Talent in College

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Talent in College

Posted: 7/25/05 at 12:11am

Hi everyone. I have questions regarding what it takes to be accepted at a performing arts college. Does one have to be a prodigy to get accepted (scholarship aside)? Does one have to be miraculously gifted to even make money on stage?

I'm curious exactly how much training your typical Broadway star has. Norbert Butz, Sutton Foster, Colm Wilkinson, Idina Menzel, Michael Ball. Are they just ridiculously talented plus training which makes them get where they've been?

From what I see of myself (I've had no training), my acting is fine. I do theater year-round in my city, and have been at least noticed enough to be asked to auditions for movies, and I've had multiple people (strangers and friends) sincerely encourage me to pursue a career in theater. But certainly nothing spectacular. My voice is mediocre, although I've had no training.

So where can a mediocre person end up, after a few years of rigorous study and training? I'm trying to figure out the best way for me to possible go about getting a degree in (musical) theater. While acting and singing are certainly my biggest passion, I think my parents would be less excited than about supporting me in a profession like that, so I'd like to get all the details I can before even mentioning a thing to my parents (I'm 15, and my folks think that I want to teach languages, which would be fine, but it's not my dream).

Thanks for your help

Coimhéad fearg fhear na foighde.

Updated On: 7/25/05 at 12:11 AM

re: Talent in College

Posted: 7/25/05 at 12:47am

The way it sounds, you've got talent. Talent is the most important thing, but it's worthless unless you really learn how to use it. That's where training becomes important. If you're "mediocre" without a minute of training, then training can make you great. Read "Respect for Acting" by Uta Hagen. She says that you can be a very talented dancer, but it's useless unless you take dance classes to learn form and technique. It's the same for any art form.

"This is what I trained to do, and this is what I love about theater. What I love about being an actress is being able to really look into myself and understand another human being. And out my own self, to shape and form and fashion a real human being--and to present that in such a way that people see something of themselves or their own understanding in that human being." --Phylicia Rashad

re: Talent in College

Posted: 7/25/05 at 3:22am

Thanks very much. I'll definitely read that book soon.

Can you tell what the process is for most performing art school when one is interested in musical theater? Is it audition by song or monologue or something?

Coimhéad fearg fhear na foighde.

re: Talent in College

Posted: 7/25/05 at 7:44am

I don't think talent is the most important thing. It's how hard you work. Talent is only a little percent of the equation. No, the colleges are not looking for a prodigy. They are looking for POTENTIAL. They don't want you to be perfect already.

For auditions, for musical theatre, they usually consist of 1 or 2 contrasting songs and 1 or 2 2 minute monologues. You have to do both though. Go to the schools you are looking at sites and see what they want. Each school is different. Hope this helped!

"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife

re: Talent in College

Posted: 7/25/05 at 10:44am

Talent is not the deciding factor when it comes to college. Let me elaborate:

Talent is an IMPORTANT factor, but many school judges know who is right for their school and who is not. They view the applicants for potential, marketability, and they view you as a person, in general. You can have all the talent in the world, but what makes you really amazing is being able to harness said talent. That's what training will help you do, whether you get it at a college or some small classes around.

This is my signature.

re: Talent in College

Posted: 7/25/05 at 11:47am

it takes all kinds of actors and i guarantee you there are all types of levels at every top college, and even on broadway. it takes a combination of talent, charisma (x-factor, whatever), and determination. in my opinion :)

re: Talent in College

Posted: 7/25/05 at 11:47am

re: Talent in College

Posted: 7/25/05 at 2:52pm

hmm..it sounds like you just need a good kick in the pants and some confidence. when talking about talent, forget it...you are talented, you are the most talented person in the universe, you are great wonderful blah blah blah. no one gets anywhere without ba**s/ovaries so you gotta just grab yourself by yours and say "I want it, and I'm not gonna be afraid to go after it." If you think you are only mediocre and you wanna career in the arts well stop torturing yourself cause can you imagine the pain that's gonna cause when it comes time for a strict diet of auditions? Take it from me, as a self beater-upper myself ya just gotta get secretly arrogant.:P note, I say secretly.

chickenmacnoot likes the ladies and the ladies, with some exceptions, tolerate chickenmacnoot.

re: Talent in College

Posted: 7/25/05 at 2:53pm

Don't expect to be a Michael Ball or an Idina Menzel or Sutton Foaster or Norbert Leo Butz. They as well as all other "names" are exceptions. You, too, can be an exception - but do not count on it.

DO expect to do theatre. Maybe not on Broadway. Maybe not have a huge fanbase. (If you want to be an actor for the fame, then don't do it. You'll waste your entire life.) Maybe on off-Broadway or cabarets or community theatre. Maybe as a chorus member on Broadway. Maybe even a featured role on Broadway.

As long as you do good work, that's all that counts. BUT - you'll need to make money. DO do good theatre, as long as you can support yourself.

"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle

#10

re: Talent in College

Posted: 7/25/05 at 5:34pm

Thank you everyone for all the insights. I really appreciate it!

CapnHook, thank you. I will definitely remember not to expect to be like Idina or Sutton. You, know that would be awfully hard, being a male and all.

I use those names as examples. I could pick equally amazing people whom I've seen in local professional theater that you've never heard of. I'm ready for and want hard work. But I don't even have anything like New York in my spectrum at all. Period. I'll work as hard as I can and see where God leads me. You just want to do the right thing with your life, you know? But you can't really be sure what the right thing is.

Coimhéad fearg fhear na foighde.

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