Days ahead : an actor's preparation : an honors thesis (HONRS 499)

Abstract

A question, which plagues many seniors as they prepare to graduate, is: "What next?" They wonder if they are really prepared to enter the "real world" as a working adult. As a theatre student, this question is even more volatile. Theatre is a highly unstable profession. Therefore, I have used my honors thesis to better prepare myself to succeed in that profession. I have asked myself what I will need beyond the performance skills and techniques I have learned in class, and set out to acquire those things. What follows, then, represents the culmination of a semester spent making those final preparations for the "real world" of the actor: a high quality headshot and resume, a sample cover letter, a five year plan (including goals and how to accomplish them), a tentative budget for the coming year, a strong repertoire of audition material (four monologues and fourteen songs), a musical theatre audition tape, and a database for contacts and mailings.