<p>
</p>
<p>I would recommend that your d become more familiar with the live stage industry and the craft of acting to understand the opportunities for actors and the overall job market.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Broadway.com currently lists 54 musicals and 47 plays running on and off Broadway.</p></li>
<li><p>Of the plays currently running, only 1 is Shakespeare.</p></li>
<li><p>The season for our local LORT (a very respected, large regional theatre) includes 11 productions, all of them plays, none of them Shakespeare.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Straight acting is about a lot more than Shakespeare. A whole lot more.</p>
<p>It is easy to see why a myopic prejudice for musicals over straight plays and a disdain against straight acting may arise in a high-schooler who has been overwhelmingly interested in Broadway musicals: in NYC, plays draw only 1/5 the audience and earn only about 1/5 of the revenue as musicals. Plays in NYC have shorter runs, play in smaller houses, and have smaller casts. Musicals clearly have a huge edge in glamour and mindshare among the casual theatre-going crowd. For more statistics on the NYC theatre market see this link:
<a href=“http://www.broadwayleague.com/editor_files/broadway_statistics_at_a_glance.pdf”>http://www.broadwayleague.com/editor_files/broadway_statistics_at_a_glance.pdf</a></p>
<p>However, if you look at the market as a whole (“there is life outside of NYC”), in terms of work weeks, the majority of work for actors in live theatre is in straight plays. It is true that MT’ers cast in Broadway shows and national tours do have higher salaries. However, actors focused on MT have to compete with dancers and singers, many of whom probably would not be competitive in casting for straight plays. See this thread for more statistics:
<a href=“More Freakonomics: Life Upon the Wicked Stage - #31 by alibabba808 - Musical Theater Major - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1418008-more-freakonomics-life-upon-the-wicked-stage-p3.html</a></p>
<p>Whether you are a straight actor or an MT actor, your path is likely to lead at some point to TV/Film/Commercial work (probably out of economic necessity). In terms of overall earnings, the live stage is only 14% of the market for actors (including MT’s). Film, TV, and Commercials are vastly larger job markets in terms of earnings than live stage (see the thread linked above). A disdain for Film/TV/Commercials would probably not be a good fit with the economic realities of life as an actor. A Julliard grad from d’s high school recently dropped by for a Master Class and explained that he was relocating to LA from NYC, despite a successful stage career, because, “the money is just too good.” A multi-Tony nominee alum came by the next week with the same story.</p>
<p>My d really, really wants to pursue a career in Musical Theatre, However, as she has trained for the past several years, she has been drawn deeper and deeper into the craft of acting and a holistic view of theatre being comprised of many different styles of performance, all of them very interesting. Her favorite, by the way, is Shakespeare.</p>