Actors’ Unions and What Comes With Joining One

Yellowbrick on December 24, 2021

What is an Actors’ Union? Just like with any other union, these organizations can help performing arts students and actors network and find like-minded people to spend their time with.

“There’s a Screen Actors Guild for media,” says Jeff Kaplan. “There’s also a union for stage called Actors’ Equity.” The majority of Equity actors are not working, so the Equity card that comes with the Actors’ Equity union doesn’t guarantee actors work, but it does help get them access to higher-level productions and jobs.

“They set pay scales. That’s probably the one that performers are most interested in, but they do other things. They provide basic minimums for workplace safety, the number of hours you can work, what time you have to be done, how you resolve conflicts during productions. They have health insurance.”

Joining an Actors’ Union

Getting into one of these unions can be tricky. In order to join a union, you have to perform in plays that are union-only, which results in a chicken-and-egg situation: how do you get into a union-only play if you’re not yet a union member? These unions have apprenticeship programs set up that allow a handful of non-union actors to perform, but the number of actors is kept at that handful in order to keep the union’s roster exclusive.

Is there a downside to joining an actors’ union? The union will provide actors with a lot of opportunities, but it does limit their actors as well. For instance, if you are a part of an actors’ union, you have to get written permission to perform in a non-union play, which is why not everyone chooses to join a union. They like to keep their options fully open, but on the flip side, they are limited to only working non-union plays.

When seeking a performing arts education, whether it’s an online performing arts education or an in-person one, students usually have a lot of questions about unions, like how to join one or whether or not you should. It’s made more complicated by the number of unions out there. “In brief,” says Shanga Parker, “there’s AEA. That is the union for theater actors and stage managers. And then there’s SAG-AFTRA. They’re combined now. Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists-they used to be separate, now they are one. And that is for film and TV.

Each union has a different way of becoming a member. AEA, or the Actors’ Equity Association, allows actors to submit paperwork after being cast in one of their specified shows. Once an actor joins a show that counts for the union and submits the paperwork, they’re considered an Equity Membership Candidate, or EMC. As an actor works on an Equity production, they accrue points week by week. Once they’ve built up enough points, they can join AEA.

However, AEA requires an initiation fee alongside the point requirement. That initiation fee has varied over the years, but it’s usually to the sum of a couple thousand dollars.

SAG-AFTRA works similarly in that you can get cast in a union role and choose to take it or not. The difference with SAG-AFTRA is that membership is affected by something called the Taft Hartley Act, which was written for a different reason but applies to the union. Essentially, the Taft Hartley Act gives you the choice of joining the union upon taking your first union role, but declining is also an option. That said, if you take a second union role, you’re required to join the union at that point, and there’s an initiation fee of a couple thousand dollars as well. Actors need to weigh the benefits of union membership with the initiation fee and plan accordingly.

Bringing a Script to Life

Yellowbrick on December 24, 2021

The first thing you want to think about after you figure out for whom you are making a performing arts production is the quality of articulation of the story that’s being told. If you’re dealing with a script, and it’s written in vernacular, everyday language, is it as strong as it could be? Do you believe that the writer has a singular voice and talent that is ready for and deserves to be nurtured by full production?

Sometimes producer Elizabeth Bradley thinks that some of the most promising early playwrights are lost because they’re simply produced as needed and not produced as ready. Another problem that can occur is that they’d be much better writers if they were produced more frequently, earlier on, because, like everything else, it’s a craft. You get better at it, but where a particular writer will fall on that spectrum comes down to the play, the writer, and the piece.

In performing arts education or online performing arts education, you’ll learn to explore all of these essential questions. Do you have the right match of director? Does the director actually have a sense of conviction of what the sensibility of the piece needs? Can they partner with the writer? If they’re doing a revival of a classic play and they’re completely reinventing something, is the reinventing trenchant? Is it necessary?

Budgeting for Theater Productions

Yellowbrick on December 24, 2021

When Malini Singh McDonald did Black Henna, for the first show they did a reading, and then they knew they were going to do a full production. They knew the first step would be to think about how much money this was going to cost. That’s always the first step in performing arts. How much money is this going to cost?

It’s so important to think it through, and luckily there are budgets that you can find in online performing arts education to give you an idea of how much each area is going to cost, more or less. Areas to consider are your space, your rehearsal space, because those are two separate things unless you can get a package, PR, music, and licensing.

In McDonald’s experience, they kind of had a budget but then forgot some line items like insurance. They begged, borrowed, and stole before coming up with their current style of finding investors. They just reached out to people and said, “Hey, we need X amount of dollars to get us to this point.” Thankfully, people loved them, and they loved people, so a lot of people were able to just give them the money.

Having learned from this experience though, they ended up in future productions really getting clear about the budget and then thinking about how they’re going to actually fund it. Not to say they don’t beg and borrow anymore. There are times they need to ask for more money because something comes up. One thing to learn in performing arts education is to always expect the unexpected.

For example, let’s say you budgeted $2,500 for this line item, and then it turns out to be $4,000 just because stuff happens. Plan ahead, stick to your budget, but budget for the unexpected.

What Is a Tech Rider?

Yellowbrick on December 24, 2021

The music industry uses a lot of terms that might sound particularly foreign if you’re not familiar with the business. For live performers, one important term is “tech rider,” which includes a stage plot and input list. The stage plot is a picture of all the instruments on stage, the monitor placements, and the names of the people in the band that are taking part in the performance.

That stage plot also includes an input list, which specifies all the different inputs the front-of-house engineer needs to put into the system. These inputs would be anything creating audio from the stage that you want the audience to hear, such as drums, bass, guitar, vocals, keyboard, drum machines, synthesizers, or anything else that makes a sound. Each instrument on the input list should be numbered; this lets everyone talk about each one by its number.

A tech rider includes all of the proper amplification needed for a show to take place. Many people have subwoofers on their tech rider, but they might also use a certain amplitude of speakers and monitors; all of it is meant to help them make sure that they have a professional environment for their show to take place in.

Secrets of the Tech Rider

When a performer is on stage, there are speakers that point back at them. Those speakers play a mix of all the instrumentation that they are most comfortable with while performing. This monitor mix is actually a really cool thing that most people don’t know about unless they’ve pursued a music education; it lets the performer hear their instrument or vocals at their preferred volume level. It makes the performer comfortable knowing they can choose whatever they want their mix to be.

For example, some music performers don’t like to hear their own vocals, but others want their in-ear vocals to be loud. The monitors allow the performer to have the mix that they want separately from what the rest of the venue hears.

In addition to those monitors, there are also in-ear monitors that perfomers can wear like headphones. They’re controlled with a fader system by a mix engineer that’s off to the side of the stage.

What About Backlines?

Another word that you might encounter in your online music education is “backline.” A backline is a list of instruments and gear that the venue offers you when you arrive. This can include mic stands, keyboard stands, amplification devices, guitar stands, microphones, and many other things that the performer may need.

Most venues have a backline section on their website that indicates the things they have available for use by the performers. It’s best to double-check that section before visiting a venue. It’s also a good idea to email the venue before arriving to make sure everything is still on track for the show. It’s always good to have a backup plan in case something goes wrong, as you never know what is going to happen.

Die Sitzprobe and the Performing Arts

Yellowbrick on December 24, 2021

What was very different for me in preparing for a musical that isn’t always covered in performing arts education is something called a sitzprobe. I had never heard of it before, but it’s when you go and, for the first time, you actually sing with the orchestra. You’re in the room with them, and it’s terrifying and thrilling.

The other thing that needs to be covered more in online performing arts education is that it’s such a big group of people on such a large stage that they literally have handlers backstage. You don’t even have to know your cue. Somebody literally comes into your dressing room, takes you where you’re supposed to enter, and pushes you on at the time you’re supposed to go. I mean, there are no accidents here, and I know it wasn’t just for me. I know that’s what they do because I’m pretty good at knowing when to walk on the stage. But it was both frightening to give up that control and kind of comforting to be taken care of in that way.

What Makes a Good Manager in the Music Industry – do not publish

Yellowbrick on December 24, 2021

When it comes to music, following the artist is an important area. We follow the song to begin with. We follow the money of the song. And now we’re going to follow the artist. And what is there to follow, you may ask?

I can’t tell you the number of times an artist comes into my office, comes to talk to me about management or comes in looking for an opportunity and they’re talking about their team. They’ve got their lawyer, their manager, their agent, their publicist, their digital marketing, all of these things. And what I’ll say is, “That’s great. Now, where’s the music?”

We’re going to talk about the right time to find those people to help you out in your career. And we’re also going to talk about what those people do and how they surround the artist. I like to call the artist the orbit because if you think about the globe, and you think about the artists in the middle of that globe, all of the people that are satellites around that globe are the people in the artist’s orbit and the people who are responsible for different areas of the artist’s career. Hopefully, you add those people at the time when you actually need them, as opposed to collecting people’s work for you when there really isn’t anything to do.

First and foremost, the most important member of that team is ultimately the artist’s manager. Now a lot of you are probably wondering how you can know when you’re supposed to get a manager. The answer is you get a manager when you realize that you no longer have time to manage all of the things that are happening in your career. That’s the time to get a manager and not before. If you can do it yourself, then you should do it yourself. If you can’t do it yourself, it’s time to get a manager.

That means when you’re generating income, when you have shows, you have opportunities, when income is coming in and you actually have something to manage. Many artists make the mistake of putting the cart before the horse and getting a manager when there’s nothing really to manage. Once you know you need a manager, the next question is how do you know who the right manager is for you?

In my estimation, the right manager is the most experienced person, and the one who’s the most excited about what you can do and get. In a nutshell, when you have something going on, managers will come to you. When you have nothing going on and there’s nothing to manage, you’ll have a very difficult time getting a manager.

Ultimately, the most important person in your deal is your manager. This is because he or she is the go-between for you and the label. It needs to be a manager who really understands the music business. The manager is the person who wants to turn the artist’s career into ten times more than what they actually have seen. The manager is the one who’s going to be the go-between, the liaison who makes everything run smoothly between the artist and the label, or the artist and Spotify, or the artist and title, or just the artist and everybody.

The artist should be truly focused on making great music. The manager should never want to do that. The manager should just be thinking that they want this artist to be the biggest thing going on in the world and that they’re going to do whatever they can to make that happen. If, as the artist, you don’t believe that someone is going to be that person for you, then that means it’s time to find a new manager. What it ultimately comes down to is that the manager needs to believe in the artist. If they don’t, then they’re just somebody looking for money, and as the artist, you’re going to get screwed.

Online music education is a wonderful way to learn more about what makes a good manager, how to find one, and many more great lessons on finding success in the music industry. And what could be better than a quality music education from the comfort of your own home?

Different Performing Arts Have Unique Needs for Costume Design

Yellowbrick on December 24, 2021

One thing that’s important to think about in your online performing arts education is that there are many differences between designing costume for film and designing for the theater, the opera, or music. “I think the biggest difference is that in theater, you see the whole costume, you see the whole person, and you see actors all together,” says Durinda Wood. “Shoes are also really important because they are usually in the audience’s eye line.”

Durinda explains how background design affects designing costumes for the theater: “The background is very stationary. You know exactly what that background’s going to be. … Artistically, it’s much easier to design for theater and opera and know that your vision is going to be the way that you designed it.”

“I love theater and opera. I always thought that I would be a theater designer,” Durinda says. She notes that “one thing about the opera is that the singers are just singers. They’re not necessarily actors. And they’re much less demanding, I would say, about their costumes. I think they really just want to be able to sing. That’s their most important thing.” She adds that sometimes simple changes are called for, like loosening a collar or vest to allow an opera singer enough room to vocalize comfortably.

If you consider a career in costume design as you pursue your performing arts education, it’s nice to know that Durinda also says she’s found that both opera singers and theater actors enjoy working with costume designers and treat them with respect.

What Makes Compelling Musical Storytelling?

Yellowbrick on December 24, 2021

The blogosphere, as it was built, really influenced music journalism. I believe this is because people gravitated toward the blogs because they had a different sense of voice than what a digital publication might have. There was not only a playfulness with these blogs but also a sense of perspective that people really grew to appreciate. And that came in a lot of different forms across a lot of different blogs.

Overall, though, I think there’s a reason why the blogosphere was influential and, to some degree, still is. There is that voice. There’s a kind of perspective that makes you want to engage over and over again, and not just with one piece of content. You want to return to getting that perspective and getting that sense of self you might not necessarily find on a major digital publication.

To me personally, any article that is compelling is a good music journalism piece. There are so many different ways to tell the story of an artist, or a song, or an album, or a trend in music. There are also so many different voices. For example, some of my favorite writers who focus on music sound completely different from some of my other favorites, and I believe that’s because they have a developed voice.

Not only does a great piece of musical journalism need to be persuasive, but it also needs to be compelling. There have been times when I’ve read something that I completely disagreed with, but I ended up loving it because it shed some new light on a topic that I hadn’t previously considered. It was able to add a different sense of perspective, and I always appreciate that as a reader, as an editor, and as a writer myself.

I think that a compelling piece of musical journalism needs to grab your attention. That’s what I mean when I say compelling. It needs to be able to differentiate itself from the sea of coverage, of stories, of posts and of links that make their way online.

At Billboard, that’s what we try to offer every day. We try to offer voices not only within our analysis and our essays and our persuasive pieces of content, but also in terms of our in-depth coverage and our reporting. That can take the form of a reported piece with multiple sources you trust because of the brand name of the writer and the publication. Ultimately, a good piece of musical journalism might come in any of a lot of different boxes, but I believe that overall, it just has to be compelling in some way.

If you’re interested in learning more about music journalism and the music industry, give online music education a try. It is far and away the most accessible way to attain the music education that you desire.

Early Black Representation in the Performing Arts

Yellowbrick on December 24, 2021

The core of theater, going back to the Greeks, was to actually see yourself represented on stage. W.E.B. Du Bois said that Black theater should be theater that is written by us, by African-Americans, to be representative for us and to be shown near us.

Now’s the time to create a new representation of Blackness, a new look, and a new authentic appearance in the performing arts.

Performing arts education can help people understand Black theater history better by explaining why some performers did the types of shows they did.

Let’s go back to this idea of seeing yourself appearing on stage. If you were to read an issue of “The Crisis,” which was a magazine that was published by W.E.B. Du Bois, you would encounter stories of authentic Black life. Those stories would be presented on stage eventually, and not just by families by the fireside.

Slowly, over time, across the 1920s to the 1950s and so on, an Americanized version of theater emerged. We tend to imagine and pretend that Black theater came along in the 1960s, and that’s not true. Online performing arts education will hopefully start to dispel this false idea.

We had people in the 19th century like Bert Williams, who began as a blackface performer. He partnered with his friend, George Walker, and they went on stage with one in blackface and one not. They traveled across the vaudeville circuit and performed this way.

George Walker was the straight man to Bert Williams’ more comedic, stereotypical character. With the pairing of those two, they began to strip away the artifice and the mask that was blackface.

By the 20th century, the most heavily laden aspects of the blackface stereotype had gone away. You could begin to see the kind of comedy that was beneath it. That’s what Bert Williams did. He was the most popular performer in all of US theater, certainly in the first decade of the 1900s.

We had other actors who emerged, as well, like Charles Gilpin. Gilpin’s claim to fame was “The Emperor Jones,” which was a play by Eugene O’Neill. Charles Gilpin played the proud, confident character of Brutus Jones, a Chicago-born Pullman porter.

In the play, Jones moves to Haiti and becomes an emperor under somewhat corrupt circumstances. Later, he finds himself haunted and possessed by the spirits of the island.

That play was a Broadway hit for Gilpin, making him a star. George Walker also became a tremendously successful and well-known figure until he was replaced by a young up-and-coming actor by the name of Paul Robeson.

Paul Robeson started performing a national tour of the “The Emperor Jones.” Because of that, it seemed like his career catapulted. He did the film version of “The Emperor Jones” and went on to star in a number of other films. He went back and forth between the concert hall as a singer and Broadway as a performer. And he was there when the LA entertainment culture emerged.

The Importance of Live Performances and Touring in Music

Yellowbrick on December 24, 2021

When you talk about revenue streams in the music industry, without a doubt, the biggest source of revenue for the majority of major artists these days is live performances and touring. Live performances and touring, if you think about it compared to traditional spins or record sales, for example, maybe you sell a million records. Then maybe it takes a year to sell a million records. Or maybe you get a million spins, but it takes 10 months, or 11 months, or 12 months to reach those kinds of numbers.

An artist who is getting that level of sales and performance royalties most likely is able to sell out Madison Square Garden. An artist will make more in one night in Madison Square Garden than they will in the first six months of releasing a song. So every big artist realizes that the music is the business card that gets you in the door to touring and really generating that income. Because, at the end of the day, an artist will end up making more money in one month of good strong touring than they will in a year of spins and performances on the radio and likewise. That’s a good bit of music education to be aware of.

The best advice I could give to any aspiring artist is to make your live show fantastic, and the way you make a live show fantastic is to simply play live. There’s no secret. That’s how you do it. The old adage in the music industry is a band who plays 100 shows live is a completely different band from the one who plays their first show. A lot of times when big artists tour, you’ll find that the first couple of weeks of the tour, they’re in playing secondary or tertiary markets.

You might wonder something along the lines of why Rihanna is in West Palm Beach and San Antonio as opposed to New York, Dallas, Boston, Los Angeles, or any other major media mecca center. It’s because artists always want to gather some steam, get the machine running smoothly, get the kinks out of a show, and really make it run well. And in today’s shows, that’s no small feat. Don’t neglect the importance of this as you continue your online music education.

Between the pyrotechnics, the sound, the lighting, the staging, and all the things that go on, it’s really important that all pistons are firing at the same time to make the show great. Now, I understand that you guys aren’t all going to be selling out Madison Square Garden like Drake. You need to make your live show compelling on the club level. It doesn’t matter if there are five people there, 50 people there, or 500 people there. You have to make it kill.

That means you rehearse. That means you build your following. That means you slowly build your audience outside the epicenter of your home base. If you’re a New York-based band, you shouldn’t overplay in New York.

You play a show in Brooklyn, maybe a show in Manhattan. Take a little break. Do you play a show in Westchester? Yes. Maybe try and hit Philly. Maybe you go into Hartford. Maybe you go into Boston. Slowly build your center out. That’s how you build a fan base.

This is a great story that I love to tell. A friend of mine was a manager in Chicago for many years. He was a very big manager and managed a lot of really great acts. Artists would call him all the time in Chicago and say, “Hey, we’re looking for a manager.” And he would say, “Can you sell out the Metro?” For those of you who don’t know, the Metro is a historic club in Chicago.

Every great artist has come through the Metro. It doesn’t matter if you’re the Smashing Pumpkins or Kanye. It’s about a 900-capacity room and very famous. Every great artist who’s come through Chicago has sold out the Metro. More often than not, the artists say, “Well, no, I can’t sell out the Metro. I can sell like 300 tickets.” And he would say, “Well, when you sell out the Metro, give me a call again.”

All this to say you’re not going to be the biggest band in the world if you’re not the biggest band in your hometown. So build your fan base locally. Build those fans, the real fans that are going to stick with you through thick and thin before you try to take over the world. Everybody starts with 1,000 real fans and builds up from there, and you need to do the exact same thing.

Get critical feedback about your show. Make sure your show is great, and when you play, make sure it’s an event. If you overplay, nobody’s going to want to see you anymore. That’s going to have a long-term effect on how you’re going to make a significant amount of money in the music industry if you’re a performer. And if you’re a manager, that’s also how you’re going to make commission.