#actingblr

I’ve scoured the internet high and low for some fantastic websites you can spend time on, without feeling like you are missing out on theater stuff during the pandemic.

1. For Podcasts...Broadway Podcast Network

So. Many. Podcasts! That focus specifically on theater, Broadway, and the West End! Did you know that Tim Rice, Donna McKechnie, and Kerry Butler all have podcasts? Listen to them here, along with podcasts on backstage happenings, show-based series, and even some Dungeons and Dragons played by thespians!

2. For Streaming Shakespeare...Globe Player

I am personally having a war with myself to switch from Netflix and Hulu over to subscribing to the Globe’s streaming service. Not only do they have shows in English, but in performed in other languages too! Lithuanian productions of Hamlet with subtitles, a South Korean production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and one of my favorites, Twelfth Night with Stephen Fry as Malvolio and Mark Rylance as Olivia!

3. For Book Box Subscriptions...Dramatists Play Service Book Club

I, again, personally have not used this service. It’s a quarterly (and somewhat pricey) book subscription box, at $34.99 for a box of  seven plays delivered four times a year. I’m not someone who has book box subscriptions, but if I ever become one, it would absolutely be this one.

4. For Brushing Up on Your Shakespeare (Scansion)...Precanned Shakespeare

Are you performing Shakespeare soon and haven’t the faintest idea on how to score your lines? Thank goodness for Precanned Shakespeare! This site, presents each play and sonnet by Shakespeare with each line of verse scanned with syllable notes, indicating where the emphasis in lines and words belongs.

5. For Reading Plays Online...Scribd

If you subscribe to any reading-focused website, it should be Scribd. There are so many nonfiction, fiction, and audiobooks here for your enjoyment. Know what else they have, at the price of $9.99 month for access to everything? Hundreds of plays and musical theater books.

6. For Finding DVDs and CDs of International Shows...eBay

I’ve found a million different cast albums for Wicked, Elisabeth, Tanz der Vampire, and more, that you can’t find on Amazon. There is far more memorabilia from various productions than on Amazon.

7. For Finding DVDs and CDs and Sheet Music and More of International Shows...Sound of Music-Shop

macbeth: 10/10 my breakthrough role!! i fucking love macbeth man. i got to commit murder and call my rival a coward on stage? immaculate. my favorite shakespeare play t this day, however the year after we did it some ppl from britain came to our school and did macbeth. they did a lot of making out o stage and my rival (who had played my husband) leaned over ot me in the dark theater and said he’d wished our version had more of that. overall that play awoke an even stronger love for the macabre in me and also the flirting with my rival definitely awoke things in me

much ado about nothing: 5/10 it was alright!! not the most memorable or fun. was quite sexy of me to play claudio with bright green hair though. i got to call my friend (hero) a rotten orange!! 

hamlet: -1000000/10 get this rat bastard off my stage. playing an emotional unstable chaotic bisexual man did NUMBERS on my mental health. on top of that i had to memorize 122 lines in 4 days which did NOT help my declining mental health. however i enjoy the absolute chaos of hamlet, especially the pirates interlude. sadly this role left me permanently scarred in 2 places because of a “”””””””dulled””””””” stage knife

hamlet 2 electric boogaloo: -100/10 fuck being hammy. i kin him a little too hard for it to be healthy. however i am a VERY sexy hamlet. number two was much better han number one because it was only the last scene where everyone died. i got to my fun sexy swordfight all over again!! horatio didnt cry over my body either time so like. couldve been gayer but still. sexy sword fight

Since my community theatre company is having auditions for their next show soon, I figured this would be a great post to make for other aspiring/beginning actors. Also, since I have only been in one musical this will mostly be oriented towards straight play auditions.

Research. Research. Research! With community theatre they will tell you what production you are doing (I've been in blind auditions before and they're the worst) so take advantage of that! Read a synopsis of the show. Look up the writer and other shows written in that time! That way it will be easier to find a fitting monologue.

Depending on when auditions are announced (we usually hear a month ahead with my community theatre) find a fitting monologue at least 3 weeks ahead (if you need a monologue that is over a minute long, look asap).

Start memorizing two weeks in advance! You want to know your monologue like the back of your hand by the time auditions roll around.

Set up or update your resume if you have or need one. If you're director calls for a list of acting experience, make a resume—there are free templates on Google and they look more professional.

If needed, get headshots! These are easy to do by yourself, and if you're a student actor you can just use a school photo.

04.12.2019 | day nineteen