St. 爱德华正在准备 代理主要 Andrew Mueller ’22 for the real world.
He has worked alongside professional actors and designers on campus and is earning points toward his Actors’ Equity union membership. He also works in the box office at the 玛丽·穆迪北方剧院 and serves as president of 盒子 of Chocolates, the campus improv troupe.
St. 爱德华的 allows students to earn points toward Actors’ Equity membership. What is the benefit of joining Equity?
With your Equity card, you're automatically eligible to go audition for Broadway theaters. You can sign up online for an audition time instead of getting there early and waiting in line for hours with hundreds of other people. 也, 当你开始工作时, you are getting insurance and benefits, and the production has to meet safety standards and follow guidelines about working hours. 你不是生活在混乱中, 饥饿的艺术家生活, and you have more of a safety net than a non-union actor would.
What have you learned from working with professionals at the 玛丽·穆迪北方剧院?
当我在 她耳朵里的跳蚤, a comedy, two of the Equity artists were St. 爱德华的校友. They would stop me in the hallway and give me notes on the jokes I was doing. It was nice to get that feedback from someone besides the director, and particularly from professional actors. I also learned about dramatic acting from working alongside an actor in 玛莉索. He later connected me with other great opportunities, like teaching kids at his summer theater camp.
If you want to act, why work in the box office or do lighting?
吸引我来圣. 爱德华的 was the fact that I could focus on acting while learning a bunch of other trades. That’s really important for getting hired. I’ve learned very marketable skills from working at the box office, and I’ve made great connections with patrons. I’ve also had the opportunity to learn how to read a plot and hang a lighting grid while working alongside professional lighting designers who are doing Broadway shows and Cirque du Soleil. All of these things are teaching me very valuable skills that will keep me employed while maybe it’s harder to find an acting job.
How is college theater different from high school theater?
在大学, you get actual training in acting and in using your voice in a way that protects your vocal cords. You’re learning how to do things safely and correctly, so that your body and voice will last you through the four-month run of a professional production. 在大学, things move at a faster pace – you rehearse shows in only six weeks. 在大学里, you’re able to do shows that are more topical, 更多的实验, 更急躁, and you’re able to get more into the craft of acting.
What is your plan for after graduation?
我的目标是搬到丹佛去. 在圣. 爱德华的, seniors take a course called Professional Preparation that gets us ready for the theater industry. 你会被爆头, 整理好你的简历, and build an Actors Access website that connects you with available auditions. You also research another theater region in the country. There are 10 Equity theaters in the Denver-Boulder region, so there’s a lot of potential work.
罗宾·罗斯采访
摄影 & 视频由Chelsea Purgahn提供