Castable Demographics

Where did all the theater parts for my demographic go?

Lots of things about the business of acting is hard, but this is not usually one of them. I am listed on Actors Access and Breakdown Cervices as a caucasian male able to play 18-39ish. For movies, obviously that range shrinks a bit, but for stage, I could probably pull off even older or younger.

Now, have you ever heard a young white man with a wide age range complain that there aren't enough parts for his type written? No. You haven't. And if you have, that young white man deserves a nice whack upside the back of his young white skull. There are more parts written in film and theater for my demographic than just about any other. It aint fair, and if and when it changes, I'll be happy for society. But on a disgustingly selfish level, this should be good for me, right?

... right?

So why is it that, when I search Actors Access (one of the two biggest websites for actor-accessible breakdowns), for castings in New York (the biggest theater city in the country), looking for straight theater listings for someone of my type, the only listings I get already held their auditions at least a week ago?

Seriously, even including nonunion and unpaid listings, I found three current theater listings that listed something for my type. All of them were musicals, one or two of them requiring either that you can tap dance or have already performed the show in question somewhere else.

I'm not drawing conclusions yet, but it does make me wonder. If I'm having trouble finding theater work on Actors Access, what's it like for, say, women searching for parts? Or minorities?

For now I'll blame Actors Access, and concentrate my search elsewhere. But if other listings go to the wayside, actors of all types in NY without representation (and many actors with representation) are in for a tough time finding theater breakdowns.

Comments

[c]

There is a misspelling in the article. "Race" should not even be mentioned in casting notices especially theater! Casting is crap these days. No way will I have sympathy for this man. He doesn't understand how "lucky" he is.