<p>Would like to get some planning advice from Theater majors...</p>
<p>My D is currently a HS freshman who is interested in pursuing an acting career. Grades are pretty solid so far and she has been involved in the school drama program since 6th grade. Only problem I see is that she has not been able to get leading roles in any of the school plays, and it appears that the Theater teacher has one student who she gives leading roles to every time (she is talented so I can understand). Unfortunately I don't see that situation changing. She's not always placed in ensemble roles and her auditions usually go well, so i think she's doing well in Theater...it's just that she doesn't get the top roles.</p>
<p>Will my D need to get leading roles in HS plays in order to get serious consideration in a decent university Theater program, or will consistent involvement in the school theater program and a good recommendation be sufficient? </p>
<p>Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD</p>
<p>From what I’ve seen, the resume has little influence on BFA Acting admissions. I’ve seen kids with unbelievable resumes get in nowhere, and kids with a few leads get into top-tier programs. What matters is the audition. Your daughter is also only in 9th grade, so hopefully a couple of leads will come her way. The problem with high school plays, is that they are usually musicals, and many actor kids are not necessarily singers and dancers. Meryl Streep proved that in Mama Mia! :)</p>
<p>I agree with MOMMY5. Your daughter should keep doing what she is doing, keep being involved in school drama, no matter what parts she gets. Also think about finding other opportunities to get acting experience or training outside of school.</p>
<p>KEVP</p>
<p>Agree with KevP–find other opportunities that will improve her skills. High school is about exploring and adding to her skill set so that she does well with auditions and has a better sense of what she wants out of college. (I didn’t get my s voice lessons til the end of soph year and should have done it sooner–he has a not bad voice). Check out summer programs (local and college) when she is ready.</p>
<p>Also, there is nothing like rejection to bring you down to earth. The kids who always get the leads in hs are sometimes devastated when they don’t in competitive college programs (not to mention the whole audition process!)</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. There are summer acting programs (we live north of Boston) but we need to find one that isn’t super expensive and that doesn’t cause too many conflicts with her soccer practices which seem to start earlier in the summer each year. In addition our D wants to find a summer job this year which we think is a good idea but will also be another schedule constraint…</p>
<p>How about looking for community theater auditions ? No cost there .</p>
<p>i never got leads in hs unless a show was double cast and normally i did more understudy work in hs…and they were all musicals…i think i did pretty fine as far as getting admitted to both MT and Acting schools.<br>
if she’s not getting cast in lead roles, fine…it gives her more time to devote on her craft in other ways.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the advice. Our D is dedicated to the theater program in school and although she usually doesn’t get the leads we know her teacher thinks highly of her.</p>