@SkyTalk Thanks for the interest and comments. I don’t really wish to use ManVan’s thread all that much, but don’t want to ignore your post either. It would take me some time to recreate a time line as my daughter graduated almost 6 years ago and has done many things. I will say briefly, that first, she has not been on Broadway. Second, her career has not revolved around Broadway or National Tours, and so if that is the goal in mind or what you are asking about, my D may not be a good example. However, I would say she has had a successful career so far (and she is just 26) and ALL of her jobs have been in theater and music. Even all her survival jobs were in theater and music, though she no longer does any survival jobs. Even though she has worked consistently in the field after her graduation day, her career has developed and evolved and so she has done more significant things over time. If you were asking how soon it took to book work, well, she booked the day after graduation on her first audition. But this field is an endless maze of short term work and so one is always job hunting so to speak.
My daughter doesn’t just audition, however, and wait for the next casting opportunity. If she did that, she would have less work than she has had (though she has been in many shows and she has been Equity starting with her first job out of college). She has a three pronged career: 1) performing in musicals/theater; 2) singer/songwriter in the pop/folk/jazz/rock/soul genre; and 3) writer/composer/lyricist of original musicals. She is paid for all those things and she juggles all three areas, and has something going on in all three almost all the time.
That is a very general answer for now due to it being ManVan’s thread and also I’m busy at the moment. I could explain it in more depth and answer questions, though I am not entirely sure I could recreate an accurate timeline. Again, her career (and reputation and network) has built up over time, even if she has worked in the field the entire time. I’m not sure how else to explain it but perhaps I could say she is doing more significant work as each year goes by and has even had to turn down some opportunities due to schedule conflicts.
Keep in mind that her view of success as an artist (mine too) is not defined by being on Broadway or a National Tour. She’s gotten pretty far in the casting process with leads for such things, but her career is not focused on just those venues, not to say they would not be great too. In terms of MT shows, she has been in Off Broadway ones (and has another one booked), a tour, and significant regional and international theaters, as well as concerts in well known venues. But she doesn’t just perform in musicals and hasn’t put all her eggs in the waiting to be cast basket.