Join the Drama Club!Nov 29 '00 Write an essay on this topic.Hmmm, anyone want to take a gander as to what afterschool activity a theater aficionado like me would be writing about? You guessed it; the drama club. :) Variety What other club has you working this hard? All right, all right; maybe sports (that said with a great deal of contempt and sarcasm) are a bit more physically demanding. But the drama club lets you do such a variety of things rather than pounding your feet into cold cement in order to run in a circle and wind up exactly where you started. In drama club, there's the acting, the singing, the dancing, the directing, the set-building, the costume sewing, the lighting, the sound, the orchestra, and (did I miss anything?) everyone's favorite, the fundraising :) Drama club involves so many people, and just about anyone can find something which interests them. Skills Imagine some of the skills you'll leave drama club with. If you do acting, you'll walk away feeling confident about whatever you want to say in life, and knowing how to express yourself. You'll learn how to cover unexpected situations when your prop is suddenly missing or the scenery collapses. If you build sets, you'll walk away feeling confident that you can build just about anything you need on a very small budget. Doing costumes? Say goodbye to outrageous clothing prices, because now you can make yourself most of your clothes (with a look that's all your own and that actually fit for a change!). Etc, etc. Just about anything you do in drama club will give you some valuable skills for real life. How's that for a deal? And it's free, too! Friends Okay, sports people, you say that in sports everyone works as a team and builds great friendships. But there's still that competitiveness throughout games and practices. After all, the coach can decide at each game who gets to play and who will warm the bench. In theater, the only competition is at auditions. After that, you get the part you get, and there's no changing it. In addition to that, I've found that while sports tryouts are cutthroat, "theater people" generally are warm and friendly at auditions. Everyone's in the same boat, and everyone does whatever they can to keep everyone else's nerves at bay. Sometimes I make friends at auditions when one of us doesn't get into the show, and yet we still stay in touch and go see the other person in the show. There's nothing like a little competition to bring people together (but not total competitiveness like in sports). And you can't forget the cast parties! Those are the most fun of all. At rehearsals, there's not a lot of time to talk, especially if you don't know the others very well yet, but the cast parties are when everyone has a chance to really get to know the other people (so you can goof off at rehearsals) :) Opportunity I say this next part with a bit of caution. Keep in mind that colleges want to see you do what you love, and not just what you think they want. But for those of you who are looking to get into a good college, think of what theater will look like on your record! College admission officers (and employers, etc) know the hard work and dedication theater requires, and they'll likely be impressed if you make that commitment. Salary? All right, all right. You really don't get paid anything to do community theater. And unless you belong to the Actor's Equity Union or Screen Actors Guild (SAG), you probably won't get paid very much to do professional theater either. I'm not Equity, and yet when I've taken jobs with professional theaters, I get an extremely small stipend which barely covers the price of gas to get to the theater and back. Let's face it, folks, the most money you'll make if you choose acting as a career will not be from reciting Shakespeare or Moliere; it will be from your reciting, "Do you want fries with that?" It's very tough to make it as an actor, and even Broadway stars don't get six-figure incomes. But if it's what you love to do, do it! What's the point in earning a lot of money if you hate what you do? Well then? So what are you waiting for? Ask around at school, scour the newspapers, call some friends, and get involved with theater! It's a lifelong decision that you definitely won't regret.  |
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