10 Things I've Learned in 11 Days

1. Buy a copy of Backstage every week.  It’s worth the $2.95.  Also watch job listings and casting calls at www.Playbill.com and the Actors Equity Association (AEA) website.
2. There are lots of acronyms: EPA (Equity Principal Audition), ECC (Equity Chorus Call), EMC (Equity Membership Candidate)… Unless a casting call explicitly says “only seeking AEA members for this audition,” GO.  You never know when…
3. Lots of calls for straight plays will post one set of sides (script excerpts from which auditioners read) prior to their audition time.  Everyone crowds around four sheets of paper taped to a wall, scribbling furiously to get all the lines down and get the heck out of the way.  Others use their iPhones.  In this instance, I recommend keeping up with the Joneses.  Use the iPhone.
4. Headshots are 8x10, usually surrounded by a narrow black border, then a thick white one.  Across the bottom of the white border, your name is printed in thick black lettering.  Resumes are cut to fit the back side of your 8x10 and stapled at all four corners.  Staple through the photo side first, not the resume side.  It’s prettier that way.
5. Bring a book, your iPod, your Nalgene, and a sack lunch.  Saves money.  :)  Trail mix is my snack of choice.
6. In college auditions, actors were asked to wear clothes they could move in.  Not so in New York.  It’s all risky necklines, pencil skirts, fitted bodices, and chunky belts.  Don’t worry about wearing character shoes unless you’re going to a dance call.  Spike heels are all the rage.  Don’t ask me why.  Needless to say, I feel like a nun in my relatively un-low-cut cocktail dress.  Oh, and if you’re a boy, lucky you.  You get away with just about anything shy of holy jeans and a Corona t-shirt.  Boo.
7. Get in line EARLY for auditions.  And if a non-Equity call says there will be no unofficial sign-up lists before the hour-prior sign-in time, don’t worry.  Some competitive diva will start a list.  And if the casting director won’t agree to honor it, you can be sure the first five girls in line will make you honor it.  Yes, there has been some drama.
8. Invest in one of those rolling backpacks.  Sure, in middle school the mean kids would kick yours until you reverted to the old-school backpack, but here, the wheels save your back.  And you sweat less.  Most women pack a dress, heels, makeup, a curling iron, a brush, their “book” and a laundry list of other must-haves.  Take it from the girl with the duffel bag slung over a rubbed-raw shoulder.  You want the wheels.
9. Since you’re packing it anyway, skip the hair and makeup at the apartment and just do it at the studio while you wait.  You get there earlier and if it’s a really hot morning, you can wash your face.  Believe me—makeup doesn’t survive long in 50% humidity.
10. At the end of the day, remember this: you’d be surprised how many other people are just starting out, too.  You’re really not as alone as you think.