Yes, theater degrees are ‘worth it.’ The skills you learn earning your degree — oral and written skills, critical thinking, critical reading skills, interpersonal skills — are highly valued by employers.
The chief executive manages the theatre, ensuring everyone is focused on putting on shows, attracting and looking after audiences, and making the theatre a financial and artistic success.
Training in Musical Theatre
Once you have plenty of musical theatre vocal training, invest in acting and dance training. A Bachelor in Performing Arts is a general degree program that involves work from all performing arts areas.
In acting classes you spend time discussing tactics you can use for your scene, and switching up your tactics to see how it changes the scene. Go figure, that is useful in real life.
Liberal Arts and Theater Studies
There are many reasons to study theater, including pursuing a career in theater or film. If you aren’t sure what path you want to pursue, or if you are interested in the arts even if you don’t want to pursue them professionally, there’s a strong case for the liberal arts and a theater studies degree.
As a double major in economics and theater, theater demands just as much if not more time than economics. Theater rehearsals are not flexible like homework. You learn to adapt work habits to fit rehearsals, using time wisely. It teaches effective time management.
Studying theater teaches being present. Theater requires commitment and focus.
Theatre majors learn about theatre. Most students choose it to prepare for an arts career, and it will. Students use voices, bodies and minds to make stage magic. Theatre broadly trains for any job.
I took theatre alongside English. I knew theatre alone would be enough, and had an inferiority complex adding English. At least it wasn’t philosophy or art.
Many questioned my theater major, wondering why not business and acting on the side. But I wanted to act. My degree works for law, business, and countless careers.
College arts prepares you to grow as a performer and handle the professional world. Performing arts careers offer opportunities if you can handle criticism and are determined to succeed.
Theatre arts majors gain great, widely applicable skills like communication, creativity, collaboration, analysis, and problem solving.
Choosing an arts major is deeply personal, often met with varying reactions. But if you have an arts passion, criticisms often fall on deaf ears. You should follow dreams despite criticisms.
There’s a misconception there’s no money in the arts. But my theatre degree gave success skills like improvisation, project management, time management, adaptability and more that serve me as a business consultant.
Other theatre jobs include director and stage manager. Graduates also work as arts administrators.
Conclusion: Is Going to College for Theatre Worth It?
Yes, theater degrees are worthwhile. Humanities degrees like theatre provide career agility to adapt to shifting job markets due to diverse skills.
Tips for musical theatre success: get training in music and dance, make performance videos, have a portfolio, attend college, and prepare for auditions.
Get opportunities to be in plays and gain experience in college. Many employers want employees to have a bachelor’s degree in something. A theater degree would fulfill that.
Go for a theater degree if passionate and have talent for it. College gives opportunities to make mistakes that don’t cost a paycheck.