Actors, Where Are You Going...

Emily:
Do you ever look at an audition posting and just think, “Yes, I know I can do this role, this is perfect for me!” Where does that gut instinct come from and why are we drawn there? You might think it is simply because you match the vocal type or style, age, height or any other “quality”. But there are other forces at work…forces that drove you to be an actor in the first place, deep inner feelings that give you personal bliss and satisfaction to create and explore and express.

So many times we can feel exhausted pushing those great instinct’s aside and thinking foolishly that because we’re an actor, we have to be able to play anything and everything to get the job. And then we also think to ourselves, “What sets me apart from all the other thousands of actors striving to get jobs?” Yikes! It’s mind blowing!

Still a secret resource in the city!!! John Dapolito’s-AWG (Actors Where Are You Going?) Program (www.johndapolito.com), is pioneering new psychological profiling technique’s to help actors understand how to market themselves. You are the product you’re selling in the acting world and John’s program helps the actor uncover their personal niche (product) for individual success.

An established actor, playwright, director and acting teacher himself, John has an instinct for revealing actors to themselves like no one I have ever met. He addresses all of those haunting acting questions during his eye-opening seminars, which then sets the tone for the one-on-one private session. I recommend both HIGHLY. For one of the most useful things I have ever given myself is the AWG-Program. It has added new direction to the way I work my craft and see myself as an actor. Check out the website!

Because.....if you don’t know where you’re going….
…..it’s much, much harder to get there.

Here we go!

Hello this is Stephan (Stephan Stubbins - the headshot all the way on the left), and I am so excited to be starting this blog. I'm one of the 4 founders of The Theatre Mafia (our beloved company, who's aim it is to help Actors, Singers, Dancers, Musicians, & Theatre Artists living in or moving to New York City). All 4 of us (Stephan Stubbins, Eric Jackson, Emily Whyte, & Ryan Boda) will be contributing stories to this blog about our laughable mistakes, learning experiences, trials, tribulations, and glorious successes in New York City and beyond.

I'd like to start off by introducing and telling you a little bit about myself. I grew up in Cincinnati, OH (I'm a big Bengals & Bearcats fan!) and after graduating from High School I got a BFA from Webster University in St. Louis. When I graduated college I remember getting this foreboding feeling when I thought about New York City, and where my next steps might take me. I felt at once petrified and enlivened by the prospect of making the big move, yet also completely clueless when it came to the real world questions of where to begin (...like how to find an apartment, how to get a real job in the city to pay for that apartment while I was waiting for my first big show, how to even get seen for a big show, etc.).

I ended up getting very lucky. I ended up not having to face NYC at all in the beginning. Right before I planned on moving to NYC I got a job doing Doug in the Doug show down at Disney's MGM Studios, and I was able to postpone the big move to NYC for another 6 months. Getting the show was lucky, however, how I really got lucky was that while I was in Disney World my friends were moving to New York and learning the ins and outs of the city. When I finished my time at Disney I was able to come up to the city, stay with them and make my start. It's amazing what we learned in those first couple years of living in NYC...as much as we experienced, auditioned, branched out, & explored, there was always this feeling that we were still only scratching the surface of what NYC and the Theatre Business had to offer.

I am now in my 6th year in New York City, and while I am still discovering, learning and experiencing new opportunities all the time, I often find myself thinking "If only I knew then what I know now". Consequently, that is exactly what our company The Theatre Mafia is aiming to do - give our resources and knowledge to those who could use it most. I relish the opportunity to pass our experiences and inside knowledge to friends and fellow actors, hoping to shine some light where we ourselves once got lost.

Thanks so much for looking us up, and thanks for reading the Blog! (I promise it will get much more fun and interesting from here on out!)