Performers who DIDN'T go to college?- Page 3

[AKDPerformer]

Posted: 10/29/07 at 5:55pm

Erinbeccia- The point I was trying to make is that specifically performers in this business don't need a degree to land...for example an ensemble job in a show. Everyone has a different path and sometimes that path doesn't involve attending college.

The casting director is going to be looking at you and what you can do/are capable of doing on that day the audition is taking place.

I'm not saying college is a bad thing, it's just not for everybody. I attended a conservatory and gave it a shot for a bit and then left because it just didn't fit for me. Despite me doing well, I couldn't stand the curriculum. Education is always an important thing to have and i'm not denying that, i'm just trying to state that you don't always have to graduate from a top university to be considered for a role on Bway. Trust me, I have a bunch of friends that go to NYU/Syracuse etc. and forgive me for sounding like an ass...but some of them got in based completely on grades. A lot of them have no potential or talent. You can train years and years and YEARS and i'm sorry...being tone deaf to begin with and then training at a 4 year institution and getting your degree isn't going to make you sound any better. "Oh WOW! He went to (whatever school and graduated!) oh but...wait a minute...he sucks and can't sing a damn note!" You need something to start out with, or else your just wasting tuition money/time and it is pointless. In my opinion atleast...

Its inspiring though to hear about performers (a lot by the way) who are either college dropouts or who never went because its proof that you don't need a BFA/MFA what have you to get to that plateau. I'm not saying you should follow in their path, because not everyone is blessed with natural talent/ability and 90-99% I do know that professional actors are out of a job.

Honestly, I ushered at a Broadway show this past year and after watching it night after night I can honestly say I learned more in 5 months than I ever did at my 1 year at the school I attended. But then again, that's just me...I learn better in an environment where i'm either being privately trained and I can choose what I want to do and where I want to learn it. I know i'm not perfect, and everyday I constantly read/educate/train to become a more knowledgable, better person/performer. I just don't want to do it within the 4 walls of a college.

I know i'll probably get a lot of crap for this...but whatever...I do know what i'm talking about. Thanks to anyone who took the time out of their day to read this long/rambling post.

Oh and also...
"One time I was talking to Joe Papp and said that I sometimes feel very shy because everybody here has gone to this university and that, and I didn't. He said, what are you talking about? In college people learn what is given to them. You learned what was important to you. You have a mind of your own, a universal education that a lot of people don't have. So why should you feel badly? It's still intimidating when someone has gone to Yale...but now as I go to speak at these colleges I always start by saying I have no academic credits...but I have experience...*Experience*."-Graciela Daniele from the book So You Want To Dance On Broadway.

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 10/29/07 at 6:05pm

A bit off topic but Bill gates didn't graduate from college. He's one of the richest people.

You either have the talent or you don't.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/29/07 at 6:13pm

Um, yeah, as erinrebecca said 7 posts ago:

"To point to someone like Sutton Foster who dropped out of Carnegie Mellon and say 'hey, she didn't go to college and look how successful she is!', is about as smart as saying 'hey, Bill Gates dropped out of college and is a billionaire so I'm going to do that, too!'"

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 10/29/07 at 6:17pm

oh skittles, I'm so sorry I missed reading a part of a post. G/d forbid! I must be going to hell for that. However, I'm pretty sure if some other people posted what I did, you wouldn't have responded.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/29/07 at 6:18pm

No, I still would have. It was stupid regardless of who posted it.

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 10/29/07 at 6:19pm

It was stupid? Why, because I missed reading a part of someone's post?

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/29/07 at 6:22pm

Because erinrebecca's post already said the Bill Gates comparison was stupid.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 10/29/07 at 6:23pm

Laura Benanti didn't go to college but when asked about it she said she would encourage people to go.

[sleepyguy1717]

Posted: 10/29/07 at 9:02pm

Out of curiousity, AKDPerformer, what conservatory did you attend?

[nygrl23]

Posted: 10/29/07 at 9:14pm

Well, Bill Gates got lucky. He bought out an inventor's OS for $60,000, and then went on to use that guy's ideas to build his business. Then he ripped off Mac's interface design (i.e. Windows) in the 90's and got richer.

ANYway. College isn't for everyone. Many successful performers have tended to skip college if they were already really busy working at their craft in whatever ways. It doesn't hurt if they started really young. Some people just seep into the biz early. Some people have a longer road to that first job.

I don't think traditional 4-year educations are going to be as pragmatic in the near future, though, as much as I think a degree is necessary. Maybe a balance between tradition and ad hoc training will be in order for those who don't want to spend 4 years on a campus trying to figure things out. It's hard to do that when you're cloistered in a specific environment.

[bardolator]

Posted: 11/2/07 at 8:00am

"Stephanie J. Block went to [5] days of College:p She is one of the most intelligent people I've ever met!"

Agreed. When we say "education" we really mean "academic education," which might not really be the best training for some people. Wouldn't you rather have a chef who went to culinary arts school than to Yale? For many professional performers, education and training take place in a classroom; for others, it takes place in studios and on stages.

Also...education and intelligence aren't the same thing (says this former college professor and current high school teacher--oh, the tales I could tell). And, yes, she's very intelligent.

[enteng2]

Posted: 11/2/07 at 9:49am

Lea Salonga went to a local university in the Philippines for freshmen and sophomore years. She's supposed to finish B.S. Psychology as a pre-medicine course but she got into the auditions (that was held in manila) for what was then an upcoming new musical - Miss Saigon (1989) and the rest is history.

Updated On: 11/3/07 at 09:49 AM

[withoutlove78]

Posted: 11/2/07 at 10:18am

i know sutton left CMU but i'm prettttty sure she transferred to and completed her degree at UMich.

[sleepyguy1717]

Posted: 11/2/07 at 2:25pm

All of my research told me that she did not get her degree.