BA Musical Theatre graduate career prospects

[Bubj]

Does anyone have experience of how easy it is to get roles as a BA graduate in Musical Theatre from a top drama school? Is there enough work out there for these graduates? I suppose the upside is a BA graduate in MT can get acting, dancing, singing or teaching roles. Any thoughts or experiences would be very much appreciated.

According to UCAS 10% of applicants (those who were 17/18) were offered a place. However, GSA often has a lot of older applicants who will not be incuded in that data.

I'm not sure a MT degree is worth is. Casting agents don't care where you've trained just whether the face fits. My partner went to evening classes for acting at the age of 30 and has now had a long year career as an actor and has lead roles in musicals in the west end. He can't read music but can sing and act and in the end that's all they care about.

But given that @Mrsg26DD does want to do an MT degree, Guildford is a stronger prospect than Urdang. No shade on the latter, sure the training is good and then a lot comes down the luck, but someone choosing between the two would have to have a hugely strong draw to Urdang in order to not go for the more obvious option. Hope she has a great experience whatever it leads to.

But the degree is the way of getting your training funded. Evening classes and singing lessons are expensive. Plus you can make a lot of contacts.

it’s not about the degree, it’s about the training. In dance especially.

Thanks, my DD has been doing MT for the last 6 years since she was 11. She got into a vocational school in Scotland to study Musical Theatre alongside her academic studies in S5/S6 so it’s a natural progression for her to go to drama school afterwards and all of her classmates have been accepted onto courses in London straight from school. GSA was always a dream but she had been on reserve for 4 months and we never thought it possible so thats why she accepted Urdang as she also loved it on her audition day too, but in the end she knows GSA is a hard school to get into and it’s too good an opportunity to pass up, so she has accepted her place now. What rollercoaster this has been !!

Right choice I think - congratulations to her and I hope she has an amazing 3 years!

That's horrific. No wonder your friend left.

I have to say from an audience pov I see most MT West End shows. Some are memorable for being of a very high standard (Oliver, Guys & Dolls at Bridge & Mary Poppins stand out over the last few years) but quite a lot of shows leave me feeling they are a bit sloppy (I won't name & shame). Some of the actors (chorus and main) have awful singing voices, others can't really dance.

How do these people get picked if there are 1000+ coming out of colleges every year? Is the acceptance standard low or the training not particularly good? I really get that it is an industry in its own right but knowing you are saddling someone who will end up a waiter with £100k of debt seems immoral at best!

I do know some people who have 'made it' in MT. I'll be honest most who were successful at the start of their career still gave it up for a family in their mid-late 30s. One is still successfully working (30 year career), not a household name but has been lucky to get enough work doing what they love. Very varied performing career - everything from 10th chorus member, panto, backing singer, touring, named roles, teaching etc. They took everything they could and networked like crazy. They may not have even been the most 'obvious to succeed' of their cohort - they just kept at it - and they made it (although many moments of wondering if they should throw in the towel and do something else).

I've never been so nosy as to ask about pay. I think they have done ok, but nowhere near the level of a successful accountant or lawyer. They were definitely clever enough to turn their hand to any of those things should they have wanted to.

Travelling miles to sing for one night at a concert sounds horrendous to me but if that's what makes you tick then this can be a fulfilling career.