I guess, @manVan , that is why my daughter keeps trying to convince me that even if she majors in acting instead of Musical Theatre, that she will be fine.
If you are massively talented and nail your auditions, no one will care what you majored in. (With all the usual caveats about a prestigious BFA degree sometimes helping you get into the room FOR the audition.)
This particular cast has many mature and experienced (read “old”) cast members. Back in “the day” there was not a defined Musical Theatre Track at a University. At my school there was only “Acting” or a generic “Theatre” degree. You had to fit Dance and Voice into your college experience on your own through electives. The Theatre Faculty and the Music Faculty were not helpful in this area (at times they were competitive and at odds.) This cast has a lot of actors from that era, so you may not see a clear MT track in their training.
The popularity with the BFA in Musical Theatre is a relatively new phenomena (10-15 years?) and the explosion in popularity has been the last 5-10 years. (Yes, yes. I know MT-BFAs have been around…I said “popularity”) The demands for a musical theatre actor (especially an ensemble member) are high, complex, specific (when it comes to a technique in vocals and dance) and hard to get on your own with nothing but raw talent. If someone wants to be an actor who sings, that can happen. But without specific and rigorous training in dance (specifically ballet) an actor is limited to the dance roles they will be able to compete for. Those Broadway-level dance calls can be brutal.
Here is a non-theatre example: There are a few Math Geniuses. Their brains simply do math without studying or working at it…at all. There are others who are Gifted in Math and have a great capacity for math, but must be introduced to concepts and skills to give form to the innate potential within them. They are easily taught, pick-up quickly, retain, and extrapolate over multiple formats and can utilize math with ease. Then there are the rest of us. We work at it and develop a functional level of Math proficiency.
I believe the sam is true in Theatre. There are a very few Theatre Geniuses who can just do it. There are mostly Gifted Theatre Performers who have had their natural abilities honed. Then there are the rest of us. We do local and community theatre for our own enjoyment.
But even a genius won’t be cast in everything due to type etc.! And always remember that no matter how naturally talented and/or trained someone is, they can’t get a big role or win an award (or however you define theatrical success!) if they don’t stick with it.
I believe that OU takes their seniors to NYC for the opportunity to show their talent off. Probably other schools do that as well. Emily’s introductions led to her being cast in Evita as Juan Peron’s mistress. From that part she went to Wicked, now The Visit. She is versatile, hardworking, charming, talented and kind. OU helped her get her foot in the door. Now she is making her own luck.
