Author Topic: What do I need to know about working with professional actors?  (Read 3113 times)

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Caroline Naveen

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Thank you so much for posting this! I was asked to take a volunteer position over the summer working on Les Mis at our regional theatre I'm only 15 and have the position of rehearsal ASM and PA/Child Wrangler for the younger versions of the characters when we get to tech and performances. The cast list was just announced and reading the names I'm getting a little worried, several Broadway actors/actresses and I'm going to be Rehearsal ASM I've never even helped with anything equity or mainstage before I've only SMed for their theatre education program. What do I need to know about working with professional actors other than just the equity rules? I mean I've heard that there are some quirks like some people stay in character for the whole duration of the show even while backstage....Is there anything else like that I should know? I'm also really nervous that I'm going to mess up and then I've got a whole room of professionals that will know about it. Also it would be really cool if I did a really awesome job to get reference letters from these people? How do I ask without being a bother? Thoughts? Also is it a wise idea to maybe say something about my concerns to the stage manager....I've never worked with her before. I'm a fast learner but since I'm new to the business sometimes I make mistakes and have to be told to do stuff that I normally shouldn't have to be told to do.... Thank you so much everyone you've been so helpful!

***Split from "What's the Difference?" to allow these questions to be answered without sidetracking the original post.  - yomanda***
« Last Edit: May 03, 2013, 01:00 pm by yomanda »

BARussell

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Re: What do I need to know about working with professional actors?
« Reply #1 on: May 04, 2013, 11:42 pm »
The most important thing to remember is that they are just people. They vary just like normal people, because they are normal people. Some will be chatty and friendly,  some will be quiet, some nice, others not so much. Yes they can have quirks but just learn what they are and be aware. I would say for you this is a great opportunity to learn, so it's best to keep your eyes and ears open, take direction and criticism well, and do what your SM asks of you. I don't think you will be expected to be perfect or know exactly what to do. I also highly doubt you will mess up anything that much that everyone will know or care. The only person you should be worried about getting a recommendation from is your SM and I would wait to ask until you are pretty far into the process, they shouldn't have any problem doing this and if they do they will tell you why. The actors aren't really in a position to recommend you nor would it be helpful for you. If you would like to talk to the SM I would just tell them what things you would like to work on or learn about while doing the position that will let them know where your weaknesses are and what they should help you the most with.
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On_Headset

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Re: What do I need to know about working with professional actors?
« Reply #2 on: May 07, 2013, 09:44 pm »
"Also it would be really cool if I did a really awesome job to get reference letters from these people?"

To build on what BAR said, many actors (including Equity actors!) have no concept of what stage managers actually do. (Beyond the things obvious to actors: taking notes, whining at them about not signing in, etc.) Very few actors are in any position to assess the competence or ability of their SM, even an SM with whom they've worked extensively.

You want letters from producers, letters from directors, letters from production managers, letters from supervising stage managers, and maybe letters from technical directors. Those are what count. A letter from an actor might as well be a letter from your mom, and will be viewed as such by the boards and committees and hiring managers who read these letters.

-----

I do, however, have one piece of advice for you when dealing with actors, and especially for dealing with actors who find themselves "slumming" in community or student theatre.

Above all else, and at all times, remember that you do not run Miss Scrimmage's Finishing School for Proper Young Ladies and Gentlemen. You run a theatre.

Some people are entitled jerks, or brittle divas, or tempestuous egoists, or whatever else. And that's okay.

It is not your job to fix these people, or address their personal problems, or "teach them a lesson". On the most basic level, your job as concerns actors is to get them to follow your instructions. These situations aren't won or lost by determining who screams the loudest, they're won or lost on whether or not the actors comply with your directions. If they're compliant, then you've won.

No matter what they scream at you, no matter what they say behind your back, no matter what lies they spread, resist the urge to kick back. Don't get involved in shouting matches, don't start whisper campaigns, don't even gossip if you can resist the urge to do so. So long as the actor is following your instructions, they can call you whatever sort of name they like: you're winning, and that's what really counts.

This doesn't mean you have to be a total doormat. Some things are well and truly beyond the pale. If an actor comes up and grabs you inappropriately, or makes a serious threat of physical violence, or whatever else, you have every right to deal with that situation appropriately. Similarly, if someone is well and truly impossible to work with, that's perfectly fair to discuss with the producer. In private.

But for the garden-variety backstage blowup, so long as you can get that actor on the stage, and so long as that actor reads their lines and completes their blocking and doesn't screw up the show for anyone else, do not fight back. Do not give in. You've won: the actor remains under your control, the show went on, and putting up with jerks (and the egos, attitudes, epithets and screams of those jerks) is part of the job.
« Last Edit: May 07, 2013, 09:46 pm by On_Headset »