by Jen Rudin
New Experiences on Tour
Many children’s worlds expand during time on tour. Lisa Iacono’s nine-year-old daughter, Jenna, saw homeless people for the first time in Detroit. “Jenna’s extremely sensitive, and for her to see such desperation really brought forth an array of emotions,” Lisa confided. “She felt guilty for living a dream and getting paid to perform onstage. She had me buying food for strangers, and finding homeless persons to give our leftover food to once we were moving on to a new city. Our bedtime conversations changed from all the antics onstage to things we were most thankful for and not taking blessings for granted.”
Other kids see same-sex couples and affection backstage, and parents explain that some couples are “boy and boy,” not always “girl and boy.” Several mothers told me stories of backstage bullying and fistfights. Walking home from the show one night in Tampa, a boy who’d been bullied confided in his mother: “We just need to go home.”
Hiring a Guardian for Your Child
Sometimes neither parent is available to accompany a child on tour. Ginno Murphy, a former actor in his late twenties, sold merchandise during the entire Broadway run for Billy Elliot. All the kids in the cast and their parents knew him, including Ben Cook, who played the Tall Boy and understudied Michael. When Ben was offered the part of Michael for the tour, Ben’s parents hired Ginno to be Ben’s guardian. Ginno accompanied fifteen-year-old Ben for eighteen months during Ben’s run as Michael, and after three months, when Ben stepped into the role of Billy. In certain cities, Ginno and Ben were forced to share a single hotel room with two beds when a suite was not an option. This was a definite challenge for Ginno. “It’s hard to share a bathroom with a fifteen-year-old. I refused to pick his wet towels up off the floor. I had to constantly remind him that I wasn’t his mother or the maid.” On a positive note, Ginno did get a chance to train Ben in healthy eating habits. “I always encourage Ben to choose vegetables and protein instead of candy and fast food. And believe it or not, he listens to me.”
Susan Knasel chose to split time with a hired guardian when her daughter Maria toured with Billy Elliot. But Susan said her guilt never stopped. While on tour with Maria, she was always worried about her three sons (one severely disabled) back home in St. Louis. And then when she was home, Susan worried about her daughter’s well-being with the hired guardian.
Returning Home After Tour
The transition back from life on tour is often hardest on the parents. One father spent nine months with Mary Poppins, and he was sure going home would be harder for his daughter than for him. He was wrong. “I’d been running things my way for nine months on the road. My wife was happy doing things her own way at home. It took us several months to get back into the groove.” One mother confided: “I resented my husband when he turned out the lights at eleven P.M. I was used to the theater schedule, and going to bed after midnight. It took two years before we were back in sync with our marriage.”
Despite these cautionary tales, all the time, money, guilt, sacrifices, and effort are worth it that first time parents see their child perform in front of thousands of people on Broadway or on tour. “Every little girl wants to play Jane Banks,” said Barbara Rigoglioso, a New Jersey native and mother of seven, whose youngest daughter, Julianna, played the role on the Mary Poppins tour. “Every time I’m ready to pack up and quit the business, I see her perform onstage. It’s a beautiful adventure. She loves it. I couldn’t say no.”
Tips for Life on Tour
•Pack lightly. Remember that you will be carrying your luggage and your child’s luggage through numerous airports, on and off buses, and in and out of hotel rooms. If you pack a lot you may have to pay baggage fees at airports.
•Join airline frequent flyer programs to rack up miles. The miles can be used for a nice family vacation once the tour is over.
•Bring hand-washing laundry detergent packets in case you are staying in a hotel that’s not near a convenient Laundromat.
•Consider purchasing a small electric frying pan or hot plate if you want to cook while on tour. These items can be sent in your trunk on the truck that drives the set from city to city. You can purchase these small appliances cheaply at places like Walmart, Target, or Sears.
•Stock up on nonperishables like peanut butter and tuna fish.
•Get an unlimited calling plan for your phone and check your carrier’s roaming/international rates for when the tour plays cities in Canada.
•Consider getting your child a cell phone as well.
JEN’S LAST WORD
If your child wants to perform, you must carefully consider whether or not to pursue a professional acting career. Are you (and your child) willing to put in the time, effort, and money? How do the rest of the family members feel? I’ve met many well-adjusted child actors who love acting and show business. I’ve also met many others who look back later on in life and feel they’ve missed out on normal kids’ activities over the years because of time spent auditioning, on tour, or on set. Your child’s well-being should be your number one concern when you make these big decisions.
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CHAPTER ELEVEN
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LOS ANGELES VS. NEW YORK
NAVIGATING FREEWAYS AND SUBWAYS
I’m twenty-one years old and auditioning again after college. One day I ask my agent if I should make the move to L.A. She shakes her head no and says, “For every seven hundred actors in New York there are seven thousand in L.A. And they’re all skinner and blonder than you.” And soul singer Bettye LaVette once said, “Don’t show up in New York or L.A. unless they send for you.” Despite this cautionary advice, every year thousands of actors move to New York or Los Angeles to pursue their dreams. Here’s how to navigate the two very different meccas.
First tip: Don’t waste time comparing New York to L.A. There’s nothing to compare. On New York’s best day, you can go to four auditions in one day and stroll through Central Park in between. On New York’s worst day, the city is loud and dirty, and you’re stuck in a tunnel between stations on a crowded subway. On L.A.’s best day, you’re starring on a new hit TV series and driving down Ventura Boulevard in your convertible and the sky is a perfect shade of blue. On L.A.’s worst day, you’re stuck in miles of traffic on the 101 freeway, late to meet an agent whom you hope will represent you.
A New York State of Mind
When pilot season ends in March, the spring college showcase season begins in New York. This is a busy few months from March through June when prominent universities invite casting directors and agents to attend their showcases featuring graduating classes in both undergraduate and graduate theater programs. I always enjoy the showcases and love seeing fresh, young, and not-yet-jaded performers. After the showcases, agents list which actors they are interested in meeting. I call spring showcase season the time when “agents stalk and casting directors shop.”
After formal graduations, thousands of hopeful young actors migrate to New York City. Once they arrive, it’s time to begin their professional acting careers and postgraduate lives in the city that never sleeps. Since I’m a native Manhattan gal, I’m used to the hustle and bustle and noise. But for an actor who’s just gotten off the bus, the city can take some time to adjust to.
Arriving in NYC
When you first arrive in the city, buy yourself a good street map. Use the map and/or an application on your smartphone, like Google Maps, to learn your way around. Although a few TV shows shoot in studios in Brooklyn or Queens, your focus will mainly be on Manhattan for auditions and meetings. The sooner you learn the subway and bus systems, the happier (and more like a real New Yorker) you’ll be.*
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The Dance Belt
I was at lunch one day with actress Jennifer Cody, whom I cast as the voice of Charlotte in The Princess and the Frog. She was the first person who referred to the theater district area, from Forty-Second Street to Fifty-Seventh Street, as the “dance belt.” This area houses many reh
earsal studios (Ripley-Grier Studios, Shetler Studios), Broadway theaters, and casting and agent offices, and is the place where actors will often spend most of their time. It’s also where you will run into practically every actor you know!
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Loud, Crowded, Expensive, and Smelly
On any given day, New York City can be overwhelming to one’s senses. Here are some tips to handle the elements:
•Noise: City noise can range from everyday sirens to construction to general traffic and honking. To get any sleep in the city that never sleeps, treat yourself to some earplugs. Add an eye mask too, if you’re sensitive to light. You’ll quickly realize that noise in the city becomes part of your daily life. I’m often walking down the street when my phone rings. If it’s an important business call and you’re in the middle of hectic, loud Times Square, ducking into a nearby bank’s ATM alcove is a quick way to take your phone call in “privacy.”
•Crowds: Between tourists in Times Square, shoppers on Thirty-Fourth Street, commuters making their way toward Penn Station, and the eight million inhabitants of our great city, getting used to the crowds can take some time. Be prepared for overcrowded subways and buses, and lots of pushing. Sometimes walking through the city can feel like you’re part of a school of swimming fish. Disobeying a Don’t Walk sign can garner you a ticket in Pasadena, but to a New Yorker, a Don’t Walk sign is merely a suggestion. New Yorkers consider jaywalking to be practically a civic duty.
•Costs: Rents are high, and today’s affordable neighborhood is tomorrow’s newest (expensive) trend. And if you don’t pack your breakfast and lunch, it’s easy to drop cash every day starting with your morning coffee and bagel. New Yorkers don’t question a fourteen-dollar glass of wine or a twenty-dollar yoga class. After all, it costs money to live on the magical island called Manhattan.
•Smells: Yes, the city’s stinky in the summer, when the heat, humidity, and garbage combine in one muggy stink. Sometimes the only summer breeze you feel is from an approaching subway train. Instead of sleeping with a box of frozen peas to cool your forehead on a hot summer night (yes, that’s my own true story), splurge on an air conditioner. Try buying off season from a store like Bed Bath & Beyond to get a good deal, or look for used (but still functioning!) air conditioners on Craigslist.
AUDITION STORIES
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The Audition That Changed My Life
The audition that changed my life and made me quake in my boots at the very same time that I felt myself slide into my soul was for a show that Jen Rudin cast. It was for the national tour of a one-woman play called The Syringa Tree. I was in my late twenties. I had an agent, but no clout and little self-esteem. I had been beaten down and was on the verge of giving up on my acting career. No one seemed to want me. Jen was a business colleague who had subsequently become a friend, and by some minor miracle, she called me in to audition. I was given the sides about a day and a half before. The audition material was pages and pages of one person playing multiple characters. Crazy South African dialects, native dances, the works. I got a last-minute ticket to the show the night before my audition and hid a tape recorder under my seat (sorry, Equity!). I watched in awe this tour de force in front of me, convinced that I had no business even being let into the room to read for this play. How did this actress do it?
The next day I worked on the sides, went into the audition, and I’m pretty sure words came out of my mouth. I made it past the first round, and I was sent home to do some more work. Then I made it past the second round. Was this really happening? When I got to the third round . . . something in me changed. Like, physically, in my body, in my heart, I was different. I simply now knew I could do it. I deserved to be there. The director was well known for pushing his actors, and he pushed me hard. It was terrifying and wonderful, and I ate it up with a spoon. He asked me to be human in a way I had never been asked to be anywhere before, let alone in an audition. Somehow, in the span of those few days of auditions, I grew the beginnings of a backbone. It was the beginning of me as a grown-up.
I got that job. I worked harder than I ever have in my life. I loved and hated every minute of it. But I will never forget that audition where everything changed for me. And I will never forget Jen for giving me the opportunity to be there. You just never know where one audition will take you.
—EVA KAMINSKY
Finding a Place to Live
Don’t be fooled by Jimmy and Kyle’s spacious loft in the recent NBC show Smash. Space is tight in New York City, and rents are notoriously high. You must decide what’s most important to you—light, space, location, privacy—and then learn to compromise on some of these things if the price is right. I’d suggest living with roommates, especially if you’re all new to the city. Not only will your rent and utilities bills be cheaper, but you’ll also have familiar company in a city that can often feel lonely. Ask friends from college to consider an apartment share.
Affordable neighborhoods to consider include Harlem, Hudson Heights, Washington Heights, and neighborhoods in Queens. Unfortunately, shows like Girls have made Brooklyn trendier and more expensive than ever. Unless you have a trust fund, be prepared to spend most of the money you earn at your flexible job on your monthly rent.
There are countless resources you can use to help find an apartment in New York City. You can network through friends and actors you’ve worked with, or scour Craigslist and Facebook for sublets. But proceed with caution. Some of the ads on Craigslist are legitimate and posted by brokers, but many are scams. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Other great online resources are StreetEasy.com and PadMapper.com, which let you search rental listings with filters like location, price, and number of bedrooms.
ASK THE
REALTOR
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What’s your best advice for an actor looking for an apartment in New York City?
Finding a place to live in New York can be challenging. There are many Internet sites, some more reliable than others, that provide apartment listings. You can spend a lot of time trying to weed through countless ads for apartments (some of which do not even exist) and running around looking at apartments that you probably would not be happy living in. There’s great value in working with a reputable real estate broker. A professional real estate broker will do the time-consuming apartment research and put together an appropriate tour of apartments to show you. You want your home to be clean, safe, and legal, and a good, professional broker will make that happen. When you find “the one” you want, the broker will be there from beginning to end to make sure you secure the apartment. This frees you to spend the time focusing on your career. There is a fee charged for this service, but keep in mind what’s cheap is expensive. You don’t want to find yourself needing to move after a short period of time because you are in a less-than-acceptable living situation or are being forced to move because of an illegal lease.
—MARCY BLOOMSTEIN,
senior vice president, DJK Residential
Apartment-Hunting Resources in NYC
If you choose not to use a broker, here are some sites that will help you find an apartment on your own:
•Gypsy Housing, a group on Facebook. Dror Baitel, a musical director and piano player, says, “I look for my roommates on Gypsy Housing, which is relatively new. It’s a group on Facebook for artists, and there are definitely a lot of actors on it. It’s a great network to find apartments and shares in the city and you can save some time on the scams that come up on Craigslist. This is a pretty awesome way to get to know the people you may be sharing a place with.”
•www.bangitout.com. I’ve used this site to find affordable sublets and studio apartments, though I still had to pay broker fees.
•www.craigslist.org
•www.urbancompass.com
•www.streeteasy.com
•www.citi-habitats.com. Actress Kate Bodenheimer says, “When I moved to the city I used Citi Habitats. A lot of their real estate agents are al
so actors, so they have a great sense of the specific needs that we actors have when looking for apartments—like being close to the train, affordable on our budgets, with a lease that allows subletters, and, most important, for us singers, friendly neighbors and thick walls so we can practice at home!”
Food Shopping
Since you’ll mostly be on foot and walking everywhere in New York City, with no car trunk, your food shopping habits will shift. Plan to go grocery shopping with an empty backpack or bring eco-friendly tote bags. Some New Yorkers even carry little bags on wheels (like a small rolling suitcase) or metal rolling carts to take to the grocery store with them, since hauling heavy bags multiple blocks can be exhausting for those who lack upper body strength. Prepare yourself for heightened crowds and more pushing at the various Fairway locations around Manhattan and Brooklyn and at the popular and often crowded Trader Joe’s in Union Square, Chelsea, and the Upper West Side. Whole Foods stores are plentiful in the city but jokingly referred to as “Whole Paycheck” for a reason. Check out Fresh Direct (www.freshdirect.com), which will deliver food right to your door (for a small delivery fee) and is a great option if you can plan to be home during their designated delivery window or live in a building with a doorman. Fresh Direct is also ideal for those times when you need to buy heavier items like soda cans or things in bulk like multiple rolls of paper towels. Local bodegas are fine for a few emergency items, but many have cash-only policies or minimum charges to use credit cards. Though many large supermarkets do exist in nearby New Jersey and Westchester, if you don’t have a car, these places are not a realistic option. Once you explore your neighborhood and figure out what’s close by, you’ll learn what works best for you.