We LOVE Katherine Steele. The YouTuber and performer extraordinaire offers so much to the theatre community, from choosing an audition song to marking your script to turning down a role. She’s so amazing… and we have to share it! Whether you’re in middle school, high school, or college, here are her tips for any young actor who wants to perform long-term.
1. Train, train, train.
As an actor and performer, you have to train like you would for any other career path. Study ballet, learn theatre fundamentals, practice an accent! Get as much experience and training as you can to really build a solid background for yourself.
2. Remember: your vocal cords won’t mature until later.
If you’re singing in a middle school or high school production, don’t stress that you don’t sound like your favorite cast recording. Even they don’t sound like that in person! Not only are your vocal cords still maturing, but singers will always sound different in person than they do in a studio.
3. Do. Your. Research.
Watch as many shows as possible, read as many scripts as possible, do what you can to really immerse yourself in theatre because you can always learn from it. And if you don’t understand something, look it up! There is a lot of information readily available on the internet, so use it.
4. Focus on what you can control.
Spend your energy on the things you can control, like preparing for an audition, handling rejection, developing your character, or learning your lines. Sometimes it’s more important to focus on how you react to a situation than the situation itself.
5. You don’t fail when someone else succeeds.
Too often we compare ourselves to others, especially when we feel like they are succeeding more than us. This is far from the truth! Opportunities come at different times for different people and the right opportunities for you will eventually happen.
6. If you’re not good at something, work on it!
You can always showcase your strengths, but also pay attention to your weaknesses. If you’re rejected after an audition or you got a different role from the one you wanted, look at what you can learn from it and work on that.
7. Do it because you love it.
You should always love what you do, especially professionally. Fame and wealth won’t come for a long time, if ever, so they shouldn’t be the only reasons you perform. And if you’re passionate about what you do, it will show. Directors want actors who want to be there.
Every audition and performance will be a new learning experience, so don’t stress about the little things! Just be ready to listen to your director, your castmates, and even your own instincts. Break a leg!
Have you heard about ProductionPro? Check out digital scripts and scores for your show plus a suite of tools to help you have a successful rehearsal process.