thestudyofdrama

[thestudyofdrama]

Though I've all but abandoned this blog, here's a happy update!

I went back to school and graduated with my BA in Theatre this year, at 28 years old.

I got a job with a company (regular day job, not theatre related), and now I'm working full time whilst working on myself and non-theatre/acting related things in my life. I'll still end up in acting and other misc creative pursuits, but I am an excellent example of life taking a detour and finding your way back.

Keep dreaming, kids. All you experience will enrich your storytelling.

So, I’ll be 26 this winter. I’ve been trying to get my undergrad degree since 2013. So far that’s seven years. It’ll be another 2 or 3 before I have enough money to return to school to get my Bachelor’s.

I want all of you to know, specifically all of you who are studying to be actors or trying to make a career in acting: It’s okay to take a break and do other things for a while.

The industry and the people who run it can really suck sometimes. I’ve struggled for a long time with the fact that I will not be a bright eyed teen or youth when I finally graduate and get to start my post-educational professional career. It happens sometimes. No matter your journey to having an acting career, your journey is your own.

I’ve had and will have careers in fields other than acting before I get to be an actor. Right now, I’m working in a museum, for an indie film company, and a full time job in retail, in order to gain some kind of nonprofit experience (the first two) and to have a steady source of income (the third).

Being an actor and trying to have an acting career these days is not easy. The pressure to look a certain way is immense, and sometimes you drop an incredible amount of money to try to achieve The Look or get The Education or The Social Media Following or The Brand to catch casting’s attention. And that sucks, because actors have, for the most part, always been working class workers. It angers me to no end the amount of money it seems like you have to pour into acting to see even a tiny bit of output - headshots, reels, clothing, makeup, health, living in a big city, etc.

Despite all this, I still have optimism and hope and faith in my abilities. I know that I’m good, castable, a hard worker, someone who can take direction, works well with my cast and crew, and studies like none other. So even if the journey to get to my intended career as an actor takes a bit longer, I know I’ll get there.

#thestudyofdrama

[thestudyofdrama]

Acting Shakespeare, one man show/masterclass by Sir Ian McKellen. I’ve watched this a million times and I love it every time. The filmed version is from 1989.

#sir ian mckellen #acting shakespeare #acting #thestudyofdrama #masterclass #acting major #theater major #studyblr #collegeblr #dramablr

[thestudyofdrama]

Top Seven: Websites

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

Goodness I love this website. I can’t find sheet music for Die Päpstin anywhere else but here! You can use their advance search to filter shows by country, which streamlines your quest for more international musicals even quicker!

#theater #theatre #theaterblr #theatreblr #dramablr #actingblr #acting #drama #european musicals #acting major #theater major #theatre major #scribd #shakespeare #thestudyofdrama #podcasts

[thestudyofdrama]

Hey thespians! I’ll be coming back from hiatus soon with a ton of master posts, links, resources, and guides. If there is anything you’d like to see in particular, drop me an ask!

Hi thespians!

I have a ton of posts in my drafts, but the hiatus is still ongoing as I figure out some stuff going on in my life. Will keep you posted, but hopefully will get this blog going during the academic year!!

[thestudyofdrama]

Skills I’d Like to Have

Polyglot: I’d like to speak several languages. Specifically, at minimum, Spanish, French, German, and Dutch. There are others, but I’d like to be completely fluent in those four. Why? There are a ton of plays and musicals I love in those languages that I would love to direct or act in.

Dance: I love musical theater, and I love dancing, but I have two left feet! I’m aiming to take more dance classes in the future.

Athletic ability: I’m a total klutz, but if I can lift a bit more or a run a bit faster or be able to swim, there are more roles and possibilities open to me.

Piano/guitar/harmonica/instrument playing: There are so many roles that either include or are improved by the actor being a proficient musician. Currently, I play piano, I’m working on acoustic guitar, and I’m about to start electric guitar, but I’m aiming to get a harp next year or in 2022 and take lessons.

Baton twirling: Because it’s fun, that’s why!

Whistle with my fingers: So I can hail a cab in the Big Apple!

Moonwalking: So I can show off at parties!

Juggle” Party trick!

Tie a tie: Because I want to wear tuxedos and look hella dapper!

Say the alphabet backwards: Tongue twister for vocal warm ups!

Stage combat: So I can be in ALL the Shakespeare! I want to be Mercutio! I want to be Hamlet! I want to be a sword wielding Beatrice!

Morse Code: I don’t know, it just seems like a cool thing to know and put on a resume!

Start a fire with tinder and kindling: In case I’m ever in a survival movie!

Knitting: It’s cute stage business!

Swimming: So I can be prepared in case I decide to work as a professional mermaid

#thestudyofdrama #skills id like to have #acting #drama #acting major #drama majo #theater major #theatre major #theater #theatre

[thestudyofdrama]

Clothes All Thespians Should Own

1) An all-black outfit: Black shirt, black pants, black socks, black shoes. Long, short sleeve, and tank top. This is number one on this list, because it’s the thing you will need most often, no doubt.

2) Character shoes.

3) Ballet shoes (for dance class), tap shoes (if in tap class or in a tap show)

4) Hair ties and hair clips for people with long hair

5) Your show/company/school will either give you a show shirt, or request that you pay around $20ish to order it in. In my experience it hasn’t been a requirement, but I like to have a collection of show shirts nonetheless

6) Comfortable undergarments. Unless you are doing a period piece in which you are wearing period accurate underthings that will be shown, comfortable undergarments are an absolute must. You are moving around on a hot stage for usually two hours at least, sometimes more, sometimes less. The last thing you want is to be taken out of character because your underthings are making you uncomfortable.

This last one is a tip: Be aware that some shows will ask you to bring in your own clothes to wear as a costume, and that you will be leaving those clothes in the dressing room, and that they will need to be laundered, and that you will need to wear other street clothes to rehearsal if you are changing into the other outfit.

#thestudyofdrama #drama #theater #theatre studies #theatre #acting major #theater major #theatre major #studybrl #collegeblr #uniblr #actingblr #dramablr #actors #acting #acting student

[thestudyofdrama]

Who wants a super mega long post about my process writing scholarship essays

[thestudyofdrama]

Acting Masterclasses on Youtube

Michael Caine Teaches Acting in Film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZPLVDwEr7Y

Ian McKellen: Acting Shakespeare (one man show/masterclass) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6eztyfrWo8&t=523s

Uta Hagen’s Acting Class Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SseJhOPV9nY

Uta Hagen Acting Class Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfeAcUyZk0I

#acting #actor #theater #theatre #theater major #theatre major #thestudyofdrama

[thestudyofdrama]

Character Analysis Worksheets for Actors

Character Analysis Worksheet https://assets.ngin.com/attachments/document/0111/8928/CHARACTER_ANALYSIS_WORKSHEET.pdf

Character and Role Analysis Questions https://www.deceptionary.com/ftp/CharacterAnalysis.pdf

*will reblog or edit with more later

#acting #actor #theater major #theatre major #theater #theatre #thestudyofdrama

[thestudyofdrama]

Oh, hello. I totally didn’t see you there.

Are you a musical theater student? Are your days in the library frought with desperately flipping through page after page of sheet music and the Singer’s Anthology collections, trying in vain to find a song that you can totally rock, but you know for sure that literally nobody else will be singing in class or for an audition in the United States (probably)? Well, look no further! The solution is EUROPEAN MUSICAL THEATER.

European musical theater? Isn’t that just Disney musicals that are like in French and German now? And more, my friend, and MORE.

Are you a Dracula fanatic? Excellent, because you have about a million different options, from a million different Dracua musicals, in about every single language in Europe.

Love Victor Hugo, but wish there was something besides Les Mis? We’ve got Notre Dame de Paris and Der Glockner von Notre Dame (which is the Disney movie stage adaptation but in German).

Love history, but wish it came packaged in a sexy way? Great! There’s Elizabeth complete with the personification of Death who is either costumed as a Sexy Rhinestone Cowboy, or a Glitter Goth Vampire with sparkly contour!

Big fan of Mozart? There’s Mozart! (Austria) and Mozart, l’opera rock (France)

Shakespeare more to your liking? We’ve got Romeo et Juliet, we’ve got

Want to see your favorite saints sing and dance like no tomorrow? There’s István, a király, a rock opera about Saint Stephen (Hungary),

Classic literature? There’s a Jungle Book musical from Hungary called A dzsungel könyve, there’s Rebecca, there’s The Count of Monte Cristo, and probably loads more!

IN SHORT GO WATCH SOME EUROPEAN MUSICALS.

#european musical theater #musical theater #musical theatre #notre dame de paris #elisabeth das musical #dracula musical #der glockner von notre dame #mozart! #mozart l'opera rock #romeo et juliet #the count of monte cristo musical

[thestudyofdrama]

I swear every single advice I see on writing scholarship essays is the same, and most of the time, it’s just another list of questions you’ll have to write about without any guidance as to what kind of answers judges might be looking for. So here’s what I’m trying do in my current approach to planning, outlining, and writing scholarship essays

My approach (keeping in mind that I have yet to actually win any scholarship, but this is my current approach):

1) Capturing my own personality instead of ‘I deserve this scholarship because x and I want to save the world through y and this scholarship will help me because z’, because that’s not me and that’s not how I write and that’s not what I sound like

2) Having fun. I have massive perfectionist tendencies that overlap with generalized anxiety disorder. So I’m trying to be silly in my answers and have fun with my first draft, and if I need to make it Sound Professional, I can go back and do that later

3) Scouring the website of whatever organization’s scholarship I’m applying to, and writing down their core values, and adjusting my wording or answers as needed that match their values, and therefore, looking like I’m a good match for the kind of person they are looking to award the scholarship. This is mostly in regards to scholarships that are asking you to answer questions specifically about you - your goals, why you deserve their money, how the money will help you specifically.

4) Giving specific answers to questions, instead of being vague. ‘How will this scholarship help you’ ‘I can go back to school and challenge my department heads to a duel for being elitist in regards to how the department is run*. Also I can buy this specific book that will serve as the basis for my thesis but it’s been out of print for so long it’s like $500′. Idk. Something like that. *Theater departments really are like that sometimes. It’s not as inclusive or accepting as it pretends to be. If you are a prospie theater student on a college visit, take notes as to what plays they’ve done, who they are casting, and what their student body looks like. Be a Sherlock and observe.

#scholarships #college essays #college scholarships #scholarship essays

[thestudyofdrama]

Writing scholarship essays is the worst fucking thing I’ve attempted.

Anytime I’ve attached monetary value to something I’m writing, the Anxiety Gremlins of Perfectionism swoop in to scream IF IT AIN’T PERFECT YOU AIN’T GETTIN MONEY AND IF YOU AIN’T GETTIN MONEY IT AIN’T WORTH DOIN

Thus I must find another value to attach to the thing I am writing and I have decided that that value is Just Havin Some Goshdarned Fun With The Answers

Example:

Question: What do you want to start doing?

Stale answer, boring mayo sandwich reply: I want to exercise because it healthy and it good for me and I live longer and blergh blah blergh

FUN answer: I wanna be able to bench 500 pounds so that I can personally defeat all casting directors who say I’m too fat in single hand combat and also bc then I can do awesome party tricks like crushing cans or ripping doors off of hinges.

#scholarships #scholarship essays #scholarship essay writing #studyblr #uniblr #collegeblr #essay #essay writing #college scholarships

[thestudyofdrama]

Books You Should Prob Get If You Are  Theater Major (to buy)

-Collection of Shakespeare (preferably annotated with modern english translations)

-Collection of Greek plays (also annotated possibly)

-Whichever anthology your intro classes require. I normally just interlibrary loan all my textbooks but I PROMISE you that almost every class up until your senior year, you WILL be using the same anthology

-An Actor Prepares by Constantin Stanislavski

#theaterblr #theatreblr #dramablr #drama student #acting student #theater major #theatre major #thestudyofdrama #studyblr

[thestudyofdrama]

I wonder if I just decide to write The Worst scholarship essays with completely ridiculous answers, if that will help me actually write them

Just like

Completely bonkers answers

‘What do you want to do in life’

‘curl into fetal position and overthink until i become a telekinetic superhuman who only uses it to get stuff from the fridge’

#scholarship #scholarships #scholarship essay #scholarship essays #uniblr #collegeblr #studyblr

[thestudyofdrama]

So, I’ll be 26 this winter. I’ve been trying to get my undergrad degree since 2013. So far that’s seven years. It’ll be another 2 or 3 before I have enough money to return to school to get my Bachelor’s.

I want all of you to know, specifically all of you who are studying to be actors or trying to make a career in acting: It’s okay to take a break and do other things for a while.

The industry and the people who run it can really suck sometimes. I’ve struggled for a long time with the fact that I will not be a bright eyed teen or youth when I finally graduate and get to start my post-educational professional career. It happens sometimes. No matter your journey to having an acting career, your journey is your own.

I’ve had and will have careers in fields other than acting before I get to be an actor. Right now, I’m working in a museum, for an indie film company, and a full time job in retail, in order to gain some kind of nonprofit experience (the first two) and to have a steady source of income (the third).

Being an actor and trying to have an acting career these days is not easy. The pressure to look a certain way is immense, and sometimes you drop an incredible amount of money to try to achieve The Look or get The Education or The Social Media Following or The Brand to catch casting’s attention. And that sucks, because actors have, for the most part, always been working class workers. It angers me to no end the amount of money it seems like you have to pour into acting to see even a tiny bit of output - headshots, reels, clothing, makeup, health, living in a big city, etc.

Despite all this, I still have optimism and hope and faith in my abilities. I know that I’m good, castable, a hard worker, someone who can take direction, works well with my cast and crew, and studies like none other. So even if the journey to get to my intended career as an actor takes a bit longer, I know I’ll get there.

#studyblr #acting #drama #theater #theatre #film #television #acting major #theater major #theatre major #thestudyofdrama #collegeblr #uniblr #theaterblr #theatreblr #actingblr #dramablr

[thestudyofdrama]

Hi thespians!

I have a ton of posts in my drafts, but the hiatus is still ongoing as I figure out some stuff going on in my life. Will keep you posted, but hopefully will get this blog going during the academic year!!

#thestudyofdrama #theatre #theater #thespian #theaterblr #theatreblr #studyblr #collegeblr #uniblr #theater major #acting major #theatre major #college #university #theater studies #theatre studies

[thestudyofdrama]

Scholarship Questions

Are you thinking of applying to scholarships to fund your education? There are loads out there. Here are some of the questions you may come across in your search, so you can start preparing your answers, outlines, and essays!

*Note that these may also come in handy for interviews (scholarship, college, and job).

Career

What are your career goals?

Why do you want a career in (blank)?

What is your dream job?

What kind of environment do you want to work in?

Education

What are your educational goals?

Who is your favorite teacher and why?

What is your favorite class?

Why did you pick your degree/major/field of study?

Why did you pick your school?

Why do you want to go to this school?

How will you use your degree to achieve your goals?

What are your extracurricular activities?/How do they relate to your degree/educational goals?

Why is education important to you/why are you getting an education?

Financial

Why do you need this scholarship?

How will you use this scholarship?

How will this scholarship help you?

Life

What are your life goals?

Where do you see yourself in 5/10/15/20/30 years?

What is your dream vacation?

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?

Personal

Who is your role model and why?

Why do you deserve this scholarship?

If you could live anywhere, where would you want to live?

Misc

Why do you support (blank) issue?

Why is (blank) important to your community/our culture/society/the world?

#studyblr #uniblr #collegeblr #litblr #english major #theater major #theatre major #theater #theatre #writing #literature #college #university #school #education #essay #essays #essay writing #writing essays #scholarship #scholarships #scholarship essay #scholarship essays #appblr #thestudyofdrama