<p>When my kids were doing “Beauty & the Beast” years ago, my S was playing the part of Maurice. The “invention” was a motorized vehicle that he rode onstage and in a circle. During the final dress rehearsal he rode it too close to the edge of the stage, so when he got off and came around front of it all the while looking at Belle, he stepped right off the stage and into the pit! Fortunately he had no broken bones but he was pretty banged and bruised up! To this day, all around town people refer to “pulling an E…” (insert his name here) and how they don’t want to do that!</p>
<p>The other day, one of my professors had to quite seriously put his foot down. He refused one of my classmates to take a class or do a production next semester because he doesn’t want her to exhaust herself and burn out by the end of the year. It was very dramatic and emotional but very much so a good point. </p>
<p>I know that in my school, we’re supposed to have a maximum of 18 credit hours and most in the department have 20-24 credits. I have 20 usually myself. Even with just the classes, there’s so much work involved! Another classmate announced that he was going to give up partying because of it.</p>
<p>It’s so great to hear about schools where a premium is placed on teaching performers to take care of themselves!</p>
<p>On the subject of partying… D has always noticed how careful most professional stage actors she’s encountered are about eating well and getting plenty of sleep. I can imagine that’s critical for sustaining a career over the long haul. The profession is stressful enough without abusing yourself.</p>
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<p>I think this is true for some but, in my experience, I wouldn’t say most. And I know a lot of actors! Particularly the young ones, and often while on their first tour, many of them do not take good care of themselves. There’s a lot of partying that goes on in those situations, it’s common for many to go out every night after the show to eat and drink. It is difficult for some to unwind after a show in order to get a good night’s sleep, which can lead to other problems. With very busy travel schedules and less than ideal living conditions, even those who do want to act like grown-ups may find it difficult. 
Maintaining your health is important. If you’re missing shows as a result of poor choices, it can impact future hiring.</p>
<p>MegPmom - noticed you are in Texas and sounds like your family quite involved. My D is applying now for fall entrance and is looking at BFA Dance or Theater & Dance. We are in Texas. Do you have any experience with the schools in Texas such as UT Austin, TCU etc?</p>
<p>@alwaysamom – I’m sure you’re right, and D’s sample of professional actors may be skewed toward the responsible ones (or at least the ones who don’t tell younger cast members they’re going out partying later), but I’m not planning to disabuse D of her belief that the pros live healthy lifestyles! ;-D </p>
<p>Seriously, I do think she has been really lucky to work with very cool people so far!!</p>
<p>Horror story time: while I was in rehearsal last night, someone went into a seizure! We had to call an ambulance for them, although they were okay.</p>
<p>Make sure that people have access to your medical history and make sure to put it on audition forms under health problems, take first aid classes, always have a first aid kit at rehearsal, etc.!</p>
<p>Even leaving aside injury, it’s tough to stay healthy all the time. The cast of our high school’s “Noises Off!”-- which opens tomorrow-- has been wracked by a really nasty flu going around. Nobody can afford to miss class, so they show up and infect everybody else. Moral of the story? Vitamin C is your best friend.</p>
<p>D did “Noises Off” in high school as well, and it’s a particularly tricky show for both health AND injury, because the blocking is almost too complex for understudies AND there is so much physical comedy that injuries are more likely. </p>
<p>Hope everyone makes it through your production intact – LOVE the show!!</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I would say that my D’s and my experience with actors has been more along the line of the maybe-not-so-healthy-lifestyles. First of all, we have noticed a large number of them are heavy smokers, which seems so crazy, especially for singers! (Smoking seems to run rampant among dancers too!) I think the late night rehearsal/performance schedules makes it tough to unwind- many of the ones we know seem to go out routinely after rehearsals and shows to eat and drink. I am not saying that all actors maintain this lifestyle, but I would not say it is uncommon. I know my D is extremely conscious of maintaining healthy eating habits, as well as exercising and getting sleep(when she can!) Hopefully programs are making students aware of how important it is to maintain health to be able to keep the sometimes brutal schedules that actors have!</p>
<p>My D’s summer stock experience was the “not so healthy” type. As she said, “Mom, it’s just like summer camp for adults - with alcohol!” But they did tend to work out in the gym a lot. Maybe that was to counteract the alcohol.</p>
<p>megpmom - that’s what my daughter said about summer stock. Smoking is ridiculous but let’s not forget these are kids/young adults, of course they’re going to enjoy parties!</p>
<p>It’s not encouraging, but also not too surprising, to hear that summer stock can be party central. It’s especially too bad since this should be when young actors start establishing healthy professional habits. I wonder if there are some summer stock locations that do a better job than others in setting a good example for young performers.</p>
<p>Another thing I remember about summer stock from way back when I was doing it was that actors sometimes also worked in scene shops to help build scenery. I don’t know if this is still true, but back in the day many of the lower-budget theatre’s had scene shops that violated many OSHA requirements, including exposure to lots of nasty chemicals and allowing untrained folks to work with dangerous power tools. In combination with late night partying, the scene shops could be very unsafe… I took more than one finger to the hospital in a jar along with the person who had accidentally removed it. Plus I remember working in front of large vats of acetone and aniline dye, and welding in unventilated spaces among other unsafe practices.</p>
<p>“I took more than one finger to the hospital in a jar.” Yikes, MomCares!!!</p>
<p>Three, to be exact! And two were successfully re-attached.</p>
<p>If you are using a table saw… ALWAYS BE CAREFUL!! ;-D</p>
<p>It was such a proud moment when my D made an “A” in stagecraft and became “certified” to use the table saw. Slightly embarrased to tell folks we pay $50,000 a year for D to learn to use a hammer and tie knots. This is such a strange major.</p>
<p>I haven’t been on this site in eons, but I wanted to see if this topic was being discussed. One word: ADELE!!! Today Keith Urban announced that he is having throat surgery, too. At my D’s school, the voice instructor is talking about Adele (smoking, technique) as an object lesson and a caveat to all voice students. You are the only one who can protect your voice. The casting agent/director only care about opening night and the “wow” factor. They could care less if you trash your voice because there is always more cannon fodder to be had. This is particularly true of the vocal pyrotechnics many are expecting from female singers these days. Back to Adele. The publicist can put a good face on it, but Adele had a vocal hemorrhage and the risk of scar tissue is quite high. If you are going for a gravelly sound without much range, that might be OK, but that’s not the sound most MTs want.</p>
<p>As for dancers, yes, it is a wretched profession when balancing the degree of work required to gain mere proficiency with the length of the career. The last time I heard stats, the average age of “retirement” for a dancer was about 26 due to injury.</p>
<p>@anne1244 - Great post! </p>
<p>It’s so hard to get young adults to think of the ramifications of pushing themselves into vocal injury when they’re too often rewarded for unhealthy behavior. Hopefully at least some will take lessons from Adele and other similar stories of vocal self-destruction.</p>
<p>On the subject of dancers’ “retirement” age – D was SO impressed with the extreme level of professionalism of the dancers at YoungArts in Miami versus the vocalists. I had to remind her that dancers coming out of high school NEED to be near the peak of their careers, while singers ideally will “fully ripen” much later in life.</p>
<p>I just saw an interesting blog post that includes an interview with Dr. Zeitels, the surgeon who did Adele’s surgery…</p>
<p>…snip</p>
<p>Physicians say that there is no doubt that professional rock and pop singers on extended tours run a substantial risk of damaging their voices. The strain of singing full-voiced for an hour and a half is intense — as hard on the larynx as a professional football game is on a lineman’s body — and the vocal cords need time to recover after each performance. Dr. Zeitels, one of the leaders in his field, recommends that a rock singer not perform two nights in a row, though he concedes “that’s just not feasible.”</p>
<p>… snip</p>
<p>These are hard decisions to make, Dr. Zeitels said. The singers he has worked with — among them Julie Andrews, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and Roger Daltry of the Who — say they and other pop vocalists often feel compelled, out of loyalty to fans, to perform even when they have upper respiratory infections, which is similar to a sprinter’s trying to run with an injured hamstring.</p>
<p>The most common problems for singers are benign polyps, cysts, granulomas and nodules, which are growths akin to calluses that develop on the vocal cords. All these can bleed under the demands of performance. The bleeding can lead to fibrosis, or scarring. The scars leave vocal cords less pliable and soft; the voice becomes hoarse and cracks.</p>
<p>Dr. Zeitels said the first tip-off for a singer was usually that his or her voice did not recover as quickly after a performance. A doctor used to look at the vocal cords using a handheld mirror, but in recent years small cameras attached to fiber-optic cables have been developed, which snake through the nose into the throat.</p>
<p>… snip</p>
<p>[Psychology</a> of Medicine: Why Voices of Singers Like Adele and John Mayer Are Stilled - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://psychologyofmedicine.blogspot.com/2011/11/why-voices-of-singers-like-adele-and.html]Psychology”>Psychology of Medicine: Why Voices of Singers Like Adele and John Mayer Are Stilled - NYTimes.com)</p>
<p>A singer’s life…D called last Saturday complaining of major ear ache. Unfortunately, the issue resolved itself later that night when her eardrum burst, leaving her deaf in one ear. And her fall show opened on Thursday. 2 campus dr visits and an ENT appointment later, she was able to open the show. Still can’t hear, which makes singing quite difficult. She has 2 shows today so I’ll be interested to hear how it goes (she also had strep throat 3 weeks ago - it’s always something).</p>