Ever since I was in 4th grade I knew that for the rest of my life I wanted to pursue musical theatre as my career choice. However, when I decided I wanted to choose musical theatre as a profession I did not realize that people would question every bit of it. Here’s a list of the struggles that a lot of theatre people face when we tell people we will be pursing theatre as a career.
1. “Why would you choose theatre?”
Why wouldn’t I choose theatre? I get paid a lot of money to play so many different characters and enter fantasy worlds that everyone always dreams about. I could even get paid to be a full grown adult dressed up as a CAT.
2. “What are you going to do with the degree?”
The same thing you are going to do with your degree if you even have one! This could be a genuine question deep down, but it comes off as rude. The arts are important, and if we want to keep them alive we need future generations to keep learning about it.
3. “So you plan on being a restaurant employee for the rest of your life?”
Wow thank you so much for having faith in me! There are so many different day jobs that actors/actresses can do. As a theatre major we develop many different skills. Think about it: we know our literature inside and out, we can build things, we can solve problems, quick on our feet, etc. That sounds like a lot of qualifications to be just a restaurant employee for the rest of our lives.
4. “What’s your backup plan?”
Although this question is well-intended it is quite difficult to answer. As theatre majors we don’t like to think about our backup plans because we want to think we will make it to Broadway, or to a successful regional theatre. As we get closer to graduating we can think about our backup plans if all is not going well but for now there is no backup because we WILL make it.
5. “You don’t have to take finals or anything right? You just act stuff out right?”
ARE WE KIDDING?! If anything our work load is about 2X more then everyone else's. We have to take dance classes, singing lessons, acting classes, and on top of that we take all the same classes as everyone else does. We take all the math classes, and english classes, and social studies classes that everyone else does. PLUS we write so many papers in our acting classes and english papers too. It is not just all fun and games. We even have 30+ hours of rehearsal a week. SO NO IT IS NOT JUST ACTING THINGS OUT!!!
6. “Oh so you're gonna teach theatre?”
This is just rude. Did i say I was going to school to teach people theatre? No. I said I was going to be on stage and perform for people. Not teach them about it. End of story.
7. “Aren't theatre jobs extremely competitive?”
Yes, yes they are. So is every other job out there in the world. Yes we have to audition in front of people to get our jobs but it is the same thing as going for an interview. The only difference is we don’t have to be interviewed. Just like being a teacher nowadays is extremely competitive, so is theatre. It is the same thing for everyone. No one is guaranteed a job.
So the next time you meet a theatre person please be aware of the questions you are asking them because they could be extremely rude and insensitive without you even realizing. We are people looking for jobs just like you. We don’t want to be miserable and work a job we don’t like. We want to perform and make everyone happy including ourselves.
