Saturday, October 28, 2006
What Do Actors Want to Learn About?
If you are an actor, and you are reading this blog, tell me : ( by sending comments to this blog with ideas)....what is it about our work, our business, our various careers that you have curiosity about???
Do auditions terrify you and you want to know how to work with your own energies so they do not scare you as much? Is there some aspect of our work that totally mystifies you and you want to know more about it? Are there people, in our business, whose experiences would help you know more about what your choices can be? A question I so often get asked: how can a woman have a full and successful career and still have a good marriage and children? Also, along with that: how can a man do well enough in this business to have a family? Of course, I don't mean those actresses or actors fortunate enough to have married into tons of money, or married to a lawyer or doctor who earns a ton of money, but rather working actors and actresses who have to make their own way and want a full family life, in that conventional sense, as well... Another question i get asked: what's it like to be in a huge Broadway hit and sit through a long run for years? How do you keep it fresh and good? And what do you do with all the money you earn? How can you make it work for your future? Meeting agents is always an important topic for actors...as is, for the young ones: should I go Equity or not? Where does the most experience lie: union or non-union? And are there enough benefits to offset either choice?
Personally, I would love to write about how meditation can help actors do better work in every single arena of their working life. How RELAXATION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE, and can serve actors in any imaginable way, before , during and after an audition/performance process....also, focusing on one's mission: why is one an actor? Why does one remain an actor,through the years, no matter what? How does wanting to be an actor when you are 16 and dreaming differ from remaining an actor when you are 60 and have a different understanding of dreams? And most importantly: WHY IS BEING AN ACTOR AN IMPORTANT AND HONORABLE PROFESSION IN THIS DAY AND AGE? WHY ARE ACTORS, WHY IS THEATER, IMPORTANT TO A SOCIETY? How can we serve to help the world? Heal the planet? How can we use our gifts to help, not make worse, the way mankind treats each other?
So...have you guys got any ideas? If so, please send them...I wanna hear...
Being in the theater, making it one's life and work, has been viewed , through the centuries, in many ways by various societies. . More often than not, theater has been viewed as evil and licentious, and actors treated as agents of all sorts of devils. As we all know, theater and the profession of acting was viewed as so sordid, that women were prohibited from even going near a stage, except to be the audience of one, covered from head to toe in luxurious, but nonetheless, obfuscating clothing: rather like the women in Muslim countries are treated today, being required to dress in mufti. Women of good breeding, Queen Elizabeth's love of theater notwithstanding, were not theater material, and if they were, they were viewed as whores and worse, so that, again as we all know, Shakespeare wrote his greatest female roles for men to perform. Actors, of the male variety, were generally viewed (and many still are, with the prurient press helping all they can) as drunks, shiftless, irresponsible and not to be trusted. Forget that an actor may have just shown you your deepest most emotional self, as you watched him in a performance of some masterpiece or other; you still were not about to rent him a room in your house!!! Actors as artists? Pleeeeze! He doesn't even have a painted canvas to give in lieu of the inevitable late rent! Actors were viewed, and again still are by so many, as fools.
So, how do we combat that? And how is , that despite the stupid image theater and actors have had through the ages, it (and WE) have not only endured, but proudly endured! If we are such fools, how is it our salaries have increased and women now can get paid millions of dollars for making a film, right up there with the male actors? Maybe not quite as "up there"? But you get the idea...ALSO: WHY IS IT that EVERYBODY wants to be one???? And EVERYONE thinks they CAN be one, if only they get that lucky break! Sadly, many talentless and ambitious-for-the-wrong-reason actors DO get certain opportunities and soon are making outrageous money per episode, thus perpetuating the myth that anyone can become an actor!
But that is our job: understand and make others feel, the true importance of what we do! Not only to legitimize our efforts, ( for ourselves as much as for anyone else) but also to open peoples' minds and hearts to how much we can be of use in their lives. And not only in bright shiny Broadway musicals and sexy tv shows: but in out- of- the- way places where they least expect it! Peoples' need to sit around the campfire and tell stories is a forever thing.
So, Actors......rock on! And write in!
Do auditions terrify you and you want to know how to work with your own energies so they do not scare you as much? Is there some aspect of our work that totally mystifies you and you want to know more about it? Are there people, in our business, whose experiences would help you know more about what your choices can be? A question I so often get asked: how can a woman have a full and successful career and still have a good marriage and children? Also, along with that: how can a man do well enough in this business to have a family? Of course, I don't mean those actresses or actors fortunate enough to have married into tons of money, or married to a lawyer or doctor who earns a ton of money, but rather working actors and actresses who have to make their own way and want a full family life, in that conventional sense, as well... Another question i get asked: what's it like to be in a huge Broadway hit and sit through a long run for years? How do you keep it fresh and good? And what do you do with all the money you earn? How can you make it work for your future? Meeting agents is always an important topic for actors...as is, for the young ones: should I go Equity or not? Where does the most experience lie: union or non-union? And are there enough benefits to offset either choice?
Personally, I would love to write about how meditation can help actors do better work in every single arena of their working life. How RELAXATION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE, and can serve actors in any imaginable way, before , during and after an audition/performance process....also, focusing on one's mission: why is one an actor? Why does one remain an actor,through the years, no matter what? How does wanting to be an actor when you are 16 and dreaming differ from remaining an actor when you are 60 and have a different understanding of dreams? And most importantly: WHY IS BEING AN ACTOR AN IMPORTANT AND HONORABLE PROFESSION IN THIS DAY AND AGE? WHY ARE ACTORS, WHY IS THEATER, IMPORTANT TO A SOCIETY? How can we serve to help the world? Heal the planet? How can we use our gifts to help, not make worse, the way mankind treats each other?
So...have you guys got any ideas? If so, please send them...I wanna hear...
Being in the theater, making it one's life and work, has been viewed , through the centuries, in many ways by various societies. . More often than not, theater has been viewed as evil and licentious, and actors treated as agents of all sorts of devils. As we all know, theater and the profession of acting was viewed as so sordid, that women were prohibited from even going near a stage, except to be the audience of one, covered from head to toe in luxurious, but nonetheless, obfuscating clothing: rather like the women in Muslim countries are treated today, being required to dress in mufti. Women of good breeding, Queen Elizabeth's love of theater notwithstanding, were not theater material, and if they were, they were viewed as whores and worse, so that, again as we all know, Shakespeare wrote his greatest female roles for men to perform. Actors, of the male variety, were generally viewed (and many still are, with the prurient press helping all they can) as drunks, shiftless, irresponsible and not to be trusted. Forget that an actor may have just shown you your deepest most emotional self, as you watched him in a performance of some masterpiece or other; you still were not about to rent him a room in your house!!! Actors as artists? Pleeeeze! He doesn't even have a painted canvas to give in lieu of the inevitable late rent! Actors were viewed, and again still are by so many, as fools.
So, how do we combat that? And how is , that despite the stupid image theater and actors have had through the ages, it (and WE) have not only endured, but proudly endured! If we are such fools, how is it our salaries have increased and women now can get paid millions of dollars for making a film, right up there with the male actors? Maybe not quite as "up there"? But you get the idea...ALSO: WHY IS IT that EVERYBODY wants to be one???? And EVERYONE thinks they CAN be one, if only they get that lucky break! Sadly, many talentless and ambitious-for-the-wrong-reason actors DO get certain opportunities and soon are making outrageous money per episode, thus perpetuating the myth that anyone can become an actor!
But that is our job: understand and make others feel, the true importance of what we do! Not only to legitimize our efforts, ( for ourselves as much as for anyone else) but also to open peoples' minds and hearts to how much we can be of use in their lives. And not only in bright shiny Broadway musicals and sexy tv shows: but in out- of- the- way places where they least expect it! Peoples' need to sit around the campfire and tell stories is a forever thing.
So, Actors......rock on! And write in!
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Evalyn, I'm thinking about having "Relaxation is the most important thing in life" tatooed on my wrist.
I would love to know how women in our field do have families. How many have gone off to have children without a partner and been able to continue working? How many have partners also within theatre and how do they maintain healthy relationships in this emotionally rocking career?
You are the best. I love opening up backstage and seeing your face!
I would love to know how women in our field do have families. How many have gone off to have children without a partner and been able to continue working? How many have partners also within theatre and how do they maintain healthy relationships in this emotionally rocking career?
You are the best. I love opening up backstage and seeing your face!
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