PERFORMERS
ACTOR
An actor communicates and creates a character through various situations towards an audience. This can be through speech, body language and movement. There are different types of work when it comes to becoming an actor. These jobs include being working in the West End, (live stage performances), working as either a character or being in the ensemble, soap operas (EastEnders, Coronation Street), radio work, television advertisements and the most popular, films (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Grand Budapest Hotel etc.). In becoming an actor, you are put with learning scripts, performing in front of a live audience, liaising with agents, attending auditions and film sets. These are activities actors go through on a daily basis. In order to succeed in the job, actors will need to be trained professionally if it is they want to work in the theatre industry. There are dramatic academies that offer full-time acting courses for young people including children in the primary school region, such as the Sylvia Young Theatre School, based in Marylebone, London, which is open to children aged between 4-18 years old who want to study drama. There are specialist drama schools who usually only accept students aged 18 years and older. These schools have strong links with different acting agencies, casting directors, production companies, broadcasters and theatre directors. The most popular drama school in the UK is Guildhall School of Music and Drama, who offer a wide range of courses, for actors and production roles. Guildhall and most other drama schools offer a wide range of courses, but for actors alone, they offer two full-time courses. The first course is the BA Honours Degree in Acting, which is a three-year course, costing, in total, £9,000 a year, £27,000 for three years. The second course is the MA Honours Degree, which is another three-year course, costing slightly more, as Year 1 costs a total of £6,120 and the other 2 years cost £9,180, costing in total £24,480. Guildhall is most well known because of its famous alumni, including Ewan McGregor (Class of 1992), Daniel Craig (Class of 1991) and Orlando Bloom (Class of 1999). Actor's wages all are negotiated under Equity, a trade union for professional actors and technical assistants. According to UK Theatre (organisation), the annual weekly pay offers £485.75 for those who perform in an 8-show week. Equity is also a membership organisation in which actors have to pay a membership fee to Equity, which normally comes out of pay cheques. Actors are required to sign contracts, which shows how much they are given and where they will be working and for how long. However, there will be very long hours, and there won't be a lot of socialising between actors, as they need to focus on rehearsals and their lines. Some actors have to travel far to attend rehearsals, so it can be very time-consuming. To become an actor, they should start acting from an early age, so they should attend amateur theatre companies to develop companies and to explore various characters, and also to gain advice from other actors about how to make it. According to Prospects (website), degrees or HNDs would help improve chances of following a career in the job, and so attending drama schools such as Guildhall, RADA and LAMDA are very important. Future actors also need to have very good communication and listening skills, to always arrive on time, interpret roles, become disciplined and to have a very good memory if needed to learn lines for a short period of time.
DANCER
Dancers use movement, body language and different varieties of gestures to portray a character, story, or a type of concept using music towards a live audience. Dancers are normally under teaching by a professional choreographer. There are different type of genres that dancers can interpret, for example ballet, modern street dance or contemporary dances. Dancers are very similar to actors, as being a professional dancer involves preparing for auditions, like what actors would do, getting ready for performances by rehearsals, and performing in front of live audiences, whether that being in front of a stage or a camera to be shown in film or TV. But dancers also have to study choreography, look after their own clothes and costumes and also be able to teach dance. Dancing is also one of the three main skills to have in becoming a great musical theatre actor, the skills include dancing, singing and acting. Like actors, dancers are paid through the trade union of Equity. According to Prospects (website), the annual minimum weekly wage in becoming a professional dancer is £440+. These figures can rise up to £650 a week, which is paid normally in rehearsals and shows per week, if dancers are involved in West End shows, like Stomp, Into The Woods, or even operas such as The Magic Flute, which is being played at London Coliseum between the dates of 5th February - 19th March 2016. There are downsides in becoming a professional dancer. A dancer's career can be short, with most dancers retiring at the age of 40, because they can get injured easily and not do such moves that they could have done. Injuries normally impact the legs and arms as they are used all the time in dance. If dancers can manage to dance above the age of 40, fitness is extremely important to them, so are recommended to regularly go to the gym and go jogging. Most dancers start from a very early age, dancing to various dance genres but mainly ballet, but some start dancing when they reach teenage years or at universities. Courses to study at university offer genres such as ballet, musical theatre, contemporary dance, jazz, commercial and street. Those who want to learn dance when they reach university age are recommended to take BA Honours Degree in Dancing, a three year course, normally costing around the same prices as those who apply for acting courses (9,000 a year, 27,000 for the full three year course). To build up confidence and become a professional dancer, dancers are recommended to join a local dance company or dance schools, such as DanceMode Croydon Street Dance and Teacher Training, based in Croydon and Surrey Ballet Masters, based in Coulsdon. Dancers need to be creative, resilient and have a knowledge to the world of dance and be extremely fit healthy-wise.
PRODUCTION
LIGHTING DESIGNER
A lighting designer works very closely with the directors, choreographers and set designers. They are involved to create the lighting, atmosphere and mood of the entire dramatic production. They pay very close attention to the script during a performance to make sure a particular light setting is needed at a particular point in the show. Lighting Directors work very closely with the stage managers (the people who manage rehearsals and have a very good understanding with technical equipment). This particular job role is most important going through pre-production (storyboards, diagrams etc.) Other roles included in pre-production are producers, directors, playwrights, costume designers, set designers, etc. According to study.com (website), in order to become a professional lighting designer, the first thing to do is to participate in high school productions and programmes. This experience is used to introduce to young people the importance of using and taking care of lights. Secondly, those who are more interested in becoming a lighting designer as a full-time job, you will need to earn a degree. There are different degrees that can be taken and still become a lighting designer, including architecture, interior design, theatre design or building design. LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, drama school) invite young people aged 18 and over to those who want to pursue in the role of backstage jobs (including lighting designers), they are to take a Foundation Degree in Stage Management and Technical Theatre, which is a two year course, specifically designed for backstage jobs. Guildhall School of Music and Drama (drama school) offer a three year course. RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, drama school) offer the same amount of years but, at the end of the course, are awarded a postgraduate diploma in Stage Electrics and Lighting Design. According to PayScale, the annual hourly rate of a professional lighting designer is £20, and get an annual yearly median salary of £27,674. Lighting Designers get earned a maximum £1,000 bonus. The more experienced you are in the job, the more money is given, so for example those who have been doing this particular job for 1-4 years, you are earned a median yearly salary of £21,723. The maximum you can earn, it seems, is £36,500, which is for those who have been doing lighting designing for 10-19 years.
DIRECTOR
A theatre director is responsible for the whole creation of the show. They are involved in the whole process, which means they go through pre-production (storyboard, cast-list, budget etc) all the way through to post-production (everything is finalised). Theatre directors work with every department in the creation of a performance to go through live to an audience. These departments include the creative team, which include the composer, lyricist and the librettist; the performers themselves, which include actors, singers and dancers; and lastly and most important the PRODUCTION team, which include choreographers, dance captains, conductors, technical directors, lighting designers, production stage manager and much more. In order to run everything smoothly, directors normally arrange a certain type of strict discipline, which means, for example, actors need to learn their lines by a specific date, and set designers need to prepare their set plans also by a specific date. As doing these jobs, other jobs include programming and budgeting, breaking down scripts or musical scores, attending production meetings, holding auditions for actors and help publicising the production. The salaries and conditions become very different depending on the length of the production and what type of contract it is for the director (freelance, repertory, touring etc.). According to Prospects (website), a theatre director for a full length play should receive a minimum fee of £1,439 and also weekly rehearsal payments of £440. Freelance directors can command a minimum fee of £2,300, and a weekly fee of £430 to £520. At the beginning of a production, a director is always given a contract to help sign them on to a particular project. Similar to actors, directors may negotiate their own contracts and salaries, or they can employ agents to deal with the contract on their behalf. Theatre directors normally belong to the trade union Equity, which provides insurance and legal assistance outside or inside the working environment. There are disadvantages when it comes to becoming a theatre director. The work can be highly stressful and frustrating, either because actors do not know their lines or deadlines are not met but also it is rewarding as you can get to work with brand new people and maybe even celebrities. A degree is not essential in becoming a professional director, neither do you need a postgraduate course. The one main thing that is needed to become a director is EXPERIENCE. The main advice is to get as much experience as you can in the business. They can be from being an actor, assistant director, designer, producer, stage manager or writer. Directors normally get these type of experiences from amateur or fringe theatre productions. Some directors consider forming their own theatre companies, which is also a great way to learn about the directing process and stages and how to work with actors and other members of the production team. Many theatre directors don't need any formal training. Some directors go to drama school and study an MA in theatre or drama directing to gain a lot more experience at what it takes and the pressure of what a normal director would normally go through. Developing a career in theatre directing is extremely difficult if the right amount of experience is not there, a theatre director would have to stand out and develop a big reputation and credits. London may be very difficult to direct as it has a very extensive list of theatres. Some directors tend to work in a environment where there isn't that much pressure as there would be. These environments would be in children's theatre, community theatre, education, fringe theatres and even prisons.
ADMINISTRATION
WEBSITE DESIGNER
Web designers plan and create, websites and web pages, that fit the requirements of a certain company or theatre group. Most web designers are not part of the actual theatre company but belong to another technical company that have been given an overview brief to complete a website that will reach their target audiences and audiences worldwide. The role of a web designer include meeting clients and theatre companies regularly, drawing up website diagrams, graphic designing and editing in content of what the company is all about. Salaries vary depending on years of experience. If you have recently started working at a company as a web designer, according to Prospects (website), salaries can vary from £18,000 to £24,000. Within working at a website designing company for four to six years, salaries can vary from £24,000 to £40,000. Those who are given £40,000 are more achieved by more senior roles. Those who work in the London and South East area are tended to have higher salaries than some website designing companies situated in parts outside of London. Other web designing companies that are popular around the UK include Manchester, Stoke or Glasgow. Website Designers are office based and work normal office working hours (9am - 5pm), but to meet deadlines, web designers normally stay on in extra hours in evenings or on weekends. A qualification (i.e. degree, honours etc.) is not always necessary to become a website designer, but some employers value creativity very well. It is always wise to have a degree with you as most major web design companies employ those with a qualification. Qualifications for this job can vary from computer science to software designing, fine art to graphic design, or IT to digital media production. According to Southampton Solent University (university), it is recommended to study the BSc Honours in Web Design and Development. This is a three year course, costing £9,000 a year. According to the September entry for 2016 at Southampton Solent University, you are needed 200 UCAS points for A Levels, MMP for BTEC Extended Diploma and DM in a normal BTEC Diploma.
USHER
Ushers are responsible for checking tickets to allow an audience to attend a live production. Ushers also assist people to where they need to sit in the theatre. Ushers aren't only in the theatre but there are ushers available to assist you in cinemas, entertainment centres or entertainment events. They perform tasks, such as answering questions about seating, locations and the actual synopsis of the story that is going to be shown, sell programmes, check tickets, assist with finding lost property and assisting security. Ushers are normally required to work shifts, especially when it comes to theatre, as ushers may need to work in the afternoons and weekends, but most definitely in evenings. Employers have to be a minimum of 18 years of age so that they are allowed to serve alcoholic drinks behind the bar, as well as working late every night. There are no educational requirements in becoming an usher, but other requirements include working with people effectively, good communication skills, be able to work as a team as well as self-managing what you are needed to do. According to Recruiter (job search website), ushers get average salaries ranging between $16,000 to $24,000, which converted to pounds range from £11,170 to £16,750.
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