not just acting. You have other quivers to your bow, more bullets in your gun, to keep you going when the acting jobs start to dry up."

[hmpeterson]

Posted: 2/8/11 at 6:59pm

Your best bet is to go on American Idol or become a pop/rock star. Seriously. Look who is making it to Broadway...Constantine Maroulis, Ace Young, Tamyra Gray, Diana DeGarmo, Melissa Etheridge. Even Billie Joe Armstrong is on Broadway!! Granted that's a little different considering the show. But still.

Unfortunately it seems like Broadway would rather have "name" people these days to sell shows which give the hard working theater actor and even bigger disadvantage.

In all seriousness, I've always been a person to say, if you have a dream and you think you have the talent, the guts, and the drive...go for it! You will never know unless you try. Wouldn't you rather have someone tell you no 20 times then possibly never know if you could have gotten a yes?

[Q]

Posted: 2/8/11 at 7:06pm

"Patti LuPone, for one example has had a brilliant career on the Broadway boards..."

Out of all the possibilities, he picked Patti as an example.

I just had to giggle.

[TonyVincent]

Posted: 2/9/11 at 8:37am

Almost everyone gets into the business with the dream of being a star or at least a consistent lead. In reality, even most of the top 2% of people are fortunate to be employed on Broadway half the time.

It's actually kind of funny--I went to one of the top high schools for performing talent in the state (a regular, public high school, but we were consistently nominated for/won awards at the state-wide theater awards). All the consistent leads in the shows realized it was just a fun hobby, went on to college for science, law, and economics, and they are now making successful livings as engineers, bankers, consultants, and lawyers. The chorus members, who didn't get the leads, all majored in musical theater or acting, and are all now working hourly, repetitive jobs, with the occasional Disney cruise ship for the lucky ones. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with a service-based hourly job, but most of these people are either longing for college where they were guaranteed a part in every show and/or wishing they had focused on a career and continued with theater as a hobby that might work out if they were lucky.

So I guess my moral/advice is contain your expectations, use your drive to make yourself better, but always see a professional performance career as a lucky, fortunate outcome, not the end-all goal. You may decrease your chances of success slightly by hedging your bets and focusing on a career as well instead of throwing yourself 100% into theater, but on average you will be much happier.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 2/9/11 at 2:39pm

Carol Burnett mentioned in her memoir One More Time that the advice she was given, and took, when going to NYC to start her career was to give it five years. If in five years she was able to sustain herself as an actress, meaning acting provided her primary source of income, then she would feel as if she had made it. If not she would have thrown in the towel and moved on with her life.

And may I add thank god she achieved that (and more). It would be hard to imagine what life would be like without her making us laugh.