Actor Aesthetic

Equity Principal Auditions are an important part of life for many actors across the country. Required of any production with a negotiated Equity contract, these open calls give unrepresented and represented actors alike time to audition in front of casting directors and creative teams.

After going to more EPAs than I could count, I started noticing patterns... patterns in how EPAs are run, patterns in how I approached EPAs, and patterns in how other actors approached auditioning. In an effort to better equip y'all with info that might help you along your journey, with here are the 5 most surprising lessons I've learned from Equity Principal Auditions.

Looking to build your rep book and coach your audition material? Head to actoraesthetic.com/coaching.

On the blog:

Equity Principal Auditions For Newbies

How To Get Seen At Equity Auditions as an EMC or Non-Equity Actor

Non-Equity Actor's Guide To The 5 Types of New York Auditions

Related Podcasts:

#2: Equity Principal Auditions (EPA)

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Visit actoraesthetic.com for more information.

Follow Maggie on social media

Instagram: @actoraesthetic

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ActorAesthetic/

Email: [email protected]

Picking a song for a vocal audition can be harder than the actual audition itself. After all, most auditions last about five minutes or less. Sometimes you get to sing a whole song, and sometimes you are asked to prepare a measly 16-bar cut. So how do you choose a song that will represent you accurately as a performer in just a few short minutes? It’s not easy, and there are few things you definitely shouldn’t do.

Here are 5 mistakes actors make when choosing an audition song.

Looking to coach your audition material? Head to actoraesthetic.com/coaching.

On the blog:

How Spotify Can Inspire Your Next Audition Song

My Top 10 Favorite Contemporary Broadway Songs For Men

10 Solid Audition Songs For Traditional Sopranos

Related Podcasts:

#9: 10 Simple Ways To Improve Your Audition Book

To join the Actor Aesthetic Tribe on Facebook, click here.

Spread the love and don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the Actor Aesthetic Podcast on iTunes, Google, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app. 

Visit actoraesthetic.com for more information.

Follow Maggie on social media

Instagram: @actoraesthetic

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ActorAesthetic/

Email: [email protected]

Actors Access is an online platform that allows actors to maintain profiles by uploading headshots, updating their resume, adding new skills and attributes, managing performance videos, and more.

Created in 2003, Actors Access functions like a virtual database between casting directors and aspiring actors looking for jobs.

Casting Directors have the option to release Breakdowns to actors and receive submissions directly from them.

Actors Access has proven to be one of the most efficient ways for me to successfully receive audition appointments and book jobs. Here are some easy tricks to get your Actors Access submissions noticed.

On the blog:

10 Ways To Use Actors Access To Your Advantage

Non-Equity Actor's Guide to the 5 Types of NYC Auditions

To join the Actor Aesthetic Tribe on Facebook, click here.

Spread the love and don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the Actor Aesthetic Podcast on iTunes, Google, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app. 

Visit actoraesthetic.com for more information.

Follow Maggie on social media

Instagram: @actoraesthetic

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ActorAesthetic/

Email: [email protected]

As actors, we are conditioned to believe that we must hustle in order to make it in show business. We are told that there should not be a day that goes by where we're not working on something related to our craft... whether it’s taking classes, working out, networking or auditioning. Acting is not a five day a week, 9-5 job. It’s all year round, every day. But is that “hustle” mindset actually detrimental to our mental health? In this episode, Maggie reveals how a balance between "hustle" and healthy is achievable.

On the blog:

An Actor's Secrets To Keeping Sane

Related Podcast Episodes:

#7: So You Have A BFA, Now What?

#10: What Happens When You Start to feel Burnt Out?

To join the Actor Aesthetic Tribe on Facebook, click here.

Spread the love and don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the Actor Aesthetic Podcast on iTunes, Google, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app. 

Visit actoraesthetic.com for more information.

Follow Maggie on social media

Instagram: @actoraesthetic

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ActorAesthetic/

Email: [email protected]

As an actor, your brand is essentially how you see and define yourself as a performer and how you ensure that others perceive you the same way.

When a casting director, producer, or writer considers you for a project, they do what everyone does. They go to Google and type in your name. Because social media profiles often appear first in the results, you’ll want to make sure your Instagram is as catered to your brand as possible.

If you are an artist with a public social media profile, consider these 6 tangible steps you can take to further define your brand as an actor on Instagram.

Links/Articles mentioned in the podcast:

"Do Casting Directors Care About Actors' Social Media?" (Backstage Article written by casting director, Benton Whitley of Stewart/Whitley Casting)

VSCO app for photo/video editing

To join the Actor Aesthetic Tribe on Facebook, click here.

Spread the love and don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the Actor Aesthetic Podcast on iTunes, Google, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app. 

Visit actoraesthetic.com for more information.

Follow Maggie on social media

Instagram: @actoraesthetic

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ActorAesthetic/

Email: [email protected]

Broadway librettists, composers and lyricists typically leave the task of bringing their musical to life to the actors. But when the creatives behind a musical step into the limelight, we are presented with something extraordinary.

Here are 12 instances creatives starred in their own Broadway musicals.

On The Blog:

12 Times Writers Starred In Their Own Broadway Musicals

Creating Your Own Work With Actor-Producer Andy Baldwin

Links/Articles mentioned in the podcast:

Richard O'Brien on The Rocky Horror Show, Transgenderism and the Horror of Glee

Harvey Fierstein singing "I Am What I Am" in the 2011 Revival of La Cage Aux Folles

In The Drowsy Chaperone, Bob Martin's [Wedding Gift] Became His Broadway Debut

NY TIMES In The Heights Review on Lin Manuel Miranda

Spread the love and don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the Actor Aesthetic Podcast on iTunes, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app. 

Visit actoraesthetic.com for more information.

Follow Maggie on social media

Instagram: @actoraesthetic

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ActorAesthetic/

Email: [email protected]

A website can be one of the most important marketing tools for a professional actor. Actors can use websites to provide information directly to casting directors in the theatre industry. By updating your site with a headshot, resume, recent news and contact information, creative teams can easily learn more about you and potentially call you in for auditions and callbacks.

Once you design your website and its live, try searching your name on google. Does your website pop up on the first page? Is it the first result? Or way down on the bottom?

If you've noticed that your site isn't the first result that comes up when you search your name, you may be at a disadvantage. We need to make our information as readily available as possible, and if someone can't find your site, they'll quickly move on.

So how do we get the page to come up to the top of Google when someone searches our name?

Search Engine Optimization.

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a marketing idea focused on growing visibility in organic (non-paid) search engine results. According to Moz, "SEO encompasses both the technical and creative elements required to improve rankings, drive traffic, and increase awareness in search engines."

From the words on your page to the way other sites link to you on the web, actors should keep SEO in mind when creating a website. Here are some easy tips to bring your website to the top of Google search!

To use the online image optimizer mentioned in the podcast, click here.

For more on URL structure, click here.

On The Blog:

How To Bump Your Actor Website To The Top Of Google Search

Maggie's Personal Actor Website:

maggiebera.com

Spread the love and don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the Actor Aesthetic Podcast on iTunes, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app. 

Visit actoraesthetic.com for more information.

Follow Maggie on social media

Instagram: @actoraesthetic

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ActorAesthetic/

Email: [email protected]

Regardless of how many auditions you attend as an actor, from time to time you’re likely to experience one you just don’t feel too great about. We're all human. In this episode, Maggie shares her worst audition yet, why it was so cringeworthy, and how she eventually learned from her mistakes and got over it.

On The Blog:

10 Tips For Overcoming A Bad Audition

My #1 Secret to Staying Centered At Auditions

10 Embarrassing Anonymous Audition Stories

Related Episodes:

#4: How To Keep An Audition Journal

#9: 10 Simple Ways To Improve Your Audition Book

Spread the love and don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the Actor Aesthetic Podcast on iTunes, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app. 

Visit actoraesthetic.com for more information.

Follow Maggie on social media

Instagram: @actoraesthetic

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ActorAesthetic/

Email: [email protected]

As we approach the height of audition season in NYC, it can be easy to spot the negatives (i.e busy schedules, long lines, crazy audition holding rooms, "competition," etc.).

On Instagram last week, Maggie held a poll asking each of her followers one thing they LOVE about auditions. In this episode, Maggie discusses your responses from the poll... from treating auditions like a game, to sharing your love of performing, to rewarding yourself afterwards!

Related Episodes:

#16: Guided Meditation Series for Audition Holding Rooms

#10: What Happens When You Start To Feel Burnt Out?

#9: 10 Simple Ways To Improve Your Audition Book

#4: How To Keep An Audition Journal

On The Blog:

10 Tips For Overcoming A Bad Audition

6 Things To Expect In An Audition Holding Room

Spread the love and don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the Actor Aesthetic Podcast on iTunes, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app. 

Visit actoraesthetic.com for more information.

Follow Maggie on social media

Instagram: @actoraesthetic

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ActorAesthetic/

Email: [email protected]

In this episode, Maggie chats about her top 10 items she can't go without when traveling to auditions, advice she's learned over the years about packing smart, and what it's like living in New Jersey and commuting into New York City.

Episodes mentioned in the podcast:

 #4: How To Keep An Audition Journal

Products I LOVE for travel and auditions:

Samsonite Rolling Bag

Yeti Water Bottle

Beats By Dre Studio3 Wireless Headphones 

For further reading, check out:

10 Tips for Commuters Traveling Into NYC

20 Items You Should Pack for an Out-Of-Town Contract

10 Questions You Need To Answer When Keeping An Audition Journal

Spread the love and don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the Actor Aesthetic Podcast on iTunes, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app. 

Visit actoraesthetic.com for more information. 

Follow Maggie on social media

Instagram: @actoraesthetic

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ActorAesthetic/

Email: [email protected]