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EDITION #001 | JUNE 2014
Arts Link Us IS THEATER REALLY FOR ME? WHAT IS A HEADSHOT? A TRIBUTE TO ARTS LEGENDS
Charlo Crossley
The Minister. The Artist.
WELCOMECONTENTS
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WELCOME/CONTENTS
JUNE 2014 THANK YOU
for visiting Arts Link Us, the premier destination for artist and those who love the creative and performing arts. Arts Link Us, is celebrating its maiden launch. Arts Link Us is an innovative on line magazine dedicated to promoting and marketing artist and art events around the nation. Arts Link Us promotes... actors, actresses, stage productions, auditions, concerts, gospel and secular rap artist, art exhibits, photographers, dance troupes, instrumental groups and anything artistic under the sun that would be of interest to thespians and the supporters of art.
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Charlo Crossley
Arts Link Us targets... consumers, small businesses; large corporations, gospel and urban performers radio stations, press and media, pastors, churches, record labels, and major players in the creative and performing arts industry. We currently have over 10,000 subscribers. We get your message seen by those you need to see it!
Charlyane Henry Founder & Chief Editer chenry@artslink.us
SOCIAL CONNECT
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Is Theater For You?
STAFF
/artslinkus To Subscribe and/or Marcus Brown Advertise Director of Sales visit Natalia Henry www.artslink.us Photographer
Linda Watson
Artistic Director/Designer
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A Headshot?
MESSAGE FROM
THE EDITOR EDITOR: Charlayne Henry
EMAIL: chenry@artslink.us
Charlayne’s story is no different than many other stories of people taking a dream and making a reality out of it. She carries a range of passions from acting and singing to being a full-fledged business woman. Almost anything that you can think of this woman has done. Charlayne has written many songs, plays, and has acted in a variety of productions. She has several degrees under her belt, has owned her own restaurant, I mean she’s done it all! But even with all of the many accomplishments to her name, Charlayne still wasn’t satisfied. She has a vision to fulfill. Her main vision was to have her own theatrical production company, but this company wouldn’t be your average company, she wanted to own a production company that was run strictly by women of color. “How often do you see a production company, or any company for that matter run by women, let alone women of color? It’s not likely that you can come across businesses like that, I wanted to break that mold.” Charlayne says of her dream business. It was with this vision that “A Sistas Thang Production” was born. A.S.T.P. was founded in 1994 in Philadelphia, PA. The company originally offered Christian theater productions only, but expanded her audience when the company relocated to Pittsburgh, PA, and restructured for diverse audiences. It was important for Charlayne to seek out an ideal location to house her production company. Her search came to a halt when she came across the Duquesne area of Pittsburgh, where there was so much lack. Her goal was to bring excitement and life back to this forgotten area. While in Duquesne, Charlayne purchased her first building that would house the first African American, female owned and operated Performing Arts Theater. Within a year, the production company out grew their building and relocated to Pitcairn where she purchased a building that would now house a three hundred seat Performing Arts Theater. The Charles A. Stewart Performing Arts Center, Inc. was opened and the production company presented several successful play, musicals and comedy shows. In 2011, Charlayne felt compelled to make another move in hopes of expanding her theater and artistic talents. After seeking out opportunities in other states, she made the move from Pennsylvania to Florida. The move didn’t slow her down and Charlayne immediately began to pioneer a new work. After a year of research and exploration, Charlayne discovered that there were over three million blacks who reside in Tampa, but that there was no African American Performing Arts Theater or African American owned and operated Art Museum or anything that represented the Black Community. With this knowledge, Kairoi Performing Arts Cultural Center was launched in February, 2012. Within one year, Charlayne Henry Productions and Kairoi Performing Arts Cultural Center has secured a facility and has successfully hosted several productions have raised money for several non-profit organizations and individuals who have experienced family crisis. One of the families assisted was The Joseph Family whose son, fourteen year of Andrew Joseph III was killed after an incident that took place at the Florida State Fair. They have also worked with over seventy five children from Just Elementary School, an area deemed as one of the poorest and highest crime area in West, Tampa. Kairoi Performing Arts Cultural Center ran the show “Distorted Love” for a week and donated a portion of the proceeds to Andrew Joseph II and his wife, Deanna Joseph. Charlayne Henry Productions, A Sista’s Thang Productions and Kairoi Performing Arts Cultural Center are looking forward to the upcoming theater season. They will continue to offer Broadway quality shows at affordable prices, training classes for children and youth and television production.
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IS THEATER REALLY FOR
ME?
3 Things you must know to determine if acting is your career calling Do you have a willingness to put in hard work?
Acting can be very fun, exciting, and bring lots of fulfillment, but there is a lot of behind the scenes work that comes with it. Having a passion for this career makes the job that more interesting, and the challenges that come along with it may be a little less challenging when you have deep desire within you. On the other side of things, if your passion is not present and you motives involve you trying to get a quick ticket to fame, then you’ll be sadly disappointed! You may be wondering what could possibly be disappointing about acting, well one of the major disappointments begins with the audition process. You can audition for 100 roles, but only receive one callback out of the hundred. Most actors that are established now had to work years before they made enough money to quit their jobs and live off of an acting career alone. So overall it’s best to have patience and some pretty tough skin.
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EDUCATE YOURSELF If you wanted to become a doctor you’d go to medical school, right? Becoming an actor is no different. The best way to become a great actor is to gain the proper knowledge of it. Whether theater is your major, or you join the drama club in your local high school, it all helps your progress. Whatever opportunity that presents itself, great, or small, take advantage of it! Everything and anything is a plus, and will help you get more experience for the future. Any medium, on stage, or film is excellent training for larger roles to come. Take out some time to read, google, or even spend an evening at a local production that’s in town that week, learn everything there is to learn about acting. Get some singing, dancing, and writing lessons, absorb as much information as possible, and while you’re there do some networking. Networking is a perfect way to get your name out there.
Make your decision
If you decide to pursue a career in theater, here are some important tools to help you along the way…. The first tool to have is talent. If you’re going to be in this type of business, you have to have some sort of talent. You can be a good singer/songwriter, a dancer, or even a make-up artist, these are all useful talents for this business. The more talent you possess, the more you increase your chances of receiving a callback from industry professionals. Everyone has several things that they may be good at, but
not all talents are helpful in achieving your acting goals. The second important tool to have is determination. Never allow one, or several declines to keep you from trying again. A driven mind can get you very far. If you keep an optimistic attitude despite what may, or may not happen, it shouldn’t take you long to reach your goals. Prepare to fight through every adversity. Never give up! Remember a positive mind always brings forth the best results! Dedication is also an important tool to have when pursuing a career in theater. You have to be devoted to anything you desire to do. Wanting to be an actor/actress alone is not enough, you have to be dedicated to it and not give up ever time you hit a bump in the road, and there will be lots of bumps! Remain focused on the goals at hand. Another tool is patience. This has to be one of the most important of the tools mentioned. In this unpredictable business, you have to be willing to wait. As mentioned earlier, you will not receive a callback for every role you audition for, so you have to learn to be patient. Good things come to those who wait, don’t rush the process. Even if you are completely convinced that something is for you, if you’re not chosen for that specific thing, if just may not be for you, have patience, the perfect role will come in due time. Now that you have read and thought about all the points given, you should be able to determine if theater is your niche. Take the keys you’ve learned and use them and you’ll be on your way to a successful acting career. Nothing comes without some kind of struggle at first, but if you hang in there a little while the benefits of your waiting will be well worth it.
THE GOSPEL GOLDEN GIRLS Lakeland, FL
“The second
important tool to have is determination. Never allow one, or several declines to keep you from trying”
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WHAT IS A
HEADSHOT?
A headshot is a specific type of portrait usually a photograph that realistically demonstrates a person’s appearance from the shoulder up. Many head shots are promotional pictures of actors, models, authors, or other famous individuals. In theatre, film, and television, actors, models, singers, and other entertainers are often required to include a head shot, along with their résumé, when applying for a job. These head shots are usually more artistic: they intend to portray the subject in the best possible light. Head shots often feature the actor or actress facing off-center. A performer will often have head shots expressing different poses and expressions to give a potential employer an idea of the subject’s range of appearances or expressions. These types of head shots are called “looks”. It is common for an actor to have different head shots for different roles, but for the most part these consist of a change in attire. The head shots that include a person’s shoulders are called “three-quarter” shots. Previously, head shots were often in black-and-white; however, most head shots are now taken in color. Actors’ head shots, when printed and not simply uploaded online to an industry database, are done in an 8”×10” format. Acting head shots are often not photographic prints, instead they are typically printed via a lithographic or laser process. The main purpose of an actor’s head shot is identification. Therefore, the most important feature of an actor’s head shot is that it represents the subject. Theatrical head shots are usually very “neutral” looking shots of the actor clearly showing their facial features. Head shots are intended to show a person as they currently appear and reflect their best qualities. Therefore, if an actor’s hair has been recently cut or colored, they would often get a new head shot to reflect their new image. Additionally, if an actor has a scar or facial blemish, it is expected to be visible on the head shot and not digitally removed from the image. Pimples or spots are temporary and, therefore, are usually digitally retouched. There are two main formats for head shots. “New York Legit” is the more traditional one and probably will work for almost all applications. It consists of an 8x10 print on matte paper with a fairly tight view of your face and shoulders. The picture area covers the whole sheet of paper—no borders. The second Type is the “L.A. Style,” once used more in the film industry. (L.A.--Hollywood--movies.) This style is at least as common in all markets as New York Legit. L.A. Styleheadshots have wide white borders with the actor’s name appearing outside the photo area.Ironically, even though the picture area is smaller, the photo usually shows more of the body, making facial features smaller still.
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The Minister. The Artist.
Charlo
CROSSLEY From Broadway to Hollywood, Charlo Crossley has been gracing the stage
and the big screen with her magnificent voice, brilliant smile and her infectious personality. Her resume reads like a Who’s Who with roles in such great stage productions as the Color Purple with Fantasia, Hair Spray and motion pictures such as “Sister Act” and a 2013 American documentary “20 feet from Stardom” a film directed by documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville and produced by Gil Friesen a music industry executive whose curiosity to know more about the lives of background singers inspired the making of the film.
During a recent interview with Charlo, she gave me an inside glimpse of who she was as an artist and as an artist who is a Christian. What would you share with artist who are being rejected by the church or not allowed to use their artistic gifts in the church? I would tell them what the bible says and encourage them to use the gifts that God has anointed them with. In the Old Testament it was the singers, musicians and dancers that came before the Art of the Covenant. They used their gifts to usher in the presence of the Lord. Much is the same today, worship leaders, praise singers, dancers, musicians are all artist. They usher the congregation into the presence of the Lord. They are a very important part of the worship experience in the House of God today. In fact, the artist and musicians were taken care of by the offerings of the Temple. The church should take care of the artistic priest of the house. Where did you receive your training in church music? In the early 1980’s early 90’s I attended Bishop Blake church where I learned about contemporary Praise and worship. After that experience I began to attend then Pastor Clarance McClendon’s church for the next five years. I was trained there to be a worship leader, praise singer and worship artist. How did you maintain your spiritual life being on the road as a saved artist? Worship music built me and sustained me in my personal walk. I spent time watching Christian television. I made sure I stayed in contact with my pastors through conversation and email and I sent my tithes because I understand the importance of being obedient to the word of God. The most important thing was that I had a pray life. Theater was not just work, it was and still is her ministry. Theater is my life. Theater is a gift and I simply walk through the open doors in faith. How did theater allow you to work in your ministry? The bible
says, “Your gift will make room for you.” When I was a part of the cast of Hairspray, the Lord used me to prayer walk the city. I would pray for families, that salvation would come to the people. While in the production of the Color Purple on Broadway, she was on assignment to become an intercessor for Fantasia and on one occasion, the Lord used me to speak a word into her life. I worked in ministry in some capacity for three and a half years. I was on the road performing in theater, but it was ministry. I was at the opening show of the Color Purple with Fantasia on Broadway. The opening scene starts with a church service. How much of that was rehearsed? It was not rehearsed. I was not the only Christian artist in that play, there were several other believers in the cast. During each show the church scene was real. We never faked the church scene. We didn’t play with God. The church scene at the beginning of the play was our opportunity to set the atmosphere for the message of the play. The singing and the praise were real because our relationship with God was real. How are you sharing your years of experience with the next generation of performers? I have been blessed to host Master Classes for artist. I will be hosting a mini Masters Class for Singers. As a Christian producer and director, it is our responsibility to nurture the soul of the artist. I want to be instrumental in helping groom and prepare the next generation to carry on the ministry of the arts. Where is your career now? What are you doing in ministry? I am currently auditioning, working locally and singing with the Blossoms who is opening up for renowned vocalist Scherrie Payne. I also just completed a play called “Walking by Faith written by the great Don B. Welsh, writer of The Divorce, The Bachelorette Party, and founder of the Don Welsh School of Theater. I will continue to work and minister on screen or stage as long as the Lord opens the door for me to do so. Currently, I am an Assisting Minister at Four Square Church in Los Angeles, California along with my husband. I am pastored by two female pastors, one a sculptor and the other a lawyer who both understand me as an artist. Although I am active in my local church, assisting in feeding about 3,500 people per month and singing with the Praise and worship team, show business is my ministry. Before I knew the Lord I was always in show business. I love the arts and the artist. I love the religious art in Italy and France. I am called to minister to people in show business. God gave me the job to minister to artist and I will continue to do it until the Lord says otherwise.
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TRIBUTE TO
ARTS LEGENDS Within each of us lies the ability to reach and accomplish our dreams and to fulfill our purpose on this earth. Some never search or achieve their goals while others not only reach them, but leave a lifelong impression on the lives of all who know them and even people they have never met. Arts Link Us remembers and honors the memory of the legendary Lady Ruby Dee Dr. Maya Angelou and Professor Melvin Crispell They will forever be etched into our memories!
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