<p>My d is a senior in a BFA program for musical theatre and I have looked over her bills for theatre books and plays. Some of the books were for elective courses and some for required but none of them are light weight in content. It concerns me that some students want to avoid academics and will not receive all the intellectual growth that makes for strong actors. Those students who enter college with strong SAT scores in language arts might never have a problem but many students that wish to avoid academics in college, avoided them in high school too.
I have no background in the study of theatre but my d opened my eyes this summer. She spent the summer in NYC and took me to a play called “Jerusalem” and she told me the following, " I don’t want to be a presentational actor", She said, “I know you think singing makes or breaks a show”. " This is what the standard is for acting, it doesn’t matter if it is a play or a musical". After watching that performance I got it. Good acting is intellectual, even when it doesn’t appear to be. It’s a commitment to a life of study. And because “Jerusalem” wasn’t a musical, I was better able to see great acting isolated. My d was able to teach me through this play what I wasn’t astute enough to see before, that a musical theatre student should be every bit as strong in drama as a BFA in theatre, with top notch skills in singing and dancing to add to the resume.</p>