Managing Your Representation - Pt. 1

Ms. Sugar, a "young beginning aspiring actress," wrote the other day with some questions partially based on a misunderstanding of something I wrote in my book, Next! Auditioning for the Musical Theatre. In reading my discussion of agents versus managers she got the impression that I was ranking one over the other, where that had not been my intention. The section of the book weighs the pros and cons of each, but I don't believe that I actually outright say that one is better than the other in all cases. (Please see the book for details on this discussion.)

The crux of Ms. Sugar's question, however, was "how do you get a manager?" The obvious, blunt, and not overly informative answer is: The same way you get an agent.

Before we get around to the honest answer to that question, let's approach a more important question: Is it time for you to have an agent or manager? Many beginning actors fall into the trap of thinking that their initial and primary goal is to find representation. This is a major tactical mistake, losing site of the more important goal of finding the opportunity to use your talents. With or without representation, an actor's goal is to act, and making those opportunities happen is paramount -- whether you achieve it yourself or with the help of a manager or agent.

There's more to this trap as well. Exclusive personal manager John Essay points out that beginning actors are often not even ready to audition well. Taking the time to work on your audition skills, watch how working actors audition, hone your talents is key to successfully auditioning. An actor who signs with an agent can find themselves being sent out to auditions but being rejected over and over because of poor audition skills. And the agent, being unaware of the problem, will eventually drop the actor for failing to book a job. A good manager, on the other hand, will be able to take the time to inspect your audition technique and, should it be lacking, make the suggestions we've made at the top of this paragraph, with the request that the actor come back after he's done some work on the problems.

Mr. Essay also mentions that he knows of a number of beginning actors with barren resumes who've been far more successful at getting into auditions through a personal letter sent to the theatre, artistic director or casting director than they would have in a pile of agent submissions.

Next week: How do you catch one?

C U @ the Theatre!

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