Foreign Actors Living In New York

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 2/28/08 at 6:35am

New York City is one of the world's great international cities. Many dozens of the planet's ethnicities, religions, cuisines, and languages are represented within the burg's five boroughs. So it should come as no surprise that Gotham's acting pool isn't 100 percent Yankee.

No, there are not great percentages of French or Russian or Japanese actors working the stages of Manhattan. But for many years the New York theatre community has accommodated a fair number of performers born in England, Ireland and other English-speaking countries worldwide. I'm not talking about the artists who are just visiting with a touring or transferred production, but those who have come to stay. Some are among the most prolific and recognizable faces of Broadway and Off-Broadway — such as Roger Rees (born in Wales), Brian Murray (born in South Africa), Richard Easton (born in Canada), Zoe Caldwell (born in Australia) and Brian F. O'Byrne (born in Ireland) — while others simply forge a steady, working career, no mean feat itself.

Working permanently in a country other than the one you were born in, of course, presents challenges. But feeling unwelcome doesn't appear to be one of them. "Everyone here is from all over the world, so I feel at home in New York," said British-born Max Baker, who recently acted in the Kevin Kline Cyrano de Bergerac on Broadway, and has appeared in several productions Off-Broadway with the New Group, including Abigail's Party and Comedians. "New York is hardly representative of the rest of America."

Indeed, one of the attractions of making the move across the Atlantic seems to be what foreign observers call the upbeat and friendly atmosphere found in New York's theatre community. Actress Elizabeth Jasicki, who moved from England to New York in 2005, said the welcome wagon was rolled out from her first professional visit. "Everyone said, 'Yeah, we'd love to work with you. Come here.' They were so positive."

She continues to experience that attitude. "Every time I go back to England, I always feel upbeat, because everything's so much more positive and possible here," she said. "One of the reasons I like living here is the different mental attitude from the English. We're really downbeat [in England]. We'll knock you down. And the media is horrific. The way I've always put it, in America, you're innocent until proven guilty. In England, you're guilty until proven innocent."

More At Link:
Permanent Aliens: Life as an Expat Actor in New York

[BlueWindSadness]

Posted: 2/28/08 at 8:30am

interesting! I am actually British too...I moved to NJ when I was 11 years old...and I am here to stay!!

Thanks for the nice little read before I have to get to class!

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 2/28/08 at 10:02am

Nice article!