Most of my daughter’s classmates who graduated with her in the spring, continue with dance and voice. It is just assumed that the training continues. Over the winter my hotel in NYC overlooked a major dance studio and every night, we were treated to amazing dance classes with the most talented dancers who were definitely older than the traditional college students. The classes were long and ran late into the evenings, so I thought they were probably for those who dance but worked during the day. And this was not just a dance class, it was amazing.
My NYC son lives in Harlem…it is probably not my most favorite neighborhood, but his apartment is beautiful, near the subway and on the right subway line. Would I want to live there? Probably not, but it is great for him and his 3 other roommates.
@theaterwork to answer your post #100, my kid just started freshman year of college. We don’t live in NYC, so we would fly out a few times a year for a week of lessons. We also supplemented with Skype. This teacher was well known to several people in our area (including my kid’s local voice teacher), and a couple years ago the local teacher began taking Skype lessons from the NYC teacher as well.
It is interesting to hear so many people on this thread comment that it’s difficult for many kids to handle the transition to an artists free-form schedule in the 5 years post-college.
It makes sense, especially given the discussions of all the extra voice/dance/acting classes, rehearsals and summer programs many of them squeezed in during high school, followed by relatively regimented and always-busy schedules during their college years, even in summers (especially for those willing to work for free/cheap to build resumes).
After college graduation, many kids suddenly find themselves with no school work, between shows, auditioning on random schedules and without the money for regular $150 voice lessons.
I can imagine that’s a rough transition in many cases.
I agree @MomCares . Our kids are so busy and regimented now in high school and in college too. Then to go to having no money and time on your hands would be difficult. That is what my husband & I are trying to reiterate to my D if she chooses a BFA program in MT and only wants to perform, etc…you will have to constantly be working on your craft…either training still, looking for jobs and opportunities, working PT to pay the rent and networking! I know she isn’t “getting it” really…too young still since shes a junior, but we keep telling her! You will have to constantly be lookin for work and auditioning and deciding where to live, etc.
Of course not…didn’t say it would be a full-time job. During my daughter’s summer intensive the casting directors and industry folks told the actors that once they graduate, this will be their job. Hitting the pavement, networking, and getting their faces seen.
And honestly, the reality of 5 years ahead is virtually impossible for a talented young high school student, who is is getting lots of leads and tons of constant praise, to comprehend.
My daughter spends very little time auditioning. She is cast in shows. She has even had to decline two shows due to conflicts this upcoming year. Remember, if you have an agent, you aren’t spending time at open calls. My daughter’s life and schedule is chockfull! But she also must discipline herself to create a schedule and multi-task on numerous projects that overlap at one time.
@soozievt - your D is a wonderful exception in so many respects! I think you’ve mentioned in the past that she is part of some creative circles that meet monthly? If so, that seems like one great (and cheap) way to build in some structure. So far ours has been lucky enough to avoid stretches without structure, but when they come I can imagine it may be a new, and not altogether welcome, sensation.
So my younger daughter is 5 years out of college. She was not MT undergrad as she wanted classical training as a coloratura soprano. She studied music with a concentration in Voice and a concentration in Theatre. We live in Nassau County but she never lived at home after graduation for more than a few months. Originally she moved into a converted apartment in Bushwick with a friend from college and another from study abroad. The study abroad friend was in grad school for music theory/music history and the other friend was working and auditioning and still needed to finish school. We paid security deposits and all of that and bought her bed, dressers, etc. Her rent was only about $650 as she had the smallest room. She had an internship at an Arts Development company paying grand sum of $100 per week. After that she became a nanny where she made a lot of money caring for an exceptional little girl and did auditions and performed in a few off-off B’way festivals/showcases. For three summers she either studied at Shakespeare & Co in Lenox and/or was in summer Shakespeare festivals. She also sang in a small opera company and has gotten an ongoing gig in some of an avantgarde mixed media performance piece where she is the vocalist. She and the cellist did compose some of the music. She has performed off-Broadway and following the nanny gig, she has taught children’s music, movement, yoga classes. She has been in children’s theater and worked many children’s birthday parties. 3 years ago she and several women that she met performing formed a theatre company in which she has performed, directed and has been the producer and after their third season, they will eligible to apply for grant funding as they have a body of work to show. She has an ongoing gig where she works for the arts center in which her company is housed part-time doing social media marketing/admin work and that helps her with either comp or reduced rent for rehersal space. She still has an occasional babysitting gig but she is no longer a nanny. She does teach yoga in a charter school after-school program as well as in one nursery school one afternoon a week. She also does events for an organization that hires actors for things like silent auctions, etc at charity galas. She is learning a lot about arts management but at the same time keeping her foot in the door for performance. She does go on auditions, some of which are not for acting/singing but for TV commercials and voice-over. She did have a high school student she worked with last year as coach which sort of fell in her lap but the girls had excellent acceptances and is now a freshman at Carnegie Mellon. She is coaching another girl this fall for high school performing arts program and she is enjoying the coaching although not certain how much she will pursue this. She has taken voice lessons to prepare for auditions every now and then, as well as some acting/voiceover classes.
For the past four years she has lived with a series of roommates in a walk-up apartment in Greenpoint. I believe they now pay $1900 for a 2 bedroom which is what my older d and her boyfriend pay for their walk-up apartment in Prospect Heights or Pro-Cro as the realtors now call it because she is literally right on the border of both neighborhoods. So… she makes enough money to pay the rent, has subsidized health care through the exchanges after she aged out of our plan at 26… she doesn;t however have any savings other than very small 401K at her part-time job, no job benefits and no real disposable income for extras. DH and I do help her out with any major expenses- dress/travel expenses to be in and go to friend’s wedding, computer upgrades and so on. No college loans at all to pay back and we still have money saved in our 529 if/when she chooses to go to grad school.
Philosophically, yes, but in reality, it isn’t going to be something that they are doing daily, or for some, even weekly, and it isn’t going to pay anything. Focussing solely on open calls, for which they are eligible, without representation, isn’t going to be enough for most grads.
@MomCares re: post #31:
I think you are likely referring to something my D created that does meet monthly, where songwriters get together at her apartment to share their music. That is rather minor in her schedule. She has been part of other groups in the past too. And she has attended various artist residencies.
However, my D is VERY disciplined. She creates a very defined work schedule where she carves out when she is working on this or that project, often several at one time. She basically has the next 12 months planned out, including time periods when she will be performing in shows but also the blocks of time when she is not in a show, which is very filled up with other projects. I think it requires one to create a schedule. It is not like school where your schedule is practically created for you.
@bookmama22 - Thanks so much for sharing your D’s experiences. It sounds like she’s piecing together a great life as a young artist! Has she ever talked about which aspects of her college years she most values based on her perspective of 5 years out? Is that where she learned the Yoga she now teaches? Anything she wishes she’d done differently during college?
Well she is piercing together a life as a young artist and is immersed in what she does although it does get challenging to live on a limited budget. She is at the age where friends are getting engaged and married and so there are lots of social obligations and expenses. She herself just ended a long relationship/long distance relationship. Will she be doing this in 5 years hard to say. We are older parents and so many of our friends have children at the next stage, having babies and beginning school. There was another thread about the cost of nursery school/and school placement in NYC. It is challenging.Having lived in NYC our whole lives we have lived in pre-gentrified neighborhoods and we know now how difficult it will be to buy a bigger apartment and raise a child unless one person in the relationship is bringing in some big money.
She really got into Yoga initially marginally in high school but I think when she studied at Shakespeare & Co, there is a lot of emphasis there on movement and she has always taken Yoga classes since then and her Yoga studio sent her for teacher training and they secured the classes at the nursery school/charter school. She has worked with two different children’s movement/music programs. Both seemed to have a specific routine/curriculum to follow.
I don’ think she regrets her college decision at all. She applied to conservatory programs and academic programs. She wanted a campus experience and with many friends in the grade above her at NYU, she really did not want to go there after spending time with them. She studied literature in college along with the theatre prep classes as well as extensive music theory/music history and some piano which is not her strong suit. She, went to a music based program in study abroad, participated in theatre and founded a student run theatre program. For awhile since she graduated she was in a chorus here in NYC that you pay dues to participate in, that was well-run and is well-regarded With them, she has sung in Carnegie Hall but the rehearsal schedule for that sometimes conflicted with other gigs and with her limited budget she decided to step away from that and not spend the money for dues.
Although she loves musical theatre, her voice type is not much in demand these days- she is not a belter or a pop-type voice so that limits her audition opportunities. When she did study abroad she was advised that if she did want to pursue a career in opera, Europe would be where she would have to study and make a start as there are so many more opportunities than in the U.S. If you think it is difficult to make it in musical theater or acting, it is much harder for classical performers, vocalists or instrumentalists. Some people are really motivated to do that, despite the high cost of living there. She wasn’t ready to make that commitment, especially as she was involved in a relationship- that would have even more long-distance.
My other perspective is that the company I work with used to hire actors part-time and we had a group that we used for phone work/clerical/admin asst kind of work. They were good on the phone, like learning a role and we could be flexible with their gigs. From working with them, I know how hard it is to raise a family and send kids to college, get an acting teaching job-MFA and all, even as adjuncts, age out of roles you can be cast in–FYI, too old to be the romantic lead but too young to be a character actor. But my DH and felt you have to give it a shot because you will always have regrets if you never tried.
@bookmama22 you hit the nail on the head by your comment about “You have to give it a shot because you will always have regrets”. Everytime I think about discouraging my D about studying theater and especially concentrating on performance in MT, I think of this. I will be so sad if when she is 30 says “Wow, I wish I had just tried to go for it” . My husband used to race motocross. He was fairly good at it and his parents discouraged his continuing it into a career of racing. He has regretted it ever since. He also was an art minor in school and wished he had at least pursued that later & also did not. He stuck w/ business and now has a less then satisfying job. Sometimes you just have to “go for it” if you can and see where it takes you.
This is their lives, their passion, their dreams…can’t imagine ever telling my child she couldn’t do what makes her soul complete. This board is filled with wonderful parents who are helping to pave the way of dream realization.
Yeah, I gotta agree that I can’t ever imagine discouraging my kid to pursue their area of passion in school and beyond, no matter the field. We never cared what our kids majored in. With our MT theater kid, I can’t imagine her not in the performing arts. It has been part of her being her entire life. It would be like saying, “don’t be yourself.”
As to another thing brought up, well…my MT kid is engaged and so she is in this field in NYC and will be getting married a year from now. No change of career plans whatsoever. (my other daughter also just got engaged, btw!! and her fiancé just started a 7 year PhD program today…my husband and I were students when we married…just saying, don’t let your career stop you from pursuing other life goals too!)