<p>After working right out of high school, traveling and making some connections, I decided that I wanted to pursue one of my interests and take a theater/drama class. Thing is, I'm pretty nervous about having to enroll into a 4 year bachelor degree program for performing arts, when I'm not even sure if it'll truly be for me or not.</p>
<p>From what I've read, Wayne State (which is the closest to me) has a great theater program. However, I'd like to actually get some experience in acting before following through with courses and dumping a ton of money into it. Do universities offer any way to maybe 'sample' or sit in with the classes before enrolling into their programs?</p>
<p>The idea I had recently, was to find (if I can..) an independent acting school and then enroll with IAD to take their graphic design courses. And honestly, is a degree in performing arts really going to help my chances of landing a gig, if I'm not good at what I do? It wouldn't matter where I got my experience from if that was the case, just so long as I'm up for the job and I have the talent.</p>
<p>Any advice?</p>
<p>Do you have any theatre experience? Did you do theatre in high school? I would suggest auditioning for local community theatre productions to gauge your competitiveness and to keep your acting chops fresh. Also, ask around locally for acting schools - many community theatres offer classes that are relatively inexpensive. Jumping into a BA program is a big commitment of time and money. Try to determine if this is really your life’s passion, or just a hobby. Many adults pursue acting as a very satisfying hobby by participating in community theatre.</p>
<p>Exactly what I was going to say. You will learn so much. And also most colleges have wonderful theater for non-majors, lots of stuff going on, so you can keep it going even if you major in something else. Then if you want, you can train afterwards, or get a Masters.</p>
<p>We’re not questioning your interest, but saying that you don’t have to feel pressured to commit to anything yet, and certainly not for 4 years. There are lots of 2 year training programs that can also give you some very good qualifications and experience.</p>
<p>Thanks guys.</p>
<p>Only ‘experience’ I have with theater is from a drama class I took in high school. However, it dealt more with learning the history of it than doing actual stage work or acting.</p>
<p>I did find out that there is an acting school here called The Actors Workshop, which I hear good things about so I’ll probably check with that.</p>