The Business of Performing Arts: Navigating the Industry and Building a Career
Getting into the performing arts isn’t easy. You need to be prepared in more ways than one and have some skills that you’ve honed on stage or in a college theatre program. While there are plenty of people who want to spend their time on stage, acting or singing, or off, putting together sets and costumes, there are others who find themselves on the business side of things. After all, someone needs to plan the performances, come up with funding, and make sure that every performance turns out as planned.
How can you get into the business side of theatre? Here are some tips to help you start planning your career path.
Know Theatre Inside and Out
Before you can move ahead with a career producing or directing productions, you first need to know everything that there is to know about the performing arts. Spend some time working backstage, watching or helping put sets together, and going to the costume shop to see how the designers work. Watch the lighting and sound pros work their magic. The more you know about the many moving pieces involved in a production, the better you’ll be at navigating it from the ground up.
Find Out What You’d Like to Do
The next step involves choosing which specific career field you’d like. Do you love to plan things and enjoy the process of putting together events? If so, you’d probably be a great producer or theatre program director or manager. Do you have a vision for certain plays or musicals that you want to see on stage? A career as a director or choreographer may be for you. There are plenty of other options as well, including stage management, casting coordinator, and even front of house management to choose from. Putting on a theatre production takes a village.
Be Prepared to Start on the Bottom
No matter which career option you choose, you’ll probably find yourself starting out at the bottom in an entry-level position. This means that you might be the assistant to the director, an assistant to the theatre manager, or even someone who’s in charge of managing the ushers and other front-of-house workers, like those taking tickets. From this position, you can work your way up the ladder until you’re the one in charge. Then you can pick the productions that you want to put on, work with the casting people, and do everything in your power to make your own vision come to life.
Consider Getting a Degree in Theatre from Dean College
If you want to learn the ins and outs of theatre productions and the performing arts in general, your best option is to get a college degree in the field. The theatre major at Dean College allows you to choose the specialty that you’d like to work on, and our theatre program will give you plenty of hands-on experience to enhance your skills. Whether you want to produce, direct, or something in between, Dean College is a great first step in your future career.