Actors in Australia

willxkemp @ 10:35am: Live, or Dying?
( Just received from the Brisbane Auditions message board:Collapse )

if you're keen to come along, either message Damien directly via his stagedoor email, or message me, or comment here, and come with me as part of a Pirate Arrrts 'delegation', if you wish.

Any and all thoughts and suggestions on the matter, obviously, are going to be more than welcome.


cross-posted to various theatrical and local communities

rm @ 2:29pm: Three Furies: Scenes from the Life of Francis Bacon
I'm sorry if this query might seem obvious to any of you. As I'm an American (I took some short courses at NIDA, that's why I'm loitering here), it's causing me more woe via Google than I can possibly describe.

Do any of you know if the script (and for that matter, a recording the fabulous music) of Stephen Sewell's Three Furies: Scenes from the Life of Francis Bacon is available yet? And if so, where it can be ordered from.

Thanks much.

ozgenre @ 11:13pm: Having spent the evening watching ECW One Night Stand (a slew of GREAT matches) - followed by The Tony Awards, I think that both had their merits (both being performance-based), of course, but the Tonys were the better because they made me think.

There were more people I knew on the stage, at the Tonys, this year than last year. There are some bloody wonderful productions being staged on Broadway and the SHAME of it all is that most of these shows will NOT be staged in Australia by 'professional' companies, on a major stage. If anything, they will be staged by 'amateur' companies in subrban theatres, to small audiences who may not appreciate them. Even the plays which win the major awards will only be considered if their sellig pwer is so great that they are 'worth the cost of staging' - and I can think of only a few productions which have warranted that in this country. Cats, Phantom, Miss Saigon, shows of that calibre. Shows which are 'the ones' to see and to be seen at. I SO want there to be an Australian production of Jersey Boys staged in Australia (preferably Sydney) ;) and perhaps even the new take on The Threepenny Opera as well... I would SO be auditioning for ANY damned role in them. Although, I must admit, that I am SO worried about THIS musical. Yes, I would audition, because it's work, but it would (and does) STILL worry me.

kitsunegari @ 3:03pm: 2 for 1 tickets!

BRISBANE ARTS THEATRE is offering 2 for 1 tickets for SATURDAY APRIL 1 to SPEAKING IN TONGUES (the inspiration for the Australian film LANTANA)

This is your last chance to witness four of BRISBANE's finest actors at work in one of AUSTRALIA's most ingenious and compellingly written plays.

"...it’s engrossing"
Stagediary.com

Be sure to mention the 2 for 1 when booking, and bring a friend!

COST: $25 adult/$20 concession and students
STARTING TIME: 8pm

Bookings ESSENTIAL: 07 3369 2344

BRISBANE ARTS THEATRE
210 PETRIE TCE
BRISBANE

bandied around everywhere

skippy_lou @ 10:32pm: Hey everyone,

Bachelor of Arts in Applied Theatre at Griffith University.

Anyone done it? Done something like it? Want to do it? Pros/Cons?

Any advice anyone could offer would be much much much appreciated =).

Thanks & be good.
~Amy.

kitsunegari @ 6:44pm: Urgent call.
finally, I get it to the right place. please forgive my rather...eh...OT post yesterday. i believe the sleep deprivation got control of me.

Calling BRISBANE actors. MALES ONLY

holy smeg. I posted the wrong thing guys. Sorry. *idiot*
here's what I MEANT to post....

---

The Brisbane Arts Theatre's production of Puss 'n Boots is in need of your help!

Puss needs an owner. Puss needs an adversary.

Director Sally Daly is looking for a male aged 16 - 19 to play Jack, the boy who inherits the cat. She is also in need of an Ogre (the big scary bad guy who lives in a Golden Palace), age unknown.

If you think you can do either part, call the theatre on 3369 2344.

til next....
~Kits~
cross posted in brisneyland

kitsunegari @ 1:27pm: urgent call
I'm now officially a contributor to Amnesty International, got my official welcome package in the mail today. I still have no idea why I even said yes. It's not like I can really afford the monthly donation at the moment, but it's done now.

I hate sleep. I hate that i'm not sleeping, but mostly I'm hating those few precious moments I'm managing to get. I need to have induced DREAMLESS sleep so that I can, well, SLEEP without DREAMING!

please kill me.

til next....
~Kits~

hermia8 @ 1:33pm: AUDITIONS FOR MELBOURNE FRINGE SHOW!
ART MURDER
– pictures of Dorian Gray –
(A new stage-play adapted from Oscar Wilde’s decadent novella)

Is sin a thing which writes itself across a man’s face?

Auditions will be held in early July for the Dancing With Strangers production Art Murder: Pictures of Dorian Gray. The show will be staged for the 2005 Melbourne Fringe Festival (Sept 21 – Oct 9) upstairs at Mayfields, Fitzroy. We will be performing Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights
for a three-week season.

We are looking for a cast of 6 (5 male actors, 1 female). Rehearsals will begin early August. For most roles, there will be two evening rehearsals per week in the Fitzroy area, and, after the first fortnight, also one rehearsal per weekend in Healesville. This production will run on a profit-share basis. Auditions will be held upstairs at Mayfields, 103 Smith Street Fitzroy, on the following days:

* Sunday 3 July: 11am – 4pm *
* Wednesday 6 July: 5pm – 9pm *

Auditions will be group auditions and will last approximately 1/2 hour. No preparation is required other than familiarising yourself with a sample scene from the play (which we will email you when
you have booked a time).

To arrange an audition, please call the Production Manager, Anna Schoo, on 0408 373 126, or email mistressanna @ dancingwithstrangers.com

If you have any questions about the production or the auditions, please call the Director,
Miranda Rose, on 0431 191 730, or email miranda.rose @ bigpond.com

darkangelkalika @ 9:44pm: This is a bit of a crazy question, but does anyone know where the series "Last Man Standing" is filmed in Melbourne? My friend and I are a bit curious.

Thanks to anyone who can tell us. (We thought it was round the Brunswick area).

Kalika

theelk @ 10:43pm: hello, all!
hi! i'm Kara and i'm 18 and i'm from melbourne. I've been acting in various school-play forms since i was 12 and have done a bit of theatre and one job as an extra [charlottes web, anyone?]. um, i don't have an agent or anything but i'm looking into it and was wondering if anyone has a recommendation for me? like, maybe someone i can talk into taking me on even if i have little experience? ;p

anyway... hi! and thanks for your help!

~K

front_girl @ 7:41am: just to let you know
your doing a fantastic job at posting the auditions here!!!
i've needed a place like this for a long time
thankyou!

also:
is anyone findign it hard to get auditions for tv shows at the moment?
it seems a bit dry right now.

front_girl @ 8:06pm: 19/female/ actress melbourne /centre stage agency.
hi everyone.
i suppose i've been an actor since i was 14 i guess- its when i began my studying, but i didnt really feel like one until i started going to Centre Stage in brunswick.
i did dance and voice at Johnny youngs talent school for a while but it wasnt my thing- too pretentious.
so i moved on to The Victorian Youth Theatre with CPCA and the classes were horrid
we'd play games and do stupid comedic plays, cheap and nasty i liked to call them.
i eventually decided i'd do a term trial at centre stage to see what it was like.
i joined their agency and was doing extra work within 4 months.
no one else had given me a chance before. i was always finding myself calling agencies trying to get soemone to take me on, but they always wanted a show reel, or i had to have had some experience.
the cause and effect of not getting work because you dont have an agent and not getting an agent because you've had no work was irritating me to no end, this buisness certainly is a tricky one.
the work comes and goes and the auditions and rejections are hard not to take personally, but i survive.

will auditions be advertised on this community?

rm @ 8:51am: I'm a 32-year-old working actor in NYC. Although working is such a vague term. I'm pretty much always in something, at at this point there is pretty much always pay involved, but not enough to live on (yet). Things are improving every year though.

Anyway, I'm lurking about in your commnity because I spent January at NIDA's summer program and it had a profound affect on a lot of levels. Currently I'm trying to sort out if I'm going to apply to the full-time program there (a difficult choice at this age and distance and in the face of its terrifying selectivity) and/or just try to relocate to Australia in general.

In America agents spend lots of time telling me I should learn French and be an actor there, because I'd be beautiful in France -- here's I'm just a vampire, uptight secretary, or, if I'm really lucky, the lead's not-so-cute best friend. When I was in Australia my tutors had me doing the sorts of romantic lead roles I never get to do here, and I was good at them, and they recommended I go after that sort of thing. So while I live in a great market for the arts, it might not be the right one for me, and here I am, having fallen in love with some place ever so very far away.

Anyway, mostly I'm just going to lurk, for obvious reasons.

Thanks!

skippy_lou @ 5:58pm: Hi everyone, I'm new..

My names is Amy, I'm 18, I live in Singapore but I'm originally from Melbourne.
I have yet to chose a uni or drama school but I've had my mind set on VCA for a few years now, but eh. I dunno yet. Decisions decisions! COST is also a pretty big factor too.
Any uni/ drama school advice AT ALL is always welcome =).
I'm interesting in theatre mainly, I've almost completed an A Level Theatre Arts course so I do have some training and am very aware of practitioners and the devising process. I might also have a look into film and television because its always interested me.

Take care everyone, it looks awesome here!

ozgenre @ 4:46pm: Hi there.....
My name's Craig Walker, and I've been an actor for too many years (though some say not long enough to capitalise on the exposure and opportunities that I could have). I guess I've been an actor in a few areas, from Radio through to TV, stage and film, but nothing huge, you know - it's all been small potatoes, and something tells me that I should really turn around and fix that. Mind you, that's been a choice I have made, I haven't put the time in to make it bigger and I think that's because of the money aspect. To be a full-time actor, I think you need to have some money behind you, live at home, or be able to work a part-time evening job to be able to devote the time for shopping yourself out for paid acting work. I love acting, loved it all my life really. I've had no formal acting training apart from that which I received onstage and on the set. I know - it's a craft which many say should have formalised training to hone your craft, and I have done the odd short course in stagecraft and impro, but I haven't really done anything specific, it's all been things which you pick up if you watch and learn throughout the process... I know that with so many actors being available these days that you need to do the training though. After all, you can't be expected to be chosen for a position without having the basic skills.

So do you shop yourself out? or do you get an agent? First, get an agent. Get them to send you out to some Extra jobs and get the on-set expreiences that you need to balance your other training and experience. Working onset is a skill in itself nd one which is not as simple as it may appear.After you have done some extra work, then get yourself shopped out for larger parts, whilst still doing any other acting work that you can. The more experience you can get and the more time you can devote to it - the better off you and yourcareer will be.

OK - enough of the soap-boxing ;) Thanks for starting this LJ Community - I'm SO here :)

bourbondetonate @ 4:52pm: hi
Hi there,
I'm Billy & 16, from Sydney.
I dropped out of high school last year to pursue things that mattered to me, so I am currently 4 months into a course to recieve my diploma in screen. A lot of people ask me why I should choose to go to a filmmaking school if I'm interested in acting. Personally I am of the strong belief that acting can't really be taught. It will all depend on the person in the end. Going to SFS gives me a much broader understanding of the crew and how it works, and also the director-actor relationship which is vital for screen acting. Of course, acting courses are useful. I just plan to do a basic filmmaking one to broaden my experience.

I am currently looking for representation, though, and have been making calls to different agencies. I also plan to take some screen acting courses as the year progresses, maybe at NIDA, maybe at that place in Central opposite Eddy Avenue (I forget the name). Acting for film is my ultimate goal.

Normally my sentences are much less coherent, but it seems that after sleeping at 10am (it is now 5pm) my brain is functioning well enough for me to do this introductory post. I sound like a humourless knob. Damn.

Well, look forward to meeting all of you.

kitsunegari @ 4:46pm: Call me Kits, please.

I'm a 25 year old Brisbane-ite who focuses mostly on community theatre. One of these days I intend to bother getting an agent and getting paid for what I do. Until then, I'm just going to continue theatre as a hobby.

I'm a character actor. I specialise in comedy mostly (am particularly good at slap stick), but I'm versatile enough to perform serious roles as well.

In the fifteen or so years I've been performing, I've played two female roles. The rest of the time I am cast as a male or a non gender specific character (the benefit of being of androgynous appearance).

I also perform in a lot of musicals. Mostly childrens musicals of a mild pantomimic style.

I have no acting training, and currently no plans to do any. I learn what I need about my craft as I perform and by talking to other actors.

No, I am not a wanker. :)

I'm currently performing in "Treasure Island" (the musical" at the Brisbane Arts Theatre. So if you're in Bris, come along and have a laugh. It's not that good, but you get to see pirates dance!

til next....
~Kits~

darkangelkalika @ 4:20pm: Heya!

I'm Kalika (call me Kali for short) from Melbourne and currently doing VCE drama in high school. I've been performing since I was a child but more musically. I've been in all my school productions (We're doing Copacabana this year) and also I perform with an acting company. I plan to do a degree in the Arts/Psychology when I finished school. I had my own radio show earlier in the year, which I loved! But that wouldn't really be considered acting. I'm really into musicals and broadway style productions but I also love acting in front of cameras, I've had some tv experiance but not really enough to count for anything.

Some stuff I'd like to rant about. :S

2 things that annoy me is that this country doesn't take the arts seriously. Not just drama but music, creative arts etc... Victoria prides itself on being an artsy state and it haven't scrubbed up too badly (apart the scalings for TER scores in VCE for Arts subjects) and I don't really know much about the other states and their attitude to the arts. But seriously, personally I think there should be more funding for the arts. All our acting stars have all moved overseas (Nicole, Cate, Russell... etc) and are actually using their skills. I'm not saying Australia has nothing left but that we need to develop our skills base in the arts. If anyone remembers Cate Blanchet mentioned about Australia needing to pay more attention to the Arts in one of her awards speeches.

The other thing is the scaling down of the arts subjects in VCE. Those who have been through VCE would know what I'm on about here. I'm currently enrolled in VCE Music and Drama, but since we have a scaling system, the arts get marked down because they're viewed as not being as important as other subjects, lets say... Maths methods. Fair enough that maths is important but to an extent the arts are too. IMO, the whole scaling system should be scraped to have a fair way of marking.

Sorry, that wasn't really about acting but hey, feel free to delete/edit (mods).

Kalika