<p>I see shows in NYC alot and very frequently see actors listed in the Playbill who attended BA institutions, and not the ones mentioned on CC as having strong theater programs. There is no right route to success. And, there is no one way even to define success itself.</p>
<p>Actors are always fighting for that next job. There are a few who have achieved a level of comfort and renown where the jobs come to them, and can choose from among leading roles, but the vast majority of working actors (as arwarw) are always scrapping it out!</p>
<p>I remember reading an interview with the actress who won the Tony for “Venus in Fur” (her name escapes me at the moment). After graduating from Tisch MFA, she was worried that her resume was still too thin! </p>
<p>Just before he got the role in Once, Steve Kazee was despairing for his career (IIRC correctly from an interview I read), but he got that role and won the Tony. And he already had had an active life as an actor and was also a Tisch MFA grad.</p>
<p>I was just reading about a famous TV actress (whose name escapes me at the moment, sorry, I am middle-aged) who is now in a big TV show (name forgot again!) who was ready to go into interior design because of being fed up with how her career was going. Well, now she’s in a hit show, so she’s doing okay. </p>
<p>(good thing I"m not an actor myself; or I’d need the prompter every minute onstage!)</p>