Colleges for the Arts?

Question

I'm 15 now. I'll be starting the 10th grade in September. I go to a performing arts school for theater. I want to go to college for that. I was wondering if anyone knew of any good colleges for that (acting, film, theater, drama, etc.). Preferably in California. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

There is AMDA ( american Musical Dramatic Academy) and ADAA.  To tell you honetly though go to a regular college get a degree in something you can fall back on and study acting at the same time.  Kill two birds with one stone.

Both conservatory's will have a mandatory class for stage work.  Thats not necessarily true of the comment before mine.

Answer 2

I'm not in/around/from CA, but I can give you a bit of advice.

I went to a conservatory for theater/acting and it was absolutely miserable. Be careful about getting into them because specialized schools don't give you much room for anything else. I would have only learned how to act and that was it.

Granted, acting is what I want to do, but I had much more support, opportunity, and was able to be more well-rounded by transferring to a state school. (Note: This was my decision, not because I was kicked out or couldn't cut it in the conservatory.)

Most directors like to see some tech work on the resume because it shows that you have an appreciation for all parts of the theater and you aren't a diva. Also, it can be your foot in the door. Sometimes you have to start as a stage hand or intern before you are able to audition with a professional company. If you don't have these skills, then you are out of luck.

Also, the state school gave me the opportunity to interact with people who weren't art students. It's very good for an actor to know what's going on in the world around them. How else are they to know how to pretend to be those people onstage?

You become a cookie-cutout if all you live and breathe is theater/ acting, and it's not very appealing for a director.