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Los Angeles vs. New York
Find out when the time is right to make the move out West
There’s no doubt that New York City is the actor’s Mecca.
For decades, actors have come to Gotham and its Great White Way to make it in
show business, hoping to see their names on Broadway marquees while reciting
the mantra, “If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere.”
But New York’s artistic preeminence is not immune to
competition or, for that matter, outside influences. With Broadway churning out
Hollywood remakes left and right, and off-Broadway theaters using the
box-office power of big-screen stars, it seems like another city is calling the
shots here: Los Angeles — the great urban sprawl, the confusing land of
spaghetti freeways, where you’ll find palm trees in ghettos and homeless camps
across the street from mansions. No matter how much we East Coasters hate to
admit it, the City of Angels stands on its own as a destination for actors of
all stripes. New York is still the world’s center for theater (any regional
company worth its pay in dirt holds auditions here, and even theater companies
on the West Coast look for actors in New York), but L.A. has always been the
heart of film and TV acting.

Sure, things have balanced out somewhat over the last few
years. As New York continues to lure producers with attractive tax incentives,
California’s soaring production costs have been driving productions out of the
state. But the shift hasn’t been severe enough to dislodge L.A. from its place
as the world’s film and TV capital, and, with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
working feverishly to pass legislation to ease the financial burden of filming
in the Golden State, Tinsel Town is likely to continue its dominance. The
bottom line? L.A. is probably the better choice if you want to have a diverse
career in film and TV.
And let’s not kid ourselves. No matter what the local papers
say, and no matter how many 99-seat theaters open up on the dingy streets of
Hollywood, L.A. is not known as a theater city. As the conventional wisdom
goes, “If you’re trying to make it in film and TV, you go to L.A. If you want
to be a serious thespian, you go to New York.”
In L.A., casting agents (or their assistants) are a rare
presence in theaters. Whatever the play, the threat or promise of the big break
takes precedence over artistic commitment. When the TV or movie call interrupts
an afternoon rehearsal, most actors are gone faster than you can say, “strike
the set.” Indeed, according to a source at Actors’ Equity, L.A. actors rarely
want to leave their city’s limits, afraid that they’ll miss the big call. As a
result, it’s very hard to build a thriving theater scene in fear that your lead
won’t last the three-week run of a show.
So what to do if you’re an actor who wants to be on TV,
audition for studio films, but still spread your wings theatrically? Maybe you
can have the best of both worlds.
Sea to Shining Sea
Being bicoastal is a dream come true to the New Yorker in
L.A. If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool Gothamite, there is no question that L.A. is
a tough town. L.A. is the urban experience spilled out on the floor. Its
population is scattered across hundreds of neighborhoods, each blending into
the next. There is no subway system uniting the place, no visible throngs of
pedestrians bustling down a midtown street, reminding you that your life, with
its interior monologue of thoughts and worries, is only one among millions.
In L.A., the common experience is the freeway — it’s you in
a car surrounded by other cars and their passengers, but detached from them as
well. It’s a city that thrives on isolated individuality, not commonality. To a
New Yorker, lover of dense living and the urban experience, L.A. can be a
haunting and depressing place. This is why being bicoastal is an attractive
option: You’re in L.A. when you have to be, and you return to New York as soon
as you can.
That’s easier said than done. Most actors who live bicoastal
lives end up doing so because chance gave them that opportunity, not because
they specifically intended it. And second, the more successful you are in
professional acting, the easier it is to be bicoastal. Living in two places is
never ideal, but if you have to do it, the bigger the network, the better.
The Network
Tasha Lawrence never considered herself a bicoastal actor,
but the track of her successful career displays many of the characteristics of
what a bicoastal life can look like at its best. Trained at Circle in the
Square Theater School and a veteran of New York TV staples like “Law &
Order” and the now-defunct “Third Watch,” she is by almost every definition the
quintessential New York actress. A few years ago, Lawrence was working on an
off-Broadway show that was invited to continue its run in L.A. “I was only
supposed to be there for three weeks,” Lawrence said. “But then, just like
that, the show got extended.”
Not exactly overjoyed about having to live out of a
suitcase, Lawrence got organized and displayed the logistical flexibility
necessary for anyone working both coasts. First, she had to work out her living
situation — finding a place to stay in L.A. and figuring out what to do with
her New York apartment. Lawrence quickly found another itinerant actor to stay
in her Upper East Side abode. “I’m really lucky because I have a
rent-controlled one bedroom. So when I need to go away, people will line up to
sublet from me.”
And in L.A.? “I’m Canadian. A friend of mine from Toronto
was living out there so I stayed with him for a little while. Then I found an
apartment through more Canadian friends of his,” she said.
In other words, Lawrence had a network — she immediately hit
the ground running and expanded that set of contacts. An actor moving to L.A.
should have a similar social cushion and, like the driven but amazingly
personable Lawrence, the right personality to quickly pad that cushion.
But actress Corinne Cason, who has been in the business for
more than 20 years, has put a lot of time into developing a tight, reliable
network. Cason, who volunteered at L.A.’s Screen Actors Guild conservatory,
frequently flew back and forth between cities when her husband worked on a New
York-based soap opera. Now her travels aren’t as extensive, but the bicoastal
real estate habits remain. “I have an exchange with actor friends. When I go to
New York, I stay with them and when they come here, they stay with me. It works
nicely,” she said.
Knowing When To Go
It’s a show business truism that the higher up the ladder
you climb in New York, the more people you get to know in L.A. That is, the
more established the actor, the more likely someone in L.A. will want to meet
him or her and have lunch. If you don’t feel up to it and you don’t have the
contacts, then L.A. can be a tough, mean town, which is why some insiders
contend that it’s best to stay put unless you book a job.
No Agent, No L.A.
Acting in L.A. without an agent makes little sense. A good
day in L.A. is about how close you get to landing a role on TV or the silver
screen. The L.A. actor’s life doesn’t unexpectedly segue into a life in the
theater, dance or anything else. L.A. is a one-note town, and, unlike Chicago,
Seattle and other proud cities, it doesn’t really bother to argue otherwise.
The city is all about film and TV, and talent agents control all access to
them.
“In L.A. you really do need representation. Bottom line,”
said Lawrence. “I don’t think I would have stayed if I didn’t have
representation. There’s no way to get in for anything in L.A. without an agent.
I don’t know if the trade papers even have ads for these things.”
They don’t. Or if they do, don’t read them. L.A. actors
should be wary of advertisements in the back pages of the trades or local
papers that say they’re looking for new faces in film and TV. If a show needs
an actor, it will cast through an agent. Unlike New York — where agents play
catch up to the tireless drive of an ever-changing art scene — in L.A. there’s no
reason for a casting entity to bypass the agent. All aspiring L.A. actors go
through agents first, too.
Schedule
But let’s say you are confident with your network of
friends, have money saved and agencies on both coasts to call home. There is
still a bicoastal schedule to follow.
Pilot season (January to late March) is obviously the
“primetime” to be in L.A. As networks develop a handful of shows for their fall
schedules, more TV roles are auditioned in these months than the rest of the
year combined. “If you don’t bag one of those roles, move quickly to buy your
plane ticket,” Cason advised.
“Early spring is a good time to go back to New York if you
want to get into summer stock and the like,” she said. “Out here in L.A., they
do have some auditions for the summer circuits, but only for three or four.”
Summer in New York used to be considered a good time for TV
commercials as well. When the hot sun came out in the Northeast and inclement
weather became less likely, getting marketers to Los Angeles became less likely
too. But the advertising world has a more permanent presence in L.A. than it
used to, and, according to Cason, summer commercial bookings are pretty even
between coasts now.
Wait a Minute
Generally speaking, working both coasts at an early stage of
your career is probably not best. If you’re not in a position to call in favors
or only have the infamous relative who works “someplace big,” it would be
better, all agree, to bide your time. Continue to establish yourself here and
gradually let L.A. make itself real to you instead of forcing it.
But wanting to do both is completely understandable. The
attraction of Los Angeles, even if you’re an actor’s actor, is undeniable. The
most important thing to consider is whether you’re ready to make the move.
“The biggest mistake people make is thinking that a
cross-country move is going to automatically boost their career,” said a New
York-based talent agent who asked not to be named. “The reality is, both cities
are very tough. Chances are, if you can’t find work in New York, you probably
won’t find it in Los Angeles either.”
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