Musical Theater Major or Acting Major?

[Lysistrata]

<p>There was an article posted on the Theater/Drama Colleges thread that I was surprised nobody ever commented on. Maybe it was because nobody read the whole thing because it was so long. Here is a link to the whole article. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/3952758-post171.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/3952758-post171.html&lt;/a&gt; Here is a quote from it</p>

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I believe in the next 10 years all of the actors vying for work will be so highly trained that there won’t be anything they can’t do and do at a moments’ notice. </p>

<p>The MFA program in acting at Louisiana State U in Baton Rouge requires that all their graduates in the acting program prove that they have SIXTY yes that is Six Oh monologues that they can do at any moment under any circumstance, or they won’t be awarded the degree. When I was auditioning for LORT theaters in the 70’s I felt “smug” with four monologues at the ready…imagine how I 'd do competing against actors who can show a range of 60 pieces and who will never be stumped by the request from a director to show " a comedy from the Restoration but not Sheridan or Wycherly!"</p>

<p>Now the exception to getting the most training possible before going to LA or NY or Chicago, would be if you are a “type” and a “hot type”. Alas the youth obsession, especially for females in the industry requires making other choices if what you want is to be a star especially in TV and film. If you are beautiful, male or female, and Film and/or TV is what you aspire to, then it seems to me that LA and the waitering job is where you need to be and you need to be there as close to 18 as you can get because if beauty is what you are selling then that career must be launched and in orbit by 25 at the latest or it isn’t going to happen. For us “character types” and/or for those who calling is the stage then the answer to a long and successful, if not a starring, career is to train and train and then train some more and if you can get an MFA while doing it then I would strongly recommend your doing so.

My dilemma is that as an artist I want to be one of those actresses with nothing ‘they can’t do and do at a moments’ notice’ but (sorry if this sounds arrogant) I am also one of those ‘types’ he talks about and I feel like a BFA is a compromise that could hurt my career chances because I would be 22 starting full time in the business AND my acting might still be shallow compared to an MFA with more education and life experience. I asked the artistic director at the LORT theatre I intern at about BFAs and he said the best YOUNG actors he sees come from NCArts and DePaul and more recently Minnesota. However, I notice from looking at years of programs that he hardly ever uses BFAs. Most of the actors have MFAs from many places and they even get most of the young roles. I almost feel like it could be best for me to go ahead and move to LA after graduation and do the model/actress thing (already have those cards) while auditioning and taking classes with plans to go to college later if it doesn’t work out by the time I’m 25. A good BFA is so expensive and will be a burden on my family if I don’t get a big scholarship and lots of aid since my dad is STILL deployed in Iraq and not making as much money as he used to. Do any of you who work in the business have any advice to offer? Am I just thinking too much?</p>

<p>PS Don’t fight. I always cringe when I post here because I am always scared somebody will bite my head off.</p>