<p>Hello,
I’m currently a Sophomore in High School and although I’ve loved to sing my entire life, music has always taken a back seat to academics because I always thought that I wanted to become a lawyer. However, I’ve recently discovered this year that I love Musical Theater and I want to perhaps pursue a career in it. I was part of my school’s Winter Musical This Year (High School Musical) and I have started to take private vocal lessons. I’m a pretty good singer but I’m not the best… and I’ve never taken acting classes, so I have a couple of questions:</p>
<li><p>Is it too late?- I noticed that most people who want to pursue a career in theater start at a very early age… but I’ve only discovered my love for theater this year.</p></li>
<li><p>As a baritone, I find that most of the parts in musicals are designed for tenors, so would I have trouble finding parts in musicals?</p></li>
<li><p>Are most roles in musicals set for a certain ethnicity? Because another part of my concern is that as an Asian male, I won’t be able to find roles for me in plays/musicals (unless Miss Saigon becomes popular again)</p></li>
<li><p>What Summer Camps would be good for me? I know that I probably can’t get into the most competitive ones but I want to go to a summer camp that could help me improve.
I’ve read about some summer camps that require video auditions, ETC, but are there good summer camps for someone new to musical theater but won’t be a complete waste of time.</p></li>
<li><p>Would participating in community theater productions be a good idea? and how does a teenage actor get a role in a community theater production.</p></li>
<li><p>I’ve never taken any acting classes…or done a monologue. Is there anythign that I could do to improve my acting?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>It's NEVER too late. You are not nearly as behind as you may think. And finding CC this early is great!!! we didnt' find it until after we started auditioning.</p>
<p>parts are written for all types and those parts are chorus and leads. While everyone wants to be a lead...and may even be one in their own little pond it's best to recognize that you need to be comfortable doing the very best job you can no matter what roles you are playing at any given point in time.</p>
<p>There is a major push to cast with diversity in mind. While many shows were written from a caucasian point of view there have been those written specifically for other ethnicities. But the beauty of art and what is becoming more and more apparent, is that the secret is in the content itself...universal themes and truths that all races can appreciate.</p>
<p>someone else can better speak to summer camps. my son did stuff with the local community theatre but never went to summer music camps away from home. Many have but it's not necessarily a "requirement".</p>
<p>Any experience you can get can only help!!! What you WILL find is that while the exposure can vary tremendously, as can the skill sets, most kids going into MT and successfully auditioning at the schools talked about on these boards have done shows every year (at least one, maybe more) and if not then they have managed to find and use a coach to help them train in at least 2 of the 3 disciplines (acting, singing, dance) that are necessary to do MT.</p>
<p>You are not behind and are actually at a good point but do need to begin to get busy if you are just discovering an interest in MT</p>
<p>many of the same skills that make for a sucessful lawyer can be applied to performing. Discipline, acting (won't THAT provoke some comments), public speaking skills (being comfortable in front of people), and time management.</p>
<p>Heya Clay,
Wow, someone like me. I'm asian too! And really, I didn't become interested in musical theatre until recently in my junior year...I'm even later than you.</p>
<p>As for summer camps, I've heard great things about Carnegie Mellon University's precollege program, but it's really expensive, and there's an audition required. There's also something called "Stagedoor Manor"...don't know much about it, but from what I've read, it's pretty good. Doing a little research on that should help. I really can't say much about summer programs in musical theatre, as my parents are stronly opposed to me having anything to do with it at all.</p>
<p>As for acting, I've never taken a class for acting or drama in my life (my parents would shoot me if I even asked them about it), and yet, when I auditioned for my school's spring musical two months ago (without permission from my parents, haha), I wowed the drama teacher who was running the auditions with my acting. Basically, all I did was watch professional actors: how they spoke, how they moved, their facial expressions and the volume of their voices in certain situations. I first imitated them, and went on to explore and experiment from there. See if that works for you.</p>
<p>And really, explore around this site. There's so much helpful information floating around!</p>
<p>I don't think it's too late for anyone. I never took myself too seriously until sophomore year of high school when i started going to school in nyc. once you immerse yourself in a lot of rigorous training you'll feel a lot more on top of your game.</p>