NYCastings – DirectSubmit

Your child wants to be a performer. You go to the mall and pay big bucks for glamour shots, perhaps even hair and make-up for the photos. Then you hear ads on the radio how your child can be Disney’s next big star so you call the 800#, make an appointment, hand over your credit card and… nothing.

Screeeeech! Hold on, back up. Unfortunately, the above scenario is all too true. But this is not how it really works.

If you’re looking for representation for your aspiring child actor, please read this article in its entirety so you have an understanding of what legitimate talent agencies are looking for, the top seven agencies in New York and how they operate regarding SAG-AFTRA jurisdictions.

What Talent Agencies Are Looking For in a Child Actor

Robin Dornbaum has been a commercial agent and owner of Jordan, Gill & Dornbaum for the last 30 years.

She has booked thousands of kids and teens on commercials for Coke, Apple, Microsoft, McDonalds, Nike — pretty much every product out there. Her agency currently reps: Sofia Hublitz (Netflix “Ozark”), Aubrey Joseph (Freeform’s “Cloak and Dagger”), Max Simkins (Disney “Bizaardvark”, Kim Hushable), Ruby Jerins (HBO “Divorce”, “Almost Family”), Katie Beth Hall (The reboot at Disney+ of “Home Alone”), Caleb Z. Smith (ABC’s For Life”), and many others in Film and Television.

Robin gives it to us straight about what she’s looking for in youth performers:

“I have been a youth agent for well over 30 years which means I have met thousands of children and young adults who want to be on stage, screen, or television. Most are driven by the desire to perform — which when you are a minor is pretty much all you need!

“However, as a parent of a driven child, you need to understand that this is first and foremost a business. And if you want your child to succeed, it is your job as a parent to get educated. When I meet a young performer that I am interested in representing, my meeting with the parent is equally as important. I need to know that the parent is committed to having their child prepared for auditions, and readily available to rearrange schedules to accommodate auditions. I work very hard to get my clients seen by casting directors, and I expect the talent to show up and be on time. It is important to remember that there are many talented kids out there who would do anything just for the privilege of getting an audition.

“What is so interesting about this business is that there is no one way to become successful. You can have the most talented child in the world, yet if they don’t get in the rooms where it all happens, it is harder to succeed. Everyone has heard stories of children being discovered and overnight they become a ‘star’, but in reality, the majority of my clients have worked years in the business before they land the role that makes them known. I have had clients who have been requested for television shows after they were seen on a commercial, or film auditions from being seen on a print ad. Everything you do can be a stepping stone to success. My best parents are the ones who educate themselves about the business, who know what it takes to get started, and who can oversee the many opportunities that come their way, while balancing out the rest of their family’s needs.

“For Teenagers who want to start in the business, building their resumes by performing as much as they can is the first step. We also are looking for well rounded teens; ones who pursue a variety of activities. For me, confidence equals bookings.”

The Top 7 New York Talent Agencies for Youth / Child Actors

PLEASE NOTE: The list is in alphabetical order.

Some of the agencies below have strict instructions on their website on how to submit, so please go to their site first to view submission details.

ABRAMS ARTISTS AGENCY
50 Fifth Ave.
38th Floor
New York, NY 10118
Website: https://www.abramsartistsagency.com/

CARSON ADLER AGENCY INC.
250 West 57^th St.
Suite #2030
New York, NY 10107
Website: http://carsonadler.com/

CESD TALENT
333 Seventh Ave.
11th Floor
New York, NY 10001 USAm
Website: http://www.cesdtalent.com/

DON BUCHWALD AND ASSOCIATES
10 East 44th Street
New York, NY, 10017
Website: https://www.buchwald.com/

JORDAN, GILL & DORNBAUM TALENT AGENCY INC. (JGD)
1370 Broadway
5^th Floor
New York, NY 10018
Website: https://jgdtalent.com/

UNITED TALENT AGENCY (UTA)
888 7th Ave.
New York, NY 10106
Website: https://www.unitedtalent.com/

WILLIAM MORRIS ENDEAVOR
11 Madison Ave.
New York, NY 10010
Website: http://www.wmeagency.com/

Information About SAG-AFTRA Agencies

NYCastings interviewed a SAG-AFTRA Spokesperson to help get a better understanding of agencies that work with SAG-AFTRA, the union for performers.

Their website states…

SAG-AFTRA represents approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcasters journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other media professionals. SAG-AFTRA members are the faces and voices that entertain and inform America and the world. With national offices in Los Angeles and New York, and local offices nationwide, SAG-AFTRA members work together to secure the strongest protections for media artists into the 21st century and beyond.

The SAG-AFTRA Spokesperson answered our questions:

What is the definition of a SAG-AFTRA franchised Agent?

Agencies that have agreed to be bound under either the SAG Agency Regulations or the AFTRA Agency Regulations. Our members are required to choose from either of those two lists if they want to hire an agent to represent them in any area where SAG-AFTRA has exercised jurisdiction.

Why are some agents SAG franchised and others AFTRA franchised?

These are legacy lists that existed prior to the SAG-AFTRA merger and we have continued to administer both lists post-merger.

If the answer to #2 has something to do with when SAG and AFTRA joined together, then how come the agencies are still separated?

SAG-AFTRA continues to administer both sets of agency lists until such time when a new, unified agency agreement is negotiated to cover all agencies – that has not happened yet, therefore, we continue to maintain and administer both lists.

Is there a difference between a “SAG/AFTRA franchised agency” shown on your website and a “talent agency?”

Yes. Talent agencies are usually required to only be licensed by the State in which they operate. In order to call themselves franchised, however, they must also agree to sign on to the SAG or AFTRA agency regulations so that our members can be represented by them. When they do this, they are not only licensed talent agents but they become SAG-AFTRA franchised talent agents, too. This serves as an additional layer of protection for our members.

Is there a fee for an agency to be SAG/AFTRA franchised? How much?

No, although all of our franchised talent agents have to secure a bond – the amount of which may vary from one jurisdiction to another. Again, another layer of protection for our members.

For new agencies that want to be SAG/AFTRA franchised, how do they know if they should pick SAG or AFTRA?

In order to be fully protected for all areas in which our members work, we encourage new applicants to complete both sets of applications, SAG and AFTRA, which the overwhelming majority of them usually do.

To learn more about these agencies and many others, go to the Agents Directory

“You look cold, boys.” from the TV series “Game of Thrones.” Sir Allister Thorne confronts his recruits and tells them of the last time he faced winter and was outside of the wall to warn them that if they don’t toughen up, they won’t survive the next big winter. Ideal for Adult Males ranging from 36-50. 1-2 Mins.

Written By: Bryan Cogman

Sir All-star Thorne:

“Enjoying yourselves? You look cold, boys. A bit nippy, yeah. By the fire. Indoors. It’s still summer. Do you boys even remember the last winter? How long has it been now? What, 10 years? Was it uncomfortable at Winterfell? Were there days when you just couldn’t get warm, never mind how many fires your servants built? I spent six months out there, beyond the Wall during the last winter. It was supposed to be a two-week mission. We heard a rumor Mance Rayder was planning to attack Eastwatch. So we went out to look some of his men. Capture them, gather some knowledge.

The wildlings who fight for Mance Rayder are hard men. Harder than you’ll ever be. They know their country better than we do. They knew there was a storm coming in. So they hid in their caves and waited for it to pass. We got caught in the open. Wind so strong it yanked 100-foot trees straight from the ground, roots and all. If you took your gloves off to find your cock to have a piss, you lost a finger to the frost. And all in darkness. You don’t know cold. Neither of you do. The horses died first. We didn’t enough to feed them, to keep them warm. Eating the horses was easy. But later when we started to fall….that wasn’t easy. We should have had a couple of boys like you along, shouldn’t we? Soft, fat boys like you. We’d lasted a fortnight on you and still had bones left over for soup. Soon we’ll have new recruits and you lot will be passed along to the lord commander for assignment. They will call you men of the Night’s Watch, but you’d be fools to believe it. You’re boys still. And come the winter you will die. Like flies. [Exits]

“See, the thing is, I care very much about aviation.” from the film “The Aviator.” Brought to a Congressional hearing by Senator Brewster over misused government money that Hughes Aircraft received to build several war planes, Howard Hughes has to defend himself from several accusations. Ideal for Adult Males ranging from 36-50. 1-2 Mins.

Written By: John Logan

Howard:

See, the thing is, I care very much about aviation. It has been the great joy of my life. That’s why I put my own money into these planes. And I have lost millions, senator Brewster, and I’ll go losing millions. It’s just….what I do. Now, if I’ve lost a lot of the government’s money during the war, I hope folks will put that into perspective. You see more than 60 other airplanes ordered from such firms as Lockheed, Douglas, Northrop and Boeing never saw action either. In all, more than $800 million was spent during the war on planes that never flew. Over 6 billion on other weapons that were never delivered. Yet Hughes Aircraft, with her 56 million is the only firm under investigation here. I cannot help but think that has a little more to do with TWA than planes that did not fly…..and I have one more thing to say here to this committee and that has to do with the Hercules…..

“You can understand me? Like hell you can.” from the film “Youth.” Lena tells her father how she feels about him. Ideal for Adult Females ranging from 20-35. 1-2 Mins.

Written By: Paolo Sorrentino

Lena:

You can understand me? Like hell you can. Mummy would’ve been able to understand me. Mummy found herself in the same situation I’m in in now, not once, but dozens of times with you. She always pretended not to know. You had a stream of women, but she just kept going. Not just for us children, but above all, for you. She loved you, and so she forgave you. No matter what happened she still wanted to be with you. But who were you? Who? That’s what I always asked myself. You never gave anything, not to her, not to me, nothing. You gave everything to your music. Music, music, music. There was nothing else in your life, only music. And arrogance. Never a caress, never a hug, never a kiss, nothing. You never knew anything about your children. Never knew if we were happy, if we were suffering, nothing. Everything was on mummy’s shoulders. At home the only thing you would ever say to her were two words: “Quiet, Melanie”. And mummy would explain to us: “Quiet, daddy’s composing”, “Quiet, daddy’s resting, he has a concert tonight”, “Quiet, daddy’s on the phone with someone important”, “Quiet, daddy has Stravinski coming to the house later tonight”. You wanted to be Stravinski but you didn’t have a single drop of his genius. “Quiet, Melanie!” were the only things you knew how to say. You didn’t know the first thing about my mother. You never bothered to take care of her. She was the strongest woman I knew. She deserved everything in the world, except you. And even now you haven’t brought her flowers for TEN years. And then that letter. You think mummy never read it? Well you’re wrong. She found it and she read it and I read it too. Well you probably don’t even remember that letter, but we do. The letter we found in which you professed your love for another man. Mummy had to endure that humiliation, too. “My necessary experimentation in sexual matters” as you put it. So you’re musical experimentation wasn’t enough for you, was it? No, you had to experiment in homosexuality, too! And you didn’t give a fuck about all the anguish you caused her. So don’t you come telling me that you understand, because you don’t understand a fucking thing.

“Blood Brothers” from the film “The Hangover.” Everybody gives a speech to congratulate the groom. This is Alan’s speech, at the end of which he takes out a knife and cuts his hand…. Ideal for Adult Males ranging from 20-35. 1-2 Mins.

Written By: Jon Lucas and Scott Moore

Alan:

“I’d like to—I’d like to say something….that I prepared…tonight..(Alan takes out a piece of paper and reads)…Hello. How about that ride in? I guess that’s why they call it Sin City. (He chuckles). You guys might not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one-man wolf pack. But when my sister brought Doug home, I knew he was one of my own. And my wolf pack, it grew by one. So were there two—so there were two of us in the wolf pack. I was–I was alone first in the pack and then Doug joined in later. And six months ago….when Doug introduced me to you guys, I thought: “Wait a second. Could it be? And now, I know for sure. I just added two more guys to my wolf pack.”…Four of us wolves, running around the desert together in Las Vegas looking for strippers and cocaine. So tonight…..(he grabs a knife and cuts his hand) I make a toast…hahahahaha…blood brothers!”

THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA – Launce complains about his dog’s insensitivity. Dramatic Monologue For Teen/Young Adult Male. 2-3 Min.

LAUNCE
Nay, ’twill be this hour ere I have done weeping;
all the kind of the Launces have this very fault. I
have received my proportion, like the prodigious
son, and am going with Sir Proteus to the Imperial’s
court. I think Crab, my dog, be the sourest-natured
dog that lives: my mother weeping, my father
wailing, my sister crying, our maid howling, our cat
wringing her hands, and all our house in a great
perplexity, yet did not this cruel-hearted cur shed
one tear: he is a stone, a very pebble stone, and
has no more pity in him than a dog: a Jew would have
wept to have seen our parting; why, my grandam,
having no eyes, look you, wept herself blind at my
parting. Nay, I’ll show you the manner of it. This
shoe is my father: no, this left shoe is my father:
no, no, this left shoe is my mother: nay, that
cannot be so neither: yes, it is so, it is so, it
hath the worser sole. This shoe, with the hole in
it, is my mother, and this my father; a vengeance
on’t! there ’tis: now, sit, this staff is my
sister, for, look you, she is as white as a lily and
as small as a wand: this hat is Nan, our maid: I
am the dog: no, the dog is himself, and I am the
dog–Oh! the dog is me, and I am myself; ay, so,
so. Now come I to my father; Father, your blessing:
now should not the shoe speak a word for weeping:
now should I kiss my father; well, he weeps on. Now
come I to my mother: O, that she could speak now
like a wood woman! Well, I kiss her; why, there
’tis; here’s my mother’s breath up and down. Now
come I to my sister; mark the moan she makes. Now
the dog all this while sheds not a tear nor speaks a
word; but see how I lay the dust with my tears.

“I chose something else” From the Film “Trainspotting.” Renton’s Opening Monologue VO. Dramatic Monologue For Teen/Young Adult Male Actor. 2 Min.

Written by: Irvine Welsh and John Hodge

RENTON: “Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suit on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life… But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you’ve got heroin?……”

“I’m a dwarf who sells used cars” From the Film “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” James is frustrated on a date with Mildred. Dramatic Monologue For Young Adult Male. 1 Min.

JAMES: “Why would I want to do it another night? You’ve been…embarrassed to be here ever since we arrived. I didn’t force you to come to this date. I asked you on a date. (laughs) Wow! (Clears throat)You know… I know I’m not that much of a catch. I know I’m a dwarf who sells used cars and has a drinking problem. I know that. But who the hell are you, man? You’re that billboard lady who never smiles, never has a good word to say about anybody, and who, in the evening times (loudly) sets fucking fire to police stations! (normal voice) And I’m the one who’s not a catch? You know, I didn’t have to come and hold your ladder.”

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY – Dorian Gray expresses his love for an actress. Dramatic/Comedic Monologue For Teen/Young Adult Male. 3-4 Min.

DORIAN: “This play was good enough for us, Harry. It was ’Romeo and Juliet.’ I must admit I was rather annoyed at the idea of seeing Shakespeare done in such a wretched hole of a place. Still, I felt interested, in a sort of way. At any rate, I determined to wait for the first act. There was a dreadful orchestra, presided over by a young Jew who sat at a cracked piano, that nearly drove me away, but at last the drop-scene was drawn up, and the play began. Romeo was a stout elderly gentleman, with corked eyebrows, a husky tragedy voice, and a figure like a beer-barrel. Mercutio was almost as bad. He was played by the low-comedian, who had introduced gags of his own and was on most familiar terms with the pit. They were as grotesque as the scenery, and that looked as if it had come out of a pantomime of fifty years ago. But Juliet! Harry, imagine a girl, hardly seventeen years of age, with a little flower-like face, a small Greek head with plaited coils of dark-brown hair, eyes that were violet wells of passion, lips that were like the petals of a rose. She was the loveliest thing I had ever seen in my life.

You said to me once that pathos left you unmoved, but that beauty, mere beauty, could fill your eyes with tears. I tell you, Harry, I could hardly see this girl for the mist of tears that came across me. And her voice,- -I never heard such a voice. It was very low at first, with deep mellow notes, that seemed to fall singly upon one’s ear. Then it became a little louder, and sounded like a flute or a distant hautbois. In the garden-scene it had all the tremulous ecstasy that one hears just before dawn when nightingales are singing. There were moments, later on, when it had the wild passion of violins. You know how a voice can stir one. Your voice and the voice of Sibyl Vane are two things that I shall never forget. When I close my eyes, I hear them, and each of them says something different. I don’t know which to follow.

Why should I not love her? Harry, I do love her. She is everything to me in life. Night after night I go to see her play. One evening she is Rosalind, and the next evening she is Imogen. I have seen her die in the gloom of an Italian tomb, sucking the poison from her lover’s lips. I have watched her wandering through the forest of Arden, disguised as a pretty boy in hose and doublet and dainty cap. She has been mad, and has come into the presence of a guilty king, and given him rue to wear, and bitter herbs to taste of. She has been innocent, and the black hands of jealousy have crushed her reed-like throat. I have seen her in every age and in every costume. Ordinary women never appeal to one’s imagination. They are limited to their century. No glamour ever transfigures them. One knows their minds as easily as one knows their bonnets. One can always find them. There is no mystery in one of them. They ride in the Park in the morning, and chatter at tea-parties in the afternoon. They have their stereotyped smile, and their fashionable manner. They are quite obvious. But an actress! How different an actress is! Why didn’t you tell me that the only thing worth loving is an actress?”

“Diz told me…” From the Movie “The Name of the Game is Kill. Nan tells Sym the story of when her father left her family. Dramatic Monologue For Female Kid. 3 Min.

Written by: Gary Crutcher

NAN: I’m sorry. I’m sorry…About making mother hate us. Diz told me. I hate men! Diz says so… Diz told me I shouldn’t trust men… I know the really true story. Do you want to hear?

We, you see… Mother and Father yelled and screamed at each other all the time. She would tell him to go and get a job and he would yell at her that writing his poems and carving his statues were more important to him… He made this one (shows him a statue of Venus de Milo). Isn’t she lovely? Oh, and he was such a wonderful poet. He wrote about the most beautiful things. Things about… about midgets with eye trouble and…little girls with bald heads…. and then one night Mickey and I were in bed but we weren’t asleep..and Diz was awake because… well she was older and she had always homework to do.

Mother and Father were yelling again. And she said that if he didn’t get a job.. that she would burn all of his poems and break all his carvings. And Diz came upstairs in our room and she told us to put our heads under the pillow. She thought I did. But I didn’t. And then I heard Mother and Father run outside. And I heard the car start. And it made a crunching noise. And I head Diz scream. And then I head Father say it’s all right baby. Everything is going to be alright.

And then I didn’t hear anything for a very long time. Except Father driving away in the car. And Diz crying. A long time after that Diz came into our room a she sat on my bed. And she said Father had gone away forever and ever. She said Mother was very upset and she’d have to rest for a few days. And that night Diz slept in our room. And was very quiet. Except once in a while I could hear Diz crying. All that night I could hear the fire burning. And I knew that’s where Mother had thrown all of Father’s poems to burn. (Crying).

And he never came back. Diz and Mother said he’s dead. And I’ve even seen a newspaper story. But I don’t tell them this. But I know he isn’t dead. He’s just somewhere writing beautiful poems that will never burn.

“I really loved her” From the Movie “The Hot Spot.” Gloria tells Harry how she got blackmailed. Dramatic Monologue For Teen/Young Adult Female. 2-3 Min.

Written by: Nona Tyson and Charles Williams

GLORIA: “Remember I..I started to tell you about…about the girl that I grew up with? What I…what I didn’t tell is that…she killed herself…and Sutton drove her to it. He did it. She was my sister, Harry. I really loved her…She finally told me..She’d been…

She’d been having an affair with a woman who was a teacher of ours. They’d been meeting in Houston. Somehow Sutton found out. He seems to know what people’s weaknesses are. And he was blackmailing her. But I.. I went to her…just to comfort her. Sutton was there. He’d been there the whole time taking pictures of us. He said to Irene he had real pictures now. And what had we been doing in that bedroom we shared when we were girls?

Came to my office after Irene died… looking for money. He had the pictures but he was very clever. He didn’t act like a blackmailer. He whined and he said he felt terrible about what had happened to Irene. That he was a poor man, couldn’t scrape a living in the world. Said it was his only chance for survival. And that if he didn’t have the money, just $500, to leave town, that.. That he would go to my mama, give her the pictures, ask her for the money. I had it there. I gave him the money…he knew that I had taken it. And he asked for more. He kept coming back and I just…couldn’t catch up after a while…

I’m gonna tell Mr. Harshaw. I don’t want Sutton to tell him..I don’t want for anyone else to have to tell him that.”

THE DESIRE OF DEATH – Samuel is telling his friend through video chatting how much he wants to die. Dramatic Monologue For Teen/Young Adult Male. 2 Min.

SAMUEL: Isa… Like I just want to die… I just want to die so much… Just wanna kill myself, with a knife. Oh My God! How great, how great would that be to die, to just die and die. You know the funny thing I always they would be there for me, even when I was as dramatic as possible. It’s not like that…at all. I don’t even know who my true friends are anymore.

Isa, if I had a gun in my hand, I swear I’d blow my brains out so much… so much to just…end life. I hate myself so much. You have no idea how much I hate myself, if only for just one day someone could get a gun and shoot me, how great would that be. How great! To see that bullet go through me and just fall to the floor. How great! How great! How great would that be! How great would it be to open hole in my arm with a large knife until I bleed to DEATH. How great to just…die!

I am so sorry… that you had to hear this. But that’s how I feel. I’ve seen nothing good in my life right now. All I want to go is to heaven… or hell if that is what I deserve. I just want to get out here. I don’t want to be here another day. I’m begging the heavens above and the earth beneath us to kill me! That’s all I want! To die but I won’t get that wish unless, I make it happen.

THE NORMAL HEART – Tommy gives a speech at friend Nick’s funeral after he dies of AIDS. Dramatic Monologue For Teen/Young Adult Male. 1 Min.

TOMMY: I have this tradition. It’s something I do now when a friend dies. I save his Rolodex card. What am I supposed to do, throw it away in the trash can? I won’t do that. No, I won’t. It’s too final. Last year I had five cards. Now I have fifty. A collection of cardboard tombstones bound together with a rubber band. I hate these fucking funerals, I really do.

And you know what else I hate? I hate the memorials. That’s our social life now, going to these things. Nick was a choreographer; not many of you knew that. He was just starting out, he didn’t tell a lot of people. He was waiting to invite you to his big debut at Carnegie Hall or some shit so we could all be proud of him. But he was so good. He had such promise.

We’re losing an entire generation. Young men, at the beginning, just gone. Choreographers, playwrights, dancers, actors. All those plays that won’t get written now. All those dances, never to be danced. In closing, I’m just gonna say I’m mad. I’m fucking mad. I keep screaming inside, “why are they letting us die? Why is no one helping us?” And here’s the truth, here’s the answer: They just don’t like us.

SALOME – Salome tries to seduce John the Baptist. Dramatic Monologue For Teen/Young Adult Female Actor. 3 Min.

SALOME: “I am amorous of thy body, Iokanaan! Thy body is white, like the lilies of the field that the mower hath never mowed. Thy body is white like the snows that lie on the mountains of Judaea, and come down into the valleys. The roses in the gardens of the Queen of Arabia are not so white as thy body. Neither the roses in the garden of the Queen of Arabia, the garden of spices of the Queen of Arabia, nor the feet of the dawn when they light on the leaves, nor the breast of the moon when she lies on the breast of the sea. There is nothing in this world so white as they body. Suffer me to touch thy body.

[No response. Angrily.] Thy body is hideous. It is like the body of a leper. It is like a plastered wall, where vipers have crawled; like a plastered wall where the scorpions have made their nest. It is like a whited sepulchre, full of loathsome things. It is horrible; thy body is horrible. It is of thy hair I am enamoured, Iokanaan. Thy hair is like clusters of grapes, like the clusters of black grapes that hang from the vine-trees of Edom in the land of the Edomites. Thy hair is like the cedars of Lebanon, like the great cedars of Lebanon that give their shade to the lions and to the robbers who would hide them by day.

The long black nights, when the moon hides her face, when the stars are afraid, are not so black as thy hair. The silence that dwells in the forest is not so black. There is nothing in the world that is so black as thy hair. Suffer me to touch thy hair.

[No response. Angrily.] Thy hair is horrible. It is covered with mire and dust. It is like a crown of thorns placed on thy head. It is like a knot of serpents coiled round thy neck. I love not thy hair. It is thy mouth that I desire, Iokanaan. Thy mouth is like a band of scarlet on a tower of ivory. It is like a pomegranate cut in twain with a knife of ivory. The pomegranate flowers that blossom in the gardens of Tyre, and are redder than roses, are not so red. The red blasts of trumpets that herald the approach of kings, and make afraid the enemy, are not so red.

Thy mouth is redder than the feet of those who tread the wine in the wine-press. It is redder than the feet of the doves who inhabit the temples and are fed by the priests. It is redder than the feet of him who cometh from a forest where he hath slain a lion, and seen gilded tigers. Thy mouth is like a branch of coral that fishers have found in the twilight of the sea, the coral that they keep for the kings! It is like the vermilion that the Moabites find in the mines of Moab, the vermilion that the kings take from them. It is like the bow of the King of the Persians, that is tainted with vermilion, and is tipped with coral. There is nothing in the world so red as thy mouth. Suffer me to kiss thy mouth.

[No response.] I will kiss thy mouth, Iokanaan. I will kiss thy mouth.”

TAMING OF THE SHREW – Lucentio arrives in Padua. Dramatic Monologue For Teen/Young Adult Male Actors. 2 Min.

LUCENTIO
Tranio, since for the great desire I had
To see fair Padua, nursery of arts,
I am arrived for fruitful Lombardy,
The pleasant garden of great Italy;
And by my father’s love and leave am arm’d
With his good will and thy good company,
My trusty servant, well approved in all,
Here let us breathe and haply institute
A course of learning and ingenious studies.
Pisa renown’d for grave citizens
Gave me my being and my father first,
A merchant of great traffic through the world,
Vincetino come of Bentivolii.
Vincetino’s son brought up in Florence
It shall become to serve all hopes conceived,
To deck his fortune with his virtuous deeds:
And therefore, Tranio, for the time I study,
Virtue and that part of philosophy
Will I apply that treats of happiness
By virtue specially to be achieved.
Tell me thy mind; for I have Pisa left
And am to Padua come, as he that leaves
A shallow plash to plunge him in the deep
And with satiety seeks to quench his thirst.

PTERODACTYLS – Emma Duncan, a hypochondriac with memory problems. Comedic monologue for adult females. 2-3 min.

EMMA: Hello everybody. I’m dead. How are you? I’m glad I killed myself. I’m not recommending it for others, mind you—no Dr. Kevorkian am I. But it’s worked out for me.

Looking back, I don’t think I was every supposed to have been born to begin with. Of course the idea that anything is “supposed to be” implies a master plan, and I don’t believe in that kind of thing.   When I say I shouldn’t have been born, I mean that my life was never all that pleasant. And there was no real reason for it.

I was pretty. I had money. I was lucky enough to be born in a time and into a class where I had nothing but opportunities. I look around and there are crippled people and blind people and refugees and I can’t believe I had the gall to whine about anything! I had my health—oh sure, I complained a lot, but really I was fine. And I had love! Granted the object of my affections was a latent, or not-so-latent homosexual as it turned out, who was infected with the HIV virus, who in turn infected me and my unborn baby—but isn’t that really picking nits? I can never thank Todd enough for giving me the gun, because for the first time, I’m happy. The pain is gone and I remember everything.

Tommy is here but we’re not speaking. He spends all his time with Montgomery Clift and George Cukor talking about movies. I assume. And I’ve been reunited with Alice Paulker. We went to school together. She was shot last year by a disgruntled postal worker. She has long wavy brown hair and skin so pale you can see right through it – I don’t mean it’s really transparent and you can see her guts and everything. It’s just pale. And she has very big eyes. Green.

And we listen to music and go for walks. And take turns read aloud to each other. She reads poems by Emily Bronte and I read chapters from The Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller. She was always classier than me. And sometimes we just hold each other. and I run my fingers through her hair and she touches her lips, gently, along my cheek. She makes soft sounds, comforting sounds and she takes her time and runs her tongue around the edge of my ear.

We take off our clothes and just look at each other. I was shy at first, but Alice helped me and never rushed me. She held my breasts in her hand and ran her lips between them, down my stomach. I touch her eyelids and her forehead and her hair and her fingers and the back of her neck. And she enters me and I am everywhere at once and nowhere at all. And I remember everything and find that nothing matters. And for a moment, for a moment or two that lasts forever we become one person. And I forget, we forget, that we were ever alive. And everything makes perfect sense.

“You were nothing before you met me” From the Film “Heathers.” Heather tells her frenemy Veronica that she needs to watch herself. Comedic monologue for teen female. <1 min.

Written by: Daniel Waters

HEATHER CHANDLER – You were nothing before you met me! You were playing Barbies with Betty Finn! You were a Brownie, you were a Bluebird, you were a Girl Scout Cookie! I got you into a Remington Party! What’s my thanks? It’s on the hallway carpet. I get paid in puke! (totally in control) Monday morning, you’re history. I’ll tell everyone about tonight. Transfer to Washington. Transfer to Jefferson. No one at Westerburg’s going to let you play their reindeer games.

THE CHILDREN OF EARTH – A teenager admits to her Christian mother that she has lost her virginity. Dramatic Monologue For Teen Female. 2 Min.

ELLIE: “Mother, I have to speak to you… I did something horrible this summer…This summer when you were doing missionary for the church. I was the meanest most sinful daughter you could have and I apologize… I apologize for all those to saying that I would never lose my innocence, I apologize for all those times that I told you I would never cuss because I did. And I loved it.

Every minute of every day I loved cussing, I loved feeling a man’s body pressed against mine. It was the most beautiful feeling I could have ever felt until… August 12, when I took a pregnancy test… I was pregnant. I was scared and regretted doing every little thing. My boyfriend and I had a conversation on whether we should keep the baby, he left me. The guy who always told me that he would love me forever and ever left me. I can’t believe I could be so stupid.

So what else could I do? I got an abortion. I killed a human, I killed a life in such a desperate moment of mine. Mother, I am sorry!!!! I am sorry for everything!!! I apologize for cussing, for losing my virginity, I apologize, please forgive me! Please, mother don’t leave me when I am breaking the most!!!

ROMEO AND JULIET – Juliet expresses her love for Romeo. Dramatic Monologue For Teen Female Actor. 1-2 Min.

JULIET
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

[ROMEO
[Aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?]

JULIET
‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

ROMEO AND JULIET – Romeo sees Juliet at her window. Dramatic Monologue For Teen Male Actor. 1-2 Min.

ROMEO
He jests at scars that never felt a wound.

[JULIET appears above at a window]

But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou her maid art far more fair than she:
Be not her maid, since she is envious;
Her vestal livery is but sick and green
And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.
It is my lady, O, it is my love!
O, that she knew she were!
She speaks yet she says nothing: what of that?
Her eye discourses; I will answer it.
I am too bold, ’tis not to me she speaks:
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars,
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so bright
That birds would sing and think it were not night.
See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
O, that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!