A Broadway Story

American dream

An unusual twist in Artem Lyskov’s story is his New York education. They sayif you want to jump over the chair – hump to the ceiling! You can’t have low standards when you dream big. Learning to work in the musical genre has been Artem’s dream for a long time. Where else can you learn about musicals but on the famous Broadway? He didn’t take into account any excuses about Vologda being too far away from Broadway. What is said must be done!

- My trip to America was a spontaneous adventure in the good sense, - says Artem. – At least for the reason that I practically hadn’t been able to speak English before that trip. It all happened very casually, but I learned a lot from that.

My friend convinced me it would be great to study in the US and we submitted our documents for the educational grant together. I won the grant and went to Broadway to study musicals. This is the short version.

Musicals, in general, are a combination of theatre, choreography, and singing, it's been my old dream ever since my Shchukin days. Even then I already knew I was interested in it and wanted to do it in the future. When I got the chance to study abroad, I took it. That is how I found myself in the center of New York, on Broadway.

It was hard, primarily because of the language. I had a big psychological barrier, I was afraid to say something wrong or make a mistake, I was embarrassed by it until I realized I would never be able to speak if I don’t overcome it. So eventually I started speaking, singing, acting, and dancing – all in English. It’s a very good feeling – successfully overcoming seemingly impossible things: that is what makes me move on and on.

In terms of everyday life, New York is one of the few cities I can call mine! It accepted me from the first minute and to tell the truth this love is mutual. There are few places where I feel this good! This is the city with unimaginable energy, the creative energy that every actor needs. It’s the city where you want to think about new projects, bring them to life and just live and enjoy it greatly. I found a huge amount of new friends and confederates, met professionals that were ready to dedicate themselves to doing what they love and achieving their goals. This is what I was learning during my two years in the USA. This and other things don’t get enough attention in Russia.

- What are the differences between the American education system and musical production and the Russian ones? How does the American musical theatre differ from the Russian one? What strikes you the most?

- We can compare the shows and the education system as a whole. A very interesting fact, by the way! In America, the actors are taught with the focus on the fact that any show, musical or drama, is a commercial project. It is commercial in terms of the high professionalism of the show that needs to sell and withstand the competition on Broadway. It is no secret that no producer ever starts a project he doesn’t see having worldwide success in the future! Everyone wants to make the legendary “Phantom of the opera” or Bob Fosse’s “Chicago”: they want the project to be talked about everywhere in the world and be critically acclaimed.

But, apart from the big-budget, the show needs the actors to be professional as well! How can you achieve such professionalism among them? Only by putting them in the environment of competitive struggle! This is exactly what they do on Broadway. There is an endless casting process going on, and if the actors are not ready to go through it professionally, it only means one thing – those actors are going to be unemployed, selling doughnuts in a nearby café for the duration of the next season. Is it cruel? Yes! But it’s one of the few options to make actors constantly fit! That’s why they start teaching it in the University to make them understand there will always be someone behind them who is more talented, stronger, tougher, more cunning if you wish, and so on.

To survive in such conditions, besides the perfect professional training (singing, dancing, acting) you also need to have a set of qualities that you pick up during your education process. There are plenty of interesting subjects that are nonexistent in Russia. The most interesting one is, of course, “Audition”: the subject where you are taught to go through castings, starting from opening the door and ending with the colors of the shirt that suit you and how you shouldn’t smile… Special attention is paid to marketing and branding in the acting profession. At first it seems like a strange combination, but when you attend the first class you realize it’s an essential part of what Americans call “an actor”. Another secret of a successful career is knowing how to sell yourself. How else can you succeed? The business of acting is one of the most competitive ones. The amount of actors grows each year. And there are not just the New York Universities graduates among them, there are people from all over the world who chase their “American dream” in Hollywood and on Broadway…

But if you’re hoping it’s easier in Russia – you’re wrong. Our Moscow theatre Universities let out 2-3 courses of actors annually. The actors’ market is in a difficult condition, so the competition keeps growing. That’s why seeing the acting profession as a business is other key Russian actors need. By the way, I often get invited to talk about this subject with advertisers and PR agents in Moscow. I think I might start charging them for these lectures, - Artem smiles.

- In your interview on Channel “Kultura” you said that “your mind changed” after living in America: what does it mean? How did America change you?

- Those were more personal changes. Being away from Russia helped me look at some things aside. It’s very useful, especially for actors. Besides, I’m still learning about the beautiful feeling of believing in myself from Americans. It’s very important! They are very good at this, for without that feeling you can’t have big victories. The only thing is, “believing in yourself” is not the same as superiority, it’s more like believing in what you want to achieve and the possibility of even the boldest desires and dreams becoming true and real. It’s probably part of the American mindset: not putting up limits where they are not necessary. They are very free and confident and that’s amazing! They are not shy when it comes to singing, dancing, and laughing when they feel like doing it. The absence of insecurities is something worth learning!

- Do you dream of going back to America? Does a Russian actor have any chances there?

- I am convinced that what is supposed to happen cannot be avoided. If I need to be there, it will definitely happen. I try not to limit myself in this aspect. It’s not space, it’s just another country I can visit for work and then come back and work here as well. I love Russia dearly and I have to make it clear that I don’t plan to immigrate. There are many options to stay in America but I ruled them all out since I really want to work in Russia as well: act in movies and theatres. It’s my native language and I speak it anyway, and what’s important is I feel it much better. I had a wonderful experience working in the US: I did several shows and played the main character in a real American musical “The Threepenny Opera”. Everybody was saying it’s impossible, a Russian actor would never be cast, but from my own experience I can tell you they were wrong: I was cast! There is nothing impossible, the most important thing is to want it very much and believe in yourself. Nobody helped or supported me. The casting system for the shows is perfect in this aspect: you can be promoted as much as possible, but once you come to the casting everything clicks into place. I’ve got a big musical project in Russia at the moment and it’s my own decision and ambition. I came back from America to do it and I never regretted it. Sure, it’s hard for me, knowing I left there so many friends, work, and the lifestyle I had gotten used to in New York, but it’s easy to fix with a 10-hour flight from Moscow to JFK International Airport in New York.