Why join or not join a union? If you join a union, whether it’s Equity or SAG-AFTRA, you are guaranteed a certain amount of money per week. You have rights as an actor, and actors always need to look for places where they have rights because we are easily preyed upon. I don’t just mean things related to the MeToo movement. It can even be something like a director deciding to keep the actors past the allotted eight hours.

We need to work on actors’ knowledge of this during online performing arts education. For example, when you’re told to stay late, you can say, “I’m in Equity, I’m out,” and no harm should come to you. The same goes for SAG-AFTRA members.

When you’re in a union, the pay scale is different, and you have rights. You can be called to set, but you need a 12-hour turnaround time. They have to give you 12 hours from the time you get the call to the time you have to show up. That’s not always the case if you work non-union.

In a union, you have the possibility of health benefits if you work a certain amount. Also, the union automatically has a retirement fund for you.

On the other hand, anyone in performing arts education should also be aware of the disadvantages of being in a union. You can’t do non-union work if you are in a union. In markets like LA and New York, that’s less of an issue because there’s a lot of union work in those places. In off markets, it could be more of a problem.

For example, I came across this in Seattle quite often because I was in AFTRA. There were things that I could not do. There was a fair amount of performing arts work there that I just couldn’t take because I was in the union, and I wasn’t willing to give up that status for it. I was not willing to work non-union and change my face and name just to get work. That’s crossing lines, and I don’t believe in that. I think unions are an amazing thing.

The question about whether or not you should join is a very personal one. If you are comfortable doing work that is non-union, and you are working a fair amount or fairly often, then there’s no need for you to join. If you want to get into a larger market and do the bigger work, then you should join the union.

I think that would be my advice. Also, if you’re in, you can decide to defer or leave and then do non-union work, but it’s a bit of a steep thing to get into. Not everybody is very interested or curious about trying to get out of it.

When studying performing arts education or online performing arts education, it’s important to study the patterns and the history of how modern theater came to be and how it was influenced by its predecessors.

Back in 1925, W.E.B. Du Bois created his own performing arts script theater company called the Krigwa Players. What that theater company did was propose the idea that the African-American community needed to create new works. They couldn’t rely upon any sort of theater that existed from the previous century because it was all stereotypical.

The creation of a new Blacks dramaturgy was championed with the emergence of new playwrights. Before the theater came along Angelina Weld Grimke began to write the play “Rachel,” which was a lynching play. You also began to see the early mentorship of people such as Langston Hughes, who came along and became much more of a force by the late 1930s and early 1940s.

You have non-black artists like George Gershwin, who loved opera and was inspired by Black African-American culture. He wanted to do something there. He came along and he created Porgy and Bess. It became a classic, grand, comical opera.

By the time you get into the 1930s, you have the emergence of a dynamic and more authentic African-American experience. Then what occurred during the Great Depression was the Federal Theater Project in which the government pumped money into different industries to give people a chance. They wanted to give people an opportunity to earn an honest dollar.

As part of that, artists were employed. There was a Black unit of the Federal Theater Project. It’s through that when you begin to get a number of theater companies that popped up here and there, supported by the government. There was a generation of professional Black actors who were given a chance because of support by local governments and by the federal government at large.

That propelled the future of American theater. You can almost say that every 20 years a generation passes the torch to the next generation. It’s the Negro theater unit of the Federal Theater Project that then passed the torch to those who then were the youngsters in the 1960s. This influenced people like Amiri Baraka and Lorraine Hansberry.

“A dancer is expected to embody the vision of dance,” says Jeff Kaplan. “They’re expected to take movement so they are the personification of that art on stage. Particularly in modern dance, choreographers tend to see themselves as facilitators, so they might take a group of dancers and say, ‘OK, I’d like you to journal a little. And then from what you write, we’re going to take out moments, next we’re going to take up verbs, we’re going to take out nouns, and lastly, we’re going to turn them into shapes. Now, you go over there and create eight accounts and we’re going to look at it and glue it together.”

He goes on to explain that in the ballet world it’s still more traditional for the choreographer to tell the dancers what to do. The choreographer is in charge of creating the original work. This is even taught in online performing arts education.

So unlike other performing arts, like a play, you are creating what you perform. Unlike a symphony orchestra, where you get sheet music, the content doesn’t exist yet. So in dance, the day-to-day work happens in the studio. It happens collaboratively. And you’re working as a team to create and perform something new from the knowledge with performing arts education.

When starting a performing arts project from the very beginning, it’s important to understand exactly what kind of production you have. It’s very different to produce a piece that needs a very affluent audience, for example, than it is to produce a piece that would be perfectly happy downtown in one of these warehouses. An example might be when I first saw “Little Shop of Horrors” when it was done off Broadway, more like off off Broadway.

The paint was peeling on the walls, the springs were coming through the bald, frayed seats. You felt like you were taking your life in your hands to get down to that part of the East Village. When Audrey sang about somewhere that’s green, you really knew she needed to get somewhere that’s green. What that showed is that the producers of that piece, the creators of that piece, had a really solid understanding of the context that would serve that piece, especially at the beginning.

It often seems that when a young playwright has a first treatment of a script, or a young group of actors comes together and talks about wanting to create a piece of theater on a certain theme, that one member of the team might have one way of describing the theme, and the second, third, and fourth members might have something that was just a little bit different. My response is, “Are you sure you all want to make the same thing?” And again, it’s not about rigidity or making everything homogeneous, but it’s being able to answer that core specific question, “What is it? What is the thing that you want to make, and who do you want to make it for?”

I’m from Los Angeles, California, and I remember there was a performing arts group that I worked with that my grandma found from “LA Weekly” magazine or whatever. It was called “Rock Theater,” and we would sing rock music and theater music. It was my training ground because I was with other students, other young people, that loved what I loved. I was no longer this oddball. I could express myself and sing “Annie” at the top of my lungs and feel like other people would sing along and know the words.

Why am I sharing this part of my life with you today? I think it’s important to have a safe place in your community where you can go to truly express yourself and find acceptance. Theater is that for so many people. I know it was definitely that place for me.

Inspiration Found in Communities

I recently saw “Hercules” at the Public Theater as part of the Public Works program. The musical had professional actors. I had friends that were in it. But, then, the production also had actors from the local community who had never been on a stage before. They had to do their pieces. They had to make this production together.

It was so inspiring. They had people of all ages in it.

I think about it, and I remember myself as a young person. I think about how incredible it would have been to have shared a stage with professionals at a young age and just watch them and learn from them. Although I think it’s so important that Broadway is one stop and one place where incredible theater happens, never forget that amazing theater experiences can happen all over.

It’s important. It’s why I believe it’s important when I do a concert. It’s one of the things that I love because some people who attend say, “I could never make it to New York, but here you are singing this for me.”

Online Performing Arts Education

While pursuing a performing arts education and after, it’s important that you give back to your community. As far as you go, it’s important to look back and also take some people with you. Don’t ever forget where you came from wherever you go in life. Don’t ever forget that the more you give back to your community, the more your community continues to thrive and give back to everyone.

I would say that Broadway, in terms of musical theater, started in the 19th century. Most histories of musical theater point to a production called “The Black Crook,” which began in 1866.

It was this extravaganza. It was a five-and-a-half hours show. But people didn’t sit and watch the whole thing. They would see part of it, and then they would go to dinner. They might come back, play cards or throw things at the stage. If you were a theater-goer in 1866, you would also talk a lot. Theater was a very raucous and public kind of activity back then. The modern equivalent would be like you playing a TV loudly in the background.

Why Is “The Black Crook” Important?

“The Black Crook” didn’t really have a plot. It had pyrotechnics. It had all kinds of lighting and stage effects. At that time, theaters kind of resembled navy battleships. The lower levels looked like engine rooms, and they had these massive machines that could change the sets very quickly and do all kinds of amazing things.

“The Black Crook” also had ballet dancers. In the production’s origin story, this troupe of ballerinas were going to perform, and, supposedly, the theater where they planned to perform burned down. Theater fires happened a lot back in those days, especially when using gas lighting in structures made of wood and decorated with fabric.

But, supposedly, this troupe of ballerinas and production were in this theater, and they decided to produce this special dance routine. In it, the ballerinas were naked. I don’t really mean “naked,” but at the time they were wearing clothes considered very, very scandalous for that era.

“The Black Crook” was a very risqué, burlesque kind of thing. And, yet, it went on and on for 474 performances. It was this phenomenon.

Online Performing Arts Education

From “The Black Crook,” we can learn, as performers and other performing arts professionals and students, a lot of interesting things about theater, productions and audiences. We discover that stage effects and taboo displays can sometimes be enough to make a show that doesn’t have much of a plot a huge success. We learn that an interesting origin story makes a production a memorable historical event. During a performing arts education course, we can also learn through historical accounts of mistakes by past theater crews more about important safety concerns.

Let’s talk about flooring and how it impacts a dance.

Let’s say you’re working in tap shoes. Tap shoes, as we all know, have metal on the bottom of each shoe, right? Well, if you’re tapping, then that surface you’re tapping on is important.

Is it tile?
Is it wood?
Is it cork?
Is it slippery?
Is it sticky?

You need to know the answers to these questions to provide the best performance possible.

Furniture can also double as flooring, which means you need to know how all of the onstage elements interact together. These elements are going to give you wonderful choices. If you said, “Oh, I’d like them to dance on that piece of furniture, or I’d like them to tap on that piece of furniture.” Well, you need to make sure that the particular piece of furniture is, first of all, going to allow you to do that instead of unsafe for a dancer to use and a fall or collapse risk.

Performing Arts Education

Your online performing arts education can help you better understand all of the elements of a stage, set or other performance area. It opens your eyes to what you need to take into account to make a performance a success. It can also teach you how to do a better job at protecting yourself and others from common accidents.

The publicizing part is actually mostly complete if you are very clear about why you’re producing your show in an elevator pitch and already talking about your vision, strategy and execution plans to people who can help you achieve your dreams and goals. It’s merely a matter of thinking outside the box to find the people who can help you.

Reaching the Right Audience

I didn’t go to school to become a publicist, which means that my training came through real-world, hands-on experiences. One of the greatest gifts that has come my way over the years was the knowledge about how to attract interest in shows. It really is all about who you know in this industry, especially in a time when it’s actually extremely difficult to get reviews.

Obstacles in Every Direction

It’s especially hard to get reviews in New York City. This region is oversaturated. It’s just hard. There are only a handful of reviewers. There are only a few places you can go to actually get what you need in order to make a press kit, which is why you really have to think outside the box.

In my case, I use every possible method I can think of to reach potential reviewers, including postal direct mailers, email lists and social media. I use all of to get the word out.

When using these methods, you need to answer in engaging ways common questions like:

– What is your show about?
– Is there something very unique about your show that would be of interest?

Believe you me, there is a blogger out there who’s interested in that one thing, whatever it is, that makes your show worth people’s time and money. You merely need to explore the possibilities.

Online Performing Arts Education

It’s funny. This morning, I was working on something similar to this discussion in relation to thinking about how we create content. We think that if we can just find the stories, then we’ll be able to get outlets interested in our content.

Publicizing is more than just writing a press release and sending it out to everyone even though you do need to have one. A press release just lets people know what’s going on and when it’s happening. What you need more is the follow up.

To attract that interest, you need to have a clear idea of why you want specific publications, media outlets, bloggers and others, to come see your show. This is where your performing arts education can help you. Your courses can give you the knowledge and tools to come up with these answers and attract interest in your shows.

“Props are anything that an actor might touch or handle,” Gianni Downs says. “Sometimes you might refer to them as properties. And you can think of them in a couple of different ways.”

Hand props are props that actors will carry around with them. There are set props that may exist in a room, such as a furniture that an actor cannot move on their own. Then there are decorative props, such as curtains hanging on the wall or paintings that may be present. You can think of anything that isn’t built by the carpentry shop as a prop. These are frequently things that you might come across in your daily life.

Is the couch upholstered? What type of upholstery is it? Is it made of wood? Is it made of metal? These elements may tell the audience in a matter of seconds who the individual in a room is or what the play is about. This is considered to be performing arts.

When it comes to staging design, such small changes may significantly influence. And these are the kinds of judgments that a designer must make regularly.

And it is your responsibility to make those decisions. And your choices should be influenced by the program you’re working on as well as the characters that inhabit it. These skills can be acquired through online performing arts education.

Often, there will be a significant meal scene in many older programs. And this may be for a Christmas party or a particular function. A table scene can often serve as the focal point of an entire play.

One props designer told me that mashed potatoes are used in almost all her creations. As a result, she can shape it into a variety of different shapes. She can dye it in a variety of colors.

It’s also simple for people to consume. Furthermore, almost no one is allergic to it. So you’ll often see mounds of different things on a plate that people are eating. And it could be mashed potatoes.

Alcohol is another thing that is very common in the theater. So many shows revolve around people making poor choices. And those decisions are frequently made while under the influence of alcohol.

As a result, a large part of my job as a scene designer is to plan out where the furniture will be placed on the stage. The director and I will work closely together to determine where items will go, how they will be set, and what angle they will be.

Performing arts education helps in decision making. It’s a good idea to consider what kinds of chairs may exist in the environment you’re building. Are there any weapons? Is this a high-backed chair?

And if you’re going to drink on stage, you should drink something that looks like alcohol but won’t get the actor intoxicated. As a result, flat soda is frequently used. Food coloring and water can be used.

It may be fluids. I’ve heard of people using different teas to achieve different hues. And you can come across property designers who have recipe books for various types of booze, whether it’s brandy, whiskey, or something else. You can be seeking something, or the script might be asking for something.

In a theatrical context, one of the big things that you focus on is the band. You first ask yourself what the band is going to be and how many people will be in it. You often make that decision or at least start to formulate some possible answers before you ever speak to any orchestrator. Why? It all comes down to your production’s sound budget.

A Sound Budget’s Impact

While preparing a production, there will be issues because of the budget. Cost must be taken into account. We might say that we think we can afford four musicians or 14 musicians or 140 musicians, whatever the number that works for that production, but then we have to look at our budget before we go any further. The budget is essential to making a theatrical production work, after all. I must remind myself that I can’t be insensitive to those issues.

I have to look at that number and ask myself how do I make it work. Can I make that work? Do I feel I need to argue for more musicians?

Working Within a Budget

Somebody might say, for example, “You’ve got 12.” You might think: Okay. Well, we need to have this, that and the other to suit this style of music. Generally speaking, we have six, seven, or eight choices in say that kind of number, which are going to be absolutely essential.

If it’s a pop kind of score, you know you’re going to need drums, bass guitar, and people. These things are pretty obvious. You then think about what other band-related things you need. What other colors are you looking for within this production? What’s going to tell this story best?

You might then say to yourself: I really think I’m going to need to have 13 for this production, which means you must try to make a convincing argument to the GMs. Sometimes, it works. You get what you need. Sometimes, it doesn’t work, and then you have to find a way to make the score sound as good as it can within the confines of what’s available.

Performing Arts Education

One thing you learn more about through your online performing arts education is how the sound budget and other budgets impact a production. You also learn methods to help you try to make certain that a show will go on as planned even if a budget doesn’t support everything that would normally go into that particular production.