<p>britbrat, while I agree that Matthew Morrison is a talented actor, you have the story about his Broadway experience a bit wrong. He was cast in Hairspray in 2002 when he was about 24 years old, not when he was in his second year at NYU. He had already been in two Broadway shows at that point, as a replacement ensemble member in Footloose and in Rocky Horror, and had done his ‘boy band’ thing. And an 18 year old feeling as though he’d learned enough about theatre already? Well, the naivete of youth is neverending. :)</p>
<p>I think that training is an important part of success in theatre, but that does not always include a college degree. While I agree that a college degree will provide good training, and also that the college experience is of benefit not only for training but also for maturity and the all around experience and peripheral education factor, there are hundreds of actors who have been successful in professional theatre who have not studied theatre in college and/or not gone to college at all. Yes, there are a few who have been child actors but they certainly are not the majority.</p>
<p>While there are lots of young actors cast usually in touring companies, who are recent college grads, there are also many who are grads of two year programs such as AADA, CITS, and yes, even AMDA! 
In addition, there are going to be some who have no college or formal training at all. The reluctance to hire inexperienced young actors has more to do with their age than whether or not they went to college. This will be largely dependent on the show and the roles being cast. There are very few shows out there which are looking for 18 year olds, but more where 22 or 23 year olds could reasonably be cast. The bottom line, as has often been said, is that there is no single best way to pursue this journey. What works for one, may not for another.</p>