From school to stage

UI Theatre students discuss the job market, audition strategies and goals   

For Sean Parker, life is about enjoying what you do, being successful at it and making enough money to keep the world spinning.

“I didn’t make the world, but I have to survive in it and do what I love to do for a living,” he said.

Parker will be graduating this spring with a Master of Fine Arts in Performance. He said he has been “feverishly” sending out cover letters to theatre companies while scouring university websites for teaching positions.

Like in any arena, jumping into the job market requires hard work and dedication, but there are ways to get ahead.

Parker's tenacity wasn’t as strong when he received his undergrad from Western Carolina University, and he said that lesson is what’s spurring him now. As an undergrad, he landed an off-Broadway role and some regional theatre parts, but Parker acknowledges he wasn’t working hard enough.

“I wasn’t taking acting classes, networking properly, and (I was) taking for granted that things would just happen,” he said. “Work doesn’t find you. You have to be persistent to find work.”

After a stint working outside the theatre arena, Parker said he made himself miserable and turned to graduate school at the UI to make it right.    

“I am taking the knowledge and skills I’ve received here at UI and moving forward,” he said. “I will continue studying because we have to.”

Keeping up with technology is also a must, according to UI Theatre Head of Performance Kelly Quinnett. She said many auditions are now done via an uploaded file to see if an actor is the right fit before being invited for a set audition.

This method may seem a little more hands-off, but Quinnett said there is more than enough means of making a recorded audition stand out. More often than not, she said, actors don’t take advantage of the chance to authenticate their work.

“Don’t  let the medium of a camera keep you from making interesting choices and being emotionally truthful,” she said. “Sometimes actors get leery of making choices, fearing it will be too big, but in fact that is not true ... (they) steer away from this authentic space and shut down. Do not be afraid of this space in front of a camera and lights, etc. Allow it to feed the work.”

Dress comfortably for audition tapes, Quinnett said.

“Do not wear big stilettos unless the monologue requires such costume need,” she said. “Wear things that you are comfortable in, that are fashionably current and also show me who you are.”

A recent graduate may have the talent, persistence, patience and luck needed for the job, but Parker said a lot of landing the position comes from self-confidence

“I could go on and on about how many times I had opportunity slapping me in the face, and I made no initiative,” he said. “I wasn’t persistent, and I lacked self-confidence.  I see that a lot (in school).”

Parker said employers are looking for people they can trust to do the job without issue, thus making networking important.

“When you develop a relationship with a company, directors, casting directors, etc.,  they will want you,” he said. “They do not want people wasting their time.”

Even though junior musical theatre major Emily Volf won’t be graduating, she said her future is always on her mind. One of her main goals is to hit these remaining years hard in terms of networking.

“It’s a field where everyone knows everyone,” she said. “ ... I think my biggest change is to go out running and meet as many people as possible.”

Along with networking, Quinnett said it is also important actors know what is going on in theatre around them. They should know what’s on- and off-Broadway, what’s happening regionally and locally and what’s happening in movies and TV.

With technology replacing so much of what is considered real interaction, Quinnett said it is an actor’s responsibility to retrain new audiences to have an appreciation for the live exchange that is theatre. To do that, actors must have a strong sense of who they are, she said.

“This is why so much of what I teach is about ‘knowing thyself’ and understanding the power of human connection, which is not being replaced by Xbox,” she said.