Question on Courses

I'm from Singapore. I'm now working full time in Australia. But that isn't a question is it. It seems like in Australia, everyone who is in theatre anything has done a lot of courses or gone to University in theatre or something. I have NO qualifications. I can SAY that I can sing and I can certainly SAY that I can act, but obviously without pieces of paper, I obviously do not have anything to back up my claims. (Well, other than someone hearing me singing. I used to busk.) So here is my question. What are courses to take if I was interested in musical theatre? What is the MUST HAVE STUDIED things that meet the requirements for directors to even give you time of day to audition and where can I take these courses if I'm already 25? (I was reading the NIDA brochure. It seems that the minimum requirement to join any NIDA courses is that you be under 20 for some reason) What are the places that are reccomended for inner Sydney where one should go to get pieces of paper? PS. I moved this here because it was on the wrong forum. I still don't know if it's on the right forum yet.

The BB is possibly not the best forum - Green Room for general discussion and gossipping.

In all honesty, I think you get a very mixed response to such a question as some people will say you need to go to the top courses, NIDA, WAPAA, etc and then there will be those who tell you experience is key.

Personally, sometimes the bit of paper isn't worth a cent because it is not about how much you know, it is about what you can do, how you look and how far you are prepared to go. Add a little pinch of who you know and the world opens up.

But to get started with, the local community theatre scene is not dependant on qualifications. All you need is the passion, perhaps a dash of talent, the ability to work well within a team and an open mindedness about learning new things.

If you want to go Professional, you may need an agent willing to represent you. For that demonstrable experience and evidence of at least some training will go a long way.

Some of the Uni's (NIDA, WAPAA...) offer short courses or workshops so it may be worth while looking into those. There are private sector organisations that offer training programs also but tread with care in this area. Sharks lurk. Do your research.

The union is a good resource also - www.alliance.org

Most important - your belief in yourself. Good luck.

Absit invidia (and DFT :nono:)

Jeff Watkins

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