scope out the industry newspapers in hopes they could be among the first in a line of hundreds of artists vying for a couple dozen audition slots that day.
to a building, climb five or six flights of steps only to slide the packet under the locked door of a theatrical agent - all in hopes that someone might single them out from the hundreds of other resumes similarly distributed - - and grant them an audition for a show that might never make it to stage. These sorts of “cold calls” seldom paid dividends and yet, they were an essential part of trying to break into the theatrical business. There were no electronic bulletin boards. The only way to find out about an audition was to check the daily listings in Variety or Backstage magazines - - daily industry newspapers that listed auditions for that day. Timing was everything, because an actor/singer/dancer faced severe competition to even receive an opportunity to audition. And so, artists would rise very early in the morning to
Survival jobs of the day (those jobs artists rely upon to pay the rent and to feed themselves) were, by in large, grueling. Artists worked long hard shifts as wait staff, bussers, bartenders, dishwashers and cooks. This was a time before data entry and other “white collar” survival jobs existed, so artists mostly relied on the food service industry to make ends meet. To this day, I remember my father asking me when I was going to get a “real job.” Much to his credit, once I explained the inner workings of the restaurant industry, he understood the legitimacy of the enterprise and accepted me into his blue collar world. Of course this, along with hundreds of other processes, changed immensely over the course of the ensuing years. Artists today face the same obstacles and disappointments my colleagues faced - - at a much faster pace, but at