My niece, a high school junior, wants very much to major in musical theater. She and her mother are at odds because Mom wants her to have a career-focused, marketable major like business. Mom doesn’t want her to be a “starving artist”. I have tried to help resolve their conflict by suggesting dual majors or minors that would be marketable. Do you have any other advice?
My niece is an excellent student in almost every subject, is very active in high school and community theater, plays guitar and sings at local venues in western New York state.
I actually think that performing arts BFAs are very vocationally oriented. Pretty much every class you take is focused on making you employable as an artist. There’s a lot of work/study and interning in professional settings. It just may not be the vocation the mom is hoping for.
I kinda wish there were more room for traditional college-type discoveries, like, wow, I really like French romantic poetry or geology is really interesting. BFAs are pretty relentlessly focused.
College is a training ground. Where that takes you after college in any field is never a given. I would venture a guess that in any field most careers take twists and turns that you can’t predict in college. And as has been pointed out there is almost no degree that offers any guarantee of financial success. Let’s face it, MBAs are a dime a dozen these days. My feeling is that if you are passionate about what you do and love it and do it well, you can find a niche. That does not mean that all of our aspiring young performers will end up on Broadway, but there is plenty of success to be had outside of that arena and plenty areas of theatre, music, film, and performance to be explored. My daughter is passionate about this pursuit and I think her best opportunity for success is to go all in. Give it all the passion and energy and time she can commit. Get the best training she can get and absolutely dedicate herself to that training. And then go out in the world and use that training in any manner of ways that help her achieve financial independence which may translate in a number of different avenues just as any other major would. From my perspective getting the best training requires a total level of immersion that likely does not lend itself to getting a second challenging degree just as a safety net, especialy if that is a degree in a subject about which the person is not excited. Life is a journey and there is always time to go back to school later on to pursue a second major or higher level degree if need be.
First I have to say that I was also a mom who would have felt more comfortable if our MT D had wanted to major in brain surgery, and for that reason felt relieved that she ultimately fell in love with a BA program in a well-respected university where she was able to double major.
That said, US Media and Entertainment is a $546B market and acting/MT is, in fact, a business. A year before D graduated she started earning a steady liveable wage in her chosen profession (who knew people got paid to sing?), and I can only hope our science major is nearly as lucky.
Best of luck to her family in deciding how to proceed!
I think there are many skills learned as a MT major that make you as marketable as many other majors. Yes there is true vocational training in college, but I would not put a general business degree in that category. Accounting yes, but management or marketing no. So an MT major can fare just as well in the job market as a history, English or poli sci, or communications major, and can certainly pursue grad school at a later date.
The biggest difference to me is the choice one makes in terms of whether they want a 9- 5 job or whether they want to have flexibility so they have the time to audition, rehearse and perform. If performance is the goal, then they are going to be on less of a career path with their day job, and tend to take jobs like working in restaurants, babysitting, etc, so that they have more time to pursue their performing career. With luck, some of these cash making jobs can still involve music and theatre–like being an accompanist or directing school shows.
But once you have a degree, you can change paths when and if you want to. So one can chose 5 or 10 years down the road that you no longer want to be a performer in theatre, and can still use your degree to find a job or enter graduate school.
Have her parents read the book “A Whole New Mind” by Daniel H. Pink. It talks about how businesses now outsource many logic based jobs to India but they have not been able to outsource creative jobs. If you have a degree in theatre, you can still go to medical school, law school, and/or business school when you graduate. I have friends and our school has alumni who have done it. You will have the skills to teach acting, voice and dance and own your own private arts academy (which could easily earn you $100k a year or more). She could always get a masters in arts management and pursue an administrative job. If she got really into the admin side of things, she could run a non-profit theatre company. The larger ones have salaries in the six figures, I’ve seen as high as $600,000 in New York. With a BFA in theatre you could work in the admissions department of a university, teach at a private high school, and if you get an MFA you could teach at a university. She could go to a community college during the summer and take classes in coding and/or website design and start a lucrative side career while studying theatre full-time. Actors are usually really good at sales (which often only requires a bachelor degree in something), I have some friends who have moved into real estate and done very well.
^^^ YES. Everything @VoiceTeacher said. In fact, UMich told us when we auditioned there that they LOVE to hire BFAs to do their fundraising, b/c they are so personable and outgoing and they are great at convincing people to give money. And I have had a restaurant tell me that they love their BFA waiters and bartenders for the same reason (and before you scoff, you can make a great salary at a high end restaurant!) And we know a lot of actors who have moved into casting. Who better to cast a show than someone who knows the craft so well?
Collegehelp: I see you’re from WNY (grew up in Tonawanda myself). Being from WNY, I would encourage you have your niece and her mom look at the SUNY-Fredonia theater website. Last I checked there was an excellent article on there about how getting a degree in the performing arts gives you a host of work habits and experiences that are valuable to many different companies. For example, working collaboratively, attention to detail, being able to express yourself in presentations, and many more. This article was amain factor in my accepting and endorsing my D’s decision to pursue the BFA.
I agree @VoiceTeacher. I completely understand a parents’s hesitation to allow their child to get a degree in something many seem frivolous and risky. But performers do very well in many fields both inside and outside the arts. They are terrific at giving business presentations, in marketing, as teachers, presenting a case as trial attorneys - anything where you need to be in front of other people. They are naturals. Having an undergraduate degree in theater to me is no different than the student who gets an undergrad degree in economics, political science, English or any other general major. I know economics majors who are now dentists, dance majors who are lawyers anthropology majors who are business executives so it stands to reason a theatre major can be anything they want to be down the road too. A theatre undergraduate degree will still allow you to pursue other fields if you have a change of heart. You still have a college degree. College is a time to study what interests you. To explore different subjects and paths. Pursue what truly makes you happy. Find what inspires and excites you. If that is theatre, delve into it. Study hard. See if it is your life path. Get that undergraduate degree. If ultimately theater is not what you decide to do as a profession, you still have your whole life ahead of you after you graduate. The doors are just beginning to open. And theater is a great preparation for the professional world no matter what your career ends up to be.
@Joyfulmama - she was at Northwestern University, near Chicago, which is fairly unique both in their admissions process (very selective academically and audition for MT Certificate after being admitted to Theatre program) and also in its extreme curriculum flexibility. It offered exactly what our D wanted (she decided to apply binding ED). Other favorite schools on her list were Yale and Brown, as a traditional campus and college experience were important to her, but I know there are many other strong BA’s as well on the Big List (thread pinned above) that others here could tell you more about.
@MomCares thank you so much! I would love her to choose Northwestern, right now she is saying only eastcoast schools to be near home. I am trying to have her branch out. But right now looking at Muhlenberg, Fordham, American& possibly Connecticut College.
The schools she’s considering sound great, and I certainly understand geographic preferences! It might be fun for her to visit sometime, though, and also to get a taste of various theatres in and around Chicago. The city has a surprisingly vibrant, kind and productive theatre community.
Thank you again for the great suggestions and insightful discussion. All of this will be shared with my niece’s family. I see that others are finding the discussion helpful, too. This is sooo helpful!!