<p>Hello. I am another lurker who has been reading and learning for months. Thanks for all of the info. My D is a junior in high school. She has been a nut about MT for years. Recently, I have been told that she has very little chance of being accepted into a great MT program because of her 5' 1" height. I was told that although she was a true triple threat, there is just very little need for small actresses on Braodway. I was wodering if any of the college faculty members that are active on this sight could comment. Are there height requirements for college programs? Does it hurt her chances of being accepted even if she is very talented in dance, voice, and acting?</p>
<p>Boy, I sure do hope not!! When colleges offer acceptances to students they try to create a "company" of students. Which is why you'll have your belters, ingenues, character actors, boys, girls, etc. I doubt any one school will pick specifically only girls over 5'5 or something. Talent comes first and foremost and I'm sure your talented daughter will have no problem getting accepted to a top school. And "very little need for short actresses on Broadway", I think not! Just look at Kristin Chenoweth and Jennifer Cody who have had wonderful careers and they're only 4'11!!! Not every guy in MT is 6'3. I know plenty of professional, Broadway male actors who are under 5'10! And a lot of times they have problems because many of the girls are too tall! So many times you need a girl who's relatively shorter, there's a place in MT for all heights!! I'm a 5'1, character actress and I have confidence I will get accepted somewhere! :)</p>
<p>Louisiana mom...welcome out of lurkdom...hope you will continue to join in!</p>
<p>I'm not a college faculty member but I do know many people who attend BFA in MT programs and have visited many of these programs and seen the students. Your D certainly has a chance to be accepted as much as anyone with similar talents despite her height. As someone else said, there is no ONE look they take and they want a variety of looks and types in every program and these kids will be their eventual "casts." That aside, I can tell you that I know many people who are "height challenged" who attend or have attended BFA in MT programs. My D's best friend is 4'10"/4'11" (shorter than your D!) and is in one of the top BFA programs in the country and was accepted to many others. My D has another close MT friend who recently graduated NYU/Tisch/CAP21 who is 4'10" and she was cast upon graduation as the understudy to a couple of the leads on the new Spelling Bee National Tour and has performed over a dozen times this fall. When I have visited and seen shows at my D's program at Tisch, I have met and seen on stage SEVERAL girls (and guys) who are quite short. Some of these kids have done professional theater and/or are Equity. Similarly, I have seen shows and kids at some other BFA programs and there are some very short girls and guys in them. </p>
<p>Now, does that mean a very petite girl is going to be eligible for casting in all shows or parts (outside of college)? No. A 5'1" girl may be super talented but will never get cast for certain roles. HOWEVER, many many actors have some aspect of their look that makes them not right for certain roles. My D is never going to be the blond sweet innocent girl (though ironically she was offered to play Cinderella in Into the Woods at a professional theater last summer and didn't do the job but I was suprised at that casting choice and so were her friends as I didn't peg her as Cinderella...she has played Little Red in that musical before). So, even if a short person is not castable (that is not likely a real word!) in certain roles, they are in certain other ones. Each actor has to know their type and their strengths, etc. But surely there are short actors who have truly "made it". Kristin Chenowith, Kerry Butler, Joel Grey....so many others.</p>
<p>I hope your D goes for it. She surely will be considered for BFA programs. Once she is out auditioning, she'll be considered for some roles and not for others, but that can be said of most actors for one reason or another.</p>
<p>Louisiana Mom:</p>
<p>I'm not faculty in a theater program, but I'm a member of SAG, AFTRA, and a former member (lapsed) of Actor's Equity. I once earned a living in theater. So, I don't have insights into being accepted into a program, but I might have some insights into professional theater.</p>
<p>Height/size is an advantage in theater. It just is. The smaller you are, the more energy and presence you must have to be noticed on stage. I have worked with directors who deliberately cast "tall" because of the size of a stage and/or the distance from the stage to the back of the house. As you probably know, the opposite is true in ballet, where small ballerinas are at a premium.</p>
<p>It's just the breaks.</p>
<p>Of course, there are exceptions. Carol Kane is pretty small and she has great stage presence. Mary Martin once dominated B'Way and she is very small. So, it's possible in the way it's possible for small men to sometimes find a niche in pro football.</p>
<p>I do not think that her height would be a deciding factor in admissions to most programs.... it certainly would not be where I teach... we have a student who is 5'0" in heals! when I was at Penn State and Syracuse there were also students on the shorter side. </p>
<p>There are many small professional performers... she most likely will not be a showgirl in Will Rogers Follies, but, neither will someone who is 5'5".</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>i'm also really short....5'2"....of course i use someone like kristin chenoweth as an inspiration haha</p>
<p>there are so many shows like Spelling bee and spring awakening for example where young adults are playing younger parts. definitely being short is an advantage for those...but true, as katmt said, we probably won't be showgirls professional theater haha....</p>
<p>one of the brilliant things my acting teacher at uarts said was how we should make ourselves perfect for any part. She said to us we might not LOOK right for every part, but we have to be able to play any part so that the stereotypes for what certain parts are supposed to look like will stop.</p>
<p>i don't think there is a set height that determines success. Sutton Foster is tall. Norbert Leo Butz, Kristin Chenoweth, and Bernadetter Peters are short, to name a few....if they want you that badly, your height won't stand in the way</p>
<p>I don't know how young your look, but my D at 11 lost a part in Hairspray to a 27 year old who could "play 11." Being cast in kids part may not be what your S desires throughout her life, but there are times that being small has advantages in professional work.</p>
<p>My D has the same problem- she is only 5'6", but lately is alwasys losing out because they say she is too tall to fit with the boys around here who are all quite short (under 5'5"). They would much rather hire older kids that are short and can play "young" because then the laws for how many hours a minor can work don't apply.We just have to wait it out until she's old enough to go to college!
There are plenty of actresses and actors of all sizes working in NY- it just depends on the director's "vision" for the role!</p>
<p>Thanks for the insight and inspiration. Your comments certainly offer hope for my D.</p>
<p>I actually don't consider 5'1'' as being uniquely short. I'm 5'3" and I know I'm not TALL, but 5'1" is not that far off. :) I agree with everyone above, in that there is such a wide variety of roles in theatre, that all shapes and sizes of people are needed. I think many performers have similar fears about being actors or actresses of a larger size. The same is true in that regard, I think.
One bonus of being short, I think, is that you may be able to play "younger" characters for a longer time. It's easier to pull of playing 16, when you're 25 and 5'1", then 5'9" and 20. Just in my personal opinion. :)</p>
<p>yeah, absolutely! and i had a similar experience to keepingcalm's daughter. it was between me and a 27 year old for liesel in sound of music....she got liesel and they made me louisa (and she looked young enough)....while i was "sad" to be playing a part so much younger since i hope in real life i kinda look my age haha (louisa is 13 and i was 17 at the time), it was of course much better than not getting cast at all!</p>
<p>Here's a quote from Kristin Chenoweth (4' 11") regarding her height on [url=<a href="http://www.celebheights.com/s/Kristin-Chenoweth-1796.html%5DCelebHeights.com%5B/url">http://www.celebheights.com/s/Kristin-Chenoweth-1796.html]CelebHeights.com[/url</a>].</p>
<p>I used to want to be tall, and then I thought, 'If I were tall, then people would say I was pretty and not cute.' And then I realized that there are worse things than being called cute. They could say I was a b!tch, which would be terrible in my book. So I've decided that this height ain't so bad. :)</p>
<p>At her Carnegie Hall concert a few years ago, Chenoweth said something like "I am only 4-foot-11-inches tall, but with the right hair and heels, I sometimes reach 5-foot-2 or so!"</p>
<p>I think that the truth is, being <em>unusually</em> tall or <em>unusually</em> short can be both an asset and a liability for a performer. There are times when being short or tall will make a person stand out, and other times when standing out in that way is not a good thing. It all depends on the role. I would guess that it would be better for a female to be short rather than tall, and better for a man to be tall rather than really short. But that's just a general observation. In the case of, say, Danny Devito or Kristin Chenoweth, well, their height (or lack thereof!) has come to be part of their trademark personality.</p>
<p>"I agree with everyone above, in that there is such a wide variety of roles in theatre, that all shapes and sizes of people are needed. I think many performers have similar fears about being actors or actresses of a larger size. The same is true in that regard, I think."</p>
<p>That is a hurdle that I unfortunately have to overcome and I'm, obviously, nervous about auditioning at schools because of it. I know that unless I get to be a smaller size, I will never get to play the ingenue or many other high profile female roles; but I'm fine with that! I'm one of those performers that is happy just by simply being in the ensemble. If my professional career means that I'll forever be a "gypsy" and just remain in the chorus, well honestly that really wouldn't be that bad! Work is work and the fact that I'll be doing what I love would mean I had succeeded. I do want to lose weight to get healthier and to make things a little easier for me, but I know that I'll never be as tiny as many actresses that are my "competition" no matter how much weight I lose. But my size combined with my shortness :) means that I'll have my own unique niche and "image" and could possibly get some minor/supporting character actor roles in the future, which are just so much fun!! Not every girl looks like Sutton Foster or the girls in the chorus of "The Producers" or "Spamalot", but that's what's so great about it, we're all different!</p>
<p>like everyone else has said, I agree that there is a spot for everyone! I'm on the other end of the spectrum... I'm a 6'5" guy so i don't think we would ever play opposite each other</p>
<p>I bumped a thread on MT Height. Hope that interests some. </p>
<p>Chris</p>
<p>I'm a junior MT female in between 4'11" and 5'0". We have a junior MT MALE who is just slightly shorter than that. It didn't hinder us getting into programs and it doesn't hinder us getting roles, it just depends on what kind. Most of the females who are junior MTs are in between the heights of 5'1" and 5'5". </p>
<p>There is no shame in being short. It always helps the short guys play against you better, too. :)</p>
<p>Louisiana Mom, WHO told you that your daughter doesn't have a good chance of getting into an MT program because of her height? As SoozieVT stated, her daughter's friend is only 4'10 and is at one of the most prestigious MT schools in the country. My daughter is also 4'10 and is at CAP21. Being short has advantages AND disadvantages. She was up for the Narrator in Joseph last summer, but was told she looked too young. However, she tried out recently for the tour of Children's Letters to God and they were very interested; unfortunately the callbacks were during her studio class so she didn't go. So shame on the person who told you she wouldn't get in anywhere! And I know a few other friends of my daughter's at CAP that are her height. At least I know for a fact NYU doesn't discriminate against the "vertically challenged"!!</p>
<p>Being shorter can also make you unique...I mean how many 5'5" female actors do you think are running around auditioning in NYC right now? Being shorter or taller can definetly make you stand out!</p>
<p>I dont even know how to reply to this..lol...cause im very tall...im about 5'8 1/2, i think that height doesnt really matter, ofcourse it would matter when casting for roles...but you cant change you who are, and those things just happen naturally, you cant do anything about it..and you shoudl never want to change how you are..that is what makes you UNIQUE! :-)</p>
<p>This summer when i was at CMU and i had done my auditions, i talked after to Kline, and he said my height was one of the things i had going for me....but then again, they are several short people that have graduated from CMU..
i think it really depends on the situation...they cant automacially disregard you because your short...probably when casting a show, that might happen, and the same thing..if you are too tall...but for colleges, its more than that...you shouldnt matter how tall or short you are...just bring the best of you to every audition....that what they want to see..</p>