Being in the entertainment industry the internet provides many points of access. Having the internet allows me to search for music theatre related websites such as 'Music Theatre International' or 'Stage Agent' Websites such as these allow me to research the shows to understand the shows styles, music genre, characters, settings and performance requirements. This information is very important when entering the industry as you need to be contastantly auditioning for shows and productions in order to get ahead. Using this information wisely in preperation for the audition can mean the make or break in the production you are auditioning for.
If we didn't have the internet, sources become scarce and hard to find, espically in Australia. This is becuase musicals aren't part of the Australian culture whereas if I were situated in America, finding information about musicals without the internet would be much more abundant as musicals are part of their culture; 'Musical theatre may be the most popular form of theatre'. Therefore the availability of musicals in hardcopy format would be easy to find. And so having the ability to learn about show information off the internet is very handy to have.
Another resource the internet provides from the entertainment industry are audition notices. This works on both the producer's side and the performer's side. Without the internet, producer's would have to advertise auditions in the newspaper, by word of mouth and by phoning up agenices (which they still do today). However, thanks to the internet, producer's are able to post it on performer based websites, on online newsletters for performers and are therefore able to access a wider range of performers with other skills.
On the performer's side, looking for auditions in papers are scarce, not all performers have agents which means they won't get a job and word of mouth means you have to know people already in the industry which makes it difficult for newcomers to get in. Having the internet allows performers to search for auditions either locally, interstate or globally. This gives them a chance to make it in the industry whereas they wouldn't have had the chance if the internet didn't exist. Such websites include: 'AT2' 'Casting professionals use it on a daily basis in order to source talent for their productions' and 'Showcast' “Showcast – both the website and books provide an invaluable service. I use it as a fast and efficient communication tool when liaising with producers and directors.” which are both agency based sites that any perforer can join and they have newsletters and an "audition" page where producer's post up the latest auditions.
Having the internet to help us break into the industry through finding audition notices online, rather than word of mouth; and having access to show information such as genre, style and songs is a benifit of e - learning for the performers of this country.
References:
- Music Theatre Inernational, viewed 19th July, 2008, http://www.mtishows.com/default_home.asp
- Stage Agent, viewed 19th July, 2008, http://www.stageagent.com/
- Wikipedia, Cuture of the United States, viewed 19th July, 2008, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_culture#Theater
- AT2, About AT2, viewed 19th July, 2008, http://www.at2.com.au/about.html
- Veronic Taylor, Home & Away, Mullinars, Showcast Testimonials, viewed 19th July, 2008 http://www3.showcast.com.au/showcast/
