Summer is here and actors from all over are traveling far and wide to begin their summer stock contracts! Congratulate yourself for booking, but don’t lose sight of the future beyond this job. Here’s some tips on continuing to further your career while on contract!

Re-evaluate your repertoire

View your book through a critical eye to determine if there are pieces in it that need updating or don’t feel true to you as a performer anymore.

Tips:

• Consider the performer you were the last time you made major updates to your book, and compare it to the performer you are now. What’s changed, if anything?

• If you listen to music in your spare time, start streaming cast albums you’ve never listened to before and save songs that you may want to learn

• Reading plays is the best way to find new material and provides a low commitment way to destress before or after rehearsals/shows

  
  

Keep a watchful eye for upcoming auditions

Though many theaters follow a specific timeline as to when they start casting, you never know when a new audition will be announced for a contract that aligns perfectly with your schedule!

Tips:

• Integrate casting websites into your daily scrolling (Actors Access, Backstage, Casting Networks, and, of course, The Casting Connection!)

• Follow theaters on social media that you are interested in working with so you will easily see if they are casting

• Keep in touch with your actor friends and what they’re finding, specifically if they are in one of the big cities for any part of the summer

  
  

Make it known that you are on a contract

• Updating all your current methods of virtual outreach, such as social media and your website, shows that you are proactive in marketing yourself.

  
  

Tips:

• Add your current productions to your resume. Even if they have not happened yet, use an asterisk to indicate that they are upcoming

• Update your News or Upcoming section on your website to show your current contract. If you don’t have one of these pages on your website, now is the perfect time to create it!

• Simple social media posts, such as stories on Instagram or occasional Day In My Life videos on TikTok, are enticing for others to watch and can increase your online presence

  
  

While you soak up the sun this summer and dive into the world of your contracts, remember that auditioning and seeking out your next contract IS the job. Utilizing some of your time to direct attention and love towards your own material, marketing, and artistic growth as a performer will continue to make you that much more prepared for wherever you end up once the summer comes to an end.