Do any of you have first or second hand information about how difficult it really is for American students coming back from UK drama schools to get connected into the industry? I have heard that it can be very difficult. Did you or the people you know have difficulty getting agents and managers interested in them when they came back? Does anybody who is anybody in the industry even attend those showcases? Do they ever sign anybody?
The reason I ask is that I have a GI Bill Fry scholarship that would make the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland almost free and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama very inexpensive at today’s exchange rates as compared to most American schools if I were lucky enough to be accepted. That could make those early struggles worth it.
Unfortunately, the cost of living would make the London schools out of reach. I saw a thread where somebody who had a student at LAMDA said that they recommend budgeting $55,000 per year. Tuition would be covered, but not the rest if that is accurate. The $1,611 allowance for rent and monthly living expenses wouldn’t make ends meet in London while it looks like it would in Glasgow or Cardiff.
If you are not a UK/EU citizen, I do want to say that it is close to impossible to land work in the UK due to increasingly stringent visa regulations, so this question is good to ask. (Although to clarify, I don’t know how it is in Scotland. If someone else knows, please chime in.)
But your question depends in part on the program. LAMDA, where my S goes, has an American showcase in LA and NYC, and ties with the American industry. Yes, people are signed. (Yes you should estimate at least $55K/year–it’s extremely expensive to live in London.) I know the head of Royal Welsh was speaking a few years back about building his American connections. Unfortunately, I can’t give you any other firsthand info for any other program. There have been successful American grads of RCS and Royal Welsh (meaning working actors in America or the UK) but the ones I know of were several years ago, before visa rules became stricter. I dont’ know if RCS and Royal Welsh have US Showcases–but you could easily check, and you can also ask them about their success rate with agents.
Honestly though, if you are being offered a relatively free, or close-to-free, education in a conservatory like Royal Welsh or RCS, and you like the program(s), then I don’t see why you wouldn’t take it–unless you have better options here? I mean, you can be a successful actor without immediate representation. You’d have your training and BA degree; on graduation, you can start working, build your resume here, then find the agents. That happens for many grads in many programs in the US. Good luck.
My daughter did a semester at LAMDA and absolutely loved it and said the training was fabulous. She also knows someone from our community that went to LAMDA for the BA who graduated a year ago who just booked an understudy role in a Broadway show.