Things I Wish I Knew as a Freshman Theater Major: PART 2!
I got such good responses from my theatre colleagues and friends that I had to make this one 2 parts! Here are some more lovely insights as you enter your first year of your theatre major.
Take advantage of the film department. If your school has a film department, be sure to collaborate as much as possible! When you graduate, you will want/need a demo reel and the cheapest way to do it is free while you’re in college! These lovely people are also fabulous artistic minds that you may develop deep friendships with (outside the theatre department!).
Make mistakes and make them big! Our unofficial class motto was “strong but wrong,” because we were lucky to have a class of big choice-makers. This offered us so many opportunities to fine-tune our skills and learn form one another. You are there to learn, so don’t forget that mistakes are not only normal, they are expected - just go big and take all the notes. I’d like to go ahead and quote my friend Robert Fritz who contributed to this article - he said it better than I could, “Give yourself the freedom to make colossal f*ck-ups, because later on, when you’re a professional actor, the risks you took and the mistakes you made will serve you better than if you had played it safe.”
Be kind. Be kind to EVERYONE. You never know who is going to go where in life and this career is all about connections. People are more likely to hire you if you are kind and if they know you are a team-player. Not to mention that being hateful can really affect the class dynamic - you’re all there to learn so you should all be rooting for one another to succeed.
Stay true to yourself. Soak up all of the info you can, but don’t lose sight of who you are as an individual and why you chose this path. Find authenticity from within yourself - truly good performances are given from a place of honesty, which is impossible to find without knowing yourself.
Dance, even if you aren’t a “dancer.” Why limit yourself? You may never be a ballerina, but dance is a skill that can truly set you apart.
You don’t know how much you will actually learn from watching your classmates work. When you are not up working, pay close attention to your classmates, it is an opportunity to learn - that’s why you are there. Be sure to watch without judgement (remember that kindness tip from earlier?), just as you would hope your friends are watching you without judgement. Listen to the notes your classmates receive while they work, most of them can and will apply to you at some point or another - or will help you avoid the same mistakes!
I’ll be quoting the fabulous Kelly Murphy (currently crushing it as Tzeitel in the Fiddler on the Roof national tour!), “Work hard and when you think you’ve worked hard enough, work a little harder. Growth happens when you are out of your comfort zone.” I couldn’t agree more with that statement. No other time in your life will you have the opportunity to work only on what you love all day, every day with very little concern over anything but your craft.
And building on the last tip - don’t forget we’re playing at the end of the day. While everyone else at your college or university is studying to pass tests, you are dressing up in costumes, dancing, singing your heart out, playing pretend. It is supposed to be fun! Let yourself revel in the magic of playing. Take the work seriously, but don’t take for granted that we are so incredibly lucky to have this as our major/career. Don’t lose your sense of play. My wonderful, ever-silly friend Sean Ormond said it best, “You can’t forget why you showed up to the playground in the first place…never forget that this is all just a little silly.”
First, I must thank all those who contributed to this article (Sean Ormond, Brian Reiff, Kelly Murphy, Liam Merkle, Robert Fritz, Andrew Gryniewicz, Rachel Eddy, Tim Manion) - you are phenomenal performers and even better people! If you are entering your first year of college for a major in theatre, keep your silly, make your mistakes, and enjoy the gift of performing! Let me know if this advice helps you in the comments!