by Steven Gomez

Created on: January 17, 2011   Last Updated: January 18, 2011

Actors dream of becoming movie stars or playing on Broadway, which makes it easy to take for granted how community theatres, which play on smaller stages to smaller audiences and either don't pay or pay very little, can enrich their lives, doing just as much for not just their careers but for themselves spiritually and socially.  Community theatre work also allows them to enrich the lives of friends, family and of course the community.

1. Community theatre is a working opportunity to build a career.  Professional theatre companies, movie producers and the like only want to work with actors they know, either from actors they've worked with before, or actors they or others they work with have seen in other shows around town.

For most actors the only way to get that experience and build those relationships is to act with community theatre troupes.  The directors community theatre actors perform for today may be the mainstage directors that seek them out tomorrow, and the relationships built in these productions often lead to more work and auditions for bigger roles after building the resume.

The audiences community theatre actors play for today may include the big stage directors that appreciate their work and seek them out tomorrow.  Community theatre roles are a great way to not just build a resume, but to get exposure with directors and colleagues that can help the actor land bigger roles later.

2.  Community theatre is more accessible as an actor and as a patron.  Sure, community theatre plays for smaller audiences and the pay isn't what an Equity mainstage actor can expect.  But because of this the expectations for community theatre directors and troupes aren't as high, and many are willing to take on more inexperienced actors and give them chances the big theatres and movie directors may not.

Also, actors learn a lot by watching shows, and community shows cost less to attend than mainstage shows.  Most of these shows are cheap enough that an actor can see several of them per month, maybe even several per week.  This is a great opportunity for actors to expose themselves to more work and not only learn from it but see troupes, directors and actors they'd like to work with.

3. Community theatre produces more original and engaging material.  Most mainstage theatres have big profit margins to maintain and often take fewer risks with their season schedule, producing predictable and popular shows from Broadway and off-Broadway

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