Tommy Lee Jones did it without bfa

[soozievt]

<p>Hi Pach, </p>

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for the record, your kids sound great and I think it’s cool that one is/was a D1 ncaa athlete at an ivy league school, the other acting now on or near broadway, but earlier was a “professionally” child actor, and had a 1st tier agent (ca, wm or apa i guess) as a child, accelerated in kindergarten and therefore graduated from high school at 16, then one or both summered at stage door manor (three stages right?), and they excelled even though they attended a “lowly” rural high school…all from memory of your posts so please don’t be upset if i got something a little wrong. And really very impressive. i truly mean that, you should be very proud. you did a good job!!! I’m serious

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<p>Thank you. Your daughter sounds very accomplished and has achieved great things from what I have read. We are all proud parents. The reason I had posted about any of that on the other thread was when you posted about being anti-rural public schools and all you said about that over there, and I was only sharing that kids from such schools can succeed and go onto fine colleges, etc. To clarify…Stagedoor Manor has 8 indoor and outdoor theaters and puts on 36 full scale productions per summer, in addition to training in an array of classes in all aspects of theater and musical theater. Only my youngest child attended (8 summers), but my other daughter did go to a performing arts camp too, for four summers, French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts. Another clarification is that my daughter has not been on Broadway. I do like your phrase of “near Broadway” and I think I’ll borrow it! Actually, she has done very few auditions since graduating as she has been constantly involved in a show of one kind or another since she got out of college, including right now.</p>

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so, I very much agree with your second paragraph. i do advocate majoring in something other than theater if the college you’re attending has a lousy theater program. and i advocate for “some” kids to skip college and go straight to ny/la and start working…college is not for everyone. and i think good theater arts programs are a good way to go as well. and i advocate for all three versions of kids above to seek professional work as soon as possible, you learn from auditions and rejection!

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<p>I don’t agree with majoring in something other than theater if your school has a lousy theater program. Rather, if a young person wants to going into theater or musical theater, they should find a school that has a STRONG program, if that is what they wish to major in and pursue. While I agree college is not for everyone, I do believe a college education, if possible, serves one well in life. I think the advice to go straight to NYC or LA at age 18 is not sound advice for most kids, as they will be up against trained actors who can play age 18, but have training under their belts by age 22. </p>

<p>Yes, professional auditions are GREAT experiences, and I’m glad that my kid experienced many auditions at all levels, including Broadway, before she auditioned for college as auditioning is a skill in itself, and she was well prepared for it.</p>

<p>As I wrote you on the other thread, however, I think it is different for a child actor than an adult actor. I believe your perspective comes from that you have a daughter (the one who was a recruited athlete), and feel free to correct me if I am mistaken…who was in professional theater productions and a TV show in CA when she was a youngster. I was telling you on the other thread that I had some experience with that as my kid auditioned occasionally in NYC as a kid and had a well regarded agent there (but we live far away and so she did not do it on a regular basis). And getting cast as a kid is different than as an adult. A kid or an adult needs talent of course to be cast. But adults on the audition circuit benefit from training as they are up against actors/singers who have been trained. Kids can often be cast who are talented but have very little training. I can tell you it is a different world in NYC as an adult auditioning than it was as a kid. </p>

<p>For example, when my kid was about to turn 11, she went to her first agent submitted audition in NYC. This audition involved singing only (though the role involved singing, acting, and dancing). My daughter had never had a voice lesson or an acting lesson/class. She had been in musical theater since preschool and had done many shows. She also played two instruments and took dance. In the audition, she first had to sing her prepared song. The audition was with the composer. He then taught her some of the music from the score on the spot, and it was not easy music to learn. I think my D had some advantage here as not only does she pick up things quickly, but she could sight read music due to playing instruments. The composer even remarked how quickly she picked up the music. I recall the girl auditioning before her was a girl a couple years older who my D knew from shows at theater camp. That girl had been on Broadway already and then as a young adult, starred on Broadway and is now the star of a hit TV show. My D was cast and I think natural talent was all that was considered, whereas now as an adult, she better have a trained voice and be trained as an actor in order to “compete.” It’s not the same in the adult audition world in NYC as it as as a kid. Training is VERY beneficial. Not only is one able to have stronger skills in the audition room, it sure looks better on a resume to have training on it (though your audition gets the role, not the resume). Not to mention, that when attending college, various connections are made and in fact, many even obtain representation due to their BFA programs. That is not a must but just one benefit. I mentioned to you on the other thread that virtually every job or theater endeavor my kid has done since graduating her BFA program 1 1/2 years ago, can be traced in some way back to having attended her college. </p>

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“Many who play a sport in college do so as an extracurricular endeavor”…what, not recruited d1 athletes. </p>

<p>whether athlete or actor, serious performers go into an event or an audition to win! not come in second or third, but first. there is no such thing as extracurricular behavior for successful athletes or actors. I’d advise your students and your daughter if they want to succeed they kick… on everyone else in that audition waiting area.

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<p>I’m REALLY not getting how you came away with this thought from what I wrote. You were making the point earlier of an analogy with the preparation that athletes get in college and that of actors. And I was remarking that not everyone who plays a sport in college (including NCAA) is planning to be an athlete for their career, whereas someone studying theater in college (which is a major, whereas a sport is an activity), is often hoping to pursue theater as a career. </p>

<p>My kid who played a Div.I sport in college had NO intentions of being a competitor for a career after college. In fact if I read correctly, even your own daughter may not go into professional athletics after college. Nobody on my D’s team went onto pro sports after college and none ever intended to either. My D’s major was not in sports. She had a career field in mind from the get go. Does this mean that my D did not want to succeed in her sport? My D was very very passionate about sports. She played three varsity sports through HS and also competed in one of these outside the school system. In college, her sport was VERY important to her, and the hours devoted to it and all the weekends away from campus and a week of missed classes each year for national championships…etc…you better believe she was into it! Her sport was a significant part of her college years. But she was not going to be competing after college, even though continues the sport. In fact, as I type this, she is currently coaching a college team, during a brief break in her career field and chose to do this in the short interim, as she does love her sport. </p>

<p>But I don’t agree with you on “there is no such thing as an extracurricular sport behavior.” The fact is, athletics ARE an extracurricular in college. That doesn’t diminish them. They were a big priority for my kid. But her academics were a huge priority as she was seeking grad school and a career outside of sports. Both were important but sports was not her major or her career field. Contrast that to my D who MAJORED in musical theater and acting in a BFA program which is conservatory training mixed with some liberal arts. Theater IS my D’s career. It is not an extracurricular endeavor. This is just pure fact. Just because sports was not my other D’s career or major, doesn’t diminish the level of dedication and passion and effort to it. She was very into it. It did not take over for her studies or career. She put her all into that, winning the top award for her academic department at graduation and getting into many top grad programs in her field. She loved her sport and did well but it was never going to be her career. That does mean she didn’t care about succeeding in it while she was participating! I have no clue how you came away with the idea that even though sports is not my D’s career field but was an extracurricular at her college (indeed that IS what sports are in college, as you don’ t major in it and actually do have to get a degree besides do well in your sport), that she somehow did not put 100% into her sport. You obviously do not know my D! She also won Academic All American in her sport in college at Nationals, and then at graduation, her coach gave her the award named after the captain of the team (when my D was a freshmen) who had committed suicide, for my D embodying the spirt of sportsmanship and leadership of that lovely girl. Even in high school, she won our school’s Scholar/Athlete award (notice the combo of scholar and athlete…like your D…these girls are more than simply athletes but are also accomplished students) and was a finalist in our state for the Wendy’s HS Heisman award. You can be very dedicated to a sport, but the sport remains an EC in college when you are also majoring in an academic area and not planning to go pro after college. It doesn’t mean the effort to succeed in the sport is diminished one bit! It is just fact that many college athletes do their sport for the love of it and do not plan to go pro (and many will not go pro). A student majoring in theater or musical theater is typically trying to “go pro” and have a career in that field post college.</p>