Do You Want to Be In The Entertainment Business? Read On
Posted: Tuesday, April 07, 2009
by Gary W. Halsey Sr.
All Season Karaoke and D.J.
I have been in the entertainment business for a good part of my life. Yes, it has been off and on, and occasional show here, and occasional show or theatrical part there, but this is a very rewarding business if you have the right representation. When getting started in show business, I must go back to when I was in Junior High, or High School. There is several activities that you can do in school in the early years, to get your child prepped for a life of entertainment. Encourage them to audition for school plays, praise them for wanting to sing in a choir, applaud them for wanting to play a musical instrument! If you see that your child has a "Natural born talent", whether it be in Singing, dancing, "Romeo and Juliet" or playing a musical instrument, you may just have the next Hanna Montana, or the next Brad Pitt in your midst.
I get asked allot, "How did you get started in entertainment?" Well, its for sure that it doesn't happen overnight, although I must say that things are a bit different nowadays, compared to when I was a lad. Entertainment has become really specialized nowadays. Remember, (some of you that are old enough to remember) People like Red Skelton, or Jimmy Durante, how about Milton Berle, or even Phil Silvers. There was also Rosemary Clooney, Shirley Temple, Jack Benny, oh I could go on and on of the all time greats. They all had one thing in common, they all, and I mean all, had multiple talents. Most of them did their own stunts live on stage, or in the movies. They could all sing, and dance, tap dance, and do stand up comedy, they did it all. Below are some pictures of the greats that I am describing above:
Shirley Temple 
Phil Silvers Milton Burle 
Jack Benny 
Rosemary Clooney
(Thanks to IMDB (The Internet Movie Database) for the pictures).
These were all greats in their day, I believe them to still be greats. But they were all multi talented. If you want you kids to pursue a life of entertainment, it takes allot of hard work, and support from you, "The parent". Most of these actors/actresses and performers came from a background where their folks were in show biz as well. Well, some of them at least. I can give you tips on how to look for ways to get into show biz, however, it does require some disciplines along the way. There are a few basic rules you must follow, and some of them I have already outlined in the 1st paragraph above. Your kids need to be involved in the theater in school. Once they are old enough to go to college, there are several programs, that involve acting in the performing arts. You need to find out if your local area, have a group or organization that supports talented kids, whom are involved with local theaters where there are kids are involved. Some of the tools you will need to get started, is a portfolio, you need a great portfolio to show what you have done. What experience do you have if any? Do you have an agent? Do you need and agent? I can go into detail, and I will in another article. But if you are serious, about the desire to get your kid, or even yourself into the entertainment business, you need to know the basics. I will be discussing topics like :
- How to create a Portfolio. (Needs to be Impressive)
- Resume, what experience do you have, if any.
- Tools that you can use, to prep your child or you, into getting into the business.
- The How To's for getting that first audition. What to prepare for.
- Being at the right place, at the right time.
- Watch the newspaper ads, they have auditions in them all the time.
- Online "Agents", Legit, or not? I can name a few.
- Stunt schools available for those young folks that want to get into the stunt area of the business.
- Who to know. And how to know them.
- Determine what area of the business you want to be in. Actor/Singer/Stunt man/Comedian.
- Do you need to join SAG, (Screen Actors Guild) or not? How to qualify.
I will be writing on these subjects for those of you that are interested. My qualifications are Theater, have been in the movies, been involved in lessons, tap dancing, dancing, singing voice training, and have been a stunt man. The Last place I worked was Old Tucson Film Studios, Worked at Disney's (when I was a child, in Frontierland, also Frontier Village in San Jose, as a stunt man/actor. Last movie I was in was Ghost Rock, with Gary Busey.
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them on your comments, and I will do the best I can to answer them. Remember, the show must go on!!!!
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)Hi Gary, great tips!! I starting "performing" when I was 4 years old, my mom told me that everytime we had company, I would get a chair, out it in the center of everyone and start singing. ha!Growing up in L.A., gave me some advantages, unfounately, I did grab a lot of them. (It happens when you marry at 18 to get cheap insurance rates. ha!), anyway, one of my greatest memories is performing at Occidental College in Pasadena - huge theatre! It does help to be multi-talented. I was in dance (tap- modern jaz) choir, and of course Drama. Many of the plays we did included singing even when it wasn't classified as a musical. My drama teacher was also a writer in Hollywood. I still love performing and one of these days..... anyway, I think you gave some great pointers here.Writer to writer - you might want to read through this again and fix the typo's :-)I am trying to picture a cowboy like you tap dancing :-)teresaTeresa, thank you for your comments, and I did clean up the typo's in this piece, I did it at 1:30 am, so my eyes were heavy, and so were my fingers...lol.....thanks for noticing. I'm glad you liked the article, and its great that you have been in theater as well, with hopes of doing it again....once it's in your blood, "your family"!! Thanks again for your comments, I appreciate it, and if you do get back into it...you'd better write an article about it! Your fan, and friend in pen...Gary
My daughter, Tanna Lynn, was described by a local theatre director as a 'Triple Threat'. When I first heard that term I didn't know what to make of it, but found out that it was a really good comment.If you haven't already, please read my article called "My Favourite Actress". It tells a little of what my daughter did in entertainment, when she was in her teens. ***When you check for the title in the SearchWarp search window, you need to spell "favourite" the Canadian/British way, with the 'u' or it won't work.****PS. My wife and I saw Red Skelton many years ago in Vancouver, BC. We had first row centre seats. Wow, what an experience!!!!David, I will check out the story you are in reference to. It sounds interesting, and I'm sure, knowing the way you write, that it is.......Red Skelton was one of the greats, and you were fortunate to see him live......I loved his Clem Cadittlehopper, he was haliarious. Thanks for the read, I will be up your way soon and will catch a few of your great poems.....your fan, and friend in pen.......Gary.
I've always wanted to be a rock star. I have reasonable guitar skills but no tolerance for the spotlight. But, I LOVE to write! And where do these great ones get their lines? That's right!!!Good stuff, Gary, as always.Thanks Ken, I appreciate the read and the comments, lol about the "Where do they get their lines"? Good point!!!! It takes writers before there are performers, lol......this is a field that I am very knowledgeable on....everybody always wonders where to start, well...been there, done that!! Glad you liked it, and thanks for the comments....Your pal, and fan......Gary. (supposed to rain this weekend, well, at least Saturday....maybe tomorrow too.....Perhaps I can catch up on MY READING!!!! Thanks again
I'm so glad I got to see so many wonderful entertainers in my lifetime. I love music but always knew that I could not sing and never thought about being an actor. It is good that you are so willing to share your knowledge with people who are interested.Interesting article. Thanks for sharing.Linda DThanks Linda, I am really glad that you liked the article. So many times people try to get into entertainment, but really don't know where to start. It is not hard once you have an idea of what you need to get started in the business. It took me a long time to learn, the in's and out's of being in the movies, and also what it takes to be an entertainer. I wouild love to help folks with the knowledge that I have, being in show business...at no expense to the reader. I hope folks will take advantage of asking the questions they may have trying to get their kids, or even themselves in the business....Thanks for the read, and the nice comment....Your fan and friend in pen, Gary.
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