Q Dear Miss Abigail:
How do I become a singer? How do I get a good record company and get my tape to the company? I have a good voice, but I can’t think of songs and my tape recorder doesn’t work well.
Signed,
Chip
A Dear Chip:
Wow. Chip, honey, you’ve got quite a journey ahead of you if you’re going to make it big. To help you out here, I’ve turned to actor Debbie Reynolds, who wrote her debut advice book for teens If I Knew Then in 1962 with a little help from author Bob Thomas. Perhaps you should ask your parents for a new tape recorder (perhaps a digital one) for Christmas, and then start booking those shows.
1962: How Do You Get Started in Show Business?
You listen and you learn and you try.
You never know how good you are until you try. Your own town may seem like an entertainment wasteland, but you might be surprised at the opportunities it affords.
You might start with neighborhood shows, as I did. You can appear at school plays, charity bazaars, veterans’ hospitals, old folks’ homes, orphanages, fires ~ anywhere you can gather an audience. There are small night clubs and summer theaters and pageants and radio shows.
Listen to the audience or the lack of it, to the rapt silence of a darkened hall or a restless crowd. Those are the sounds that will tell you whether to quit or keep going. Listen to your teachers and parents, too. They can inspire you. They may also do you the service of telling you if you lack the gift of talent.
Develop your skills ~ all kinds. A person who can sing and dance as well as handle acting roles has a better chance of finding jobs. Learn instruments, too, especially the piano.
Source: Reynolds, Debbie. If I Knew Then. New York: Bernard Geis Associates, 1962.
~ p. 125 ~