Breaking In

Getting a job in the performing arts world can seem like an insurmountable obstacle. With so many people vying for so few positions, many of whom have a great deal of education and amateur experience, it can be years before you hear your first call-back. Getting into the industry can be tremendously discouraging as you watch people with less talent but better connections leap ahead of you.

Don't worry - you have options, especially if you've moved to a performing arts mecca like Los Angeles or New York. Although you might not be able to break in to Broadway in your first year, smaller productions, sometimes cooperatively produced by artists, are being formed all the time. Student filmmakers and playwrights have material to turn into performances. As the technology for producing film and theater productions has become less expensive, the barriers to entry have gone down. Participating in these small productions helps to demonstrate that you are a responsible and effective performer, and combined with good auditions, will help you break into the professional world.

As a musician or an actor, working as a substitute or an stand-in will help you break in to a regular job at the company. Even if it's a union job that's hard to break in to - as most regular jobs in the entertainment world are - as long as you show consistently high skill and a professional attitude, you will be hired eventually. Persistence and tolerance for a low standard of living while you are trying to break in to the art world will eventually pay off for you.