Adult entertainment

The adult orientated ads in The Stage are invariably for dancers not actors so there seems to be little substance to the argument for seperating the two genres. There may be some justification for introducing an "adult" section to The Stage but again, if their are any aspiring "non adult orientated" performers who get confused and apply to Stringfellows or Spearmint Rhino by mistake, as oppose to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or Grease, then they aren't going to go very far in this business anyway, are they??

As much as some may find the numerous ads for pole dancers offensive, pole dancing is a skill to be taught and mastered like any other form of dance and it's as easy to spot an amateur wannabe in that genre as it is with any other performance art hence the need for an audition process.

If you don't want to apply then simply skip over these ads...no harm, no foul!!

ForbesKB

• 16 years ago
• 1

I think its peoples choice, but while i vehemently disagree with it, a person doing that type of work will not be taken seriously as a professional legit performer at all. They would have to leave that stuff off their CV fr most CDs. I think the only exception would be Burlesque , which is in a different catagory altogether.

• 16 years ago
• 2

I find the term ridiculous which is why I posted on another site asking if their call for adult models meant grown up people or sexually explicit roles?

• 16 years ago
• 3

I'm not talking specifically about the Stage, just generally. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't bother me either way and I agree with you Forbes in that an 'adult actor' will obviously not be taken seriously within our profession. I'm just curious to know how others view the fact that occasionally the two are interlinked, in terms of castings.
Lx

• 16 years ago
• 4

I find them frustrating- I don't want to be a pole dancer for example, and it's tiring filtering through the castings. Particularly the way the stage is organised, you'll click on "actors required" then find it's for adult work.
In the case of the stage it doesn't help its professional image, or encourage more actors to read it.
I'm not a prude, but I didn't get into this business to titilate- so I'd rather casting boards didn't run them.
In particular one can imagine a performer, hard on their luck and desperate, happening across a "casting" like that and thinking it might be a good idea...

• 16 years ago
• 5

The Devils Advocate here!! I don't want to be an part-time accountant, but I still have to trawl through all the part-time vacancies to find the truckers section.

Is it the adult nature of the ads that people find a concern or is it the fact that there are so many pole dancing vacancies and not enough proper acting roles on offer.

ForbesKB

• 16 years ago
• 6

I figure there is a very simple reason such stuff gets advertised in the Stage - and it's called 'garnering advertising revenue'. Which is what a vast amount of papers (even on - line) have to generate in order to cover their own costs of production. Given that, in this day and age, there are a)many organs other than the stage through which an individual can advertise jobs in the industry and that b) many of the most high ranking CD's would not touch advertising in the Stage (or even PCR) with a bargepole, because they know it is tantamount to asking everybody and his Uncle Pete to clog up their inboxes/letter boxes for the next six months solid, - the Stage has to take the adverts where it can get 'em. And so, it takes revenue from pole dancing clubes etc. who are always looking for a high turnover of performers, I suspect. In this sense, it is no different to me than the (equally aggravating) tendency of The Stage to advertise performing in animal suits as theme parks as 'acting', when in fact it is an exploitative job which anyone, trained or otherwise, could get away with. I agree with Forbes that not everyone could be a pole dancer, in contrast, but then, I would also argue that your need for 'qualifications' would depend on what sort of level you were being asked to perform at.

In short, though, The Stage is filled with this kind of stuff, because pole dancing clubs, theme parks, cruise ships etc. are the only people who are regularly prepared to pay them money for advertising. This makes something of a mockery of the idea that The Stage is the first port of call for any actor seeking work - it advertises straight acting work (and that will generally be fringe stuff) once in a blue moon. Perhaps it was true that the Stage was an actors bible 40 years ago, but no longer, I'm afraid - anymore than we are living in the days when only Equity performers get to appear in paying shows, or when being in Spotlight actually meant something.

And that possibly doesn't have much to do with the original point of this thread, but so what?

• 16 years ago
• 7

Both! :)

• 16 years ago
• 8

My point really is that adult performers are possibly being connected with regular performers, and it is not the same thing. Also as has been mentioned, young, naive types thinking it's a good idea and because it's in the same area as the other auditions they're looking at, that's it's ok and living to regret it. Also the assumption that casting within the general acting world is the way to go for porn and glamour. It ain't!
Lx

• 16 years ago
• 9

The real issue, and I have met young women who have been through this , is that a lot of times they are hard on their luck financialy - they can think that its a way of making quick money ( which it is- lets be realistic...LOTS of money) and the owners of these places prey on vulnerability.

People need to make their own choices in life, whether they are right or wrong, but the price to someones sense of dignity and self worth to wander around topless for a bunch of city boys who are not much more than a bunch of immature schoolbys is hardly a way into a profession that takes years to master.

The women I have met- one in particular, was so shame filled and made me promise nt to tell anyone..last i heard she was out of the clubs..she was not a hooker but in effect, it is the same thing as you ae compromising your body for money in purely commercial terms and for someone elses horny satisfaction.

I think the real villains are the papers that advertise the ads and the people who exploit these women...most of the time these women feel trapped and would not be there if things had worked out diferently. Its an industry that is totally exploitative and earning that kind of money is fair enough but I question it when a woman has a small piece of her die a little bit more every day. It takes a long time for that kind of shame to disappear....

• 16 years ago
• 10

Its probably worth saying that although the skills required as an 'adult' entertainer or primarily different to those as an actor, there is possibly crossover.

I imagine its equally difficult to pretend night after nigh to the aforementioned immature schoolboys that you enjoy their attentions as a lot of rather more highbrow acting pursuits.....that and the fact that some roles will draw upon the same skills.

On a more serious note, with the acting industry being proliferated by attractive young women, I imagine a lot more than would admit it have at least considered repairing their finances with a stint in such locations. I can certainly think of a few that have....

Also like it or not, many of the skills that make good performers also probably serve to make them more attractive to prospective employers of 'adult entertainers'.

On the main issue...it is very sad that the stage primarily has adverts for these positions...but imagine their recruitment section if all the adult jobs were filtered out....2 or 3 poorly paid acting jobs a week for a national paper....also Lee's point about financial considerations is very pertinant. ...without such advert, the stage would probably shrink a fair bit.

• 16 years ago
• 11

Never having got any of the pole-dancing jobs I've been up for, I am understandably bitter toward their continual advertising.

No, I don't think this (CCP) is the place for them to advertise, as I don't think they'd find it effective. As far as the Stage goes, I think they only way they can afford to continue publication is due to these ads.

As someone stated above, you go into a newsagents and see porn on the top shelf and Tweenies weekly on the bottom - I know which I think is morally more offensive...Tweenies, as it has a larger circulation, less pagination, is more expensive and my two year old can reach it.

I was reading somewhere recently a very erudite viewpoint of mainstream vs adult entertainment, films in particular. It was pointed out that 'acceptable' movies often have death, violence on a variety of levels, destruction, rape, murder and torture (for God's sake think twice before seeing Hostel 2, for example). Whereas the vilified porn industry makes films where people are clearly just having a lot of fun.

But, seriously, back to the whys and wherefores of advertising for lap and pole dancers, it's still a free country and it pays more to work in front of the bar than behind it, and in most cases I believe it's regulated now.

Maybe in today's PC over-conscious world it is a little insensitive of the Stage to lump all the adverts together and have a lap dancing ad paying £750 a week next to a Christian TIE tour paying £200 and expecting you to drive and lug scenery, but at the end of the day people are going to respond to the ads they want to.

• 16 years ago
• 12

The sad truth is that the Christian tour expecting what they expect for the price they want, is just as bad as some TIE companies. There is one word for it..ABUSE. And if you want to be absued, go for it..but not I, said the pig....

• 16 years ago
• 13