I am 20 and an aspiring actress with no experience. I want to do acting because I am a shy person and want to get out of my shell more. I wanna get involved in a community or an activity where I can do something creative and share that with others. I am someone who likes to be creative, but haven’t really found my niche. I love writing and have written poems and stories since I was 5 years old. I have done acting once in my acting college class and really loved the experience! I did this in class play of Antigone and was a chorus member and even though i had a small role I still enjoyed the fact that I was apart of that experience. I wanna do something new and creative with my life. I love the idea of becoming different people in order to tell a story for the audience to enjoy, and one day i hope to be able to write a play too and hope the audience will enjoy it. However, I am currently a theatre major at my college and I don’t feel I am learning anything. To be honest I feel I am learning more about “What happens in acting” than What acting is all about and how to do it well. I want to a rigorous acting training where I can focus on acting and writing for two years or so. I want to be able to leave that acting school or conservatory with the proper techniques/ tools to become a professional actress.
So what do you guys think of this decision? I know I have to audition for these schools as they are competitive, but I am confident that I work real hard and practice and let my passion shine through I can get in somewhere. I haven’t put my idea into motion yet. It’s still a decision I am trying to work out.
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Would It Be Wise For Me To Leave College And Attend A Professional Acting School Or Conservatory?
Posted on February 6, 2012.
i say do what you gotta do
just because you drop outta college doesnt mean crap
everybody tries to survive as best they can
I put an ice cream cake in the fridge and it melted.
Its a tough call your question. There is no easy answer. Attending a professional acting school or conservatory will not guarantee you work. In fact, some of these acting school just want your money. Some of them have acting coaches that are rude, disrespectful and will talk down to you like you are crap. Some of them even have horrible egos. You do sound like you would be the perfect candidate for acting and take it very seriously. You also seem like you understand that acting is a funny business, and that connections are the only thing that will get you places. Have you ever tried asking your acting coaches or theatre college professors? They maybe able to provide you with a better answer esp if they are still working in the business.
The studio time isn’t for the kind of pre-work you’re talking abut. That should be done on your own time, so that you are prepared in-advance to receive critiques and comments/suggestions/training when you’re in the studio.
My suggestion would be to finish all the training you can get in college, remembering that college isn’t there to “passively teach you” something that you absorb – the lessons you’re receiving about “what happens in acting” are there for you to apply for yourself & then be coached on the results. After college audition for Circle in the Square or another acting company’s regular troupe.
Hi Giselle,
Good, hard question.
Since you desire to become an actress specifically (and it seems like a stage actress from what I’m gathering) I WOULD suggest you look into specialized schools. It’s not “dropping” out of college. Most of these regarded schools are STILL “college”. They just specialize. And that’s GOOD.
A random “theatre” degree from any random university, frankly, isn’t going to stand you out from a crowd when it comes to theatre. Many people have generic theatre degrees. Many don’t. Many people who have random theatre degrees go on and do things that have squat to do with theatre. For example, I know a girl who recently graduated from a theatre program at ASU. She’s not the best actor. She’s ok. But she was the same BEFORE she started the program. She’s NOT a singer. I have no idea what she plans on doing with a theatre degree from a school that doesn’t specialize in it. It’s like $$ flushed down the drain.
When people KNOW early enough that they want a life in the theatre, or in acting, getting training from SPECIALIZED schools, like Carnegie Mellon or AMDA, really put you ahead of the pack. They are very focused on acting, musical theatre, dance, technique…everything for someone who wants to make a career out of this. It is the SMARTEST bang for you buck. In my opinion.
It’s difficult to change schools. It’s difficult to audition. There IS competition. But frankly, if you were already perfect, why would you need school? They know that – and take it into account. They want to see potential. If they find that in you, it can be a very rewarding experience.
Best of luck.