Expert: Kitty Kavey - 11/14/2005

Question
I am 22 years old black american male and live in TN.  I am very interested in acting and theater.  The approach I want to take towards acting is to get as much experience I can from everywhere rather then pursueing a degree in theater. What are the tools I can use to get experience rather then joining the countless number of acting and modeling schools trying to convince me thats the best way to go.  I don't think it makes sense for me to be coughing up 100's of dollars to all these agencies to turn me into a star, find me acting jobs, withought any guarante of anything.  i would like to get an acting coach but what are the kind of prices I'd be looking at, and is it worth it experience wise.  My emphasis is on the work, and getting experience.  What is the best vihicle toward that goal for a guy who's on a very tight budet.

Answer
Look around your area for theaters.  You can contact them to find out if they have any theater groups you can join.  Often they can also let you know of any local industry or trade papers for more acting information.  Community colleges sometimes have acting opportunities as well in their theater or drama department, and sometimes offer inexpensive classes too.  No reputable agency should charge you for signing with them.  They earn their money by taking a percentage (usually 10-20%) off of work you book through them.  If you don't work, you pay them nothing.  You will, however, need to provide your own marketing material - like headshots.  Your local library or bookstore can be helpful in learning about headshots, auditioning and developing a monologue that's right for you.  You really don't need expensive classes for that.  Even with headshots, you can sometimes arrange with a student photographer to have your headshots done for only the cost of printing, or test shoot with a pro.  I'm not sure how you'd get private coaching for little or nothing, unless you have some skill you can barter with, but there are free acting groups that meet, and I mentioned community colleges might be good to look into.  Adult education schools in general might be a good resource for acting training classes as a low-cost option to private coaching.
Good luck to you,
~Kitty