How Do I Become an Actor?: I do not live in the United States, but would like to come to the States to become an actor.

There are literally thousands of well-trained, experienced and well connected American-born actors in LA, NY and elsewhere in the US. They understand the system. They live in it day after day. They are knowledgeable about the industry and, believe me, they have spent many years studying, struggling and "paying their dues". They do not have any visa problems or restrictions and they have great personalities and talent - innate and practiced.

These people are your competition. What are your chances? Very slim. I suggest you spend a few years where you live; auditioning, taking classes, building a solid body of good acting work and developing knowledge of the industry and some industry connections before you make the leap across the pond.

To find out the visas you need to study acting or to work as a paid actor in the States, contact the

US Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services

re: student visa and visas for working as a performer in the U.S.

How did acting (or theatre) begin?

Acting originated on Pelican island, which is an island in the middle of the Missouri river, north of St. Louis. It began there in the year 5003 BC.

Of course there was no written record of what play these first thespians produced, but the recent discovery of ancient drawings on the basement walls of Rudolph J. Penderbottom's quaint little Victorian home in Cahokia seems to indicate the first play (a musical) was a clever cross between Gilligans island and Promethius Bound. Odd as it may seem, this combination proved highly successful and toured up and down the Missouri river, playing to appreciative Native-American audiences. Eventually, the little troup hit the big-time, playing all the villages along the shores of the mighty Mississippi.

The theatre was built upon several, tethered rafts made of bulrushes and river mud. Torches were used for lighting the acting area. Lights were dimmed by various stage hands (raft hands as they were known back then) standing in front of the torches, thus blocking the full intensity of the lights at the appropriate moment. There is no record of what the raft hands were paid, but it is a good bet that union rules would have required extra allowance be paid for working with fire.

The play lasted three and one half days without intermissions. Audiences back then apparently had a lot more stamina then today's pampered play goers. Unfortunately, a mishap initiated by a disgruntled raft hand resulted in the entire production going up in flames somewhere between Hannible and the Lock and Dam near Saverton. The troup was devastated by the financial loss as insurance had not yet been conceived.

Times being as they were, it was impossible to find a financial backer willing to assume the risk. After several unsuccessful attempts to mount lesser productions on neighboring Cora island, the group disbanded. Acting fell into a deep, deep slumber. Upon the charred remains of the bulrush rafts, acting drifted down the Mississippi and out into the uncharted Gulf.

When acting awoke, it found itself in ancient Greece. But that's another chapter in AWOL's Condensed History of Acting.

There's no business like show business.