College Theatrical Resume

soozievt
Wed, 17 Oct 2007 17:40:19 +0000

MusThCC…I’m also saying that the student is the one who decides the content, not a parent. I thought Alliesmom’s question was a valid one. My D doesn’t have (lead) next to any of the credits on her current resume, even though many of the credits are lead roles. But I can see Alliesmom’s question and have wondered the same thing and I see that KatMT who not only teaches in a theater program, is an Equity actor and directs at a summer stock theater, mentioned that for an obscure or brand new show, that she suggests putting (lead) next to the role.

The idea of CREDITS is to show what you’ve done. There would be no way to ascertain that the actor had played the lead if just a name of a part is given in a brand new or obscure show. Having lead roles on a resume doesn’t mean someone wants to be a “star”. Lead roles on a resume speaks to your credits and experiential level. If someone has a background with many lead roles but one cannot determine that on the resume, the impression given in the credits will be different and the resume does serve a purpose in providing credits/background. I think someone who wants to make sure their resume represents their body of experience doesn’t imply they wish to be a star. They wish the auditors to have their background which is the reason there IS a resume in the first place and not just an audition. If the roles are hard to discern, it doesn’t truly show their experience as well.

I’m not saying to put (lead) next to an obscure show or role in it, but that Alliesmom’s question is food for thought as to how the actor can depict their experience and be clear and make sure it represents their credits and background which is the point behind the resume. I don’t have an answer for it but was interested in what KatMT had to say or what others would suggest, if anything. For instance, why does one put down a well known director on their credits? It shows a certain level or experience. Why even list one’s role and not just list the shows? The roles show a certain type or level of experiential background. However, if the person reading it has no idea what that show is or how signficant the part was, it is not that useful of informaiton. For example, one of my clients was sharing her theater resume with me and I suggested she order the credits from the most significant on down and we talked about eliminating some and she asked me which to eliminate. Well, there were some plays and parts I had never heard of and had no clue the significance of what she had done in them. On other resumes, with more familiar shows, I can get a better idea.

I suppose one way to show it is if the part is a lead and quite significant, it will be higher up on the list of credits even though nobody has a clue the show or the part but can infer it must be big if it is above credits that are also leads. Just guessing. I don’t think any of that has to do with wanting to be a “star.” If you want to act, you need a resume. The resume needs to show what you have done. If the auditors can’t tell what those experiences are, it just is less helpful. I don’t see Alliesmom’s question as being just relevant to a parent asking about her kid’s resume but ANY resume and I would expect a student to have asked a similar question about how to show the roles when nobody has heard of the play or the part. Perhaps do nothing. But it is a good question. If the significance of the parts do not matter at all, one could just list which productions they had been in and never list ANY roles. But they DO list roles, for a reason. And that reason is not due to having an objective of being a “star,” but rather to show their experiential background and credits, about which the auditors want to know.