<p>Hello there,</p>
<p>First of all let’s get some background info out and then I’ll get to the main point of this post.
My name is Miranda and I’m graduating from high school this year but I’ll be taking a year off before heading to college. I always thought my passion was writing but now I’m beginning to think that it’s acting. I’ve recently been considering going to college for Theater but I’m not sure if I want to go for Musical or Dramatic.</p>
<p>However, I’m not sure if I have talent and training enough to get into school for Musical Theater (or even Dramatic Theater for that matter).</p>
<p>I took various Dance classes from the ages of 4 through 10.
I’ve been in eight plays with a small theater company. Two of those plays were slightly like a musical.
This school year I’ve been taking Voice lessons.</p>
<p>So here come the questions.</p>
<p>Should I try out for reputable acting colleges?</p>
<p>As I said I have a year before I go to college, in that year should I train hard in each area? (I’d say dance is my weakest area.)</p>
<p>Should I take voice lessons, dance lessons and acting lessons all separately?</p>
<p>Should I take acting lessons, audition for community theater or find an acting coach?</p>
<p>Which kind of dance lessons should I take?</p>
<p>Should I take more than once type of dance?</p>
<p>Is this even possible?</p>
<p>Do colleges expect you to be have excellent skills in each dancing, acting and singing?</p>
<p>I would suggest that you explore training in all 3 areas, acting, dance and singing. If it turns out that you have potential in the musical area, the training will be helpful in your future auditions. And actors who also have vocal and dance skills have more opportunities for employment. </p>
<p>Ballet is the basis for all dance – start there and if possible you can add other disciplines like jazz and tap.</p>
<p>Your question about reputable acting colleges is confusing – not sure what you mean with that one. Would you want to go to a disreputable acting college?</p>
<p>Yes, try to work with some theaters in this year of preparation. Community colleges, community theaters, and semi-professional theaters are all a possibility, depending on what is available near you.</p>
<p>Most colleges will claim that they don’t expect you to be a polished performer in all areas – they are looking for potential. However, colleges vary a great deal in what they do expect. Certain schools have a very low admissions rate, and others will be much easier to get into. You need to look into each school individually, and have a balanced list of schools to apply to. Keep in mind that not all college theater programs require an audition, and you should have at least one school like that on your list as a safety.</p>
<p>There is a great deal of information on this discussion board, and I suggest that you take some time to browse through the threads to get some more detailed answers to the questions you have asked. It will be time-consuming, but well worth it. Then you can come back and post some more specific questions once you have focused on exactly what you want to do in this next year.</p>
<p>Well, an option that I had explored is to go for a non-audition BA musical theater school. Everyone, I’m told, comes in at different levels. Some have had lots of training, others have had very little. But during your year off, you should definitely train in all three areas, as said above. Most everyone I’ve talked to on here says to focus on ballet and jazz, and if you have the time, add tap, etc. I don’t know if you’re going to have a job during your year off, but if you don’t or if it’s part-time, you’ll have more time for training and practicing on your own, so take as many voice/dance/acting opportunities as possible.</p>