WORKING actors.

[DG]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 12:42am

I keep reading some of the thoughts expressed here concerning actors, and I wonder, “What planet are you people from?!?”

“Why doesn’t Eden do this?” “Why didn’t Euan do that?”

Do any of you have ANY idea how hard it is to get ANY kind of work in our current environment?

Go back and look through a list of Tony nominees for the last couple of decades. There are many names that will make you scratch your head and say, “WHO?” And those are TONY NOMINEES! Some of the people you talk about – incessantly – haven’t even registered on that radar yet!

Hell, go look at some Tony winners! Ms. Ziemba was more than happy, I’m sure, to come 3000 miles to take a part in an unknown project – because it was a JOB! What is all this conjecture of, “Why did they do that, why didn’t they do this?” Michael Arden, who is obviously a very talented young man, goes back-and-forth from coast-to-coast doing what he can to remain VISIBLE. What makes you think that ONE part – sometimes, just as a replacement – gets you a golden ticket?

I’m all for optimism - but really, some of you need to pull your heads out of . . . wherever . . . and deal with what EXISTS IN REALITY!

[Garland Grrrl]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 10:35am

Well, Carolee should originate a new role, that's all I'm saying.


(snark)

[HOUFlip04]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 6:49pm

Amen!

[Patronus]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 6:51pm

Bravo, DG!

These exact thoughts have run through my head many a time while reading the Main Board.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 6:53pm

**gives DG a standing ovation**

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 6:56pm

Why didn't Elaine Stritch play Rosie in THE WEDDING SINGER?

She's the right age and it doesn't seem like she was doing anything.

Updated On: 10/16/06 at 06:56 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 7:22pm

DG---I agree.

I think the delusion comes from people who aren't stepping back and looking at the larger picture.

In their minds, the world knows who Eden Espinoza is, and Young and Mazzie and Cerveris and Butz... because they think of them as a mega-stars. This is what is important to them, so they can't understand why the world doesn't honor and respect them the way they do.

Also... TV and film portrayals of "star" behavior don't help. You always see them turning down roles, throwing hair brushes at mirrors and storming off of the set or stage. The reality is that very few stars actually get away with behavior like that for any length of time, if at all.

So, yeah... basically, they're living in a fantasy world, when they make comments like that.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 7:45pm

*cheers, stamps, and whistles*

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 7:58pm

Puh-LEAZE. Everybody knows Eden. I was in Germany and they knew Eden. It was wierd... they kept on saying 'They Garden Of...' before they said her name every time. I guess it's because she's as beautiful as a garden. And as talented to! That gurl got pipes!

[Anna_Elizabeth]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 7:59pm

When I first came on this board, I had to take a deep breath and remind myself that there is a lot of naivety here. This isn't a bad thing. It shows that theatre is still bringing in new audience members. And as they grow older and see more shows, their view of this field will also grow. And they will know what we do: a job is a job.

Until then, we'll listen to them discuss Eden and the rest who are currently in today's realm. When the next 'hit' show comes along it'll be someone else. That's just how it is.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 8:18pm

"I really need this job
Please, God, I need this job!
I've got to get this job!"

[erikaamato]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 8:19pm

Yay, DG!!!!!!!!!!

[StephenSondheimWHOO]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 9:05pm

lol caroline! that was laughable

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 10:39pm

90% of all actors are unemployed.

I still wonder why people leave hit shows. I hate to use Wicked as an example, but, if I were a lead, I'd never go anywhere. A Wicked/Producers/Spamalot comes along once, maybe twice, in a lifetime. Unless you have another job lined up, why leave a show that's a hit?

I heard a story a few months back from a source involved with a show (I will not disclose the show, jobs, or any names/places). A girl left a show to start auditioning for new jobs. The person who told me the story saw her waiting tables in a diner a few months later, no job lined up.

Why leave a hit?

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 10:55pm

"Why leave a hit?"

Delusional belief that said hit will breed similarly good opportunities?

Anyway...

I know a multi-Emmy award winning actress who, only a few years after winning her last Emmy, is considering returning to an administrative position at a law firm so that she doesn't have to live on a tight budget. No doubt there are also film stars who are debating leaving their homes for the humiliation of a day job or quietly growing broke.
Updated On: 10/16/06 at 10:55 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 11:05pm

CQ wins.

[soapguy17]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 11:20pm

Wow, this site is making me second guess my carrer path

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 10/17/06 at 1:06am

On the otherhand, Harrison Ford went from films to construction to Star Wars...

[Plum]

Posted: 10/17/06 at 1:11am

It's a problem of looking at the world through the wrong lens. If you look at it through an "Eden Espinosa" lens, you'll see all the parts you think she was suited for and wonder why she didn't do them. Step back and look through the lens of that role and that show and you might get your reasons. Step back again and look through the lens of the New York theater scene, and the industry at large, and you may get an idea of how lucky Espinosa was to make it at all.

That said, speculative casting is fun. Just don't get all entitled about it.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 10/17/06 at 1:21am

Wasn't it Richard Griffiths who joked that he stayed with The History Boys for so long because his wife reminded him they needed money and that was the only job available?

But it's true. Unlike Patti LuPone and Bernadette Peters, who can just hold a concert(in a large venue) for a quick influx of cash, most actors cannot afford to be picky about work (the super-richer-than-God Barrett Foa excepted). I think it's in the RENT book where Anthony Rapp (who'd acted in films) said that he had just been hired to work at a coffee shop (Starbucks, I think) when the RENT offer came. Only a handful of people make it. Acting isn't a field of stable employment, for ANYONE.

[HamletWasBipolar]

Posted: 10/17/06 at 2:19am

The thing with being in this business that is tremendous is that everyone gets to define their own version of success. I am an actor in NYC and believe me, there are PLENTY of actors who make their living from acting. People forget that there are tons of regional theatres from all over the country that do their casting out of NYC. Now, this may not be the Broadway success that some look for, but to the trained actor who has mastered and enjoyed his craft, it is Broadway to him.
For me, just living, training, performing, and SURVIVING in NYC is a success. How many people have the dream, but not the balls to even try such a daunting thing. I dont care what anyone says...if you are talented you will work. It takes time persistence, and drive. I didnt mind waiting an occasional table, when there was always a class to go to, to remind me of the prize. You may not be on Broadway, but you will work off,off-off,regionally,stock,voiceovers,etc. Anyone who gets into this business to be rich and famous is chasing their tale. But the actor who enters, and understands the meaning of technique and training, and holds a true passion for the art form will be rewarded beyond his wildest dreams. Perhaps even befores they land their first part. Always remember that a true actor acts, not because he wants to, but because he HAS to.

[DG]

Posted: 10/17/06 at 2:25am

Hamlet - that was a fabulous post!

The only thing I would add is, the sacrifices you bring up aren't necessarily small ones. Traveling all over isn't really 'grounding' to those who need a nest to comfort them. Hotels and Equity housing can be sterile environments.

I do agree completely that there is a measure of success in the life you describe - I've known many that choose that path. But it isn't without lonliness.

The most truthful statement of your post you saved for the end - actors act out of need. You shouldn't pursue this unless you can't envision anything else.

[HamletWasBipolar]

Posted: 10/17/06 at 7:39am

DG,You know its funny you mention loneliness and grounding. I entered acting, probably from the whole Freudian idea of escape. I like escape in my work and in life. The idea of grounding left me when I decided to stop acting and work in a cubicle for a year and pursue a "normal" life years back.That was the point that I realized that I could not NOT act for the rest of my life. The cubicle almost caused me to put arsenic in my chamomile. Lol. I actually like traveling and yes, being alone at times. So the lifestyle to some extent suits me. Having someone else to share my life with, and who I know is there for me is comfort to me, too,regadless of where the hat may temporarily hang.

[dancinfan]

Posted: 10/17/06 at 9:51am

To the question of "why would a lead actor leave a hit show":
It is not up to lead actors whether they stay or go. They are on Equity white (principal)contracts, which have end dates, and the extension or termination of these contracts are up to the discretion of management.

Chorus members and many smaller featured roles are on Equity pink (chorus) contracts, which may or may not have end dates built in, and most don't. Unless producers are paying extra for the privilege of being able to dismiss someone when their time is up, the actors are in control of when they leave a long-running show.

And the actors leave long-running shows for many reasons. I know a young man who left a long-running hit a few years ago not because he could afford to do so, not because he had another job to go to, but because he knoew he was not enjoying it anymore and therefore was not giving the audiences a full-out show. Kudos to actors with integrity who leave shows because they know they aren't challenging themselves enough for those paying to see them care about the stories they are telling!

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/17/06 at 10:04am

From the time I can remember, I always believed I had to perform - that I couldn't imagine doing anything else. I HAD to do it.

But I didn't. And survived. Sure, it would be the ideal, but it didn't happen, and many other people have grown into the same kind of realization and are perfectly content. It's funny to me when a young person says they HAVE to perform - because I've seen only one person on a stage who I believe that about - one person who I believe really could not have done anything else - and that's Patti LuPone.