Should Your Child Do Musical Theatre or Any Theatre?

It has been a crazy week for us. My daughter just finished a musical theatre production. She played the lead role of ‘Inga’ in a family-friendly spoof of the movie Young Frankenstein with music from the Broadway show by the same name.

This was a local musical theatre production, but in productions in the LA area many of the kids and adults in the shows, as well as directors and choreographers are in showbiz. The result is typically a high-quality production.

We are both sad and relieved that the play has come to an end.

My daughter had a blast, as always, but it was tiring for her to go to all the rehearsals and shows and then go to school and get her homework done each day.  As a sixth grader in public school, she often has two to three hours of homework each night.

My daughter had rehearsals for four to five hours nearly every day for the last week before the show and then six performances. I was involved, as were other parents, helping with costuming, lighting, stage crew, and other production activities. So it was a busy time for both of us.

Why do we do theatre? We do it because my daughter loves it, and it makes her happy. She loves performing in front of an audience and she loves singing.

We did not do any theatre for some time because her acting teacher and manager did not want her to. We are no longer with that manager or with that acting teacher, and so now my daughter is enjoying doing shows several times a year.

Why do some talent managers, talent agents, and acting teachers not want their talent to do theatre?

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Parents, Do You Have the Flexibility Needed for Your Child’s Acting Career?

Do you have a flexible schedule to accommodate the demands of your child’s acting career?

Once when my daughter got a last-minute audition, I was in the laundry room in our apartment complex moving half-washed clothes from a broken washer to a working one. I’d forgotten my cell phone, so I missed several calls from my daughter’s manager.

I grabbed the ringing phone as I walked in the door to our apartment. The manager had been calling for 30 minutes and was frantic.

Fortunately, I was able to find appropriate clothing, retrieve our wet clothes from the laundry, grab necessary items, and pick my daughter up from school early so we could be at the audition on time.

That 30-minute delay almost made us miss the audition, and it resulted in an annoyed manager. But because I had the flexibility to drop everything and go, we were still able to get to the audition.

Parents, do you have the flexibility needed for your child’s acting or modeling career?

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