So Many Acting B.A.'s, So Few Paying Gigs

Alumother
Wed, 07 Dec 2005 19:23:26 +0000

Theater has always been like this. At one point in my young life I was determined I was going to be an actress. As it happened, I did wind up working in the theater, in London musical theater for Cameron Mackintosh, and for Off-Broadway theater in New York. But as a go-fer and a grant-writer:). It’s always been hard to get these jobs, there have always been would-be actors waiting on tables in NYC, and you can never dissuade those who want to try. Somewhere along the line, in the class they took for fun, or the temp job they take on, they will find something else they are good at if the acting doesn’t work out.

If, and here’s the thing, they want achievement in something more than they want to bump along trying to act. If all they can think of is acting, they may wind up waiting on tables most of their lives. But if they are that committed to acting, what are you going to do?

I think, if I had a kid who wanted to go into the theater and showed real talent, I’d say go for it, so they never wondered what if. But I would also take every opportunity I could find to make sure they picked up some other skills and if the data started to show that it was very unlikely to happen for them, I’m sure I’d nudge some in the direction of looking into other options.

There’s no way of solving this one with a definitive x=12.