<p>Hey, my name is Kayla, i am a 16 year girl from Barbados and an aspiring broadway musical performer. I have a project do to at school and the topic is ’ Broadway (performing arts) : is it a realistic career choice for teenages (for youth)?’
I wanted to bring all the parents here, cause i wanted to find out from them, that if their child/teenager wanted to pursure a career in broadway (the performing arts)…would you agree with that career choice and help them through it? Would you be worried about that career choice and how it might not last long, the difficulties of getting into it, and would you down right not allow them to pursue that?
im bascially looking for an answer agreeing and one disagreeing with the question…
cause im seeing who well my parents are handeling my love for broadway (aslong as i do my studies)…so im wondering what other parents feel about it…
thank you for taking time out to read this
byeee
*Kayla</p>
<p>My D wants to do a similar type of activity in that it is tough, a select few get picked, and you can be brilliant, and still not make it.</p>
<p>I would say, whatever you do, have a back-up and be able to take of yourself. So don’t quit school and be very realisitic and know that it is a very hard business to break into. Often, those with less talent may get a part because of who they know. And that you have to be tireless in your hunt and your passion.</p>
<p>If my D lived in a small room, had friends, was eating and was dry, and was happy pursuing her dream while taking care of business, I guess I could live with it even though I would be worried all the time.</p>
<p>Hi Kayla - If u go to the main menu page you’ll find a heading called “College Majors” - under that heading is a “Musical Theatre Major” heading. I’m sure if u post your question there, many will be happy to reply. Good luck</p>
<p>In fact, you will find sections of the musical theater forum already devoted to this very topic.</p>
<p>Kayla, my S is a musician, so here’s a response you won’t find on the MT board, although there are some similarities. </p>
<p>My answer:
No, it is not a realistic career choice for teens, in general.
Yes, I have agreed with S, and encouraged him, and helped him through it.
Yes, I worry.</p>
<p>But it is not a powerful, all-consuming worry. We educated ourselves about the field, and about our S’s chances. In helping him through it, we talked to many, many people, and I believe he has what it takes to make it – the talent, the drive, the ability, the passion, the support, the education… It is not the best choice for many, or most, but SOMEbody will make it, and we think S might be one of them.</p>
<p>His senior year of high school, his economics teacher devoted an entire class to discouraging students from performing arts careers. Was very negative. After class, he called my S aside, and said, “By the way, I wasn’t talking about you.” He sees so many going that route because of a vague interest, a positive but limited HS experience, and an idea that it’s “easy.”</p>
<p>He does not have a back-up plan. Of course, teaching private lessons will always be an option. Or returning to school for a different field at a later date, if he gets hungry enough.</p>
<p>I think it can be a big mistake not to follow your dreams.
Not everybody makes it big on Broadway, but many of the people who stick it out find a niche, sometimes not as actors on broadway stages, sometimes they work soaps, bit parts, assist stage managers…</p>
<p>Not everyone who aspires to law goes to a top law firm or becomes partner, nor does every doctor become the head of a department in a hospital…</p>
<p>Some people feel that there are ways to couch their bets by having duel majors…if you do…I suggest making accounting the other major…every theater group I ever worked with needed a good accountant…</p>
<p>If you try and at feel you have not succeeded when you gave it your best…it might be hard but you can always redesign your future at any moment, although some options - like being an olympic gymnist go by fast.</p>
<p>Our son sounds a lot like Binx’s, but he does have a plan B, and so should you. If he doesn’t end up being the next Hilary Hahn, you’ll probably find him teaching classics at Yale, and playing in a really good quartet. 
If you have the talent, you owe it to yourself and the world to try to work it through. But you do need a plan B, so think really hard about what that should be.</p>
<p>repeat answers …</p>
<p>no, it is not a realistic career choice … but that shouldn’t stop you; someone has to one of the few who make it; it might as well be you.</p>
<p>yes, we will support any of our children who want to try … we will help our kids pursue their dreams … it may be a long shot but some folks make it … and I do not want my kids to have regrets about things they never tried</p>
<p>yes, we’ll worry … we’ll also advice our kids to have a back-up plan if the long shot doesn’t work out … and also advice them to consider related careers that allow them into the industry without necessarily being the long-shot star (back stage jobs for example)</p>
<p>Our basic career advice will be to follow your passion … in a thoughtful planned way … and hopefully this journey will take you to a fulfulling and rewarding career.</p>
<p>Anyone interested in this topic should make it a point to see the recent documentary “Music From the Inside,” which is a look at the lives and careers of some of the principle players in the Philadelphia Orchestra. Concertmaster David Kim is a particularly compelling study.</p>
<p>I’ve got a Daughter majoring in Musical Theater with a minor in Dance.</p>
<p>Is it a realistic career? No.</p>
<p>Do we support her dream? If we didn’t we wouldn’t have sunk so much money and so much time into lessons, recitals, music, shoes, Tim Horton’s iced cappuccinos and such.</p>
<p>Do we worry? Of course, we’re parents. We worry that she won’t ever get a performing job. We worry that she’ll decide to be practical and go a different route and always wonder “what if”. We worry that we didn’t do enough for her. We worry that she’ll marry BF (who I am no longer allowed to call Idiot Boy) and never get a chance to try.</p>
<p>The question you forgot to ask: Can we imagine our daughter doing anything else with her life? No. There is nothing that makes her as happy or as full-filled as dancing. </p>
<p>Peg</p>
<p>I have a son who is a music performance major at a major conservatory. When he was in 7th grade he said to me one day “When I grow up, I am going to be the principal cellist for the Chicago symphony!” I told him that was a great goal, but very difficult to acheive. His response was, “Well, someone has to do it. It might as well be me!” And who am I to say it won’t be him?</p>
<p>Music is an incredibly competitive field as you well know. He has had many doubts himself. Once he told us that he didn’t feel like he could give up music because he didn’t want to disappoint us after all we had invested in his career. We explained that we weren’t investing in his career, but in HIM! And whatever he chose to do, he would benefit from his training in one way or another. He is feeling much more positive about a musical career these days and is currently prepping for his grad school auditions.</p>
<p>Will he make it as a musician? I don’t know. If he doesn’t he is smart enough and talented enough to figure out something else to do. In the meantime, he knows he is giving it his best shot and if he decides to quit, it will be his decision that it is time to move on.</p>
<p>Not to be too downbeat, but one eye-opening experience occurred with us once when we went to a restaurant in NYC to eat. As we were waiting to be seated we chatted with the coat check person. She got her “big” break and was in the original cast for 42nd Street. Now she checks coats and says that she wishes that she could get a job as a waitress so that she could make some “real” money. I guess she didn’t have a very good Plan B.</p>
<p>“Plan B” is sometimes a very touchy subject. Suggesting a kid have a Plan B is sometimes/way too often taken as not believing in them and their abilities.</p>
<p>And to be perfectly honest, her Senior Year in high school was difficult enough without throwing “you don’t have faith in me” into the mix.</p>
<p>Peg
whose Daughter has no Plan B</p>
<p>Funding Father,
In all due respect, you know nothing about that coat check girl. She may have been in a Broadway show but did she get a college degree? Someone with a BFA or BM in performing arts has that degree and can do many things with an education. That girl may not have gone to college. Maybe her options are more limited. Also, for those pursuing theater, they often have to take a night job while they are out pounding the audition circuit and making the rounds during the day. I don’t know her circumstances. </p>
<p>I am not going to write extensively on this topic as I don’t have time right now and I have linked the OP to a thread on the Musical Theater forum that addresses the topic that she asks about. I wrote a lot on that topic there. </p>
<p>We have supported our kids in any endeavor they wished to pursue. I do have a kid going for a BFA in musical theater and have NO qualms about it whatsoever. I can’t imagine her NOT going for this. Her talents and drive and passion in this field are unyielding and it is who she is. Who knows if she will make it on stage? She is going for it. There are many levels of success in that field. It is not like Broadway or bust. As well, she has skills and intelligence (and will have a college degree) to do a myriad of other performing arts jobs should she not make it on stage. There are many related careers and in fact, she has a talent and penchant and interest in also writing the shows, musical directing, directing, and choreographing. There are many other facets of the industry she could do if performing does not work out. For now, she is going for it. And even outside the arts, it doesn’t mean she cannot get another job. Many people have careers that are not exactly what their college major was. She will have an education. Also many skills that theater students learn make them attractive to employers. I have written about this on the other forum so will skip those here. We are behind our child 100% and in fact, we have never discussed a plan B. Plan B can be discussed far into her attempts to make it in this field. First is first. I know she will be a success in whatever she does. Hopefully it will be on stage but it is not like she can’t do anything else. There is no stopping someone whose core of their being is entwined as a performing artist. Why would I ever want to?</p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>PS…Peggy, you have me laughing over “idiot boy”.</p>
<p>
Made me laugh too. I thought of Archie calling Gloria’s husband “Meathead” all the time…and no, I’m not comparing Peggy to Archie Bunker. :)</p>
<p>I don’t know a darn thing about theatre or the performing arts generally, but a friend from Texas who got small parts on Broadway for a time said that the best thing she ever did as a student was to join Actor’s Equity while she was a student at Texas A&M University. Apparently, it is much harder if you don’t have professional acting experience and don’t join prior to arrival in New York City.</p>